Mediagazer: New York Times Shares and Options Rise on Slim Takeover Speculation (Bloomberg)

5:00 PM ET, September 8, 2010

Top News:

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:

CNN Makes It Official: Piers Morgan Will Replace Larry King — CNN said Wednesday that Piers Morgan would take over for Larry King next January, putting an end to speculation about one of the most prized time slots in television. — Mr. Morgan, the British-born journalist and talent show judge …

Discussion: Mediaite, The Wrap, International Media, Romenesko, New York Observer, Tuned In, The Wire, On Media's Blog, The Huffington Post, Press Gazette and PopEater

Alan Duke / CNN:

Piers Morgan to replace Larry King — (CNN) — British TV host Piers Morgan will take over Larry King's prime-time hour with “a candid, in-depth newsmaker interview program” starting in January, CNN announced Wednesday. — Morgan, best known to American viewers as a judge on NBC's …

Discussion: The Wrap, Mediaite, PC Magazine, newsfeed.time.com and Ryan Seacrest What's Happening

Bloomberg:

New York Times Shares and Options Rise on Slim Takeover Speculation — New York Times Co. shares rose as much as 8 percent and bullish options trading surged to a six- month high on renewed speculation the newspaper publisher may be acquired. — Almost 6,400 calls to buy the stock changed hands …

Discussion: Romenesko, MediaMemo, New York Observer, Reuters and The Wire

Next Media Animation:
Wall Street Journal takes on New York Times

Discussion: BoomTown, On Media's Blog and Gothamist

Christopher Lawton / Wall Street Journal:

Google TV to Roll Out World-Wide Next Year — BERLIN—Google Inc. Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said the Internet giant plans to launch its Google TV platform globally next year, in the company's latest move to expand its reach outside its core U.S. market. — Google used Mr. Schmidt's …

Discussion: Pulse2 and Multichannel News, more at Techmeme »

Nicola Leske / Reuters:
Google to start TV service in U.S. this autumn

Discussion: Reuters, Shelly Palmer, Fast Company, MediaPost, MediaPost, TVWeek.com, broadstuff and Splitsider

Staci D. Kramer / paidContent:

NPR's Argo Launches With Dozen Sites In Search Of Sustainability — NPR promised to launch its $3 million local journalism effort Project Argo this summer and it's making the deadline with days to spare. The Argo Network goes live officially today: twelve sites hosted by 14 stations …

Discussion: Center for Sustainable … and Romenesko

Lois Beckett / The Snitch:
NPR Takes ‘Web-First’ Approach to Blogging. What Does That Mean?

Discussion: rbr.com

Associated Press:

Tribune names head of restructuring effort — CHICAGO - Tribune Co. promoted its general counsel to the position of chief restructuring officer on Wednesday as it attempts to lift itself out of Chapter 11 protection. — The publisher, which owns the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune …

Gabe Rivera / The Atlantic Wire:

MEDIA DIET: Gabe Rivera: What I Read — How do people deal with the torrent of information that rains down on us all? What's the secret to staying on top of the news without surrendering to the chaos of it? In this series, we ask people who seem well-informed to describe their media diets.

Eric Wilson / New York Times:

At Fashion Week, It's Where You Sit That Counts — Bright and early Monday morning (Labor Day, though you wouldn't know it), every seat in the offices of the fashion publicist Paul Wilmot was filled with a young account executive whose holiday weekend was being disrupted by the mechanics …

Discussion: Gothamist and New York Observer

Zeke Turner / New York Observer:

Tina Brown Reaffirms Commitment to Daily Beast; 'I'm Not Serious About The ‘Newsweek’ Thing!' — Earlier tonight Tina Brown co-hosted a book party for Harold Ford Jr.'s More Davids Than Goliaths at Barbetta on West 46th Street. Drinks were in the garden. — The Observer asked Ms. Brown …

Discussion: Romenesko, The Wire and On Media's Blog

Joe Pompeo / Silicon Alley Insider:

Brandon Holley Leaves Yahoo, Heads Back To Conde Nast As Editor Of Lucky — Back in March, Brandon Holley spoke with The New York Times about how “her new life as a digital women's-service journalist is much less glamorous than her old one at Condé Nast's glossy dream factory,” …

Discussion: Romenesko, Gawker, New York Magazine, New York Observer, paidContent and minonline.com

Tom Peck / The Independent:

Porn boss to oversee children's TV at Five — “Suburban orgies” and “Wobbling Whoppers” are all in a day's work for Paul Dunthorne, the managing director of Television X, Richard Desmond's network of adult pay-TV channels. But in an unusual case of diversification, the executive has just welcomed …

Stuart Elliott / New York Times:

Glamour Promotes Its Brand and Its Readers — FOR decades, fans of soap operas have been watching the exploits of the young and the restless. Now, will the readers and advertisers of a well-known woman's magazine want to be, or reach, the young and the posh?

Bill Carter / New York Times:

At ABC News After Westin, Risk and Opportunity — David Westin's resignation as president of ABC News represents, in the words of one long-time television news executive, “an inflection point” for an industry still trying to figure out how to survive. — Andrew Heyward, a former president …

Discussion: Romenesko, TVNewser, Company Town, Associated Press, New York Observer, Wall Street Journal, The Wrap and Variety

Sharon Waxman / The Wrap:

Jim Wiatt, ex-William Morris Chief, Takes Content Strategy Job With AOL — Jim Wiatt, the subject of much speculation after a bruising exit from William Morris Endeavor last year, will be joining the Internet portal AOL as a strategic advisor to develop content partnerships across media and entertainment.

Discussion: Media Decoder, Hollywood Reporter, Deadline.com, paidContent and Media News International

Nate Freeman / New York Observer:

Fidel Castro Has The Atlantic Over for a Visit — It's not your typical relaxing day in Martha's Vineyard: while on vacation, Atlantic writer Jeffrey Goldberg got a call out of the blue from Fidel Castro's office, inviting him down to the island for a chat, he explains in a piece titled …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Riptide 2.0 and The Daily Dish

Jack Shafer / Slate:

Newsweek makes the publisher's case for not sending print journalists onto TV news shows. — Appearing on television can be good for a print journalist's career. But does it add any publicity value to the publications for which they write and edit? The decline and sale of Newsweek indicates …

Discussion: Romenesko

Staci D. Kramer / paidContent:

Gordon McLeod Resigns As President, WSJ Digital — Gordon McLeod is leaving Dow Jones (NSDQ: NWS) effective October 1. The president of the Wall Street Journal Digital network announced his resignation in an internal memo this morning, telling his team: “A lot has changed in the digital world since I joined you four years ago.

Discussion: The Wrap, The Wire and Broadcasting & Cable

Max Read / Gawker:

Eliot Spitzer's New CNN Show Looks Awful — Here's a “sneak peek” at CNN's new show, featuring former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer and Pulitzer Prize-winning opinion columnist Kathleen Parker. It looks embarrassing and unwatchable! Here's an incomplete list of things that are bad about it: