Jeff Bewkes to step down as Time Warner CEO, at least his contract says he can if he doesn’t get the Chairman title

MEDIA WIRE DAILY So Time Warner shareholders and perhaps some board members are pushing for the CEO and Chairman titles to be separate to avoid what they call conflict of interests. However Jeff Bewkes’s contract reportedly states that if he isn’t handed the Chairmanship, to go along with his CEO-ship, he can resign from the company. So if it the vote goes in favor of separating both titles come May 16 at the annual meeting, will Jeff Bewkes leave Time Warner? Not locking down the Chairman title to go with the CEO title may leave Jeff feeling as though he really isn’t calling the shots and may cause him to think about leaving. But he would be stupid to let a little thing like a title drive him to the exit. Where would he go? There are no top spots open at any other major media company so that’s out the door. However one can speculate that this was all designed by the board to get rid of Bewkes in favor of someone else, because he doesn’t know what the hell he is doing. But that’s going off the cliff a little bit. On that not, here is a late poll: WILL/SHOULD JEFF BEWKES QUIT AS CEO IF HE ISN'T NAMED CHAIRMAN AS WELL YES, HE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT HE'S DOING ANYWAY NO, HE WOULD BE STUPID TO QUIT OVER THAT

Who will land Newsday?

So by now you know there is a bidding war brewing for Long Island's Newsday newspaper between 3 prominent business figures in New York. News Corp's Rupert Murdoch, New York Daily News owner Mort Zuckerman and Cablevision boss James Dolan. Some of you may think you know who will win the battle but, you may be surprised with the outcome if it ever picks up steam. So based on that we want to know what you think via today's poll: WHO WILL WIN THE BIDDING WAR FOR NEWSDAY? MORT ZUCKERMAN- NY Daily News Owner JAMES DOLAN- Cablevision RUPERT MURDOCH- News Corp A PRIVATE INVESTMENT GROUP NEWSDAY STAFFERS

Poll Result: David Pecker probably paid for sex, or is still paying for sex...

MEDIA WIRE DAILY One can say, it's why American Media Inc is always in the red, but fortunately for American Media CEO David Pecker, it’s not the case, at least we don't think so, but we wouldn't be surprised if it was. Following the whole Elliot Spitzer getting busted for buying time with high priced whores, we did a little poll to see which media figure you think is the most likely to have paid for, or is still paying for sex and a bunch of you overwhelmingly voted David Pecker most with 41% followed by Viacom/CBS grandpa Sumner Redstone with 18%. Former Time Warner CEO Dick Parsons, CBS CEO Les Moonves and Former Disney CEO Mike Eisner tied with 9% each. We would have included former Time Warner CEO Wayne Pace in the poll but we all know he is still on the whore prowl. Hell he is probably shacked up in a bordello somewhere right now. Anyway check the results:

Former TimeWarner CFO Wayne Pace and Governor Elliot Spitzer have the same taste in women, high priced and slutty

So New York Governor Elliot Spitzer got busted for spending cash on high priced sluts and so goes the whole sex and politics thing. But it’s also the same in big business as you all know. Case in point, former Time Warner CFO Wayne Pace was also busted for spending big on high priced Manhattan sluts, and we all know it doesn't end there. With that said, a late poll. Which media exec is more likely to have paid for sex or is still paying for sex through deep rooted back channels? Which one of these guys is more likely to have paid for, or is still paying for sex? Jeff Bewkes Rupert Murdoch Dick Parsons Mike Eisner Bob Iger Les Moonves Phil Dauman Sumner Redstone Peter Chernin David Pecker

Jeff Zucker, Thomas Jefferson fan?

"The Writers Guild of America strike was like a great forest fire. "Fires fertilise the soil with new ash and clear the ground, often setting the stage for robust growth." - Jeff Zucker BY SDH NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker, like his fellow media execs, is happy that the long slog that was the WGA strike is now over and all energy is now trained on getting everything back to normal, or as close to it as possible. Jeff Zucker speaking last month in Las Vegas to the National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) played up the WGA strike as a positive, saying the strike could spark robust growth. But is Zucker, naive to suggest this or is he on the money? Is Zucker suggesting that, due to the 3 month long strike, writers are over flowing with content and fresh ideas? This is probably the case, but It will cost some networks millions to promote the return of hit shows that were put on hold during the strike. Andrew Keen on New Media [The Independent]

Jeff Bewkes's game of wait and see with Time Inc, not a smart one, or so you say

BY SDH When Jeff Bewkes hosted his first earnings call as CEO of Time Warner many were anxious to hear his plans for the future of the company. Some of the things he mentioned were expected like continuing to revamp AOL from sleepy dial up to ad machine. But what no one really expected was his decision to keep the luggy Time Inc magazine business as is, with hopes of it becoming growth business via digitalization. We asked you, our readers if Jeff Bewkes was making a mistake by leaving Time Inc with its over 100 magazines in tact and 56% of you who participated said he is indeed making a mistake.

