Pay Cuts, Quarterly Losses & Other Happy News
• The New York Times Co. has reached a "tentative agreement" with its union to impose a 5 percent pay cut on employees through the end of the year. [NYP]
• Disney's ABC is joining Fox and NBC and taking a stake in Hulu. [AdAge]
• As expected, Time Warner said it may spin off AOL. But it may end up selling it, too. Either way, Gerald Levin, Dick Parsons and Steve Case will still be responsible for the worst merger in American corporate history. [NYT]
• Viacom reported that first quarter profit dropped 34 percent amid falling revenue at both its film and TV networks businesses. [AP]
• Related: Viacom boss Sumner Redstone is as senile as ever. At the Milken conference in Beverly Hills, he said he wouldn't comment on his competitors before lashing out at Ted Turner, Rupert Murdoch, and Jay Leno. [THR]
• The swine flu is affecting us all. The Today show was forced to cancel its "Today Takes a Vacation" special next week on account of the epidemic. [E&P]
• Scott Donaton is out as Entertainment Weekly's publisher. [AdAge]
• Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia reported a $16.8 million net loss for the first quarter of 2009 as revenues declined 25 percent. [Folio]
• The Boston Globe is making "serious progress" with unions over the $20 million in concessions that parent the New York Times Co. is seeking. [E&P]
• Glenn Beck is on track to make $18 million this year. How depressing. [BI]