Blackenterprise.com gets drastic makeover

BY THE SHOGUN The folks over at Black Enterprise magazine rolled out a re-designed blackenterprise.com and what we see is a drastic makeover that in our opinion, wasn't really necessary. The new site is missing something but we can't quite put our finger on it. The logo has also been revamped. Will this new logo roll out in print as well? We should hope so being that they would want to keep the branding consistent. Guess they were going for a cleaner look, but its a little too clean for us.

Yahoo's next CEO shouldn't be...

BY THE SHOGUN With Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang stepping down to make room for a new guy or gal, everyone has since put together their list of possible replacements. Well the hell with that. We came up with a few people who should not even be considered for the job of the real Chief Yahoo. We all know Yahoo President Sue Decker could very well become the new CEO by default, but from what We've been hearing, many are hoping this isn't the case. Some have said that, all the new CEO needs to do is push a sale to Microsoft and then walk away with a sweet package and go sit on an island somewhere for about a month. This may very well be the new CEO's only quick fix option because we doubt the board and shareholders have the patience for some superman or woman who comes in acting like they want to turn things around which could take years. Whoever it is, within a year of them taking office, Yahoo will probably be sold and/or merged, conceding to the mighty Google. Here are the names of the individuals who shouldn't get the job, and our reasons why. 1. Frank Biondi- Who are we kidding? Biondi is an old media guy who ran Viacom years ago before anyone knew what the hell social networking was. 2. Sue Decker- She is the default gal and should be the last resort pick. Also, she is part of the past. She is kinda hot though 3. Peter Chernin- After being Rupert Murdoch's number for so many years with no sign of ever becoming number one, we can all understand why Pete would want to jump ship to captain his own. But seriously, I think this would be a down grade for Pete. We say hold out a little longer because something is brewing in the house of Redstone. 4. Meg Whitman- Someone through Meg's name in the mix and I am still shocked that they did. Meg Whitman is all Interneted out right now. As Ebay CEO she appealed to stay at home moms and dads in middle America. On top of that, Meg strikes me as the kind who who would want to come in and try to turn things around, which would probably piss off Microsoft ruler Steve Ballmer again when he decides to stop acting like he doesn't want Yahoo and makes another offer. Then again when John McCain calls you one of the wisest people he knows, Meg probably feels like she can fix anything at this point.

Sumner Redstone is about to violate your privacy

-SDH We almost forgot that Viacom still had an open lawsuit against Google's Youtube.com for copyright infringement. Well the legal action just got bumped up a notch by a court ruling this week ordering Youtube to hand over sensitive user information to Viacom and its legal eagles. Viacom will get their hands on your Youtube.com user IDs, information about which clips you watched and your IP address. The question still remains, what does Viacom really want? If the company is taking this action against Youtube, what about those other sites that are also streaming Viacom owned content without the company’s permission? Guess you have to go after the big guy in the yard to prove a point. While Viacom is looking to prove widespread unauthorized viewing of its shows like "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" on Youtube, privacy watchdogs are howling that the move is a massive invasion of privacy. YOUTUBE HANDS PROFILES TO VIACOM [NYP]

Weekend media business news aggregated....

-SDH Former Regan Books queen Judith Regan and News Corp has come to an agreement to leave each other alone with Regan reportedly pocketing major cash from her former employer. Was the suit settled out of court to prevent further information to come to light to avoid throwing Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign in limbo? Wait, Rudy Giuliani's campaign was dead right out the gate. [NYT] Vivendi which owns the world biggest record company Universal Music Group, says that the current situation in the music industry is waaay over blown. Vivendi CEO Jean-Bernard Levy says that the industry it just going through a transition at the moment. Yeah, the transition from quality artists to shitty one hit artists. [Reuters] Former Oxygen CEO Geraldine (Geri) Laybourne is traveling abroad planning her next move being that Oxygen was sold from underneath her. Hey Geri, your buddy Oprah is setting up a whole new Network with Discovery called OWN. Maybe she needs someone to run it for her!! [Portfolio] Tom Glocer, CEO of media and financial giant Reuters Group Plc said that the company had a good start in 2008, and that the merger with Thomson Corp is on schedule and should clear in the first quarter. Good because, we need some big media news. Jeff Bewkes isn't giving us a show at Time Warner. [Reuters]

