Entravision sells Vista Media for $100 million

It took Entravision a little more than 3 months since they announced their intention to sell, but they've finally found a buyer for Vista Media, the company's outdoor advertising division. Lamar Advertising is paying $100 million in cash for the company.

Mediaweek quotes CEO Walter Ulloa as saying the move will allow the company to focus on its broadcast portfolio.

Univision radio sells 4 stations in Albuquerque

Univision Radio sold its four-station cluster in Albuquerque for $24 million to Centennial Broadcasting.

The stations involved are regional Mexican KJFA-FM 105.1 "La Jefa," Spanish Oldies KKRG-FM 101.3 "Recuerdo," rhythmic KKSS-FM 97.3 and Classic Rock KIOT-FM 102.5 "Coyote."

It is unknown if Centennial will keep the current formats.

120 jobs eliminated at Newsday

The New York Post is calling it a "massacre." 120 jobs gone at Newsday in New York... claiming reporters, writers, editors and the entire national desk.

Some people were fired on the spot yesterday. Others have been given a voluntary buyouts option. If not taken, there will be "mandatory cuts."

The ax lifting is not over... owner Sam Zell has reportedly said that the Washington bureau set up for all the Tribune-owned papers is "unsustainable," leading to the possibility of further cutbacks.

This has been a terrible week for newspaper journalists, awaiting news of their possible demise, with the L.A. Daily News and the Boston Globe announcing layoffs.

Boston Globe to eliminate 60 jobs

The Boston Globe announced today it's looking to cut 60 positions and will be offering voluntary buyout packages.

The Worcester Telegram & Gazette, meanwhile, will cut 20 positions. Both papers are owned by The New York Times Co.

According to the Boston Globe, the buyout offer doesn't include Boston.com, since the company would "continue to invest in this growing area of the business."

Employees will get two weeks pay per year of service, with a cap of one year's pay. Globe employees with lifetime job guarantees get three weeks pay per year, with a 2 yr pay cap.

L.A. Daily news cuts 22 news jobs

It was rumored to happen since early this morning... and it did. 22 newsroom jobs will be eliminated tomorrow at the L.A. Daily News, bringing the editorial staff down to 100.

The AP reports the paper's editor-in-chief, Ron Kaye, was emotional as he broke the news today to his employees.

Some staffers volunteered to leave. Those laid-off will be informed Friday, making it their last day. According to a union rep, they'll get 2 to 6 weeks of severance pay, depending on their years of service, and three months of health care coverage.

The Daily News is owned by MediaNews Group.

Scripps to give presidential candidates free air time

The E.W. Scripps Co. announced that its 9 network-affiliated TV stations will give political candidates 5 minutes of free airtime each night starting 30 days prior to the general election on November 4.

Mediaweek is reporting that as part of Scripp's Democracy 2008 program, candidates can choose anytime between 5 to 11:35 pm. to use their free minutes.

Scripps implemented a similar policy for the 2000 elections, but this time around, it will have a stronger Web presence. The station Web sites will include candidate positions on issues, voter registration info and even links to candidate Web sites.

Nielsen creates Hispanic/Latino council

Looking to recruit and be more accurate in its reporting of Hispanic TV households, Nielsen announced yesterday that it had formed a national Hispanic/Latino Advisory Council. The independent advisory group will be holding its first meeting March 4 in New York.

Nielsen's HLAC has 11 members. Among them: Jenny Alonzo, EVP of marketing, Mio.TV; Dr. Juan Andrade, president and E.D. of the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute; Dr. David Hayes-Bautista, PhD, Director of the Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture at the School of Medicine, UCLA; Guarione M. Diaz, President and CEO, Cuban American National Council, Inc.; and Catherine M. Pino, co-founder & principal of D&P Creative Strategies.

Chavez leaves El Paso for Florida

After a little more than a year at the NBC affiliate in El Paso, reporter Jesse Chavez is moving on. He's taken a job at WPTV-5 in West Palm Beach, where he'll work weekday mornings as a reporter. He tells me his last day at KTSM-9 is March 8 and he starts at WPTV on April 8.

Jesse started in the news business as a producer, working at the NBC stations in Phoenix, Los Angeles and Chicago, before taking on his first reporter gig at WEEK-25 in East Peoria, IL.

Cable nets see ratings increase

Looks like the writer's strike helped boost the ratings for the cable networks... including those dedicated to news.

