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Zucker Promoted at NBC, Seen as Future Company Chief (AP)
NBC Universal Television announced a restructuring to make Jeff Zucker, the former Today show producer who has made a rapid climb up the corporate ladder, chief executive behind company chairman Bob Wright. NYT: Randy Falco, who had been Zucker's equal and had been mentioned as a potential heir to Wright, was promoted to president and chief operating officer of NBC; he will report to Zucker.

Yahoo to Track Impact of Web Ads (WSJ)
Yahoo! will soon offer advertisers on its web sites the opportunity to get detailed research indicating whether their ads are affecting sales. The service is the result of an agreement Yahoo has struck with a research company that uses econometric analysis to measure the effectiveness of advertising.

MTV Networks Lays Off 100 (Hollywood Reporter via Yahoo!)
It's not clear how high in the executive ranks the layoffs reached, but sources said they went at least to the VP level and that it doesn't appear that another round of layoffs is imminent.

Did Radar's Wealthy Targets Influence Backers to Pull Plug (Page Six)
Both Mort Zuckerman and Jeffrey Epstein were reportedly besieged by calls from power players distressed over Radar's snarky coverage of them, including Hollywood's Mike Ovitz, American Media honcho David Pecker and secretive supermarket billionaire Ron Burkle.

Hoy Giving It Away (Newsday)
Tribune Co. will convert the New York edition of the paper to free circulation to attract more advertisers. About 60,000 copies of the Spanish-language newspaper will be distributed free Monday through Saturday in New York, starting Jan. 23.

Wenner Becomes 'The Jann-ald' (WWD)
It looks like Jann Wenner will get his shot at reality TV stardom. According to two Wenner Media sources, the Rolling Stone founder has signed a deal with MTV to star in an Apprentice-type reality show about aspiring music journalists.

Sizemore Becomes Top MSNBC Exec (MSNBC)
Jennifer Sizemore has been named managing editor of MSNBC.com and executive producer of NBC News, executives of the news organizations announced. She will oversee MSNBC.com's newsroom, drive editorial strategy, and work with NBC News on Internet content and strategy.

Live Large, Vent Large (NYT)
The prognosticators at Infinity Broadcasting are giving David Lee Roth a crack at reinventing himself behind a microphone in Howard Stern's kingless kingdom. NYDN: Stars to help Stern launch on Sirius. Forbes: Too expensive. A bad bet. Won't pay off in the long run. If that refrain sounds familiar these days, it's not just because it's the way Sirius Satellite Radio's critics are describing the company's $500 million investment in Howard Stern.

Beeb: Fewer 'Terrorists,' More 'Insurgents' (Guardian)
Following criticism from some quarters about the corporation's coverage of the July 7 London bombings, the BBC's governors have approved fresh guidance on "the use of language when reporting terrorism."

Don Vito Conrad: The Black Hand (NYP)
Federal prosecutors widened their case against fallen media baron Conrad Black yesterday by charging him with additional counts of racketeering and fraud—essentially saying that the newspaper empire he once presided over was a criminal enterprise. Chicago Tribune: The purposes of the alleged criminal enterprise included "enriching Black, his associates, and their entities at the expense of [Hollinger] International and its public, majority shareholders."

NYDN Gossip Site Quietly Shut (NYP)
The gossipy Internet site 25hours.com quietly went dark in recent days as well. Seven full-time staffers and a number of freelance contributors were laid off. The site grew out of a magazine insert project, which was shut down earlier this year after only 26 weeks of publication.

Phone Company Bans Reporter From Meeting (NYT)
The IDT Corporation, a telecommunications and entertainment company that is under pressure for its languishing share price, barred a reporter from its shareholder meeting yesterday.

The Atlantic Heads for the Beltway (Boston Phoenix)
After 148 years in Boston, the magazine of "the American idea" dreamed up by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Oliver Wendell Holmes had produced its final issue from home. Owner David Bradley is moving The Atlantic Monthly to Washington, D.C.

Dark Side of FCC's Push Against Cable Indecency (The Center for American Progress)
Eric Alterman: If small, experimental stations and programs are not picked up by enough consumers, media diversity in general suffers. What's more, just what does "family-friendly" mean and who gets to decide? LAT: New rules, which need FCC approval, would add educational shows and limit Web promos.

What's Next for Knight Ridder? (Grade the News)
Lou Alexander: The future of Knight Ridder is becoming clearer. By the end of the first half of 2006 the company will be sold, broken up or taken private. Despite the opinion of some on Wall Street that the company would draw little interest, there is actually an impressive pool of bidders.

Veronis Suhler Stevenson's Crystal Ball (Folio:)
Dylan Stableford: Media growth forecasts, particularly in a technological climate where the methods of media deliver change by the nanosecond, can often be grandiose in their predictions. This research company's 2005-2009 forecast is no exception, but it's got some pretty relevant predictions too.

Looking Back on a Lamentable Media Year (Marketwatch)
Jon Friedman: It was a year to remember—if only so the media could learn from the mistakes that we made in 2005. Oh, it wasn't ALL bad, of course—just mostly.

Been Dunne Wrong? (Page Six)
Dominick Dunne is still writing for Vanity Fair, but he's not a happy camper. Sources say Dunne is disappointed that editor-in-chief Graydon Carter declined to have Condé Nast pay his legal bills.

—David S. Hirschman