Mediagazer: CBS's Les Moonves Says TV Channel Shakeout Could Remedy Squeeze (William Launde/Wall Street Journal)

12:00 PM ET, October 19, 2012

Top News:

Emma Bazilian / Adweek:

After Newsweek, Is Writing on Wall for Newsweeklies? — Newsweek, now facing a digital-only future, isn't the only newsweekly that's struggling in print. Fellow mass-audience title Time is down 19 percent in ad pages in the first half of the year, per Publishers Information Bureau.

Discussion: Adweek, Digiday, MarketingVox News & Trends and Capital New York

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Turning the page on Tina Brown — When Newsweek relaunched in 2011, editor Tina Brown promised frugality and humility. — “I think that big, sort of theatrical relaunches tend to set you up for failure and hype,” Brown, the ex-Vanity Fair, ex-New Yorker, ex-Talk editor whose name …

Discussion: Guardian, FishbowlDC, msnbc.com, The Huffington Post, NPR and The Atlantic Online

Michael Learmonth / AdAge:
Newsweek CEO: Dumping Print ‘Liberates Us’

Discussion: Media Decoder, MediaShift, mediabistro.com, New York Post, Poynter, paidContent, Corporate Intelligence, TUAW, Jon Slattery, FishbowlNY and Reuters

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Out Of The Ashes Of Dead Trees

Discussion: Eamonn Fitzgerald's Rainy Day, magCulture.com/blog, Medacity, The Huffington Post, Media News, BtoB Magazine, Dead Tree Edition, One Man & His Blog, WWD Media Headlines, Economist, Quartz, Gawker, FishbowlNY, Daily Download and Capital New York

Joseph B. White / Wall Street Journal:
Tina Brown: Time to “Embrace Our Future.”

Discussion: Capital New York, Folio, BuzzFeed, CJR, Media Decoder and Guardian

Amita Sharma / KPBS San Diego:

U-T Owner Manchester Shows Interest In Tribune Company — Hotelier and U-T San Diego owner Doug Manchester wants to buy the Tribune Company, which owns the Los Angeles Times. — Since Manchester bought the U-T more than 10 months ago, he's launched a television channel and purchased The North County Times.

Discussion: Cision, NetNewsCheck Latest and FishbowlLA

Robert Channick / Chicago Tribune:
Tribune sets pay wall on some content at $14.99 per month

Discussion: Chicago Business and JIMROMENESKO.COM

Robert Andrews / paidContent:

Google News faces mass newspaper boycott in Brazil — This will sound familiar to anyone who has watched Google News' relations with news publishers over the years.. — The next country in which tension has erupted is one of the world's fastest-growing economies.

Discussion: Forbes, JOURNALISM IN THE AMERICAS and Search Engine Land

BBC:

Google threatens French media ban over proposed law — Google has threatened to exclude French media sites from search results if France goes ahead with plans to make search engines to pay for content. — In a letter sent to several ministerial offices, Google said such a law “would threaten its very existence”.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic Online, Bigmouthmedia Search …, CNET, Techdirt, The Verge, Telegraph, TechCrunch, The Next Web and FRANCE 24

William Launde / Wall Street Journal:

CBS's Les Moonves Says TV Channel Shakeout Could Remedy Squeeze — CBS Corp. CBS -0.12% Chief Executive Les Moonves has an answer for cable and satellite operators who complain their profits are getting squeezed by continually rising content costs: eliminate low-rated channels from their lineup.

William Launder / Wall Street Journal:

‘Eyeballs Win,’ Says CBS's Moonves — Longtime CEO Les Moonves Says a Channel Shakeout Could Be Industry Plus — CBS Corp. Chief Executive Les Moonves has an answer for cable and satellite operators who complain their profits are getting squeezed by continually rising content costs: eliminate low-rated channels from their lineup.

Discussion: Deadline.com

Jim Brunner / Seattle Times:

Seattle Times news staffers protest company's political-ad campaign — More than 100 Seattle Times news staffers - including reporters, photographers, columnists, artists, editors and online news producers - signed a letter Thursday protesting the Times Co's decision to sponsor newspaper ads …

Discussion: Poynter, Media Decoder, Guardian, The Seattle Times, Slog and The New Yorker Blog

Jim Romenesko: Seattle Times political ad campaign ‘absolutely takes the cake’

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

The Telegraph's much-delayed digital paywall appears to have taken another step back, following the departure of the senior executive responsible for the strategy. Steve McLaughlin, Telegraph Media Group's chief commercial officer, held responsibility for digital strategy and revenues …

Discussion: NetNewsCheck Latest

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

Tim Davie to head BBC Worldwide — Appointment of new chief executive marks end of John Smith's 23-year career with corporation — Tim Davie, the head of BBC's director of audio and music, has been appointed as the new chief executive of BBC Worldwide. — The appointment of Davie …

Discussion: Digital Spy, Media Week and Radio Today with RCS

Rob Williams / The Independent:

Police begin formal investigation into Jimmy Savile sex abuse allegations after identifying more than 200 potential victims — Police have begun a formal criminal investigation into alleged child abuse by Jimmy Saville, which now includes other living people, Scotland Yard said today.

Discussion: Guardian, Bloomberg, @thetimes and The Times

Richard Horgan / FishbowlLA:

Penske Puts a Woman in Charge at Variety — This is pretty sweet. After 15 years with Variety, Michelle Sobrino-Stearns can add a new title to go along with sales director, managing director of features, vice president and associate publisher: the trade publication's first-ever female publisher.

Discussion: mediabistro.com