Group items tagged

The NY Times breaks ranks and announces a new plan to charge frequent users of their online site. Will this new economic model work?

"At first glance of Friday's Los Angeles Times, you might think the Mad Hatter has taken over the newspaper. Johnny Depp's colorful character in Disney's new film "Alice in Wonderland" dominates a faked front page, which includes the paper's traditional flag and two stories that appeared in the paper last month. Los Angeles Times spokesman John Conroy said the "cover-wrap" was an "unusual opportunity to stretch the usual boundaries and design an innovative ad designed to create buzz." Roy Peter Clark, a senior journalism scholar at the Poynter Institute, said tough economic times and lower ads sales have forced newspapers to tear down the ethics wall that separated a paper's front page from advertisers."

Time Warner's 4th quarter financial results from 2009. They reported an increase in total revenues, which came from growth in subscriptions. A decline in advertising revenues was reported. Subscriber Statistics During the fourth quarter, Time Warner Cable added 56,000 Digital Video subscribers to 8.866 million. The company lost 105,000 Basic Video subscribers to 12,859 million, added 120,000 Residential high-speed data subscribers to 8.994 million, added 2,000 Commercial high-speed data subscribers to 0.295 million, added 75,000 Residential Digital phone subscribers to 4.153 million, and also added 9,000 Commercial Digital phone subscribers to 0.067 million. During the same quarter the company added 64,000 Triple play subscribers to 3.448 million, added 27,000 Double play subscribers to 4.9 million, and lost 146,000 Single play subscribers to 6.224 million.

Walt Disney Co. is asking theater operators to agree to a shorter time between movie debuts and DVD releases, specifically starting with Alice in Wonderland, in an effort to boost home video sales. The move comes as studios try to find ideas to speed the release times of DVDs to fight slumping DVD revenues.

Michael Roston think the New York Times is onto something with the new model they introduced yesterday, but believes that articles written to protect the public interest musn't charge if it to achieve it's goal. "Presumably, the New York Times still produces reported news that looks out to protect the public interest. If that news is being produced, it should be available to the public, regardless of whether or not they pay for it. It's difficult to educate members of the public about really important things they need to be aware of when you're hitting them up for a $3 day pass or something"

In this age, we are constantly being flooded information, so we simply don't have time to commit to reading newspapers. This piece focuses on the future of newspapers, considering time as the ultimate enemy, rather than the Internet or other media outlets. Nice angle.

"The Los Angeles Times' critic may have panned the film, but that didn't stop Disney from paying top dollar to turn the newspaper's front page into a special advertisement for the new movie, "Alice in Wonderland." The ad, believed to be the first of its kind among America's leading big-city dailies, dismayed some readers and was lamented by media scholars as the latest troubling sign of difficult times at the newspaper and for journalism generally. Hollywood blogger Sharon Waxman cited one "media buyer insider" as saying the Walt Disney Co, the studio behind the film, paid $700,000 for the space.

An interactive timeline of the AOL Time Warner merger, and the subsequent fallout.

A decade ago, America Online merged with Time Warner in a deal valued at $350 billion, which is still the largest merger in American business history. But the trail of despair in subsequent years produced a deal now regarded by many as a colossal mistake.

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who owns both the NY Post and the Wall Street Journal, has been been put in the humiliating position of asking for a favor from his competitors. The Journal has been getting ready to launch a new edition in April, with an NYC metro section intended as a tough competitor to the Times. Meanwhile, Murdoch's News Corporation is upgrading the Post's printing plant in the South Bronx so that it can print the Journal and the Post. But there have been major delays on that, and now Murdoch needs to outsource some of The Post's printing, so he's been reduced to begging his enemies for help.

After more than a year of discussions and months of delays, the New York Times finally may be on the verge of announcing-not of implementing, mind you-a metered system that would allow registered users to read some sto

"The front page of Friday's Los Angeles Times was taken over by an ad for Disney's "Alice in Wonderland." The ad, which featured Johnny Depp's Mad Hatter character, was superimposed over a mock front page. The paper's real A1 appeared behind it. "We worked very closely with Disney to come up with an exceptional and distinctive way to help them open 'Alice in Wonderland,'" John Conroy, a spokesman for the LAT, told The Wrap's Sharon Waxman. "It was designed to create buzz, and to extend the film's already brilliant marketing campaign. "

"Time Warner Inc. is considering a bid of $1.2 billion to $1.5 billion for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. film studio, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions, as second-round offers come due tomorrow. Warner Bros. executives, including Chief Executive Officer Barry Meyer and Chief Operating Officer Alan Horn, will iron out a possible price tomorrow with Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes, said one of the people, who declined to be named because the talks are private. Time Warner may decide not to make an offer, the people said."

New York Times experienced an upswing in Internet ad revenue. This analyst says they shouldn't get too excited.

New York Times Co posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday after slashing costs, but the newspaper publisher warned that print advertising will continue to decline in the current quarter.

A very small number of news organizations, including The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times and Newsday, already charge online readers, each with a system developed largely in-house, and The New York Times announced recently that it planned to do the same. But with advertising plummeting, many other publishers eager for a new source of revenue are considering making the switch, despite the risk of losing audience and advertising.

Discussion of whether Google will leave China with comments from Chinese bloggers and media analysts.

Big changes in measurement methodologies. Refocus on time-shifting measurement.

"Halbreich describes the Sun-Times Media ownership group, which includes Chicago Blackhawks owner and liquor distributor Rocky Wirtz, as "entrepreneurial" and "closer to the business" than previous directors. "They've got great ideas," Halbreich said. "Also (they have) local contacts with major advertisers. We have board members who know folks really well. They pick up the phone, they call someone and the next day Barb Swanson, our senior VP for advertising, is sitting in the office talking about marketing opportunities.""

Rupert Murdoch is taking on the New York Times with a local edition of the Wall Street Journal that is stealing high profile advertisers along with it.

"Edward Adler, head of corporate communications at Time Warner, and one of the most powerful gatekeepers in US media, is leaving the one-time world's largest media company." Adler is leaving because the company is on "such firm financial footing."