As it turns out, everyone at Reader’s Digest Association is alive and well and busy

By SDH So after our post about the odd silence from Reader’s Digest Association we got an email from RDA’s Director of Public Relations Ellen Morgenstern basically telling us that all is well at RDA and the company has been hard at work on some projects. The company is currently upgrading their corporate websites which explains the lack of news updates. They are working on new launches and other business expansions. Just like we thought, they are just busy being busy. Can’t wait to see the finished products.

Its either silent time at Reader’s Digest Association or they all died of carbon monoxide poisoning

By SDH We're almost two weeks into the second quarter of 2008 and we haven't heard a peep from Reader's Digest Association which could mean many things. RDA CEO Mary Berner either has the troops sticking to a new policy the says all under her rule must remain quiet for the first quarter of every New Year, there may be nothing exciting going on at RDA to share with the rest of the media world, or Berner has her team in place and they are hard at work. We can go on but we would just be wasting our time because it's probably one of the reasons we mentioned above! We were just looking around for the hot topics of the morning and Mary Berner just happened to pop into our heads, so we checked the RDA corporate website for any news release we may have missed but the 2008 section of the site's press release page is empty, the link isn't even live. Anyway, we're waiting Mary, please share some news fast.

Mary Berner spent her first year as RDA CEO building her team, with it now in place, what’s next for the Berner Administration?

-SDH It seems like it was just yesterday that Mary Berner was strategically demoted at Conde Nast, seeing her roll as CEO of Fairchild Publications chopped down. It seems like just yesterday that it was announced that she would take over as Reader's Digest Association CEO. Time really does fly. Come March 2nd of this year, Mary Berner will be in her current roll for a year. What has she accomplished in this short time? In our opinion, quite a bit as far as changes go. She wasted no time bringing in familiar faces from her Fairchild days and elsewhere to make RDA feel like home. Under her watch Reader's Digest got a long overdue makeover in print and online. Sure there were some long time subscribers who weren't pleased with the changes but the magazine had to be brought into the current times and Berner green lighted that. What's down the road for the Berner lead RDA? New launches, foldings, layoffs, merger, Internet acquisitions? All of the above? Most of this depends on the economy and how well RDA is doing. Here are some hi-lites of Mary Berner's first year in office. March 2, 2007: Ripplewood Holdings completes RDA acquisition, names Mary CEO March 13, 2007: Mary Begins her raid on Si's house, brings in Eva Dillon to serve as President and Group Publisher of Reader's Digest Magazine March 15, 2007: Continues the raid on Si's house and brings in Suzanne Grimes as President, Food and Entertaining for RDA March 19, 2007: Mary retains old RDA regime member William Adler to Head Communications at RDA March 20, 2007: Retains another old RDA regime member Michael S. Geltzeiler in the newly created roll of President, Consumer Business Services November 7, 2007: Joins forces with Discovery Networks Asia to launch Discovery Channel Magazine in Asia which should be happening next month by the way. Novemeber 9, 2007: Berner brings in the hottish Peggy Northrop as Editor-In-Chief of Reader’s Digest Magazine , our redears say they would hit it. How well is this administration working together? Only time will tell.

Reader's Digest Editrix Peggy Northrop brings a cock into the hen house

-SDH In her first major move as Editor in Chief of Reader's Digest, Peggy Northrop dipped into Martha's house and hired Tom Prince, the dude who created the now defunct Blueprint to come in as her new executive editor replacing Marcia Rockwood. Prince's background seems to be heavy on the women side of the magazine business. The position he is now holding at RD is the same position he held in the past at titles like Allure, and Real Simple.

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.

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

80 of the old people that read "Reader's Digest" don't like the re-design

-YOSH With the dramatic re-design of a magazine that has been around waaaay before we were born, comes drama. Apparently about 80 or so long time RD subscribers wrote in to say that they are not happy about the re-design and blah blah blah. However what these 80 or so people fail to understand is that, they are out, and young people are in, which is what the all new RD is all about. That said, Reader's Digest president and group publisher Eva Dillon isn't worried about it. We love it Eva, and we're young people so it's working so far. Now regarding FishbowlNY's post on the subject, don't be fooled. Including audio of an interview and allowing visitors to test their body mass index with some simple HTML, does not make the RD site all “interactive”, at least not in today's web game. But kudos on the re-design anyway.

