Barry Diller's website for brown people, is still in the making and scheduled to launch on April 10th

BY SDH We recently asked about the status of that website Barry Diller said his company was working on geared towards the brown community and it looks like its still live and kicking in the womb. The site is scheduled to debut on April 10th and its name may be revealed this week. Johnny Taylor, the fella heading the project (photo above) says that the name of the website will have a Charlotte touch, whatever that means. Ironically Taylor sits with The Charlotte Observer to talk more about the project and how there is nothing else out their like it. He also says that its targeting not just African American's but all people of color including Jamaicans because they don't consider themselves African Americans! Hmmm!! Why would Jamaicans consider themselves African Americans?

Time Out's web expansion plan

BY SDH Time Out New York is about to expand across more big cities via the web, kinda taking on the same formula as the popular Gothamist.com which has websites targeting major cities here in the US and overseas. Time Out’s Tony Elliot wants to stretch his brand to the following U.S. cities: Los Angeles, Dallas, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle and Miami. He is looking to sell a small piece of his empire in an effort to raise $40-$60 million to get the job done. But will the web only expansion work for the Time Out brand? Sure why not? With the rising cost of ink and paper, this could be Tony Elliot’s way around those expenses. However it sounds like at some point, print editions will be launched. What will help the folks at Time Out decide when the time is right to launch print editions? If the websites end up generating respectable traffic and ad revenue would print versions still be part of the plan? One thing is certain, the new Time Out websites will have company from Gothamist LLC's websites like Laist.com, Miamist.com, Austinist.com, Sfist.com, Bostonist.com, Houstonist.com and others. Wonder how many new bodies Tony Elliot plans to hire?

Just Wondering: With all that’s going on, will Barry Diller's planned website for black people still fly?

BY SDH Last April IAC/Interactive Corp, made the announcement that they were working on a website geared towards African Americans. A name was never revealed or even a tentative launch time. However since the announcement we haven't seen or heard anything related to the project. IAC CEO Barry Diller has since been tangled in a back and forth with IAC shareholder and some say his boss John Malone about the direction of the company. The battle may even see Diller exiting if John Malone gets his way. But what’s the deal with the black web project. Was it quietly scrapped getting lost in the shuffle of the ongoing battle between Diller and Malone, or is it still on track for a launch?

After calling it quits back in 2001 The Industry Standard is back via the web and on the cheap with one full-time editorial employee

-SDH The one time Bible of the Internet Economy, The Industry Standard which met the same fate as many of the dotcom’s it covered back in 2001, is now back as a dotcom about dotcoms. The site is backed by International Data Group which is keeping a tight grip on costs by only having one full-time editorial employee. The site will look to freelancers (50 of them) to keep the content flowing. Will this lead the folks at Time Warner to re-launch Business 2.0 as a web only magazine as well? Then again, Time Inc may still be trying to get over the shit stain that was OfficePirates.com. Good concept, shitty execution.

QUICK NEWS: John Malone into body building

Liberty Media, which is controlled by media wild card John Malone is set to announce that it has acquired a controlling stake in Bodybuilder.com for $100 million. No word on why the interest in the site but we're sure it has to do with traffic which must be huge for that price tag. -SDH

Bobbie Johnson of the Guardian, shares his list of sites to watch in 2008, says Facebook is soooo last year

-YOSH Everyday thousands of websites are launched into cyberspace threatening the over valued websites that have been around for years and even those that have been around for under 5 years. Sites like Facebook, Myspace, Youtube and others continue to face growing competition. What sites will make their mark in the New Year? Bobbie Johnson of the Guardian thinks he has the answer: For many in the dotcom world, 2007 was dominated by one story: the rise of Facebook. The success of the social networking service has increased optimism about the internet industry. After all, if Microsoft is prepared to buy a 1.6% share for $240m (£121m), there is evidence that good ideas can be worth a lot of money. It is no surprise then that investors are looking for the next big thing - and these are some of the favourites. Facebook is so last year - welcome to the hit websites of 2008 [Guardian]

Menshealthliving.com now live and kicking

-ZOE S. QUICK NOTE: The magazine dubbed the world's first home magazine for men, Men's Health Living, has launched it's website and its looking pretty,pretty good. It seems to be missing a few must have features though like videos and even a blog or two. But lets give it some time. We're sure they are still working on it. Hopefully this brand extension works though.