With that skinny black guy and chubby white guy dominating Thursday's front pages, NY Post & Daily News finally get their Britney on

-SDH Did the editors of both the New York Post and Daily News feel like they were in a dilemma when news broke that Britney Spears went nuts, and the results of the Iowa Caucuses became final? Did they have to choose which story would take the cover or was it a no-brainer to run Caucus related cover stories? Well both papers finally ran their Britney related cover stories today but we have to say we're a bit disappointed especially in the New York Post who usually walks the line with their cover headlines, and for the fact that they split the front page 50-50 with caucus related news. Not to say Britney's melt down is more important than the future of the country, but we really wanted the NY Post to knock it out the park. Is the Post feeling sorry for Britney or something? The Daily News comes a little closer to that line but not dangerously close. Here are some headlines we think would have gone over well for the Post. Nuclear Britney Popstar Pops Her Top Gimme Gimme Help! Britney Scares Poppsycho

Media companies know when you're eating

-SDH Do you spend your lunchtime sitting in your dingy cubicle watching videos on the web while stuffing your face, -AKA- "Video Snacking" then chances you are one of the individuals some major media companies are banking on to make their lunch time web videos successful. However we find it a bit disturbing that you wouldn't want to spend your lunch time doing something more useful, like smoking a joint or chick watching. Hell you can get laid in an hour too, assuming you do get an hour for lunch. In 2007, a growing number of local television stations, including WNCN in Raleigh, N.C., and WCMH in Columbus, Ohio, began producing noon programming exclusively for the Web. Among newspapers, The Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk, Va., and The Ventura County Star in California started posting videos at lunchtime that have young journalists as hosts and are meant to appeal to 18- to 34-year-old audiences. Noontime Web Video Revitalizes Lunch at Desk [NYT]

Out with the AOL in with the NEW

-SDH Years after the worst merger in history, AOL still carries stains of that fateful day and is still trying to wash them away. The latest attempt by CEO Randy Falco and the rest of his AOLers is to silently kill the AOL name all together, or so some are suggesting. The company has been slowly wiping away the AOL name from some of the company’s services and products in an attempt to attract and not deter. But will the new scheme work for Falco and CO? And at some point will Falco himself be wiped away in favor of a deep rooted digital media maverick? "Whither the AOL brand?" has been a growing question since the company announced over a year ago that it wanted to morph from a Web portal for the masses into a sophisticated company that sells advertising across sites. The company isn't ready to talk about whether it would re-brand the flagship site, AOL.com, or the holding company, AOL LLC. A spokeswoman didn't return messages seeking comment. AOL has operated properties under different names, like MapQuest, Engadget and TMZ, for a while, but industry observers and press reports suggest it is happening a lot more lately. ANY OTHER LABEL [NYP]

Jeff Zucker buy's new multimillion dollar digs, probably haunted by the ghost of Kitty

-YOSH NBC Universal's little big man, Jeff Zucker is said to have dropped 12 big ones ($12.3 million) on a new pad for him his wife and kids. The new digs once belonged to actress Kitty Carlisle Hart and comes with the usual features the Zucker's are no doubt used to like a maid's quarters, almost a half dozen fireplaces and numerous bathrooms to drop a deuce. The pad may also come with a bonus feature as well that the Zucker's themselves may not even know about... yet!! A deed filed in city records today shows that he and his wife Caryn closed earlier this month on the late Kitty Carlisle Hart's 11-room apartment at East 64th Street, which they'd been rumored to buy. Jeff Zucker Pays $12.3 M. for Kitty Carlisle Hart's Co-Op [TRE]

Will NBC Universal let DreamWorks get away from them again over money? GE's pockets are too deep to allow this to happen