Nielsen data reviewed by Mediaweek from January 28 to February 24 shows an almost 25% increase in viewers during prime time compared to the same period last year.

Within the top 10 slots: Fox News came in third place (after USA and TNT) with an average of 1.87 million viewers, a 16% increase from 2007. CNN had the biggest ratings hike - more than 100%, landing in 6th place with an average 1.67 million viewers, compared to 783,000 in February of 2007. ESPN came in 9th with an 18% jump to 1.39 million viewers.

While MSNBC is nowhere near the top 10 cable networks, it did see 62% growth, averaging 771,000 viewers.

NYT accused of plagiarizing Miami Herald

A story about a highly addictive drug in Argentina was published in last Saturday's NYT, but it apparently includes two lines lifted verbatim from a Miami Herald piece that ran in August of 2006.

Jack Shafer, from slate.com, found the similarities in the copy and in his article quotes Times Managing Editor Jill Abramson conceding that the piece's author, Alexei Barrionuevo, lifted two passages from the Herald and that an Editor's note about the incident is "in the works."

Felony charges against Alycia Lane dropped

Alycia Lane, accused of assaulting an NYPD officer and subsequently fired from her anchor job at CBS3 in Philadelphia, is now free of the felony charges but still faces counts of harassment and obstruction of governmental administration. The judge in the case said those charges will be dropped in six months if she stays out of trouble.

Alycia, who was in court yesterday, did not plead guilty and her record will not carry a conviction.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports her attorney says Alycia wants to work again in Philadelphia - but for another station. With 3 and 1/2 years still left on her contract, her attorney is working on a civil case against CBS.

CBS claims that Alycia became the story, appearing on Dr. Phil to talk about her failed marriages and that other misjudgements during her stay at CBS3 prompted the decision to terminate her.

KPIX launches 10 pm newscast on KBCW

The Bay Area's CBS news team will be pulling double duty on weekdays beginning Monday, March 3.

KPIX's 11 pm anchors Ken Bastida, Dana King and Roberta Gonzales will also be doing a 30 minute newscast at 10 pm on the CW44, which will be broadcast in high definition.

Cruz pulled off anchor desk?

David Cruz, who left KNBC in L.A. for an anchor job in San Antonio has apparently been taken off WOAI's 5 pm chair.

David, who is a San Antonio native and who worked as an anchor at WOAI in the 70's, was hired specifically to handle the 5 p.m. newscast. He started last August.

According to the San Antonio Express News, David said via email that he was "surprised with the news that I was being taken off the program" and that the decision seemed to be based on research information from an outside media consulting company. "I don't think five months of my being back in my hometown is long enough to make such a major decision," he told the paper.

Meanwhile, the station spokesman would not comment on the move.

More about Univision in Philly

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports Ilia Garcia and Julio César Largo will anchor Noticias Univisión when the 6 and 11 pm newscasts start on March 10. Joining the news team: Raúl Collazo and Emilia Cordero. Jose Irizarry will run the show, as its news director.

Puerto Rico station switches to all news format

WCMA-FM in San Juan this morning switched from Romance 96.5 to RED 96 Noticias FM.

According to Radio Ink, SBS claims the station is the first Spanish FM radio outlet to air a 24-hour News format.

The station will have a local news staff and will feature news updates from correspondents in several U.S. cities, including San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and Miami.

Univision launches newscasts in Philly

Starting March 10, WUVP- TV, Univision 65 will begin two daily local news broadcasts in the Philadelphia market. The half-hour newscasts will air at 6 and 11 p.m.

According to the Philadelphia Business Journal, the Univision O&O will hire additional staff, which will be stationed in Philadelphia, New Jersey and Delaware.

Torres named to VP position at ABC Radio

ABC Radio Networks promoted Elisa Torres to VP/Hispanic Programming & Operations.

Torres joined ABC Radio Networks in 2004 as Senior Director of Hispanic Affiliate Relations. She previously worked at MásMúsica TeVe Network (MTV 3) where she developed and implemented distribution strategies for Spanish-language broadcast stations.

Albuquerque Tribune shuts down

February 23 will be the last day The Albuquerque Tribune will hit the newsstands. After a seven-month search for a buyer that did not materialize, parent company E.W. Scripps Co. announced it is ceasing operations at the 86-year-old newspaper.

According to Bloomberg.com, the paper's 38 editorial workers will get severance packages, job placement services and a limited health- care subsidy.