QUICK NOTE: Foliocareers.com launches, but chances are you already applied to some of the jobs listed elsewhere

Folio Magazine, the magazine about the magazine industry has launched Foliocareers.com providing another way for you to apply to that job you probably applied to earlier on Circjobs.com. Some featured jobs include: Associate Director/Director, Human Resources- Reader's Digest Freelancer- Rodale Promotion Director- Meredith Sounds like this is up your alley? Then shoot over to Foliocareers.com if you haven't already applied via Circjobs.com. With yet another outlet, there is no way HR reps can say they never got your resume.

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

Reader's Digest goes under the knife, New Editor wants to redesign the redesign, rate base to be chopped

-MARTY Hey! Everyone is doing it to keep with the tone of things. Time magazine did it, Newsweek did it, Businessweek did. But now its Reader's Digest' turn. They pulled the curtains back on their newly nip and tucked print edition and website and it pains us to say this, but its a good step in the right direction . The new logo is current and soft. Gone is the outdated 1970s-esque logo which was a huge yawn fest! However the website still has some traces of the old RD. The subscription page still carries the old logo and magazine cover (note to RD's web design team: don't launch until you erase traces of the old days). The print make over according to Mediaweek included the usual, a bold new logo duh!, updated fonts and column names, as well as an ad on the back cover... WoW! they pulled out all the stops huh? New EIC Peggy Northrop, had no choice but to welcome the changes being that it was implemented before she arrived. But of course the woman wants to put her stamp on the redesign, can you blame her. She wants some credit too if the redesign is a hit. The magazine will also see it's rate base chopped down by 20% to 8 million. Peggy Northrop, who took over from Jackie Leo as editor last week, is planning to put her own stamp on the book as early as April. Northrop, late of Meredith Corp.’s More, where she helped create buzz around women over 40, was complimentary of the forthcoming redesign, which was done before she arrived. “I really like it, but naturally I’m going to take a fresh look at everything,” she said.Her plans include more concept covers like that of January, which features the iPhone; polls and stories that leverage RD’s global presence; and more election-related content. Northrop acknowledged the need to change RD’s dated perception, which she admitted even she shared. “There’s a lot of growth left here,” she said. “This is an iconic magazine brand, and it’s really exciting to reach out and take it to people who have not taken it as seriously.” Hmmm, Iconic, but people have not taken it seriously? RD Strikes Back-Cover Pact With [MW]

and now this morning's worth mentioning media business news

TIME WARNER CABLE SUBSCRIBERS DROPPING LIKE IRAQI CIVILIANS The company lost a net 83,000 subscribers during the quarter, mainly due to difficulties in its Los Angeles and Dallas markets, which it acquired last year from bankrupt Adelphia Communications Corp. The losses brought its subscriber total to 13.3 million. NEWS CORP MAY THROW A BANCROFT A BONE Rupert Murdoch will make the Bancroft family feel important when the deal closes on his DowJones takeover. Natalie Bancroft, a member of the family that is selling Dow Jones & Co Inc for $5.6 billion, will join the News Corp board allegedly. VIACOM GETTING INDIAN MONEY FOR IT'S NEW INDIAN CHANNEL IN INDIA Indian media company Network18 said on Wednesday it would invest $90.5 million over three years in its joint venture with Viacom Inc, which will launch a Hindi-language general entertainment channel in India next year. RDA'S NEW FOODY AD NETWORK FOR FOODIES The Reader’s Digest Association is set to announce later today its Food Advertising Network@RDA, featuring a self-serve Web advertising service called AdWizard@RDA. The AdWizard allows marketers to create, track, and accordingly alter display ads in real-time across RDA’s Food and Entertaining Affinity, including Every Day with Rachael Ray, Taste of Home, Chef’s Catalog and Allrecipes.com. The project is geared mostly towards small to medium-sized companies. -YOSH

Mary Berner LALLI gagging at RDA

-YOSH RDA queen Mary Berner, according to the New York Post has never made any major editorial moves since taking over as CEO until now. The pretty little lady has tapped Frank Lalli to replace RDA lifer Conrad Kiechel who knew all along he was about to get Berned. This Lalli guy seems to have what Mary needs right now. Lalli was a longtime editor of Money when it was a money mint for Time Inc. in the 1990s, and later served as editor of the late John F. Kennedy Jr.'s George magazine at its demise. He has been a vice president of development at Reader's Digest Association since 2002 and was one of the behind-the-scenes backers of the magazine Every Day with Rachael Ray, which ranks as the second-most successful launch of a new magazine behind Hearst's 2000 launch of O, the Oprah Magazine. BERNER SEES LALLI POP FOR READER'S DIGEST [NYP]

