Newsweek shrinks by more than 100

Newsweek's institutional memory is about to be history, after 111 staffers on its news and business sides accepted buyouts last week.

According to Radaronline, 146 employees were offered buyouts with as much as two years of their current salary, depending on their age and how long they worked at the mag. More staffers than expected accepted the offer. They will be gone by the end of the year. It's the second large buyout round at Newsweek in six years.

The need for cuts is blamed on continuing revenue and circulation drops of major print publications around the world—due mostly to the impact of the Internet.

Cruz resigns after DWI

David Cruz, a reporter who had been pulled off the anchor desk back in February at WOAI-4, was arrested early Friday morning by San Antonio police on suspicion of driving while intoxicated.

After failing a sobriety test, David was taken to the Municipal Court where he refused to take a breathalyzer test and passed out in a bathroom, according to the police report.

The story was posted on the KSAT-12 News Web site. WOAI also posted a brief, announcing David resigned from his job. In a statement he said: "I wish to apologize to the viewers of San Antonio for my poor judgement which led to this incident of which I am personally ashamed and will not try to defend. It was irresponsible and inexcusable on my part and for this I am truly sorry. Since I have not upheld the trust viewers have placed in me, I have decided to resign my position at WOAI effective immediately."

Adame joins UFW

Reporter Vicki Adame is the new communications director for the United Farm Workers. She started on the job at the end of last year, after being laid-off by the Stockton Record where she had worked as a reporter for Vida en el Valle.

"I'll admit, it was difficult walking away from being a reporter after 13 years," says Vicki, who seriously considered staying in the news business. "But I realized I couldn't put myself in that uncertainty, always wondering if I'd be facing another lay-off in the next year or two. It seems every day I see more of my friends and colleagues being laid-off or facing that possibility."

Vicki says she loves her new job. "I'm working with an organization whose mission I am passionate about. I still plan on attending NAHJ conventions and I may even freelance when I have the time."

ABC news also axes personnel

ABC news also did its share of cuts this week, eliminating more than 20 employees in the finance and operations departments as part the restructuring that began last year.

B&C reports David Westin said in an internal em-mail the new structure "will streamline how we receive our finance and operations support... And it should move us forward faster and more effectively into the evolving digital world.”

More than a dozen staffers were laid off in the summer of 2007 at the news division’s Washington, D.C., bureau.

3 TV stations do layoffs

KCNC-4, the CBS-owned television station in Denver laid off 6 newsroom staffers on Wednesday, including weekend morning anchor Arturo Santiago.

Newsroom personnel have told the Denver Post engineering positions may be cut as well and that management is combining layoffs with attrition to reduce the employee total.

News director Tim Wieland blames the cuts on the economy and the general state of the journalism industry.

KOVR-13, the CBS station in Sacramento is also laying off employees. Bruno Cohen, president of KOVR and KMAX-31 (a CW affiliate) did not want to confirm the number of jobs or to identify which positions would be affected. He told the Sacramento Bee the layoffs are "the consequence of new technology," as there will be more "automation in our production" and "nonlinear, computer-based editing."

WTXF-Fox 29 eliminated 4 newswriters this week. Industry sources have told Laura Nachman, from Philly TV and Radio, that the Fox29 writers, producers, and some talent are about to become unionized. Currently, only Fox29 photographers are union.

Aldape named VP at Scripps

Starting April 14, Javier J. Aldape begins his new job as Vice President of niche products for the newspaper division of The E. W. Scripps Company.

Javier, whose last day as GM and Publisher of Hoy in Los Angeles is tomorrow, has also led newspaper audience development efforts in markets from coast to coast for the company.

In his new position, Javier will work with Scripps newspapers in 15 communities to identify opportunities to create print or online specialty publications - part of the company's strategy to increase the share of ad revenue derived from niche products.

He will be based out of Chicago.