Back in December Scripps closed the Cincinnati Post and Kentucky Post.

Mirthala is back on the air... and in L.A.

She lost her job over an affair with mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, but former anchor and reporter Mirthala Salinas has landed another broadcasting job after more than five months out of the news business.

The scandal caused her suspension and in the end, termination from Telemundo's KVEA-52. But now, Francisco Castro of Hoy is reporting that Mirthala is the new co-host of the weekday morning show "Hoy por Hoy" on Tijuana-based XETRA-AM 690 "W Radio," which targets Los Angeles, San Diego and Ventura County.

GM out of KTLA

The ratings at Tribune's TV station in L.A. have been going down the drain for the past 2 years and now, channel 5's general manager Vinnie Malcolm is out of a job.

While the Chicago Tribune is reporting that Malcom has resigned to the post, some industry insiders say he was shown the door by new Tribune owner Sam Zell, for taking a once station leader into a "freefall."

KTLA 5 has gone through some scandals in the past couple of years. According to ERS, in 2007, Malcolm missed his sales projections by $34-million. Add to that the fact that last year, legendary anchor Hal Fishman passed away and morning anchor Carlos Amezcua left the sinking ship to take on the lead anchor role at KTTV's 10 pm newscast.

Gonzalez wins ASNE award

The American Society of Newspaper Editors announced the winners of its annual awards for distinguished writing and photography.

Among them is David Gonzalez, from the New York Times. He won the Freedom Forum/ASNE Award for Distinguished Writing on Diversity for a three part series that took a close-up look at a new wave of Pentecostalism in New York City city. The series ran in January of 2007.

Almost 500 entries from news organizations throughout the United States and Canada took part in this year's contest.

GenTV expands newscast

Starting March 3rd, GenTV 8 in Miami will be expanding its recently created newscast from half an hour to a full hour, from 9 to 10 pm.

Noticias GenTV, which got its start in December of 2007, is anchored by former Telemundo correspondent and news director Ricardo Brown and Lourdes Ubieta.

According to Roberto Vizcón, the station's general manager, the newscast is one of the highest rated programs in their lineup. "It's a very successful product and it's meeting a demand that we didn't know was there. We were surprised by the viewer response. It just goes to show that there is a need for more local, national and international news and we're giving viewers what they're looking for."

Roberto points out that Miami has evolved into a much more demanding market. It now has 5 Spanish-language stations, 3 of them independent, including his. GenTV, América TV and Mega TV are all producing local programming and the audience is responding favorably to news and entertainment shows that specifically target them.

"It's a laboratory in progress," says Roberto. "Who would have ever thought that Univision would lose its lead in Miami. But the reality is that all of the independent stations here are producing 100% local programming. And that's what people want. We have a much more varied audience in Miami - with the influx of Argentinians, Colombians and Venezuelans seeking refuge from political and economic upheavals in their countries. While the Cuban community is still the largest, we can't ignore the importance of those newcomers. The independent stations are more likely to produce programming that reflects the new makeup of our city."

GenTV8 is owned by Colombia's Caracol Televisión.

CEA and NAB team up for DTV info

The Consumer Electronics Association and the National Association of Broadcasters today announced they're partnering to produce AntennaWeb.org.

The Web site is an online antenna mapping program, that has an interactive database, that will help consumers and electronics retailers determine what outdoor antenna is best to receive free local broadcast channels.

Jorge Ramos on CNN

Univision anchor Jorge Ramos, along with CNN's chief national correspondent John King will serve as panelists asking the questions during the next Democratic presidential debate on Thursday, February 21.

The debate, sponsored by CNN, Univision Communications Inc. and the Texas Democratic Party, will air live from the University of Texas on CNN at 8 p.m. and in Spanish at 11:30 p.m. on the Univision Network.

Man who forced KR sale exits newspaper biz

Bruce Sherman, whose Private Capital Management (PCM) investment firm forced the sale of Knight Ridder in 2006 has gotten rid of all of his newspaper stocks.

According to E&P, in documents filed yesterday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, PCM said it no longer owned any stock in The New York Times Co., Lee Enterprises, Belo, or The McClatchy Co.

PCM had previously owned significant ammounts of stock - 37.61% of McClatchy, 15.07% in the Times Co., 18.96% in Lee, 22.31% in Belo, as well as substantial positions in Gannett and a small amount of Tribune Co. stock.