-SDH Jeff Zucker, if he is smart, has another shot at adding some major wattage at Universal Studios. DreamWorks which has been unhappy with its deal at the Viacom owned Paramount mainly due to oldman Sumner's vicious mouth, wants out of that marriage and will only do a deal with News Corp's 20th Century Fox or NBC Universal's Universal Studios ,but there is a catch. The DreamWorks team is seeking $600 million to $700 million a year which insiders say may hold up any deal from happening. Jeff Zucker needs to let his boss, GE CEO Jeff Immelt know that he cannot let this deal get away from them a second time. Because Rupert Murdoch is known for swooping in and offering more than what a seller is asking leading to a win, just ask Tom Freston. Jeff Zucker needs to Tell Immelt to back off and cut the check so he can secure DreamWorks and its legendary founders. “These DreamWorks guys are the A-Rods of the movie business,” said Harold L. Vogel, an independent media analyst. “They have megawatt personalities and great track records, but almost nobody can afford to pay them.” Discontented, DreamWorks Is in Talks to Join NBC [NYT]

Sumner "Two Faced" Redstone

-YOSH Slapping all the other heads who have passed through Viacom in the past, old man Sumner Redstone, giddy due to the company's latest gain in profits, said that hiring stiffy Phil Dauman as the company's CEO was the best thing he and his board ever did. Of course Sumner, you have nothing but good things to say about your top execs as long as they are making you money. But like Time Warner CEO Dick Parsons said "Eventually Sumner fires everyone". The results from the media conglomerate, which owns MTV, Comedy Central and the Paramount and DreamWorks movie studios, beat Wall Street's expectations and sent its stock price up nearly 3 percent to $41.56 a share on the New York Stock Exchange. We can only imagine the not so nice things he is saying about CBS boss Les Moonves with that company's recent stock slide. Shares of its sister company, CBS Corp., which split from Viacom nearly two years ago, slipped 2 percent yesterday to $27.67, a day after it reported mixed quarterly results, including a 3 percent drop in revenue. VIACOM NET JUMPS 80% [NYP]

GE will continue to pimp NBC until a time of their choosing

It turns out NBC Universal boss Jeff Zucker has a bigger Peacock than expected and his pimps at GE couldn't be more pleased. NBC Universal's third quarter results are healthy, kinda putting to rest talk of GE selling off the media unit, for now. GE will continue to push hard for higher and higher quarterly results perhaps to sell the company off at a higher price and cash out big time. Chatter has increased about GE waiting until after the 2008 Olympics to decide whether or not they will unload Zucker and company. Media giant TimeWarner has been mentioned a few times as a possible buyer if GE does decide to get out of the entertainment business. We won't even get into that right now but we hope TimeWarner will continue to focus on increasing their share price instead of trying to digest another major merger/acquisition. For now though, GE is pleased with NBCU’s results, even if ratings are still in the toilet. Hey how long has that kid who Zucker hired to beef up ratings been on the job? Is it too soon to get on him? NBC SCORES RESULTS THAT MAKE GE POSSESSIVE [NYP]

At Bloomberg LP, Gas bags in bulk!

Was Mayor Bloomberg a corporate dick head when he was running his media company? Was he a woman/baby hater who punished his female employees for basically starting a family? Did he really ask a female employee if she was giving her boyfriend good oral sex? Is he giving his girlfriend Dianne Taylor good oral sex or vice versa? A lawsuit filed against the company the mayor founded, alleges the above. Well except the part where we asked if he is giving his girlfriend good oral sex of course. According to the lawsuit filed against Bloomberg LP which the mayor swears he hasn't ran since 2001 but we all know he still secretly runs it through a network of yes-men, the company has a history of demoting or cutting the pay of its female employees who were out on maternity leave. Now this is not a lawsuit any company wants to deal with. So all you corporate dick heads out there, play your cards right and spear yourselves the embarrassment and bad press. Neal Brickman, the lawyer who represented Ms. Garrison, said that he had handled at least 20 discrimination complaints against the company since 1997 and that the culture at Bloomberg L.P. condoned unequal treatment of women and other groups. Many of those complaints were settled out of court, he said. Suit to Scrutinize Bloomberg Era at Firm [NYT]

