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Stewart and Colbert to Return Without Writers (NYT)
Comedy Central's pair of popular news satirists, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, will return to their television shows on Jan. 7, two months after production was suspended because of a writers' strike. Stewart, host of The Daily Show, and Colbert, host of The Colbert Report, will have to improvise their monologues and interviews without the help of their writing staffs. AP: Colbert chosen as AP's "Celebrity of the Year."

New Guard Arrives at Tribune, a Developer Who Speaks His Mind (NYT)
On Thursday, after completing an $8.2 billion deal that turned the Tribune Company into a privately held operation, Samuel Zell made himself chief executive, announced a new set of directors and managers, and declared that the troubled company would look to raise revenue more than cut spending. Portfolio: I'm Sam Zell. I'm here to tell you that the transaction from hell is done," the new owner said yesterday at a press conference. "It's also the transaction that nobody in the world except us collectively believed was going to happen, but it did." LAT: To the newspaper analysts and industry experts predicting layoffs and tough times ahead, Zell noted that they had already been proven wrong once — in believing that fast-declining revenue would prevent him from financing the transaction to take control of Tribune. LAT: LA Times employees and civic leaders express cautious optimism. And many like the new boss' straight-talking style. LAT: Chicago hopes Zell polishes civic icon. LAT: Zell says Cubs are No. 1 — to be sold off.

Nickelodeon Mulling Post-Spears Pregnancy Show (AP)
Nickelodeon is considering a special for its young audience about sex and love following the news that 16-year-old Zoey 101 star Jamie Lynn Spears is pregnant. The television network has made no announcement about the future of Zoey 101, its popular program aimed primarily at youngsters aged 9- 14. NYDN: Critic says Nick needs to cut its ties with Jamie Lynn Spears.

Letterman's Company to Meet With Writers Today (AP via USAT)
Leaders of striking television writers plan to meet with David Letterman's production company in an attempt to reach a separate deal that could make the Late Show the only late-night TV program on the air with a writing staff. The union's announcement last week that it would negotiate separately with production companies was seen as an indication that writers would work out something with Worldwide Pants.

McCain Campaign Calls Drudge Story About Lobbyist a 'Smear' (USAT)
"I've never done any favors for anybody — lobbyist or special interest group — that's a clear, 24-year record," Republican presidential candidate John McCain said. The Arizona senator was responding to this posting at the Drudge Report, which alleges that The New York Times has been working on a story about whether he gave some sort of special treatment to a telecommunications industry lobbyist.

Perez Hilton Pulls Videos From YouTube (TV Week)
Celebrity gossip queen Perez Hilton said he's unlikely to post videos on YouTube any longer and instead will probably host them on his own site, Perezhilton.com. The blogger and the biggest video-sharing service are feuding after YouTube pulled some of his videos due to complaints from copyright holders. YouTube today reinstated Hilton's channel on the site, but that didn't mollify him.

All the Nude That's Fit to Print (NYP)
The feud inside the New York Times over a provocative photo of a semi-nude, underage fashion model intensified this week after Times Magazine Editor Gerald Marzorati fired off a missive defending the photo, writing "the standards wardens here would have been the very people 100 years ago to have been made apoplectic by a Renoir nude."

Nielsen: '07 Ad Spend Down Slightly Through Sept. (Mediaweek)
Of the 16 media segments tracked by Nielsen Monitor-Plus, only six showed increases, led by the Internet, with a 15.9 percent gain. Other media that grew during the period were national magazines, up 7.7 percent; national Sunday supplements (6.0 percent); outdoor (5.7 percent); national cable TV (1.2 percent); and Spanish-language TV (0.5 percent).

NBC, ABC in Scheduling Showdown (Variety)
NBC and ABC have engaged in a cat-and-mouse game over the scheduling of the Peacock's Celebrity Apprentice debut and the Alphabet's final original episode of Grey's Anatomy. NBC originally announced plans to bow "Celebrity Apprentice" on Thursday, Jan. 3, but with the final pre-strike episode of Grey's Anatomy slated on the night, NBC opted to move out of the way.

Negative Spin Takes Cheeky Poke at Blender (AdAge)
Spin magazine is sending a semi-anonymous mailer to media buyers, advertisers and reporters attacking Blender magazine with a mock Weekly World News approach. "Alien Abductions Confirmed," reads the fake front page of Weekly World Views. It shows an alien saucer beaming up hapless humans. "Hundreds of Thousands of Readers Gone Missing."

CNBC Apparently Scared of Fox Business After All (Silicon Alley Insider)
CNBC was doing a great job of ignoring Fox Business News and letting Fox's own gaffes and "average Joe" positioning bury it. And the strategy was working: Only a month or two after FBN's launch, we hear from a NYSE source that there's barely a monitor in the building tuned to FBN anymore. But now CNBC is implicitly threatening guests who have the temerity to appear on FBN.

Press Foundation to Honor Journalists (AP)
The National Press Foundation will honor half a dozen journalists at its 25th anniversary dinner in February. Thomas L. Friedman, editorial page columnist at The New York Times, will receive the W.M. Kiplinger Award for Distinguished Contributions to Journalism for his insightful coverage of world and national affairs. Jeff Cohen, editor of the Houston Chronicle, will receive the Benjamin C. Bradlee Editor of the Year Award.

More TV Viewers Turning to Web (Reuters via Hollywood Reporter)
More television viewers are turning to the Internet to watch videos, films and TV episodes, according to a new survey. In the past year, About 65% of the 2,455 American adults surveyed by Harris Interactive said they have watched a video on YouTube, compared with 42% during the same time last year.

107 Magazine Predictions for 2008 (Folio:)
Dylan Stableford: It's that time of year again, when magazine editors and publishers reflect on the perennially "crazy" year past ("What the hell just happened?") and bravely look to the future. Questions are pondered ("Which magazines will fold? Which will survive? And just how will Jann Wenner commemorate the Rolling Stone's 41st anniversary?"). Answers are elusive.

Facebook Erases Old Concepts of Privacy (The Nation)
Ari Melber: The flap over Facebook's ad system — and the company's growing market dominance in the past year — show how social networking sites are rupturing the traditional conception of privacy and priming a new generation for complacency in a surveillance society. Users can complain, but the information keeps flowing.