Sherman had also been one of Knight Ridder's largest private shareholders and when its stock price tumbled, he sent a letter to KR's board in November of 2005 demanding the newspaper publisher "aggressively pursue the competitive sale of the company." That set off a chain of events that led to the company's sale to McClatchy, which in turn sold off a dozen of the dailies to other companies.

NYT to cut 100 news jobs

Just one day after the Tribune announced significant job reductions, the NYT also raises the ax. The New York paper is eliminating 100 newsroom jobs this year.

Richard Perez-Peña reports in the NYT that the paper is bowing "to growing financial strain" after "years of resisting the newsroom cuts that have hit most of the industry."

According to Executive Editor Bill Keller: "The cuts will be achieved primarily through attrition and buyouts, but layoffs are a real possibility."

The paper currently has 1,332 newsroom staffers.

Tribune to eliminate 500 jobs

The Tribune Company is planning to cut up to 500 people from its nationwide workforce -- including some 100 to 150 jobs at the L.A. Times. About 40 to 50 of the cuts will be newsroom jobs.

In an L.A. Times article, Publisher David D. Hiller said the personnel reductions will come "through a combination of attrition, voluntary buyouts and, if necessary, layoffs." The people affected would be out of the company by the end of March - most of them will get two weeks' pay per year of service.

Apparently, the company will finance the buyouts from an "over-funded portion of Tribune employees' cash-balance pension plan," which according to Tribune officials has "about $300 million more than it needs to meet future obligations to retirees."

New Position for Francisco Lozano

Francisco Lozano has been named ImpreMedia's Director of Sales Development. He will head up the newly formed ImpreMedia Solutions Group.

Francisco's duties will include oversight of the magazine division, print and digital cross-platform sales, account development, product development and corporate/agency relations. He will report to Erich Linker, SVP of national advertising sales.

Rep. Solis pushes border DTV bill

Rep. Hilda Solís (D-Calif.) wants the FCC to allow U.S. TV stations on the border with Mexico to continue broadcasting in analog for five years after February 17, 2009 and has introduced the DTV Border Fix Act.

Solis argues border households aren't generally cable or satellite subscribers and the bill is necessary for those border residents to continue to get local emergency alerts, news and weather from U.S stations.

NBC News to shut down bureaus

NBC News is eliminating the Chicago and Dallas bureaus, with some staff staying on at the O&O stations in those markets. The plan, according to an insider report to TVNewser, is to replace the bureaus with a regional hub system, which will cover larger areas of the U.S.

So now, Chicago will fall under the New York hub, Dallas under the Los Angeles hub and the Atlanta hub will be responsible for news gathering in the Southeast U.S. as well as the Caribbean and Latin America.

Now, NBC jumps into DTV promotion

New York's WNBC has produced a half-hour special called "Get ready for digital TV" which will address all issues concerning television's digital conversion. The show will air this Saturday, February 17 at 7 pm on several NBC O&O's across the country.

Telemundo launches DTV campaign

Telemundo announced today the launch of Alerta Digital , a national public service awareness campaign aimed at educating its viewers about the upcoming digital television transition.

Natalia Villaveces, from the show "Nitido" will be the spokesperson. The campaign kicks off this Sunday, February 17 - exactly one year from the scheduled digital switch deadline.

The Alerta Digital campaign will be rolled out in four phases: first raising awareness of the digital transition, then promoting the government-sponsored Converter Box Coupon Program, educating viewers about converter box alternatives such as subscription to cable or DBS or Digital ready TV sets and finally, urging viewers to take action before the February 2009 transition.

Telemundo is a little behind Univision in the Digital education campaign. Univision launched their efforts last year and aired the special "TV Digital, Que Tal" in December.

Nazario new GM at Caribevisión

Mayda Nazario is the new President and General Manager of Caribevisión's Puerto Rico operations. She'll be managing the sales and marketing teams. Mayda previously worked 15 years at WAPA-Channel 4 in San Juan. She comes to Caribevisión following the departure of general sales manager Tina Sanchez and two sales associates.

Lozano to oversee all ImpreMedia newspapers

ImpreMedia has named Mónica Lozano to the newly created position of Sr VP of newspapers of the Spanish-language publishing company. The appointment is effective immediately. She will report to Chairman and CEO John Paton.