Morning Wire: CMP Media tries to see into the future | Berner and Co.go digital

Our favorite girl in the magazine game, Mary Berner is whipping Reader's Digest into digital shape via underling Jackie Leo, editor-in-chief of Reader’s Digest. The magazine will make available, never before seen and/or read content for Sony's new e-book store, Connect. Not ground breaking, but its a good move in the right direction we think. As far as Ms. Leo not expecting any kind of revenue from the arrangement, makes clear that the goal is to promote the brand, or is it because Ms. Leo knows that most people wont shell out $6.36 or $9.56. Hell we would rather spend that over at iTunes or something, but that's just us. [Folio] In other News, Long Island based CMP Media is already spending the money they saved after their recent mega layoff, and why not, that was the plan right? The company is taking a psychic route with their latest launch called Internet Evolution which the company says will help them “investigate the future of the Internet.” The site is made up of the usual smusual. [Folio]

What happened to Mary Berner?

Is it just us, or has former Fairchild boss turned Reader's Digest ruler Mary Berner gained some weight since her Conde days? We didn't notice it at first but when we finally! got our copy of Folio magazine last week with Berner on the cover we noticed something different. Gone were the semi sharp features and perfectly groomed hair. Now Berner, at least on her Folio cover looks like the typical suburban stay at home mommy who doesn't have the time to spruce up. We are big Berner fans no doubt, but her recent Folio Magazine cover shocked us. Berner's hair looks finger combed, what looks like a double chin is now present and her smile seems to be hiding stress. Who at RD if anyone allowed this photo to be used for the cover? You should be canned for not making sure they caught our Mary on her good side, on a good day. Oh well, it is what it is! We love you Mary.

Mary Berner and company on the hunt for new meat at Reader's Digest

Reader's Digest CEO Mary Berner is still trying to fill some open slots. Clearly Berner's team is still in the process of building the team. For an industry which saw the closings of many print and online publications this year, there sure are a lot of job openings. Circjobs.com

Berner getting her footing at Reader's Digest!

-SDH When former Fairchild Publications shot caller Mary Berner took over as CEO of Reader's Digest Association, naturally she felt like an outsider among company lifers. So she did what any new dictator would do when they come into power, out with the old and in with people loyal to them. Its no secret that Berner raided her old nest for talent and now the dust seems to be settling. But with the dust almost settled, many can now see clearly if Berner will deliver new and refreshing results. Berner had a chat with Folio Magazine and explained why she did what she did and what she plans to do next so she can have another sit down with Folio sibling magazine Circulation Manager to tell them why she did what she did after she told Folio her plans to do what she is now telling Circulation Manager. Did we lose you? Yeah. Happens all the time. Tough Love [Folio]

Morning Wire: And now this morning's worthy media news...

NBC Universal's Bravo snatches TelevisionWithoutPity.com because they aint got no pitty [Reuters] Don't forget. Lawyers also go on to become bloggers too you know [Reuters] Sony-BMG may have decided to leave the marketing of kids music to the kid kings at Disney [Reuters] New Readers Digest CEO Mary Berner is serving up a dish of revenge to her former boss Conde Nast CEO Chuck Townsend for shifting her out of her old gig. However we think Chuck will swallow it without chewing. [NYP] Don't fuck with or go against former Disney dictator Mike Eisner when he makes an offer for the company you're a board member of [NYP]

We bet you don't remember Strauss "I'm Mr. Zelnick" Zelnick?

-Shomari Hines Speaking of Reader's Digest. Mary Berner isn't the only one who came out on top after Ripplewood Holdings' $2.4 billion purchase of Reader's Digest Association. Remember that cool cat who most recently was the head of BMG Music? The dude that forced then Arista Records CEO Clive Davis to step off? Yeah Strauss Zelnick? Well apparently his firm ZelnickMedia pocketed a sweet $90 million after the Readers Digest deal closed last week. Lost in the media coverage of private equity firm Ripplewood Holdings' purchase of Reader's Digest Association was the company's simultaneous purchase of Time-Life, which resulted in a roughly $90 million profit for media mogul Strauss Zelnick's investment firm. See what taking Time Warner's stepchild business of their hand can do? ZELNICK NETS $90M [NYP]