Rupert Murdoch continues to audition for DowJones

They say the man always wins and according to many, he is about to win yet again. Rupert Murdoch is said to be thisclose to seducing the Bancroft family into selling their company to him. It has been a long and perhaps painful audition for Rupe but we think Simon Cowell would have given him the thumbs up. The Bancroft family is starting to realize that Rupe's offer is as generous as they come as one unidentified Bancroft family member puts it all into perspective. You may love your house, but if someone offers you twice what it’s worth, you have to at least listen to the offer — no matter how much you like or dislike the buyer.” This just proves yet again that money talks and bull............well you know the rest! Dow Jones, Murdoch and an Enticing ‘Kiss’ [NYT]

What better way to sell a merger than taking home a huge paycheck

Talk about bad timing. Sirius Radio CEO Mel Karmazin may have just put up yet another brick wall he has to try and break through regarding his dreamy Sirius, XM merger. But he shouldn't have any trouble breaking through it at all because he can use that heavy $31 million pay package he just got. Merger critics are no doubt planning a field day. With CEO compensation becoming a hotly debated flash point among institutional shareholders, Karmazin's pay, disclosed in a proxy filing last Monday, even if deserved is certain to catch the attention of regulators. "Details of Mel's pay package couldn't have come at a worse time for Sirius and XM," said Sanford Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett. MERGER CRITICS KEY ON KARMAZIN'S $31M PAY [NYP]

Death: Robert Krakoff checks out

Robert Krakoff CEO of Neilson Business Media -fka- VNU Business Media died at his Boston apartment Thursday night leaving many puzzled. Krakoff was 72 and a respected figure in the media industry. R.I.P Rob, R.I.P “He was a giant in our business and bigger than life,” said Gordon Hughes II, president-CEO of American Business Media. “His contributions were not just for the companies he ran, but he was a leader for the industry.” Hughes said Krakoff was instrumental in developing the CEBA (Creative Excellence in Business Advertising) Awards and ABM’s Business Information Network, which tracks ad spending on business media.“He was just a very dear friend,” Hughes said. Krakoff, Head of Nielsen Business Media -- 'E&P' Parent -- Dies Suddenly [E&P]

Media Brief: U.S. News editor quits to write book on subject we've all heard and/or read about already

Another one has left the house of Mort. The editor-in-chief of U.S. News & World Report for the past seven years, Brian Duffy, resigned yesterday and plans to write a book on the American Revolution, yeah you know to add to the gazillion other books out there about the American Revolution. Wait maybe he remembers something about the revolution that the other books left out. U.S. NEWS EDITOR OUT [NYP]

Note to American Media Inc Board: FIRE DAVID PECKER AND HIS LOYALISTS

It may be easier said than done, but a change at the top of tabloid giant American Media Inc is well overdue and we think a lot of people feel the same way. Do we really need to get into specifics here? AMI CEO David Pecker has been doing what we think is a poor job of running the company. They have repeatedly missed financial deadlines and sales are dropping at newsstands. Now on top of that sloppy pile of you know what, the SEC is looking into the company's operations. We think if AMI were to be washed clean of all it's stains and bad smells, the company could bounce back bigger and better. Here are a few things the AMI board needs to do and/or consider: Replace Current CEO Dave Pecker with someone from the outside Boot CFO Jack Craven and President/COO John J. Miller Boot Bonnie Fuller and her loyalists Look into changing the company name Seek a fresh cash injection from investors, to spend on rolling out a firm digital push and cleaning up some debt Sell or fold under performing titles. AMI IN SEC PROBE [NYP] EARLIER: What will it take for the AMI board to fire David Pecker?

