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Friday, March 21, 2003 Media Cynic | Forum | Advertising | Classifieds | Jobs Publishing Industry Soundbytes Launches and Redesigns | Miscellaneous People · Barry Diller announced that he is resigning his position as CEO of Vivendi Universal Entertainment. · Celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck will be writing a column for Chicago Tribune's Good Eating Section. Wolfgang Puck's column, "Wolfgang Puck's Kitchen," debuts in the Wednesday, March 12 issue of Good Eating. His column for Good Eating will be geared toward non-professionals and feature ways to make cooking faster and easier. The Good Eating section appears every Wednesday in the Chicago Tribune. A companion television program, Good Eating, airs on Tribune-owned CLTV. Both the print and television versions of Good Eating are past recipients of awards from the James Beard Foundation for excellence in food journalism. Carolyn Bekkedahl, Executive Vice President of American Media, Inc. and Publishing Director of the Weider Active Lifestyle Group, has named Diane Newman as the new publisher of Shape magazine. Until her recent promotion to Publishing Director, Ms. Bekkedahl had served as Shape's Publisher. Metropolis Magazine has annoucned a new column: Object Lesson, by Paul Goldberger. The monthly feature will explore the world of product design. Metropolis Magazine is about design and the world of design, including architecture, interiors, products, and urban spaces. Scholastic, a children's publishing and education company, announced the appointment of Kristin DeVivo, as the Director of Research and Evaluation for its Education Division. Ms. DeVivo will report to Francie Alexander, Vice President and Chief Academic Officer for Scholastic Education. Ms. DeVivo joins Scholastic from LeapFrog SchoolHouse, where she spent the past two years as the research manager, developing and implementing research studies for their K-5 programs. International Data Group (IDG), a technology media company, has announced the appointment of Robert Carrigan to publisher, president and CEO of Computerworld. Carrigan will officially take the helm on April 7. In his new post, Carrigan will oversee all business activities of the print publication, online operations, events and research at Computerworld. Most recently, Carrigan was senior vice president of interactive marketing at AOL, where he led the Key Accounts Group, which sells and manages AOL's largest and most strategic accounts. Business 2.0 magazine has added two business journalists to its roster of monthly columnists: John Heilemann, award-winning magazine writer and author of Pride Before the Fall: The Trials of Bill Gates and the End of the Microsoft Era, and John Battelle, the former CEO of The Industry Standard and co-founder of Wired magazine. Heilemann's column, Face Time, debuts in the April issue, and will focus on the leaders of the information economy - technology, media, and communications - as they face a period of great change. Starting in the May issue of the magazine, Battelle will pen a monthly column called The Message, offering his take on the intersection of media, technology and marketing. Tom King, editor of the Record Searchlight in Redding, Calif., since 1996, has decided to take early retirement, ending a long and successful association with The E. W. Scripps Company. King and his family plan to return to the Southeast, where he was raised and spent the first 19 of his 33 years as a newspaper journalist. King's decision ends an association with Scripps newspapers that began in 1974 when he was hired as a sportswriter for The Knoxville News-Sentinel. King's last day as editor of the Record Searchlight will be March 28. Richard Malone has been named senior vice president and general manager for Chicago Tribune. The promotion was announced by Scott Smith, president and publisher of the Chicago Tribune. In his new role, Malone will lead the integration of business activities at Chicago Tribune. He will oversee key departments including circulation and consumer marketing, finance, operations, strategic marketing, and technology, along with the RedEye edition, chicagotribune.com and other related Internet sites. Malone currently is senior vice president/operations for Chicago Tribune and group vice president/operations for Tribune Publishing. Graham Hopper has been named senior vice president and general manager, Buena Vista Games, Inc., Andy Mooney, president of Disney Consumer Products (DCP) Worldwide, has announced. Hopper previously served as senior vice president, Global Business Development, for DCP. Reporting to Mooney, Hopper will oversee product development, manufacturing, licensing, marketing and sales for Buena Vista Games. Lucille S. Salhany, the first woman to head a television network when she presided over Fox Broadcasting, and Jon R. Peisinger, who has served as President of Capital Cities/ABC Video Publishing and Sony Video Enterprises, have joined the Board of Directors of TFN, The Football Network. TFN will begin full operation next fall as a national cable network. Ms. Salhany is currently President/CEO of her own consulting company, JHMedia, which has included clients Macy's, NASA and Chris Craft Industries. She also sits on the boards of American Media, Inc., Hewlett-Packard, and Compaq Computer. R.R. Bowker, a publisher of bibliographic information, announced that Diane L. Pierson has been named to the newly created position of senior director of business development. Pierson, a veteran of the electronic publishing industry, will be responsible for identifying new business opportunities within the book