For Jeff Bewkes, it’s a damned if you do damned if you don't kinda situation

BY SDH Just a little over a month on the job and Jeff Bewkes finally gave some hints as to what his immediate first plans are to set overweight Time Warner on a path to re-invention (if you will). As you know by now from all the coverage its been getting, the lanky lord of everything from CNN to HBO to Time Inc, said that his team is working to split off AOL's outdated dial up business with plans for a possible sale (to who?), he is also taking a long hard look at cable and will get back to investors on that one. But the shocker of that whole earnings report for us was the fact that Bewkes says that he is sticking it out with Time Inc, the publisher of magazines like Time and People. OK so maybe it wasn't too much of a shocker but we thought that like AOL and Time Warner cable, Time Inc would have been put on a lift for a serious look under the hood. Nope. Bewkes will decide what to do with the magazine business if and when it turns into a growth business with all the digitalization going on over there and all. So anyway on that note, today's poll: IS JEFF BEWKES MAKING A MISTAKE BY LEAVING TIME INC INTACT? YES, THE COMPANY HIT A GLASS ROOF YEARS AGO NO, IT CAN BECOME A GROWTH BUSINESS JEFF BEWKES IS AN IDIOT

Guardian Media Group survey says Google and James Murdoch are the media sensations to watch in 2008. We would have went with Britney Spears

-SDH Guardian Media Group, owner of the MediaGuardian.co.uk website surveyed media executives and consultants on who/what they think will be the media industry's star in 2008 and the results came back with James "Jimmy" Murdoch and Google's Android at the top as the media sensations to watch in 2008. Now, the results would have been different if the kids at Guardian Media Group got creative with the choices. If Britney Spears was included in the survey she would've probably came out on top solo. Anyway, other names/companies thrown into the mix included Facebook, LinkedIn, TechCrunch among others. In some weird way, Rupert Murdoch wins again doesn't he!

You think Jeff Bewkes is hot and you want to do him! We think you just want free rides on one of Time Warner's Gulfstream Jets

Sarah Jessica Parker was right about Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes. 47% of you said you would hit it, and 11% of you say you already did!! Jeff may have to answer to Peggy on that one.

Ladies, Is Jeff Bewkes easy on your eyes?

He flirts with actresses, he is stubborn, he rules over one of the biggest media companies in the world, he now has a fleet of Gulfstream jets at his disposal and Sarah Jessica Parker thinks he is easy on the eyes. To some, all these things would make Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes catch, if not for the long term then a catch and let go! With that out of the way, Ladies, today’s poll: JEFF BEWKES, WOULD YOU HIT IT? HELL YES HELL TO THE NO I DID ALREADY MAYBE!

And now a no shocker poll result

In a poll posted 1/7/08 we asked which media brand was easily recognizable and 31% of you said Disney logo followed by 23% who said the CBS logo

Do you know your media brands?

Today's Poll: Can you spot it from a far? WHICH ONE OF THESE MEDIA BRANDS IS EASILY RECOGNIZABLE? THE DISNEY LOGO THE DOWJONES LOGO THE CBS LOGO THE NBC UNIVERSAL LOGO THE TIME WARNER LOGO THE VIACOM LOGO THE NEWS CORP LOGO THE BERTELSMANN LOGO THE REUTERS LOGO THE BLOOMBERG LOGO

Warner -Universal, you dig it

In our poll "Warner-Universal: Can you dig it?" 47% of you totally dig it.

The biggest media story of 2007 was the Dow Jones acquisition, shocker!

In a poll posted on this site, we asked you our readers what you thought was the biggest media story of 2007 and un-surprisingly 47% of you said that the Dow Jones acquisition was the big story of 2007. In second place, there was a tie between the changing of the guards at Time Warner and the Writers strike with 21% each. Following behind that was another tie between the Dreamworks/Viacom beef and flood of magazine re-designs at 5%. What will be the biggest media business story of 2008? Jeff Bewkes resigns, Sumner Redstone dies, Germany's Bertelsmann hires a black senior executive? Wait are there even black people in Germany? Anyway, hopefully we will be around to say our piece on whatever the biggest story is.

