Sulzberger tells stockholder at Times' annual meeting
You can buy a share of The New York Times Co. for under $5, less than you'd pay for a Big Mac lunch, and a lot less than the $50 that share would have cost a few years ago, such are the hard times that have fallen upon the Gray Lady.

But Chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr. has no intentions of taking the paper private, even in the face of increasing pressure from stockholders to fix what's wrong with the paper as it confronts skidding ad revenue and plunging profits, and that's what he told one shareholder at the company's annual meeting yesterday.

"We have no plans to take this company private," Sulzberger is quoted as saying, responding to a questioner who suggested that Sulzberger, whose family has controlled the paper since 1896, might be just as happy to be rid of its stockholders.

Sulzberger told stockholders he felt the ad economy would improve in time but was anything but rosy about when recovery might come, noting that the whole newspaper industry was suffering and that there was no one fix.

Like so many other papers, the Times is cutting costs where it can, including cutting salaries, but it's faring better than many other big city papers, a handful of which have chosen to file for bankruptcy.

It's also remained committed to putting out a superior newspaper. Earlier this week The Times was awarded five Pulitzer Prizes.


WWE: We're kicking 'American Idol's' butt (with men) 
Fox’s “American Idol” might be the biggest show on TV, beating all its broadcast competition pretty much every night that it’s on. But that doesn’t mean the show is immune from a clobbering, and by a bunch of wrestlers yet.

At least not among men.

WWE is saying that among male viewers 18-34, it's giving "Idol” a beating.

For the week ended April 19, WWE averaged 2.3 million viewers, against “Idol’s” 1.9 million for its Tuesday episode and 2.1 million for Wednesday, according to WWE.

WWE also claims it drew more male 18-49 viewers than “House” and “The Office” for the week.  It averaged 8.5 million total male viewers that week, putting it on a par with “CSI.”


Coming from BET, Centric, channel for older African Americans
BET Networks is launching a new cable TV channel for middle-aged African Americans. Centric, an entertainment and music channel aimed at older, more affluent African Americans, is scheduled to launch in October in nearly 45 million homes.

The shows appearing on Centric will include "Keeping Up With The Joneses," which follows the lives of Houston's high society; "Model City," about young African American male models trying to make it in New York City; "Real Life Divas and Leading Men," profiling African American individuals who have impacted American culture; and lifestyle interior design show "Urban Living."

Describing the network’s target audience, BET president Scott Mills says President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama would be the perfect examples.

Centric will be run jointly by BET and MTV Networks. Both are divisions of Viacom. BET has also picked up several new shows including makeover reality show "The Hollywood Treatment" starring singer Mary J. Blige, and "Heart of the City," a BET News program that will look at the issues affecting urban black communities.

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In other programming notes, NBC is close to partnering with MTV on the summer reality series “I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!” according to reports. The deal will reportedly give MTV a role in the creative of the show, as well as involvement in promotion. MTV will pay for the right to replay the series as well.

Spike TV has picked up new seasons of its original series “1000 Ways To Die” and “Manswers.” USA Network has added “White Collar,” a new original series about an FBI agent and a con man working together.