According to E&P, Mónica will continue as publisher of La Opinión in Los Angeles, but will also be responsible for all aspects of ImpreMedia's newspaper publications. Every publisher will report to her. Besides La Opinión, ImpreMedia papers include the NYC's daily El Diario La Prensa and the weekly La Raza in Chicago.

Book author returns to journalism

Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez is the new managing editor of Latino Perspectives magazine. The monthly, based out of Phoenix, targets college-educated, affluent, English-speaking Latinos. Distributed across Arizona, the magazine reports to have a readership of nearly 90,000.

Alisa is a bestselling author and former L.A. Times employee. She has recently signed on as a screenwriter and producer for film and TV projects based on her books.

Arbitron partners with Media Monitors

Arbitron and Media Monitors team up for Audience Response, a new service which links minute-by-minute Portable People Meter audience data with Media Monitors airplay information.

Radio Ink reports the service analyzes PPM and Media Monitors information to help programmers hear what was playing on the air when they notice changes in the audience.

Pozo moves to WPBF

Nathalie Pozo joins the WPBF news team as its first "beat the traffic" reporter. She arrives at the West Palm Beach station from Gainesville's WCJB TV20, where she's been a general assignment reporter since December of 2006.

She is a former beauty pageant winner, chosen Miss Cuban-American 2002 and Miss Carnaval Miami 2005.

Al Día names new publisher

Alex Sanchez has been promoted to publisher of Al Día. He was hired in August of 2007 as president and general manager of the Dallas Spanish-language daily, which is a sister publication of The Dallas Morning News.

Before joining Al Día, Alex was VP and general manager at LBI Media, in Dallas-Fort Worth. He has previously worked at Univision and Telemundo in Dallas, Miami and Los Angeles.

He succeeds Gilbert Bailón,who left the paper in October to become editorial page editor at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Mackin named Prez of Univision Station Group

Terry Mackin, Hearst-Argyle Television's executive VP is moving to Univision. He starts March 1st as president of Univision Station Group, where he'll oversee both Univision and Telefutura's 64 owned and operated stations. He succeeds Michael Wortsman, who retired from Univision in 2007.

He will report to Ray Rodriguez, president and COO of Univision.

CBS radio makes cuts

CBS Radio announced it will downsize its workforce. Several reports indicated it was unknown how many or which positions will be eliminated around the country, but according to The New York Daily News, half of the program directors at CBS-owned radio stations in New York were fired Thursday as well as employees in nonprogramming areas like engineering, promotions and the Internet.

In a statement, CBS said the job slashing is part of a national restructuring for the company "to more effectively monetize the aggregate number of listeners who hear us on the radio and the Internet."

Rodriguez becomes professor at ASU

Ex-Sacramento Bee Executive Editor Rick Rodriguez joins the faculty of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

Rick, who was the first Latino president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, will be the school's Southwest Borderlands Initiative Professor. His first day on the job is March 3.

Rick resigned from the top editor job at the Sacramento Bee in October. He continues to serve as a consultant to the VP for news at The McClatchy Co.

Newseum opens in April

The $450 million dollar high-tech museum dedicated to exhibiting the history of the news industry will open to the public on April 11, six months later than originally planned.

The Newseum is a state-of-the-art building that has 15 theaters, 14 galleries, two broadcast studios, 100 original videos and more than 130 interactive stations that will showcase the history of the media, from the start of printing to the digital age.

Potential buyouts at Washington Post

Washington Post staffers are meeting with the publisher today in what's being called an "expanded staff meeting."

The Washington City Paper is reporting in one of their blogs that it's rumored the main item on the agenda is a round of early retirement offers. If so, this would be buyout round 3 at the Post.

The first, in 2003, cut 54 staffers; the second, in 2006, reduced 70. Word is this time around the newsroom will let go another 60.

Maria Antonieta leaves Telemundo

María Antonieta Collins won't be renewing her contract with Telemundo. The former Univision anchor joined Telemundo in September of 2005 as the host of "Cada Día," a daily morning show.

News of her departure was first reported by People en Español. In an "exclusive" which will appear in their March issue, María Antonieta reveals her contract with Telemundo is up in August and that she's leaving so she can go back to her passion: news.

Laura Martínez from Multichannel News reports the news apparently came as a surprise to Telemundo, which declined to talk about María Antonieta's departure, confirmed by her publicist.

KPIX newscasts now all in HD

The San Francisco CBS O&O is now broadcasting all its newscasts in high definition. KPIX’s HD newscasts can be seen over the air on ch. 5.1, on Comcast cable ch. 705, on DirecTV ch. 5.1 and on Dish Network ch. 5.1.