Hearst Digital’s TheDailyGreen.com in full bloom

-BY ZOE S. Another magazine publishing company that was slow to hop on the digital media wagon, but is not slow to hop on the "green" bandwagon, Hearst, has launched TheDailyGreen.com, a comprehensive one-stop eco-resource for environmental news, tips and information. As if Al Gore isn't spreading all that already. Never the less Hearst is doing their part. After all their new tower is eco friendly you know! “Hearst is committed to raising environmental awareness and we’re very proud to use our editorial and digital expertise to launch TheDailyGreen.com,” said John Loughlin, executive vice president, general manager, Hearst Magazines. “Led by Deborah Barrow, its founder, and the digital team assembled by Chuck Cordray, vice president of Hearst Magazines Digital Media, we’ve established a powerful new online brand that will enable more people to understand the importance of — and foster participation in — the green revolution.” One-Stop Eco-Resource to Lead a Greener Life for a Better Planet; "The Consumer's Guide to the Green Revolution" [BW]

Question: Did Liz Spiers kill the "Super Mogul"?

-NEIL YOSHIDA We're big fans of Elizabeth Spiers and like to cruise through her blogs daily. But when we attempted to visit Supermogul.com, we were forwarded to Dealbreaker.com. Did Liz kill the SuperMogul, or is it down for some kind of revamp? Whatever the situation, we're sure it was a business move. This could only mean a bigger and better Dealbreaker, Fashionista and Abovethelaw. UPDATE2: Elizabeth Spiers Leaves Dead Horse Media UPDATE: DealBreaker Acquires SuperMogul: Hostile In A Friendly Way Supermogul.com

Thank Cho Seung-Hui for your traffic spike

-NEIL YOSHIDA We were wondering how long it would have taken for someone to point out how others are benefiting from the Virginia Tech murders. Mediaweek's Mike Shields takes us through how traffic has picked up at major online news portals as the story unfolds. Why do we feel that somewhere at each of the major websites mentioned in Shields' article some sick individual is saying or has said, "If only we could get a story like this every month". But its not geometry, major events brings more traffic and/or newscast viewership. Category leader Yahoo News saw its audience swell 13 percent to more than 8 million uniques on Monday versus the previous week. Meanwhile, MSNBC.com and CNN.com experienced monster gains, as their unique audiences surged by 47 percent and 45 percent respectively. Each site continued to see its total user base grow on Tuesday as more details of the story emerged, with Yahoo and MSNBC’s unique audiences hitting 8.5 and 8.4 million uniques that day. Web Traffic Surges As Virginia Tech Story Unravels [Mediaweek]

The fight for your eyes

-LENN HINDSMANN There is a major race going on among media companies. We all know big media like to compare dick sizes, but the question is who will have the biggest dick of all in the long or short run. Google may have been called idiots for paying $1.6 Billion for Youtube, but perhaps they saw something on the horizon and jumped on it when they got the chance. For years big media has controlled what, when, how, and where you watch your favorite television programs, but with a major shift going on from old to new media, they are now begging you to take the controls. Enter search engine blinkx and other search engines fighting to become thee destination for professionally made online programming. Suranga Chandratillake, founder of video search engine blinkx, likes showing off his new remote control. It can't change programs on TV, but this mouse-controlled tool will help users channel surf the Web. Much like the on-air channel guides on cable and satellite TV, the blinkx tool provides a comprehensive list of network TV programming available on the Web. Then, it lets users call up a show—from virtually anywhere on the Web—with the click of a mouse. The Surfer's Guide to the Web TV Galaxy [Businessweek]

Now you can check ya Ho!

-NEIL Could a new website that allows you to check your girlfriend or boyfriend's Ho status be Al Sharpton's next target? Perhaps this is the site Don Imus used to check the Ho status of the Rutgers basketball team? We kid We kid!!. Here is an overview of what HO-CHECK.com is all about. HO-Check was created to Help Others CHECK a mate or potential mate. CHECK their Street Credibility! CHECK their ability to Keep It Real!!!For all of you who have been hated on, played, wronged, dogged, lied to, cheated on, broken down, beaten, won on, mistreated, stood up, stuck out, misled, or just down right fucked with, we have put together a forum just for you to CHECK or REPORT that HO! HO-CHECK.com

Bud TV, Dud TV?

