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Video: I recently spoke with several media veterans about trends in digital-sports media and women-centric digital media at the EconSports and EconWomen confabs, respectively. Why Yahoo is becoming a magnet for sports fans (of all stripes) and the so-called ‘Silver Tsunami’ online that advertisers ignore at their own peril.

Video: It’s going to be a pretty chilly winter for business publishers (never mind the weather). They’re facing more layoffs, declining advertising budgets and a shakeout among print publications, which remain the bread-and-butter for the bulk of business publishers. But they’ll press on, what else can they do? Monetizing social media, growing their events portfolio and, of course, expanding their digital presence are the top priorities.

A little harmony, please. Paul McCartney on Monday said that negotiations to bring the Beatles catalog to Apple’s iTunes store had come to a halt. Though the Beatles’ recordings are owned by EMI, the band’s company, Apple Corps, would have to give the green light for their songs to be released digitally. “I really hope it [...]

Are America’s largest magazine publishers ready to radically adjust their business model to respond to the transition from print to online? Ad Age columnist Simon Dumenco has his doubts in a piece titled, “Hey, Magazines, Are you in or Are You out?” Dumenco said big publishers are failing to transition their brands to the Web and essentially letting online [...]

Early this month Facebook and Twitter ended several weeks of discussions, in which Facebook was offering to acquire Twitter for $500 million of its stock, reports Kara Swisher on AllThingsD.com. Part of the rub was price. But, perhaps more important, “was a feeling among Twitter investors and execs that the start-up should still take a [...]

Media layoffs du jour. USA Today, the spectrum-colored daily published by Gannett Co., is eliminating 20 positions in early December. Here’s the memo, per PoynterOnline, sent to USA Today staffers on Sunday.
 

Do we smell a slight whiff of desperation on the part of Google? The search king is telling clients that it can help them beat the recession and is urging them not to turn their backs on digital advertising as the economy slumps, FT.com reports. Nikesh Arora, senior VP in charge of Google’s operations in Europe, the [...]

A cut in fees paid by member newspapers and a slowing economy are taking a toll on the Associated Press. The wire service announced Thursday that it will trim 10% of its work force during the next year, amounting to a loss of more than 400 jobs from a global staff of 4,100. More than 100 [...]

Conde Nast is closing men’s fashion trade DNR and DNRnews.com (both properties are part of the Fairchild Fashion Group). The last print issue will be Nov. 24, according to min (media industry newsletter). Some of the staff will be integrated with Fairchild flagship WWD. No word on job losses. DNR joins a growing list of publications Gawker [...]

Internet ad revenue reached nearly $5.9 billion in the third quarter, a 11% jump compared with the same period in 2007, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers. While double-digit growth continues online, quarter-to-quarter growth is relatively flat. The third quarter figures are just 2% higher than the second quarter results. David Silverman, a partner [...]