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No one benefited from the New Economy boom times more than the Industry Standard, so it was only fair that the Standard not be exempted once things went south. And so it is: Prompted by falling ad revenues, Standard Media International, publisher of the internet business weekly, announced a round of layoffs and a corporate restructuring yesterday. The layoffs will affect 7 percent, or 36 employees, of the San Francisco office’s staff. The job cuts are concentrated in Standard Media’s online and marketing divisions and will not affect the magazine’s editorial staff. As part of the reorganization, Ann-Marie McGowan, formerly executive vice president of products and services for Standard Media, has been named the chief operating officer. McGowan succeeds Chris Patelis, who was appointed president of the Industry Standard magazine last month. Also, John Loomis, formerly a managing principle of CTO Group, a consulting-services company, has joined Standard Media in the newly created positions of chief technology officer and chief information officer. Meanwhile, three top executives have been shown the door: Herb Montgomery, executive vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer; Steve Thompson, senior vice president and group publisher; and Kerry Zeida, vice president of corporate marketing all resigned from their posts. The layoffs follow last month’s decision to cancel Industry Standard spin-off Grok.
Music awards take the night for ABC
Britney Spears and L.L. Cool J. gave ABC a youthful edge over CBS last night, as the "28th Annual American Music Awards" won the night for ABC. CBS’s Monday night lineup of "King of Queens," "Everybody Loves Raymond," and "Family Law" tied the awards show among households, but placed third among adults 18-49. Fox took second place in that demographic with new episodes of "Boston Public" and "Ally McBeal." And NBC was a distant fourth, as its Monday household rating dropped 20 percent from the week before. The preliminary Nielsen household rating and share and adult 18-49 rating for Monday night were: ABC 10.4/16 and 7.3, CBS 10.4/16 and 5.6, Fox 8.5/12 and 6.3, and NBC 5.5/8 and 2.8. On Sunday, another awards show gave its network a win for the night. "The People’s Choice Awards" on CBS helped secure the household win for its network, even though the special didn’t win any of its time periods. The awards show stayed a close second to ABC’s regular favorites of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" and "The Practice," which won their respective time periods. NBC’s showing of the movie "On Deadly Ground" landed the network in fourth place for the evening among both households and adults 18-49. And Fox easily won the night among adults 18-49 with original episodes of its Sunday night lineup. The preliminary Nielsen household rating and share and adult 18-49 rating for Sunday night were: CBS 10.7/16 and 5.2, Fox 10.0/15 and 8.6, ABC 9.5/14 and 5.5, and NBC 6.2/9 and 3.3.
UK Express editor's scrabbled good-by: %#@
Want to get back at your nasty, soon-to-be ex-boss? Stephen Pollard, London’s Daily Express’ outgoing chief leader writer, can give you some tips. Pollard recently resigned from the Express, reportedly because of new owner Richard Desmond's involvement in pornographic magazines. On Saturday, Pollard’s last piece for the paper, an article about organic farming, contained a not-so-secret message to the new boss at the paper. The article was 14 sentences long, with the first letters of each sentence combining to spell out "FUCK YOU DESMOND." But though Pollard got the last laugh on his old paper, the prank has backfired on him, big time. His new bosses at the (London) Times, where he was supposed to begin serving as a columnist and leader writer soon, have yanked his new job offer, leaving Pollard currently unemployed. The journalist says the message was not intentional and is calling it an "amazing coincidence." "Somebody has just pointed it out to me. I had no idea," he told rival newspaper The Guardian.
Fox: VD check for 'Temptation Island' couples
Forced to defend "Temptation Island" before the new reality show has even premiered, Fox executives have been embarrassed by a new revelation: All participants on the show were tested in advance for sexually transmitted diseases. The testing doubtless seemed prudent to higher-ups at the network that was embarrassed last year when background checks failed to turn up a restraining order for "multi-millionaire" Rick Rockwell. But the STD scrutiny somewhat undercut's the network's official line that "Island" is not about sex or splitting up happy couples. A number of conservative and religious groups have spoken out against the show, which premieres at 9 p.m. on Wednesday, claiming “Temptation Island” is mocking the sanctity of committed relationships.
Study: Lifetime Movie Network tops with viewers
The Lifetime Movie Network received top marks from digital cable viewers in a number of measures including awareness, enjoyment and value, according to a recent Beta Digital Subscriber Study. Viewers picked the network as their favorite digital basic cable network and rated it the most important to the enjoyment of cable TV among adults. It was also number one in aided awareness among emerging networks with a recall of 89 percent. The study found that out of more than 35 emerging networks, the Lifetime Movie Network was the most viewed network in the past year, month and week. In perceived value among total adults receiving digital cable, respondents said the network was worth $.96 a month, compared to $.64 a month for its nearest competitor. The Lifetime Movie Network, a round-the-clock movie spin-off of the Lifetime Television channel, was launched in 1998. The Beta Digital Subscriber Study Evaluation of Emerging Networks was based on a random national sample of 903 digital cable subscribers age 18 and older.
ABC's Clinton
retrospective, first among many
This month the country gets a new president, and newsmakers everywhere get
a new ex-president to star in their retrospectives. The first installment
of a five-part series
titled "The Clinton Years" aired on ABC's "Nightline" last night and is scheduled to continue throughout
the week. Partnering up with ABC, PBS will air a two-hour special edition
of its program "Frontline," based on the “Nightline” shows,
on Jan.16. The
ABC/PBS collaboration will examine the internal politics of the Clinton
presidency. Former spokesperson Dee Dee Myers, former advisor James
Carville and former labor secretary Robert Reich were all interviewed for
the specials. Also, in a possible conflict of interest, George
Stephanopoulos, an ABC News correspondent and former Clinton strategist,
as well as David Gergen, a former Clinton advisor who currently appears
frequently on "Nightline," are prominently featured on the
programs. Gergen is currently in discussions with the network to become an
official ABC News analyst. Executives at ABC News deny that Stephanopoulos’ and Gergen’s current employment affected the authenticity of their interviews.
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