Warner-Universal: Can you dig it?

Let’s say TimeWarner decides to sell off all of AOL, according to estimates a successful sale of the online giant, could fetch in the neighborhood of $18 billion. What would TimeWarner do with this chunk of cash? Well there have been suggestions that CEO Jeff Bewkes should kick the tires on NBC Universal if and when General Electric decides to sell it after the 2008 Olympics, possibly creating a new media giant called Warner-Universal. But how would a Warner-Universal look? Well for starters a merger would result in a major sell off of redundant units, not to mention a massive layoff. NBC Universal is home to MSNBC which competes with TimeWarner's CNN. Would the two be merged, or would MSNBC be put on the block in favor of CNN. How about the movie studios? Would a Warner-Universal hold on to two major movie studios by merging them to create Warner-Universal Studios, or would one be sold off? More importantly, how would senior management look? Clearly TimeWarner being the buyer would have Jeff Bewkes at the helm, but would NBC Universal’s little big man Jeff Zucker be out of a job, or would Bewkes name him his number two? We think Zucker would be toast. But that’s just us. Today's poll: WARNER-UNIVERSAL: CAN YOU DIG IT? YES MAYBE NO WAY NOT SURE

We hope Hearst's digital czar Chuck Cordray has a week's supply of condoms

-ZOE S. We asked you answered. Hearst Digital Media head Chuck Cordray is hittable according to Media Wire Daily readers. 42% of you who participated, wouldn't mind bedding Chucky. 32% of you said you wouldn't. But what really caught our attention, is the 26% of y0u who said you already hit it! it looks like Chucky does get down in the sack. Do we dare ask who exactly is the 26% who hopped in the sack with Mr. Cordray?

Hey Peggy Northrop, you're wanted!

So about to two weeks ago we did a poll on Reader's Digest Editrix Peggy Northrop asking if you would hit it, and man do you want to hit it. 73% of participating voters would love to have one on one relations with you. Peggy, take this as a compliment, you're a hot in our eyes. Whoever has you in his life is one lucky bastard. Stay sexy baby girl.

Chuck Cordray is probably OK in the sack

Ladies, the boys can't have all the fun right? Hearst Digital Media head Chuck Cordray has been in the news a lot lately. He must have some kind of statement deal with Mediaweek or something because he has been saying quite a bit. Chuck is a pretty good looking guy, his teeth look good and he looks like he knows how to put an outfit together, and he needs a tan. With that said, today's poll: CHUCK CORDRAY: WOULD YOU HIT IT? YES NO I DID ALREADY

Is it just us, or does Reader's Digest Association have some of the hottest women in the magazine game?

The folks at Reader's Digest Association are all about making sure that the females on their editorial and/or executive team are looking their best if and when they are ever the subject of an article or blog posting. Case in point, we just got an email from RDA's Director of Public Relations, Ellen Morgenstern instructing us to use the picture (right) with future mentions of Eva Dillon and we have to say..........Huba Huba!!!! RDA ruler Mary Berner is outfitting that whole operation with some nice looking ladies and you know, Media Wire Daily loooooooves the ladies. It would be nice to have recent pics of Mary, Peggy and others as well….. hint hint!! With that said today’s poll: EVA DILLON: WOULD YOU HIT IT? HELL TO THE YES MAYBE NOT EVEN ON A COLD WINTER NIGHT

Holy smokes, new Reader's Digest Editrix Peggy Northrop is kinda hot, we would hit it

Reader's Digest has a fox in the house. We didn't realize how hot new Reader's Digest Editor Peggy Northrop was until we did a search and Neil couldn't take his eyes off the screen. We have no idea how old the pic to the right is but, clearly Peggy has that grown woman sexiness going on. She more looks like she should be over at Conde heading up one of their big fashion glossies but, she is in good company at RD we guess. Ms. Northrop are you married? Anyway, what do you think? PEGGY NORTHROP, WOULD YOU HIT IT? HELL YES MAYBE HELL TO THE NO

Sumner Redstone is dyeing

-MEDIA WIRE DAILY At 84 there is no way Sumner Redstone lacks the grays. So clearly he has his hair dyed at least once a month to help create the mental illusion that he is still young. However sometimes Sumner may miss an appointment or two which results in his true roots peeking out at us like the photo to the right. If Sumner Redstone does have his hair dyed to preserve his youth! Which product do you think he uses? WHICH HAIR DYE FOR MEN DO YOU THINK SUMNER REDSTONE USES? JUST FOR MEN FERIA FOR MEN BY L'OREAL EXPRESS FOR MEN HIS WIFE'S HAIR DYE HIS COLOR IS NATURAL

Wendy Deng Murdoch: would you hit it? We would!