Clear Channel buyout in trouble - goes to court

Clear Channel Communications $19.5 billion sale is in jeopardy - and not because the buyers (Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners) want to pull out of the deal - but because the banks that were set to finance the deal don't want to pay up.

With last minute negotiations between the lenders and the buyout firms failing, the privatization of the communications company has now gone to court.

Radio Ink reports Bain Capital and Lee Partners filed suits against Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, the Royal Bank of Scotland, Deutsche Bank, and Wachovia "to enforce binding commitments the banks made to provide debt financing for the private equity firms acquisition of Clear Channel Communications Inc." Clear Channel joined the suit, filed in Texas.

A judge late last night ordered the banks to fund the Clear Channel deal. In a company statement, Clear Channel says the judge found "that irreparable harm would result if the Banks were not immediately enjoined from tortiously interfering with the Merger Agreement," and that the banks must not “interfere with or thwart consummation of the Merger Agreement.”

The lenders say they will "vigorously" contest the suits, claiming they have no merit.

CNET lays off 120

Cnet announced 120 job cuts as part of a realignment. All the layoffs involve U.S.-based employees.

The AP reports that according to CNet documents filed yesterday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the layoffs would be effective immediately and cost at least $3.8 million in severance pay, outplacement and other expenses.

The Washington Post published an internal memo sent out by CEO Neil Ashe explaining the reasons behind the layoffs. In summary: create a leaner organization, more efficiencies and simplifying their sales approach.

9 former employees suing Pappas

Pablo Gutierrez, a former anchor and executive producer for KAZR in Reno and 8 former employees filed suit on Tuesday against Pappas Telecasting for breach of contract. Pappas shut down both their English and Spanish news operations earlier this month.

Pablo is quoted in today's Shoptalk: "We are seeking to be paid for the remaining of our contracts and other damages. All of us have multiple year agreements and after KREN and KAZR shut down on March 11... we were only offered a week severance. We feel this is unjust, since we all moved to Reno from different parts of the country for what we believed was a promising news operation...KREN did news for little over a year and was a CW affiliate...KAZR-TV was originally affiliated to Azteca America, but then Pappas started their own network called TuVisión...on this complaint there are nine former Pappas employees involved. All have contracts with Pappas. The amount owed to us in excess of 700,000."

Entravision Closes WNUE-FM deal for $24 Million

Entravision's purchase of WNUE-FM (98.1) in Orlando from Mega Communications has just been finalized for $24 million, according to Radio Online.

Entravision has been operating the station under a Local Marketing Agreement (LMA) with Mega since December 1. Entravision also owns WVEN-26 and WOTF-43 in Orlando, the 11th market where it owns both radio and TV assets.

Can AFTRA help get Alycia Lane's CBS job back?

The local chapter of AFTRA is trying to get Alycia Lane back in her anchor chair at CBS3 in Philadelphia. The union, which represents on-air talent, filed a grievance over her January firing. AFTRA counsel Jonathan Walters told the Daily News that she had not been terminated properly by the station and that the union seeks her reinstatement. No hearing has been set yet for the arbitration.

Alycia also has an active civil suit for wrongful termination against CBS 3, for firing her after her arrest in New York on charges of assaulting a police officer. The assault charge was dropped on Feb. 25.

CBS 3 President Michael Colleran says AFTRA's move is based on a technicality and does not "impact our decision regarding the action taken in January."

BBC mundo goes on U.S. roadtrip

Starting Friday, March 28, BBC Mundo, the BBC's Spanish multimedia service, launches the second part of its US Hispanic initiative ¿Hablas Español?, as part of its coverage of the U.S. election campaign. For three weeks, the BBC Mundo team will travel across the northern part of the U.S., starting in Seattle, to discuss key issues affecting the Hispanic communities, while speaking only Spanish.

Correspondents José Baig and Carlos Ceresole will document their experience via daily blogs, videos and pictures to be featured on the new U.S. Hispanic page, Mundo USA on the BBC Mundo website. Their journey ends on Monday, April 14 in Washington DC.