Sun-Times Media Group up for sale

They've cut $50 million in costs, but it looks like that hasn't been enough. The Sun-Times Media Group CEO, Cyrus Freidheim Jr., said Monday the board has agreed to explore a sale of the company that will "reward shareholders" and secure the future of its Chicago-area newspapers and Web sites.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, a property of the company, Freidheim said he hopes a buyer would bring "enthusiasm"and "a real love for the place our publications have in the Chicago area."

The board set no timetable for a decision and could decide not to sell.

FCC sued by cable programmers

C-SPAN, Discovery Communications, the Weather Channel, TV One, A&E Television Networks and Scripps Networks are suing the FCC in federal court for violating their free speech rights by ordering cable systems to carry both analog and digital channels.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the cable programmers argue the FCC exceeded its congressional authority to regulate them and told the court on Monday that "the FCC was playing favorites by granting broadcasters "dual must-carry" rights."

The rule would require almost all cable operators to re-create the analog version of a local broadcast station's signal and reserve channel space to carry both analog and digital versions for at least the following three years.

Time Warner starts cleanup

A round of layoffs begins tomorrow at Time Warner. Jeff Bewkes, the company's new CEO plans to lay off 75 or ore people, primarily from TW's corporate offices.

An article in today's Advertising Age points out 200 layoffs had been envisioned in earlier plans to reduce the corporate unit, which currently has a headcount of more than 600.

Time Warner will be reporting tomorrow its first financial results since Bewkes took over for Richard Parsons on Jan. 1, covering 2007 and the fourth quarter. It's expected analysts will question the new CEO about his AOL strategy, in the wake of Microsoft's $44.6 billion bid to take over Yahoo.

Congress to look at Microsoft's Yahoo bid

Microsoft's multi-billion dollar bid could face regulatory oppostion. House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers says the proposed deal raises competitive issues.

According to InformationWeek, the Judiciary Committee's Task Force on Antitrust and Competition Policy will examine the proposed deal at a hearing scheduled for Friday. Experts are expected to weigh in "on whether this proposed consolidation works to further or undermine the fundamental principles of a competitive Internet."

Google offers Yahoo help

Google's not too happy about Microsoft's $44.6 billion-dollar hostile takeover bid. So much so, that the internet giant has offered Yahoo a helping hand to thwart the deal that would undoubtedly change the rules of the game for online competition.

Miguel Helft and Andrew Ross Sorkin from the NYT are reporting that Google's CEO, Eric Schmidt, called Yahoo's co-founder and current top man to talk about a possible partnership between the companies, as a way to block Microsoft.

Google’s lobbyists in Washington are strategizing on how to prevent regulatory approval of a Microsoft deal, while other execs are looking to encourage rival bids from other companies, like Time Warner, which owns AOL.

People close to Yahoo said potential suitors made inquires over the weekend and company insiders have speculated about the possibility of breaking up the company.

CPB budget to be slashed in half

The Bush administration plans to cut the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's 2009 budget from $400 million to $200 million and reduce it to $180 million in 2010. No advance appropriation was made for 2011.

Broadcasting and Cable is reporting Rep. Markey, Chairman of the powerful House Telecommunications & Internet Subcommitee, sees the president's budget slashing of the CPB as "short-sighted" and looks to get it rejected by Congress.

WMAQ news goes HD

The NBC O&O in Chicago is now broadcasting all its local news and programming in high definition.

The station underwent a months-long transition process of updating their studio and converting their news operation system to HD.

Viewers can watch WMAQ's HD newscasts over the the air on channel 5.1.

Microsoft to buy Yahoo?

Struggling Yahoo has gotten a multi-billion dollar offer from Microsoft... but will they sell?

Microsoft today bid $31 dollars per share for Yahoo, as part of a $44.6 billion cash and stock deal to buy the search engine operator, which announced massive layoffs on Wednesday.

CBS.com reports Yahoo and Microsoft have fallen behind Google in capturing online advertising revenue and teaming up could give them a competitive advantage as well as give a lift to the entire technology market. Anti-trust laws prevent Google, which now has 75 percent worldwide market share in the online search business, from making a bid for Yahoo.

It's estimated the online advertising industry - which currently generates more than $40 billion - will reach $80 billion in the next three years.