Wendy Deng Murdoch, wife of the mighty Rupert, is not the usual media wife cut out. She can be mistaken for a high powered celebrity magazine Editrix or even a hard charging publicist who dates all her male clients. What sets her apart from her media wife peers? Why do we find ourselves fantasizing about her? We're sure we aren't the only ones who wouldn't mind getting a taste of what old man Murdoch gets from time to time. Hell she can even have our babies. -MEDIA WIRE DAILY WENDY DENG MURDOCH: WOULD YOU HIT IT? HELL YEAH MAYBE HELL NO

LIFE AFTER TIME WARNER FOR DICK PARSONS SHOULD INCLUDE A TELL ALL BOOK

With all major media outlets reporting that he is set to hand over the keys to Jeff Bewkes, Dick Parsons should seriously consider writing a sort of tell all book. We would love to know all that went out behind the scenes leading up to the near fatal AOL Time Warner merger. We would love to know what it was like to work for Nelson Rockefeller , and what was the talk about (if at all) between him and TimeWarner CFO Wayne Pace when the whole brothel scandal broke. We think a Dick Parsons tell all would be a huge hit, especially among serious media followers. So with that we ask that you participate in the poll of the day. WOULD YOU BUY/READ A TELL ALL BOOK FROM DICK PARSONS? YES NO MAYBE SO DICK WHO?

Bonus or Holiday Party: Is your company givng you some extra cash this Holiday season or are they throwing a Holiday bash?

We all know that the big glitzy media company's like....Oh hell from what we heard last year, all the Holiday parties thrown by some well known media companies were totally awful. We even heard some employees of a media company, opted to head for a bar up the street from where their company was throwing their so called Holiday party. Some had little to no food after just one hour into the festivities, and some had food most attendees couldn't pronounce. So with the Holidays rapidly approaching we wanted to know what would you rather get from your company this year, a Holiday party, a bonus or both? Let us know. WHAT DO YOU WANT THIS HOLIDAY FROM YOUR COMPANY? A PHAT BONUS A BOOZE FILLED PARTY BOTH MY COMPANY IS TOO CHEAP TO GIVE

Sex and business, the two go hand in hand like coffee and scones... um...OK yeah

At Fox Business no topic is untouchable especially if it is some how tied to well....business. A Fox Business panel discusses how long hours at the office can hurt your sex life. However what they fail to understand is that, late hours at the office usually means "Oh honey I am staying back at the office tonight so I can bang my hot new assistant" So it depends on the situation right? Are long hours at the office hurting or helping your sex life? HURTING IT HELPS MY SEX LIFE IT DEPENDS ON WHAT I'M DOING AT THE OFFICE

Will Conde Nast's Portfolio ever have a real person on it's cover?

Conde Nast's Portfolio is now on its fourth issue...Right?. We thought by now we would have seen an actual person on the cover but clearly this is Porfolio's style? Anyway, with that said, we want to hear what you think. If any, who would you like to see on the cover of Portfolio? WHO WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE ON THE COVER OF PORTFOLIO? RUPERT MURDOCH ROGER AILES A WALLSTREETER PHIL DAUMAN SUMNER REDSTONE JEFF BEWKES RICHARD PARSONS RICHARD ZANINO THE 2,000 AOL EMPLOYEES GETTING CANNED I DON'T GIVE A SHIT

Everyone has their own reason why Liz Spiers left the house she built with other people's money

-NEIL YOSHIDA Bet former Deadhorse Media boss Liz Spiers doesn't mind all the attention her departure from her blog empire is getting? Hell it could help her in the long run if the coverage is all favorable. When we got word that she was indeed done at Dead Horse Media, our first reaction was "WTF", and why? Of course there is more to her leaving other than the usual template reason she shared via an email to colleagues and friends and we will probably never know. But that hasn’t stopped the blogosphere from speculating about the real reason Ms. Spiers decided to leave, if she left on her own that is. Even some commenters have weighed in on why Spiers got off the horse. We want you to vote for the reason you think she left. As usual we’ll post the final results here a week from today. WHY DID LIZ SPIERS LEAVE DEAD HORSE MEDIA HER REVIEW OF PORTFOLIO ANGERED SOME POWERFUL PEOPLE THE SOLENGO CAPITAL BEEF TRAFFIC FOR THE BLOGS SUCK HER PARTNERS WERE DICKS A JOHN CARNEY Coup d'état IT WAS PART OF HER PLAN ALL ALONG THE FAILURE OF SUPERMOGUL.COM TOO MANY LAUNCHES TOO SOON DEAD HORSE RAN LOW ON CASH WHO GIVES A SHIT