-LEN HINDSMANN We thought when Anheuser-Busch came up with the idea to launch BudTV they had all the right recipes for a successful online destination, you know beer, crazy ass videos and just all the things us men find amusing. But apparently the recipe wasn't as tasty as we thought. The traffic to the site has been in a nose dive due to its pain in the ass age verification process. Sure the site is being responsible in making sure visitors to the site are of age but at the end of the day, people just want to get in and out of your site, they don't want to feel like they are applying for credit or something. So what will Anheuser-Busch do to make the experience a little simpler? They may have to head back to the drawing board because that’s only part of the problem. In an earlier interview discussing last month's figures, Mr. Ponturo said the site's content -- a collection of mostly humor-driven digital shorts -- was still seeking a "wow factor," a breakout hit that would draw notice on YouTube and other viral video channels and bring visitors to Bud.TV. But that clearly hasn't happened; Bud.TV videos dropped into YouTube have generally been met with little interest, if their anemic number of views is any indication. Traffic Plummets at Struggling Bud.TV [Adage]

Media Brief: MarthaStewart.com sneaks a relaunch

With no fan fair whatsoever, the folks at Martha Stewart Living quietly re-launched their website. The site is nothing out of the norm, with the soft greens and images of its name sake founder. However, we likes we likes!!! MarthaStewart.com

Viacom blogs still use video clips on Youtube

-SHOMARI HINES Viacom may be suing Youtube for copyright infringement but that doesn't mean Viacom owned websites were issued a memo to stay away from the site. Then again the whole lawsuit thing is designed to drive publicity for Viacom and its revised digital push. Could Sumner Redstone's Viacom, the media giant that's suing Google for facilitating piracy of shows such as the Colbert Report, please get its act together? It's bad enough that the 83-year-old billionaire's other company, CBS, is still flirting with the Mountain View search engine. Or that one of Viacom's own subsidiaries, a video sharing site called iFilm, allows snatched videos to be uploaded without vetting -- the same offense of which Google is accused. Viacom blogs still using Youtube [Valleywag]

Media Brief: The last website aimed at men ages 18-34 fell flat on it's ass

-SHOMARI HINES MTV's iFilm and Spike are teaming up to launch some kind of website for men seeking to kill time at work. Not sure what kind of content the new destination will carry but chances are you won't see any "Sweet 16" clips on there. Time inc took a run at the same demographic with OfficePirates.com but fell, tripped and bust its lips right out the gate. Lets hope MTV digital czar Mika Salmi and his minions will avoid that kind of mess. IFILM AND SPIKETV.COM, BOTH DIVISIONS of MTV Networks, will team up to create a Web platform for men 18-34 under the Spike brand. This new integration among the MTVN Entertainment Group properties marries iFILM's online viral video presence with Spike TV's broadband and TV assets. The newly created iFILM/spiketv.com group will report to Erik Flannigan, senior vice president, digital media, MTVN Entertainment Group. [Source: Mediapost]

AdAge looks into whether or not Youtube is a $1.6 Billion white elephant

-Shomari Hines Yup another article surfaced this week asking a now familiar question of whether or not Google dropped major cash for buzz? We won't get into why this question is being asked because by now unless you've been living in Saddam's old rat hole you already know the story surrounding this. However AdAge takes a little different approach to the matter. Just six months ago, before the close of Google's $1.65 billion deal for the video-sharing site, these questions would have been unthinkable. But there have been continued stumbles in inking the deals that will get it enough legal content to support a robust ad model, and that's rendered the site's future surprisingly murky. The central question these days is whether a web version of "America's Funniest Home Videos" has anything advertisers actually want. Did Google Flush $1.6 Billion Down the YouTube? [AdAge]