publisher market. She will be charged with developing new products and establishing new alliances with various strategic partners. Pierson joins Bowker after spending the last two years working in various consulting and management roles for LexisNexis and Dun & Bradstreet. Award-winning business journalist and publishing executive John R. Brandt has been tapped to direct the editorial content of Inside Business and Ohio Business magazines. The announcement was made by Lute Harmon Jr., the magazines' publisher. Brandt won the Neal Award for business journalism in 1998. Most recently he led a turnaround at Chief Executive Group, publisher of Chief Executive magazine, a national publication focusing on leadership and strategy. He remains associated with Chief Executive as editor-at-large. Primedia Inc., a targeted media company, announced Tara Maitra has been promoted to the new post of executive vice president and general manager of its new video-on-demand service, Video Magazine Rack. Maitra was formerly senior vice president of Primedia Digital Video. In her new role, Maitra will manage and oversee day-to-day operations of the recently launched service as well as guide strategy for the Video Magazine Rack roll out and development. Maitra reports to Beverly Chell. Tribune Publishing has announced the appointment of Kenneth Harding, veteran newspaper operations consultant and architect, as vice president of operations and distribution. In his new role, Harding will coordinate companywide operations, printing and distribution activities and capital projects for Tribune's 12 daily newspapers including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and Newsday. Harding joins Tribune from McClier Corporation, where he served as executive vice president since 2001 Mike Kment, former vice president/sales for Lee Enterprises, has been named director/classified advertising for the Gannett Newspaper Division. Kment replaces Chuck Cornelius, who was named classified advertising director of The Arizona Republic at Phoenix in February. Kment joined Lee in 1983 and served in a variety of executive positions including sales and marketing director for the Bismarck (ND) Tribune, director of Lee's national and regional sales operations, and as the company's vice president of sales. Gannett Co., Inc. announced that Tara J. Connell has been named the vice president/corporate communications, responsible for Gannett's media and public affairs, publications, audiovisual and travel services groups. Formerly, the director/media and government relations, Connell's career with Gannett began in 1972 as a reporter at Gannett's Westchester Rockland Newspapers. Since then she has served in a number of journalistic capacities, including managing editor/page 1 of USA Today. Connell is a 1971 graduate of the George Washington University. McGraw-Hill Education has announced the appointment of publishing executive William Oldsey to lead its McGraw-Hill School Education Group, a leading provider of pre-school through secondary educational solutions. Most recently, Mr. Oldsey was group president for Pearson Education's publishing operations outside the United States. His appointment is effective April 1, 2003. The McGraw-Hill Companies announced the appointment of Mostafa Mehrabani as executive vice president, Information Management, and chief information officer. Mr. Mehrabani will be responsible for providing overall technology leadership and strategic direction. Mr. Mehrabani was most recently vice president and chief information officer for TRW, a major aerospace, defense and automotive systems company. He will report to Robert J. Bahash, executive vice president and chief financial officer. The International Herald Tribune (IHT) announced that Didier Brun, vice president and development/new media director, has been promoted to senior vice president, strategy and development director, and Stephen Dunbar-Johnson, vice president and commercial director, has been promoted to senior vice president and commercial director. The promotions are effective immediately. Both will report to Richard Wooldridge, president and chief operating officer. Mr. Brun, 41, was named vice president and director of development/new media of the IHT in 2000. Mr. Dunbar-Johnson, 39, had been the vice president and commercial director of the IHT since 2000. He joined the IHT in 1998 as worldwide advertising director. Digital Publishing Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc. has reached agreement with MobiPocket.com S.A. of Paris, France, and its major shareholder, Viventures Partners, to purchase one half of the venture capital stake which Viventures owns in MobiPocket. This purchase will increase Franklin's share in MobiPocket to more than 25%. MobiPocket is a software and technology company that through its software reader application enables the reading and secured distribution of electronic text across OS platforms and Franklin's proprietary operating systems. Prior to the equity transaction, MobiPocket and Franklin had partnered together to bring the MobiPocket Reader to Franklin's Bookman platform. ucp morgen, a provider of mobile messaging solutions, announced a mobile media blogging product, called mobileblog. mobileblog is a new mobile messaging application that enables mobile users, along with online users, to 'blog' or publish text, photos and sounds from a mobile (camera) phone to a web-based diary. mobileblog creates the ability for mobile customers to contribute to their blogs anywhere, anytime, from any mobile device. Content Deals A.D.A.M., Inc. announced it has signed a licensing agreement with Cox Newspapers, Inc., one of the nation's