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CNN Falls Behind MSNBC (NYT)
CNN will finish 2009 behind MSNBC in prime-time ratings, the first time CNN has ever trailed a competitor other than the Fox News Channel over a full calendar year. That finish had been expected. In recent months, CNN has also trailed its own sister network, HLN (formerly Headline News). TVNewser: MSNBC touts yearly demo win over CNN. B&C: Fox News has the highest rated year in network history.

NYT Layoffs Begin (New York/Daily Intel)
It was a "pretty grim atmosphere" at the New York Times yesterday, when layoffs are coming down from on high as the paper tries to reach the 100-person editorial cut it announced earlier this fall. While 74 staff members took the buyout, that left 26 to go. Layoffs were ongoing all day, sources said.

Hopes for Playboy Sale to Iconix Fade (PaidContent)
Iconix Group, which was interested in buying/licensing the Playboy brand from its parent company, is reportedly now breaking off talks. Separating the brand from the mag, TV and online assets, and possibly most importantly, from Hugh Hefner, may have proved too much to undo.

Newspaper Industry Shed More Than 15,000 Jobs in '09 (News Cycle)
At least 15,000 people have lost their jobs in the newspaper industry in 2009, and the list will grow before the year is out. While newspaper executives expect a better year in 2010, marketing pros are predicting further declines in print advertising revenue. E&P: The newspaper industry is expected to lose nearly 25 percent of its jobs by 2018, according to a new federal Bureau of Labor Statistics report.

Roy Disney Dies at 79 (NYT)
Roy E. Disney, who helped revitalize the famed animation division of the company founded by his uncle, Walt Disney, and who at times publicly feuded with top Disney executives, died on Wednesday in Newport Beach, Calif. He was 79. WSJ: A namesake who reanimated Disney.

How Gawker Media Defined The 2000s (Mediaite)
Robert Quigley: Leaving aside the question of "should," Gawker has undeniably set the template for what the blogs of this decade aspire to be. Gawker has singularly eroded the boundaries between public and private life as covered by media.

Brauchli Responds to WSJ-NYT Feud (Politico)
As the New York Times and Wall Street Journal fire rounds back-and-forth this week, in walks Washington Post editor Marcus Brauchli, who was editor of the Journal when NYT editor Bill Keller wrote a letter to the Polk Committee about the Journal.

In Tiger Woods Scandal, Everyone Kept Their Eyes on the Golf Ball (WaPo)
Howard Kurtz: The Tiger Woods episode exposes the dark secret of the boldface-names beat: It's a shared illusion, perpetrated by the media-industrial complex. We don't really know these people who are cloaked in the mantle of fame, despite their ubiquity on our front pages and television screens and laptops. The Wrap: Tiger's agent blasts NYT for tying Woods to dirty doc. The Daily Beast: What is it about the Tiger Woods story that makes us keep coming back, asks Tina Brown.

Why Is Stephen Colbert on So Many Mag Covers? (Vanity Fair)
Matthew Pressman: What otherworldly power does Stephen Colbert wield over magazine editors that he should so frequently be on their covers? Is it possible that magazines with Colbert on the cover fly off the newsstands? Actually, yes, Colbert covers sell quite well, according to ABC data.

Variety, Hollywood Reporter Both Face the End Game (The Wrap)
Sharon Waxman: The big changes at both of Hollywood's historic but shrinking trade papers this month portend what will either be the final stages of those publications, or a turnaround in the drama of their ultimate survival. No one seems to know which.

Turner Broadcasting Adds to Its TV holdings in India (LAT)
Further expanding its reach in India, Time Warner Inc.'s Turner Broadcasting is shelling out $126.5 million for a 92 percent stake in NDTV Imagine, a popular Hindi general entertainment channel, and some smaller assets. Turner already owns several networks in India.

WaPo Re-org: The CliffsNotes (FishbowlDC)
Tuesday, Washington Post Media president and general manager Steve Hills treated staffers to a PowerPoint deck and memo that outlined the company's organizational changes for 2010. Here's a 15 second summary.

MPA Reduces Staff (Folio:)
The Magazine Publishers of American has eliminated five full-time positions as part of a streamlining of its operations. Departments that were affected include membership, events, research and back office functions. After the cuts, the MPA now carries 30 full-time staffers.

Nielsen Reverses Decision to Drop Live Local TV Ratings (AdAge)
Nielsen will continue to make live viewership data for local TV viewers available in the wake of a furor from media buyers who argued that removing such information would leave them paying for inflated audiences who often skip past ads by using digital video recorders.

Hulu and Fuller Have a Dream (Variety)
Hulu has signed on as one of the primary partners on American Idol creator Simon Fuller's new Web venture, If I Can Dream. Dream, which launches next year, will follow five young, aspiring performers who will live together in the Hollywood Hills and spend time trying to make it in the entertainment biz.