Poll: Naming names

At this point we guess the big question is what will the name of the new site be? Do they even have a name already or are they still throwing out names. Being our usual generous and caring selves we wanted to throw some ideas out there to the NBC and New Corp team and have you our readers vote on which name you think is best for the new venture. So make sure you vote for the one you like if any, and we will publish the results a week from today, even though they will probably announce the name by then. So without further adieu, possible names for NBC & News Corp’s new online video venture. WHICH IS THE COOLEST NAME FOR THE NEW VENTURE ZUCKED CHERNIN DOUBLE N THE RUPE VAD 2N DREAMSTREAM FLIKT UNIFOX NBSEE

Poll: We asked you answered

-SHOMARI HINES When the newly revamped Time Magazine hit newsstands last Friday, we had our take on the new look. But as usual we wanted to hear from those of you who read it. We asked which Time do you prefer, and 33% of you are really digging the new look. 16% of you however liked the mag the way it was. But the biggest none shocker was that 50% of you don't even read Time, even though the new design is aimed at getting you to start reading it. Well its still early, maybe some how some way a copy will land in your lap. Our final, say on the whole thing, we;re kinda digging the new Time. Yeah we are.

Poll: Join them, or go against them? You decide

Since its launch and rise, Youtube has caused quite a bit of noise in the media industry. Traditional media companies have voiced their opinions about the site and its lack of respect for copyrighted content leading many of them to take action in their own way. Some have gotten in bed with them, some are planning to get in bed with them, some are taking legal action and some are going up against them. Well we want to hear from: WHICH IS THE BEST WAY TO DEAL WITH YOUTUBE? GET IN BED WITH THEM TAKE THEM TO COURT GO UP AGAINST THEM IGNORE THEM

For most of you, Mike Eisner is just an old retired man with lots of money and a new hobby

-NEIL YOSHIDA Since leaving Disney, Mike Eisner has been staying really busy with what we took as a slow but sure comeback into the media game via the Internet. He has been in the news with deal after deal in what we called his campaign to remain relevant. But as usual we wanted to know what you thought about what Mike has been doing and most of you think that Mike is just a retired individual trying to stay busy. We're sure he wouldn't agree with our poll results though.

Morning Wire: Time Poll | Les Moonves | That former NBC Uni guy, and more in this morning's worthy media news....

-Shomari Hines UPDATE: Time rolls out what it calls a fresh new look today in an attempt to appeal to younger readers. We don't know how the inside of the mag looks because we haven't gotten ours in the mail as yet. However We want to know what you think. Which Time do you prefer? submit your votes via the poll in the side bar and lets see if the folks at Time got it right. We will tally up the votes and publish the results next Friday March 23rd. Let the exodus begin. Former Jeff Zucker underling turned Discovery Communications CEO David Zaslav has recruited NBCU's Bruce Campbell to head up Discovery's digital media properties and business development. Who else will be leaving the Zucker nest? Our money is on CFO Lynn Calpeter [Reuters] Rosie O may be doing day time again, but lest hope she stays away from running a magazine this time [Reuters] CBS Radio Chairman and CEO Joel Hollander is sick of Les Moonves being over his shoulder all the time. The radio man is said to be planning an exit before his contract expires this year. Perhaps that was Les's plan all along huh? [NYP]

Polls: Mike Eisner Part Deux?

Former Disney dictator Michael Eisner has been popping up in the news lately with deal after deal. It's clear that Mike wants to remain relevant in the media business. But what do you think? Is he seriously building a digital media empire, or just has so much money, he doesn't know what to do with it? IS MIKE EISNER MAKING A SERIOUS COMEBACK OR JUST KEEPING BUSY? HE IS MAKING A COMEBACK VIA A DIGITAL MEDIA EMPIRE HE IS JUST STAYING BUSY THATS WHAT RETIRED PEOPLE DO