largest newspaper publishing enterprises. Under the agreement, A.D.A.M.'s health and wellness content products will be available on four major metropolitan websites operated by Cox Newspapers. The local city sites are an information resource for residents providing online tools and features on events, jobs, entertainment, health and more. The four city sites adding A.D.A.M. content are: accessatlanta.com, austin360.com, activedayton.com, and gopbi.com. Technology Review, MIT's Magazine of Innovation, and Nikkei Business Publications Inc., a part of the Nikkei Newspaper group and Japan's largest publisher of business and technology news, announced plans to launch a Japanese edition of the technology magazine next fall. A pilot issue is slated to debut this May. The partnership serves as the third foreign-edition licensing agreement for Technology Review, which in November announced aggressive plans for extending its global presence through agreements with leading international publishers. As part of the agreement, Nikkei Business Publications has been granted an exclusive copyright license of the Technology Review trademark and original content. Audible, Inc. announced that Audible.com will be the exclusive distributor of The New York Times's TimesTalks events and will offer the interviews and panel discussions for download or streaming over the Internet, either individually or as themed packages. This distribution deal will begin with TimesTalks events at The New York Times Arts & Leisure Weekend 2003, March 7-9. The New York Times Arts & Leisure Weekend is an annual celebration of the arts. Throughout the weekend, 26 TimesTalks events will showcase such notables as American artist Matthew Barney, playwrights John Guare and Lanford Wilson, talk-show host Conan O'Brien, soprano Renee Fleming, composer Philip Glass, and writers Arthur Miller and Tom Wolfe. Marvel Enterprises, Inc., an entertainment company, has entered into new strategic agreements with Upper Deck Entertainment, sports and entertainment company, and Master Lock to promote the Company's legendary characters. These new relationships will expand the reach of the Marvel Universe and strengthen Marvel's brand of Super Hero based consumer product offerings. Through the deals, Upper Deck Entertainment has been granted the global license to create a special line of collectible trading cards and games featuring the popular Marvel heroes. Master Lock will utilize the Marvel characters as the centerpiece for a national contest and promotion. Tribune Company has completed its previously announced acquisition of KPLR-TV (WB11), St. Louis, and KWBP-TV (WB32), Portland, Ore., from ACME Communications for $275 million. Tribune acquired the stock of KPLR-TV for cash. The Portland transaction was structured as a tax deferred asset exchange partially funded with the remaining $55 million in proceeds from the sale of Tribune's Denver radio stations and cash. The Federal Communications Commission approved the transaction earlier this week. USA Interactive and Expedia, Inc. announced that they have entered into an agreement by which USA, already the majority owner of Expedia, would acquire the Expedia shares it does not currently own in a stock-for-stock transaction that is generally tax-free to Expedia shareholders. The transaction is valued at $3.3 billion, based on the closing price of USA common stock on March 18, 2003. Launches and Redesigns The DirectGroup division of Bertelsmann AG, co-owners of Bookspan's Book-of-the-Month Club, announced that for the first time its clubs worldwide have agreed on the selection of a single title as a Main or Featured Selection in a new program, the International Book-of-the-Month. The first International Book-of-the-Month is No Second Chance, the latest thriller by New York Times bestselling novelist Harlan Coben. DirectGroup expects to sell one million copies of No Second Chance through its worldwide clubs. The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), in partnership with Small Times Media, have launched a new web resource for Michigan's emerging micro and nanotechnology industry. The Michigan Small Tech website, which will be updated daily, can be viewed at michigansmalltech.com. Michigansmalltech.com includes news about small tech developments in the state, guest columns, and information about tech transfer initiatives at Michigan universities. A suite of business services will be in place in the coming months, including a directory of Michigan's small tech businesses. Small Times Media LLC, headquartered in Ann Arbor, Mich., offers full small tech news coverage through its bimonthly magazine, Small Times, a daily news website, and a weekly e-newsletter, Small Times Direct. TeachingNetwork.com, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Vidmar Acquisitions, Inc., announced that they have launched a new website at blinkybytes.com. Additionally, TeachingNetwork( is starting their new ezine Blinky Bytes with the first issue to be published in April, 2003. Subscriptions will be sold for $12.95 per year. Blinky Bytes will gives subscribers the opportunity to have stories, poems, articles and opinions published both on the website and in the ezine. Disney Online, part of the Walt Disney Internet Group, has unveiled a broadband version of Disney's Blast, a premium online subscription service for kids that provides weekly updated educational and entertainment features. The new version features additional games, enhanced stories and richer sound effects, including a complete voiceover sound track and original scores, which are best experienced via a high-speed connection. Primedia Workplace Learning announced it