Gawker, now lite on media and heavy on socialites, and lifestyle

-Shomari Hines Nick Denton is rapidly changing the content of his flagship title Gawker.com. A couple weeks ago the site started posting on weekends covering the weekend papers and lifestyle. Now the site will publish after hours during the week for those Gawkerites who can't get enough covering the same thing. Over the years the site has slowly cut back on its media industry focus and went heavy on the New York City lifestyle, covering socialites and the parties/events they frequent. The site's core media coverage is now rolled up into their Media Bubble posting which is usually in the mornings. However there is the occasional posting on happenings within the offices of media companies like MTV and others via tips from die hard Gawker loyalists. The site is a mix of Time Out New York and New York Magazine. Perhaps its time to change the tag line which reads "daily Manhattan media news and gossip. Reporting live from the center of the universe".

Wired News rolls out its new front page

-Shomari Hines Wired News pulls the curtains back on its revamped front page. This is just the first part of a full revamp currently in motion. However the new front page went so big on the lead headline that you may find yourself having to push back from your computer screen from time to time. We don't know, but something about the new page reminds us of New York Magazine's website. It could be the big bold Georgia fonts.

Disney one-ups Liz Spiers with mommy help website

Disney will roll out a new website aimed at mommies who would rather get help advice from the Internet than their own moms. We can bet this will be on the blogroll of Liz Spiers' rumored mommy help blog when and if it ever launches. By contrast, the new site is a one-stop site for parents, especially mothers, providing everything from Internet search to user-generated articles on key topics such as education and food, and, eventually, a "ParentPedia," a compilation of information on 1,000 topics that can be expanded by users. The site, to be announced Tuesday in Los Angeles, will go live later this week at http://www.family.com/ and remain in beta, or testing, stages until the summer, said Paul Yanover, executive vice president of Disney Online, a unit of the Walt Disney Internet Group. Disney hopes to make money from selling advertising and from sponsored search, text ads that appear next to search results. Duh! isnt this how 99.9% of websites make their money. Disney will launch website aimed at helping moms [USA Today]

France to spread their news and views from the Middle East to the U.S.

France24 which sounds like the title of a French version of Fox's terror drama "24" is hoping that Americans aren't as narrow minded as they think. The news network is stretching its wings all over the world. The news net will launch an Arabic language version of it's broadcast as well as an English version here in the U.S. Perhaps now we can see first hand what the French really think of America. There web traffic seems to be kicking ass too. During France 24’s first three weeks, according to Nielsen/NetRatings, its Web site attracted 2.5 million unique visitors in nine countries surveyed, including the United States, Germany and Brazil. The biggest following was in France with 1.2 million, but the rest came from abroad. CNN’s site draws 9 percent of its visitors from outside the United States, while the BBC attracts 53 percent from outside Britain. France’s Effort to Export the News Is Catching On [NYT]

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.

New York Daily News you're up!

-Neil Yoshida Many publications, magazines and newspapers are wasting no time in revamping their websites to better interact with readers and ad more content like videos and blogs. Some notable revamps include, NYPost, Time, Esquire, Vanityfair and coming next week, the new USAToday.com. But we have to ask, why is the New York Daily News so slow in launching a desperately needed revamped site? They are falling behind in the new media game and will have play a serious game of catch up. Anyway back to USAtoday's upcoming website relaunch, yes this post is actually about their relaunch. Our friend in our head Jeff Jarvis of Buzzmachine.com was lucky enough to get a sneak peak at the new website from Kinsey Wilson USAtoday's editor. On the mockups (keep in mind that they were put together by designers, who sometimes needn’t bother with dictionaries) you’ll see on the top of the home page a quote from the comments the site has under its articles (note that they don’t have forums — and their unruliness — but do have, Kinsey said, civil and valued discussions around articles). They want to emphasize interactivity and put the commenters out front. I said it will be interesting to see whether these out-of-context quotes will be compelling (I had trouble doing this with forum quotes in my prior life). Kinsey said it’s as much about valuing the commenters as it is about the quotes themselves. Much of this redesign is about such cultural change. USA Tomorrow [BuzzMachine]

Women's Wear Daily gets long overdue makeover

Women's Wear Daily finally pulled the curtains back on their refreshed website and we're sure all you fashionistas are loving it, we know we are, and we don't know the first thing about fashion.