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Was John McCain’s appearance on Saturday Night Live funny, tacky or just downright embarrassing? You decide. Did the good folks at QVC really deserve this? Maybe it’s us, but, after several weeks running, is Tina Fey’s imitation of GOP VP pick Sarah Palin played? Good thing she has 30 Rock to fall back on.
 
 

A little Yin and Yang for Microsoft-owned digital marketing agency Razorfish amid the economic slowdown. Last week Razorfish bought for an undisclosed sum Spanish digital ad shop Wysiwyg just as Razorfish was letting go 40 staffers from its New York office. The purchase of Wysiwyg (“what you see is what you get”) is part of Razorfish’s larger [...]

Just two days after parent company McGraw-Hill Cos. revealed that it had cut 270 jobs during the third quarter, BusinessWeek said late last week that it is pulling the plug on BusinessWeekTV at the end of the year. The nationally syndicated, personal-finance TV show launched in 2001. “As we compete for both readers and revenue, it is critical that [...]

Time Inc. Chairman-CEO Ann S. Moore on Friday announced a major company reorganization that includes the creation of the News Business Unit, according to BtoB.  The new unit comprises the Time Group, Fortune/Money Group, Sports Illustrated Group, Life.com and GEE (Grupo Editorial Expansion). The moves comes a day after Time. Inc. said that it was shedding [...]

Discovery News has posted an article finally confirming that the melting of the polar caps is caused by humans… At this rate, we’re looking forward to the scientific evidence that global warming actually exists sometime in 2030…

Web number cruncher comScore has introduced Extended Web measurement (CXW), which can track distributed content across third party Web sites. The service is designed to provide more precise measurement of ad packages; it also provides a Gross Ratings Point (“GRP”) measure for online ads to compare and contrast with traditional media buys. “Distributed content,” which encompasses widgets, gadgets [...]

Magazine cutbacks du jour. Conde Nast said that Portfolio, which launched in 2006, is reducing its frequency from 12 to 10 times a year. Rumors abound that Portfolio also may cut up to one-fifth of its staffers. (Through November, Portfolio’s ad pages were up 72%, according to Media Industry Newsletter. But that increase is from a small ad base.) Conde [...]

The Google-Yahoo deal is on the ropes. The prospects for a Web-advertising partnership between Google and Yahoo have dimmed, with both sides considering walking away from the deal as early as next week, according to WSJ.com. Both companies have been meeting with the U.S. Justice Department to address antitrust concerns. One sticking point: the department’s discussion of [...]

Omnicom Group, one of the top media holding companies in the world, on Thursday launched Mobile Behavior, an agency devoted to marketers eager to target mobile markets. Mobile Behavior combines Omnicom’s Youth and Mobile Marketing practice with the company’s advertising and marketing agencies. These agencies include BBDO Worldwide, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, Martin/Williams and Fleishman-Hillard. “Our lives are more [...]

But Yoko has to eat! The Beatles have for years resisted digital licensing of their music. Until now. The Beatles’ Apple Corps has agreed with Rock Band developers MTV Networks and Harmonix to create a Beatles-themed videogame. “I like people having the the opportunity to get to know the music from the inside out,” said Sir Paul [...]