Morning Wire: Job cuts, Playboy reports, Paramount, Vivendi misses....

Declining friendly offer from KKR played a roll French media giant Vivendi posted ass flat third-quarter sales growth, blames it's mobile and music divisions. The company declined to elaborate on a failed friendly takeover approach by the private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company, and stopped short of updating its full-year outlook. Last weekend, Vivendi confirmed reports of the K.K.R. approach, but noted then that talks had not led to an offer. Playboy beats Wall Street's meat We always thought a company like Hef's would always report stellar earnings but that isn't the case. Lower revenue at the adult entertainment company's namesake magazine and higher expenses in other divisions contributed to the fall in net income. We can bet the more raunchy content men can access on the web has something to do with this. Note to Play Boy CEO Christie Hefner: Invest more money in the web and nasty up your content a little more. Paramount announces Tom Cruises replacement It looks like Brad Grey found someone to fill the space left vacant when Viacom grand daddy Sumner Redstone shit canned Tom Cruise. Paramount Pictures announced an alliance with the director Martin Scorsese on Tuesday, in which he will seek to produce and direct films, television and other content for the studio.Mr. Scorsese, who is based in New York, has not had an official working alliance with a studio in several years. LA Times blood bath on the horizon LA Times' former editor Dean Baquet didn't have the balls to axe staff members so he left. But that isn't stopping the paper's publisher David Hiller who seems to have balls from moving forward with the planned blood bath. Speaking to employees at the paper's newsroom, the ballsy Hiller said there will be reductions, but not this year. He said cuts would come next year, and did not know if they would be made through attrition or layoffs. Well at least they're giving the poor bastards time to look for another job. -Shomari Hines