new-york-times

The Times, Jon Stewart & The Gossip Girl Spin-Off

cityfile · 03/06/09 11:23AM

• Got an idea for how Arthur Sulzberger Jr. might be able to rescue the struggling New York Times? He now says he'll "consider anything." [NYO]
• Hachette plans to leave Midtown for cheaper space near Wall Street. [NYP]
• Josh Schwartz is finishing the pilot for an as-yet-untitled Gossip Girl spin-off that will be tied into GG's season finale on May 11. [NYO]
• Depressing: The story of the 55-year-old former TV Guide editor who is now an unpaid intern—yes, unpaid intern—at wowOwow.com. [LAT]
• Why did Jon Stewart go off on Rick Santelli? An unnamed "on-air host" claims Stewart is "bizarrely obsessed with" with the CNBC reporter. [Dealbreaker]
• Speaking of Stewart, Slate's The Big Money would like you remind you that Jon Stewart is not actually a journalist. Yea, thanks for that. [TBM]

Shady Obama Barber Pushes Gray-Hair Story

Ryan Tate · 03/04/09 11:36PM

Barack Obama's barber "Zariff" has no last name and is suddenly in all the papers explaining that the president has GENUINE gray hair after just 44 days in office. Why?

WSJ Scales Back, Dan Rather Now Hiring

cityfile · 03/04/09 11:34AM

• The Wall Street Journal's new glossy mag, WSJ, will remain a quarterly and will not be going monthly as planned due to "market conditions." [WWD]
• Amazon is launching a program to let you read books by iPhone. [WSJ]
• Fox is ahead in the ratings with 18 to 49-year-olds thanks to the success of Idol, but CBS is gaining ground and is now No. 1 among total viewers. [LAT]
• As expected, Julius Genachowski has been nominated as FCC head. [AP]
• Cablevision will soon start targeting TV ads based on "income, ethnicity, gender or whether the homeowner has children or pets." [NYT]
• WNBC's new digital channel, New York Nonstop, launched Monday. [NYDN]
David Carr's Carpetbagger blog will not be a year-round thing. [NYT]
• Good news, unemployed TV journalists: Dan Rather is hiring. [NYO]

No Snow Day Tomorrow

cityfile · 03/02/09 11:00AM

If you managed to use the snowstorm as an excuse to avoid going into work today, you may have a harder time making the case tomorrow: The mayor says schools will most likely reopen on Tuesday, reports "A.G. Sulzberger," the son of Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr., in his first post for the paper's City Room blog. [NYT]

The Green Movement Goes Down the Crapper

Owen Thomas · 02/27/09 03:40PM

When did the New York Times Op-Ed page decide to revert to the loopy environmentalism of the 1970s? The latest commercial disguised as a broadside features an author who wants to change the way we wee.

Cable News Ratings, Another Newspaper Bites the Dust

cityfile · 02/27/09 12:08PM

• Fox News remains in first place in the cable news ratings race. MSNBC is showing modest gains, while CNN is dropping like a lead balloon. [NYT, MM]
• Cablevision says it plans to charge readers to access to Newsday.com. [NYP]
• Hearst is launching an e-reader for magazines and newspapers. [Fortune]
• The Times is launching several local "citizen journalism" sites. [E&P]
• Sony CEO Howard Stringer has pushed aside two senior execs. [WSJ]
• Old Navy's newest ad campaign resembles a celeb tabloid. [Jossip]
Peter Scarlet has resigned as the Tribeca Film Fest's artistic director. [THR]
• Take a tour of the White House with Katie Couric if you'd like. [YouTube]
• Denver's Rocky Mountain News says goodbye. [RMN]

Snuggie Vs. Slanket War A Sad Reflection Of America

Ryan Tate · 02/27/09 04:23AM

So it has come to this: The makers of three different wearable blankets arguing, in the New York Times, over who pioneered this obesity-accelerating technology. We are truly a pathetic nation.

Jerry's New Show, Cutback at T, Oscar Ad Spending

cityfile · 02/26/09 01:07PM

Jerry Seinfeld has a new project in the works for NBC. The Marriage Ref will feature celebs "judging couples in the midst of marital disputes." [THR]
• The Times is scaling back the number of issues it publishes of T. [NYP]
• The Gray Lady does say it has enough cash to last through '09, though. [E&P]
• Denver's Rocky Mountain News is shutting down on Friday. [AP]
• Fox has renewed The Simpsons for two more seasons. [Variety]
• ABC collected $72 million for the 26 minutes of ad time it sold during the Oscars. Overall, ad spending fell by 10 percent this year, though. [TVW, NYT]
• Doubledown Media, which ceased operations recently, is bankrupt. [MM]
• You can now download CBS shows to your iPhone. Enjoy. [NYT]

Obama's Address, MSNBC's Faux Pas, CW Renewals

cityfile · 02/25/09 11:23AM

• President Obama's first Congressional address drew in 33.6 million viewers last night, according to preliminary figures from Nielsen. [ML]
• It was Chris Matthews who muttered "Oh, God" on MSNBC last night, right when Bobby Jindal was about to deliver the Republican response. [Politico]
• Fourth-quarter profit declined 77 percent at the Washington Post Co. [NYT]
• Remember the DABA Girls? Yea, well, much of what they told the Times was BS, which is why the paper issued a correction today. [Newsweek, NYT]
• The CW has renewed a bunch of shows, including 90210, Smallville, America's Next Top Model, and—most importantly—Gossip Girl. [Variety]
• Ex-Domino editor Deborah Needleman is "spending more time at the gym" in order to acquire "one of those Connecticut-housewife bodies," FYI. [MM]
Jared Kushner may be cutting a deal to sell the Observer at Starbucks. [NYP]