Time Warner may be slowly following some of Carl Icahn's suggestions

After all the public back and forth with corporate thug Carl Icahn, the suits at Time Warner maybe acting on some of his suggestions after all. Their is chatter that the media giant will either spin off a piece of it's AOL unit or merge it with another Internet giant. However Time Warner mouthpiece Ed Adler tried his best to put a cap on the truth, sticking to the Time Warner corporate script for dealing with when the truth gets out: "AOL is not for sale nor do we plan to spin any part of it off," Time Warner spokesman Ed Adler said on Friday. "The company has a great new strategy and it's working well." Ed, did you ever stop and think that maybe the info wasn't filtered down to you yet? Because analyst seem to think different and we hate to say it but sometimes they're right. "We believe that the prospects for an outright sale of AOL this year are high as the Internet company tries to go global," UBS analyst Aryeh Bourkoff wrote in an e-mail to Reuters. "The best way to do this is through a partnership or merger." Time Warner could spin AOL stake this year: UBS [Reuters]

Disney's fake Inquiry on Pixar Grants finds that Steve Jobs did no wrong

Disney called off the prop dogs after their face saving investigation cleared Apple boss Steve Jobs of any misconduct in issuing backdated stock options at Pixar. Its a good thing too because had they found that Mr. Jobs was riding dirty, it would be a huge black eye for the entertainment giant and its biggest shareholder. A brief statement by John E. Pepper Jr., Disney’s chairman, did not mention Mr. Jobs by name. But the statement said that “while options were backdated at Pixar prior to the acquisition, no one currently associated” with Disney was involved in “any intentional or deliberate acts of misconduct.” Mr. Jobs, the former chairman and chief executive of Pixar, is now a Disney director and the media company’s largest shareholder, after Disney paid more than $8 billion last year for Pixar. Disney Inquiry on Pixar Grants Finds No Misconduct by Jobs [NYT] Photo: originally uploaded by LiuLiChang via Flickr

STOP THE PRESSES!! New York Daily News sneaks one off on us

The New York Daily News finally pulled the curtains back on their looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong overdue redesign of their website NYDailyNews.com. Its not as attractive as the New York Post's website but its nice and clean. easier to navigate and is a major upgrade from that 1990s-ish look they were working with for a while. Welcome to the current times guys, welcome to the current times.

Your favorite mags do their part to educate you on why the world is ending

Don't be fooled, their is nothing we can do to reverse global warming, but I guess we can all do our part to slow it down a bit or something like that. Magazines like Sports Illustrated will attempt to be creative and school their readers on global warming by incorporating sports in in their teachings and how climate changes may affect their favorites games. The American male's favorite read for its sports coverage and annual swimsuit issue is just one of many U.S. magazines coming out with global warming on their covers as awareness and concern over a climate crisis grow in the United States. ELLE, Outside Magazine and The Atlantic Monthly will also feature global warming and the environment in coming weeks. Magazines go green with global warming issues [Reuters]

Weekend Breaking: Its official, Jeff Zucker will be named head Peacock at NBC Universal

No one should be surprised by this announcement coming over the wires on of all days Super Bowl Sunday. What did GE and/or NBC think this would go un-noticed because we're stuffing our faces with food and downing six packs? Anyway, as expected, GE and NBC Universal brass will announce that Jeff Zucker, yeah the man nobody wants to work for will be the next CEO of media giant NBC Universal. We do anticipate more exits as this is now clearly reality but we don't know who. Maybe some lower rankers who we've never heard of but we do expect some more departures. It has been rumored for months that Bob Wright will step off and leave the company in the hands of Zucker a long time favorite of the boss of all bosses GE CEO Jeff Immelt. This is one of those fairytale corporate stories. Wonder how Jeff wills set up his version of NBC Uni? OK OK, we will wait until we get to that bridge. Early last year, Immelt quietly put out feelers to see if there was a worthy candidate outside the company to replace Wright, according to two high-level media executives.About that time, Immelt gave Zucker a mandate to clean up the lingering issues bedeviling NBC's various television units. Isolate the problem to NBC's prime time, he told Zucker, according to two ranking company executives. Guess NBC 2.0 paid off big for the Zuck........wait we mean KING ZUCKER!!! Jeff Zucker to take top spot at NBC Universal [LA Times]

