Latest layoffs: Economist cuts 5 percent of NA staff
And now, for the latest on print industry staff cuts: Three publishers said yesterday that they are dumping staff, including one of the few magazines up year to year through third quarter in ad pages. The Economist will slash its North American workforce by 5 percent, or up to 15 people, according to the New York Post’s Keith J. Kelly, amid general belt-tightening in the magazine business. The Economist’s ad pages were actually up 5.9 percent through third quarter, according to the Publishers Information Bureau, compared to an overall 9.5 percent decline for consumer publications. Also yesterday came word that 23 employees have been laid off at Active Interest Media, publisher of Backpacker and Yoga magazines. That’s about 10 percent of its staff, according to Folio. The company blamed the cuts on a slowdown in ad revenue. On the newspaper side, Omaha’s World-Herald cut 51 jobs, or 7 percent of its staff, yesterday, blaming the poor ad economy and a big increase in newsprint prices.

Programming notes: Fox drops 'Mad' after 14 years
“MadTV” won’t be around for a 15th season, at least not on Fox. The network has canceled the show, now in year 14, although creator David Salzman plans to pitch the series to other networks, including cable. “MadTV” has averaged 2.6 million total viewers this season. It will finish its run in May. Meanwhile, in other programming, Sci Fi Channel has renewed “Sanctuary” for a second season, ordering 13 new episodes of the hour-long series. The Oct. 3 series premiere of the show brought in more than 3 million total viewers. Gay-themed Logo has picked up the rights to “Chris & John to the Rescue!,” which premiered on Canada’s OUTtv in 2006. The reality series, which will launch on Logo in January, follows friends John Simpsons and Chris Carter as they help people across the country. CW has picked up five more episodes of Tuesday drama “Privileged,” bringing the season order to 18, and the network will try to grab more viewers for the show by airing original episodes following Monday’s “Gossip Girl” on Dec. 1 and 8. Finally, the fifth season of FX’s “Nip/Tuck” will premiere on Jan. 6 at 10 p.m., while the second season of “Damages” will premiere the next night at 10.

Economy grinch steals Conde Nast Christmas party
Condé Nast won’t be holding its annual Christmas party this year. Perhaps more disappointing for media followers, that means New York Post reporter Keith J. Kelly, who writes an annual, much-anticipated account of the luncheon, won’t be filing a story about the event’s seating chart. Kelly reports that the poor economy has prompted Condé Nast to nix this year’s celebration, usually held at the Four Seasons. The event was considered a barometer of who was hot and who was not in the Condé ranks. Those in favor sat close to chairman Si Newhouse; those seated way across the room began updating their resumes. That was despite repeated insistence by Condé Nast executives that the seating chart had no significant meaning. The luncheon has been a CN Christmas tradition for decades, and Kelly has been covering it for more than 10 years, dating back to his days at Folio.

MSNBC the latest to be duped by 'Martin Eisenstadt'
Political pranksters Eitan Gorlin and Dan Mirvish have struck again, this time with MSNBC as their victim. On Monday the cable news network reported that John McCain policy adviser “Martin Eisenstadt” was the source of a Fox News Channel story claiming McCain running mate Sarah Palin believed Africa was a country rather than a continent. In reality, the identity of the McCain leaker remains a mystery, because Eisenstadt doesn’t actually exist. Eisenstadt identifies himself on a blog as a senior fellow at the Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy, but both he and the institute are fabrications created by Gorlin and Mirvish. MSNBC says the story wasn’t properly researched and should not have made it on the air, and that it ran a correction within minutes. But this isn’t the first outlet to be duped by Gorlin and Mirvish. The Huffington Post and political blogs for the Los Angeles Times, The New Republic and Mother Jones magazine have all cited false content from Eisenstadt’s blog.

Katz puts up $3.64 million for Interep client privileges
Interep’s many limboed clients may soon get a chance to talk to Katz Media Group instead. The Clear Channel-owned company has offered $3.64 million to free Interep clients from their national rep contracts, a move that must still be approved later this month by the bankruptcy judge in the case. That doesn’t mean Katz has bought Interep but it certainly would seem to put the company ahead of the other reported handful of bidders. The payment would allow Katz to talk with and hire current Interep employees. The Interep saga has been playing out for weeks, with the troubled firm first saying it was going out of business and then entering bankruptcy court under the trusteeship of Kenneth Silverman. A hearing on the Katz proposal is set for Nov. 25.

Google puts keyword advertising program on YouTube
YouTube bosses have long puzzled over just how to turn the popular site into a big money maker. Now Google, YouTube’s owner, has come up with one potential way to do it. Google said yesterday that it was beginning a keyword advertising program on the site. It will enable advertises, for instance people with videos posted on the site, to buy relevant keywords. When users do a search on the site, advertisements, particularly video ads, will appear along with the results, as they do in Google’s search engine. This allows people to promote the videos they have on the site. Alternatively advertisers could put up commercial video ads for relevant products. The feature will launch first in the U.S.

New at Disney: Use your cell to save a place in line
Cell phones are becoming increasingly useful in places such as Yankee Stadium and the Disney theme parks, and not just for making phone calls. Baseball fans will soon be able to order a hot dog and a beer via their cell phone while watching the Yanks as well as watch instant replays thanks to a $15 million new Cisco Systems network. Meantime, Walt Disney is working with Verizon Wireless to keep in touch with theme park visitors even outside the park. Also, visitors will be able to use cells to save a spot in the long lines at a popular ride or find out where Mickey Mouse is signing autographs. Visitors to Disneyland in California or Walt Disney World in Florida can download an application to their cell phone that allows them to reserve a hotel room and create a list of places to go in order to personalize their trip.

Judge: NFL players deserve bigger $lice from games
More than 2,000 former NFL players finally had their day in court this week and they came out $28.1 million richer. A federal court jury in San Francisco found that the players’ union hadn’t been forthright when it came to revenue from video games and memorabilia, and the players were owed $21 million in punitive damages. The jury also found that the NFL Players Association and Players Inc., its licensing arm, failed to protect retired players’ rights for at least a half-dozen players. The jury sided with players who charged that the union leaders betrayed their trust. The former players received $7.1 million in compensation in addition to the $21 million in punitive damages. The union’s lawyer predicted the ruling will be overturned. The players, led by Hall of Fame cornerback Herb Adderley, sued in February 2007 for a share of revenues from the union's group-licensing contracts with companies that sell video games, trading cards and clothing, among others. The biggest contract is with Madden Football maker Electronic Arts.

Nielsen: 78 percent bought something online recently
It’s a safe bet that you or the guy one cubicle over bought something over the internet in the past six months. According to Nielsen Online, 78 percent of adult online users made a purchase over the internet in the previous six months. The top online transaction category was travel, with 38 percent of adult online consumers making at least one travel purchase on the internet, while credit card account management and home banking took the No. 2 and No. 3 spots, with 36 percent and 35 percent, respectively. That’s according to Nielsen’s @Plan Winter 2008/2009 survey of approximately 36,000 U.S. Internet users age 18 and older. Clothes, shoes and accessories purchases came in at No. 4 at 28 percent, followed by books at 26 percent. The stickiest online retailer? EBay beat out No. 2 Amazon and No. 3 Walmart with users spending 1:47:26 on eBay’s site compared to 22:45 on Amazon.