has partnered with community colleges to offer PRIMEed, a new maintenance technician training solution. Primedia Workplace Learning provides its partner colleges a library of 78 Web-delivered maintenance technician training courses, the study guides and instruction manuals for each of the hands-on performance evaluations, and a comprehensive learning management system (LMS). Colleges supply the equipment and expert instructors for the hands-on performance evaluations and manage and administer the program for companies that enroll employees in the PRIMEed program. Greenville Technical College in South Carolina helped pilot PRIMEed and has enrolled hundreds of students into the program. Nielsen//NetRatings, a provider Internet audience measurement and analysis, jas launched Internet Pocketpiece. Complementing Nielsen//NetRatings' industry-leading services, Internet Pocketpiece is a syndicated online measurement product providing audience data and analysis across dayparts. About, Inc. and Primedia have signed on as a charter client. Designed for the media community, the Internet Pocketpiece provides a top-line view of the monthly traffic for the top 250 ad-supported websites as measured by Nielsen//NetRatings. Information Today, Inc., a B2B media and event producer, announced the relaunch of the streamingmedia.com website. Since the acquisition of Streaming Media, Inc. by Information Today, Inc. in December, the site has been retooled to bring a more focused approach by providing users with the knowledge they need for real-world implementations of streaming media technology and applications. Information on the revamped site includes new articles, breaking news, research reports, updated industry directory, weekly e-newsletter, and case studies that showcase the latest real-world streaming media implementations. Rittenhouse Reading, the creators and publishers of innovative reading programs, has introduced Rime to Read, a reading series organized by spelling patterns or "rimes." Rime to Read uses color-coding to differentiate and reinforce the twenty short vowel patterns covered in the series. Rittenhouse says the use of color-coding helps beginning readers develops phonemic awareness by providing cues for sound discrimination and categorization. Artist and early childhood educator Shari Hookman Berger provides the illustrations for stories. Guerra Publishing, a San Antonio, Texas-based publishing company, announced that they have officially launched their new educational endeavor by publishing eighteen Spanish language resource materials geared toward helping bilingual teachers enhance classroom instruction for students. Established last year by Cynthia Guerra, owner of SchooLocker Teacher Supply and her husband, Fidelio, Guerra Publishing was created as the solution to a shortage in the availability of Spanish language materials for educators. Kluwer Academic Publishers (KAP) has launched Kluwer Wireless, a new online service devoted to wireless research and development. This digital library offers over 40,000 pages of peer-reviewed research authored by international researchers and scientists in the field of wireless. Information is categorized and sorted by independent wireless consultants according to the needs of research professionals. IGN Entertainment -- home to IGN.com, an information and entertainment destination for video gamers -- announced that it has launched IGN Wireless, a new editorial channel covering the wireless gaming market. IGN Wireless will focus on wireless games and hardware, such as phones, accessories and downloads. The new channel will provide IGN's visitors with game and hardware previews and reviews, as well as industry news items and coverage of industry events. Miscellaneous The gods are smiling upon Age of Mythology. Solidifying its position as one of the top PC games, with its tale of might and magic involving legendary Greek, Egyptian and Norse gods, Age of Mythology has reached a milestone by selling more than 1 million games worldwide since its release. The title, developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios, continues to garner critical acclaim and was nominated for the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences' (AIAS) Interactive Achievement Awards as PC Game of the Year and PC Strategy Game of the Year. Archie Comics Entertainment, the entertainment and licensing affiliate of Archie Comic Publications, Inc., has set April 2003 for the launch of a North American talent search looking for actors, musicians and singers to portray the famed characters Betty and Veronica, and their friends Archie, Jughead and Reggie, in the 2003 version of the The Archies musical group. The search also seeks performers to portray other notable Riverdale residents, including Mr. Weatherbee and Miss Grundy, and musical groups to portray the "Riverdale Rivals" and the "Rockers." Persons of all ages are encouraged to participate and find a role that fits their personality. The search and participants will be featured in a unique Archie Comics story to be published in 2003. Individuals chosen as members of The Archies musical group will participate in a multi-city concert tour. All winners will have a chance to be "Riverdale Residents" in a wide range of upcoming television and entertainment projects. Interested parties can visit the Archie Comics website, where a complete description of the talent search process, official application, consent forms and submission guidelines for each category are posted. Applications will also be published this spring in Archie Comics, reaching over 4,000,000 readers each month. 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