Weekend Wire: Iger's performance as head mouse, paying off lovely

Disney boss Bob Iger is one of the media execs in a very small pool who actually deserves the $24.9 million he reportedly made in 2006. On his watch Disney's stock has danced a good dance and Disney's board is rewarding their leader. Iger, 55, received $2 million in salary, a $15 million bonus, options worth $2.92 million, long-term pay of $4.3 million and $666,000 in other compensation, according to a regulatory filing yesterday by Disney. Iger, who made $12.7 million in total pay prior to taking over from Eisner, has overseen a 46 percent increase in Disney's stock price since becoming CEO in October 2005. Disney shares rose 22 cents yestereday to $35.21 in New York Stock Exchange trading. DISNEY'S IGER PAID $24.9M IN '06 [NYP]

Weekend Wire: A-List media Chieftains Iger and Moonves take two at Consumer Electronics Show

There business may not be consumer and electronics, but CBS boss Les "Love Boat" Moonves and Disney boss Robert "Bobby" Iger will take a slot each to tell those in attendance how great their companies are. Moonves no doubt will talk up his companies prime time line up as well as new businesses he may be getting into. Iger is supposed to pull the curtains back on the new Disney.com website which he said took a year to revamp among other things. Last year, the keynote speakers included Sir Howard Stringer of Sony, Terry S. Semel of Yahoo and Larry Page of Google, accompanied on stage by the likes of Tom Hanks and Tom Cruise, Robin Williams and Dan Brown, author of “The Da Vinci Code.” Peter A. Chernin of the News Corporation was the featured speaker at a big dinner the electronics association held for dignitaries. In other words, this is the chance for media biggies to show that they know their Bluetooth from their Blu-Ray, their OutKast from their Comcast. A Cool Gadget Here, an A-List Chieftain There [NYT]

Weekend Wire: Conrad Black to hammer the nails into his own coffin

Newspaper king turned corporate rapist Conrad Black who pulled an Enron, is vowing to clear his name by taking the stand during his trial. Of course most of the time this is not a good idea but the man is guilty as hell so we're sure he will go out of his way to show that he isn't a bad guy. In e-mails expected to be used at his Chicago trial, Black sounds very much like an aristocrat living off shareholders' largesse. "Care must be taken not to allow this [lifestyle] to degenerate into decadence," Black said in a memo sent to his turncoat deputy David Radler and others. "But nor should we allow the agitations of shareholders . . . to force us into a hair shirt, the corporate equivalent of sackcloth and ashes." CONRAD'S SNOOTY WORDS TO HAUNT HIM [NYP] Image [velochicdunord via Flickr]

Weekend Wire: 2006 was full of media love especially for your favorite mags

2006 saw a lot of media deals. Whether it was some old boys with deep pockets coming together to take over a company or old media buying into new media, the past year was all about the hook up. A total of $20.5 billion in media deals - led by the $11.1 billion purchase of VNU, owner of The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard and Nielsen Media Research - were consummated in 2006, an increase of 242 percent over 2005. The media industry hasn't had a bigger year by dollar volume since 2000. Of course, that year was heavily skewed by AOL's $100 billion purchase of Time Warner. MEDIA DEALS HIT RECORD LAST YEAR [NYP]

Weekend Wire: Time person of the year is YOUTUBE, MYSPACE, FACEBOOK, BLOGS

Time finally revealed it's person/thing of the year and man were we off. Time's person/thing of the year is YOUTUBE, MYSPACE, FACEBOOK, BLOGS. "For seizing the reins of the global media, for founding and framing the new digital democracy, for working for nothing and beating the pros at their own game, Time's Person of the Year for 2006 is you," the magazine's Lev Grossman wrote. Time magazine's "Person of the Year" is You [Reuters]

Weekend Wire: Judith Regan erased

Regan Books pimptress Judy Regan got canned late yesterday from News Corp's HarperCollins book publishing unit. As you know News Corp came under serious fire from the families of alleged OJ victims, Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman when they were planning an all out O.J Simpson media blitz. News Corp boss Rupert Murdoch couldn't take the heat, so he punked out and cancelled all things O.J. but It looks like that wasn't enough for King Rupe. Judy Regan was the last piece still linking News Corp to the controversy so she was removed, we're sure via orders from the office of the Chairman. "Judith Regan's employment with HarperCollins has been terminated effective immediately," HarperCollins CEO Jane Friedman said in a statement. "The REGAN publishing program and staff will continue as part of the HarperCollins General Books Group." Rupe sure knows how to wash dirt off his hands. Publisher behind O.J. Simpson book fired [AP]

Weekend Wire: The Immeltization of the Zuckerization of NBC Universal

Another top NBC Universal exec is out and being replaced by a suit from parent company General Electric. This is GE CEO's Jeffrey Immelt's doing. Immelt is planting his own eyes and ears within his media unit to babysit Jeff Zucker when he takes the reigns of the company. Keith Turner, who has led NBC's ad sales for the past eight years, is leaving the company, NBC Universal Chairman Bob Wright announced in an internal memo yesterday. Sources familiar with the matter said Turner, a nearly 20-year veteran of NBC, is expected to be replaced by an executive from a unit of General Electric, whose businesses include light bulbs, appliances, power turbines, aircraft engines and commercial financing. TOP EXEC TURNER EXITS NBC NETWORK [NYP]

Weekend Wire: Big media's big bet on digital czars

Its no secret that old big media companies like Viacom, Time Warner, News Corp and others are scrambling to get with the digital times. Some companies like News Corp, are already leading the pack with the purchase of super site Myspace.com. Big media has been hiring digital execs left and right placing big bets on the heads of these individuals hoping to be lead into the digital world where advertisers are spending most of their money these days. In the last few weeks, there has been a stampede of change involving the top Internet executives at big media companies. Most significant, Jonathan F. Miller, the chairman and chief executive of AOL, was replaced at that Time Warner division by Randy Falco, a 31-year veteran of NBC Universal; Ross Levinsohn, the wunderkind who helped Rupert Murdoch snag MySpace last year, left the News Corporation two weeks ago and is being replaced by a cousin, Peter Levinsohn, a Fox TV veteran; and Larry Kramer, who built and sold the site MarketWatch, left his job as digital overseer at CBS after the arrival of Quincy Smith, a former investment banker, as his boss. Seeking Executive to Tame the Digital Future [NYT]

Weekend Wire: Rupert's OJ blitz outrages some of his employees

Fox News big mouth Bill O'Reilly and other News Corp minions are speaking out against there boss's decision to be the core of the whole OJ Simpson media blitz surrounding his controversial book "If I Did It". Fox plans to air a special hosted by Regan Books head Judith Regan and some News Corpers aren't too please. Bill O'Reilly said that he would boycott the program and won't buy the products of any company who sponsors the special. Major advertisers are also pulling away from the special as well, not wanting to be associated with any thing OJ. But why the big fuss? O'Reilly declared: "If every American walked away from the O.J. garbage, it wouldn't happen. I'm not going to watch the Simpson show or even look at the book," he added. "If any company sponsors the TV program, I will not buy anything that company sells - ever." All these people yapping away about boycotting the show and book, will all secretly watch it anyway. Because at the end of the day, we all want to know whats in the book. And for a man with a lot of skeletons in his closet Bill O'Reilly always seems to be front and center on issues like this. Hey Bill, why don't youu go straight to the bossman with this one? Rupe is in soup with troops [NYDN]

Afternoon Wire: Ted Turner angry as usual, and more...

And now the afternoon's worthy media news: Rants of Ted Just when we thought we heard the last from Ted Turner, the mouth of the South comes back with his latest rants. This time around, in addition to is usual slaps at his former employer, Time Warner, old Ted takes some shots at Rupert Murdoch as well. "There is one person I don't like," he said of Murdoch. Turner lambasted Murdoch - whose net worth is $7.7 billion, according to Forbes magazine. More of the same........Kinda We are shocked to come across yet another article related to media spending sprees to buy internet companies. However this is a little different. In 2005, Richard Rosenblatt, then chairman of MySpace, sold the popular social-network site to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.Today, Rosenblatt is on to his next gig. The company is c