The project, which started in 2007, initially focused on the impact of the Spanish language on the everyday life of Hispanic Americans, to how English-speakers react in areas with a strong Hispanic presence. The team's 2007 itinerary covered southern U.S. states: Florida, Alabama, Texas, Louisiana, Arizona, New Mexico and California.

Luna joins Fox Sports en Español

Fox Sports en Español has hired Alejandro Luna. He will be covering the major club tournaments that the network produces for the U.S. Hispanic market, including Copa Santander Libertadores. Besides his anchor duties, he will offer play-by-play and analysis on some of the network's soccer matches.

Alejandro was previously sports anchor for KMEX-34 in Los Angeles and reporter for the Univision and TeleFutura networks.

SBS launches Mega Reporte

María Elvira Salazar, Allan Villafaña (pictures shown), Carlos Alberto Montaner, and Frank Cairo are the hosts of "Mega Reporte," a new in-depth investigative news program to debut on Mega TV on March 30.

The show, which will air at 10 pm EST on Mega TV and 7 pm PST on DirectTV, will examine issues and topics that directly affect the Hispanic community in the US.

Allan Villafaña hosts the first episode which focuses on the current wave of school massacres and how local communities can work on early detection and prevention.

KSWB switches from CW to Fox

KSWB-TV in San Diego is switching its network affiliation to Fox at the end of August.

The Tribune Co. station is currently affiliated with the CW. Looks like ratings had something to do with it... and Sam Zell's new management team is hoping to benefit from top Fox shows like “24” and “American Idol,” as well as NFL coverage. Could this switch have something to do with the fact that Tribune Broadcasting President Ed Wilson was President of the Fox Television Network before joining Tribune in February?

According to TV Week, Wilson said Tribune will add three to four hours of news per day to KSWB's lineup, which currently simulcasts KTLA's local morning program and broadcasts a late local newscast produced by NBC-owned KNSD-TV in San Diego.

KSWB's affiliate switch affects the CW, which loses a station... and XETV, the Tijuana-based station, owned by Grupo Televisa, that had the Fox affiliation.

Sirius-XM merger approved

The Justice Department today approved Sirius Satellite Radio's $5 billion buyout of rival XM Satellite Radio. Shareholders had approved the deal in November.

Consumer groups and the National Association of Broadcasters were strongly opposed to the merger and campaigned against it. TVNewsday reports the Justice Department argued that the deal was unlikely to hurt competition or consumers, since both companies compete not just with each other but also with other forms of radio and entertainment.

XM and Sirius say the merger will save hundreds of millions of dollars in operating costs .

4 more markets for Mexicanal

Mexicanal has signed a deal with the Journal Broadcast Group to air in four of its nine TV markets—Las Vegas; Palm Springs, Tucson and Boise.

Mexicanal, specifically aimed at Mexican-Americans, has been available in the U.S. via DirecTV for the past two-and-a-half years. According to TVNewsday, the Spanish-language digital network was offering potential broadcast affiliates an even split of the 12 commercial minutes each hour at this year's NATPE conference.

García Marquez launches online sports talk show

Sportscaster Adrián García Marquez has launched his own online radio show "Deporte en Mente," targeting bilingual and bicultural sports fans.

"This is a grass roots effort to give some attention to the large Latino sports fan base in the U.S. that wants more than just soccer talk, soccer reports, and soccer analysis," he says. "We give them their fútbol, but also their Major League Baseball, NFL, NBA, Boxing, and even Mixed Martial Arts "coverage. I want to cater to the legion of fanáticos that may also feel ignored by the mainstream sports media that seemingly would rather talk about Tiger Woods, than the sports that truly matter to the Latinos in this country."

The show, which started on the Web on March 4, podcasts live in Spanish on Sunday and in English on Monday nights at 9 pm. Adrián hosts Deporte en Mente," featuring Mitch Zaralegui and a revolving panel of bilingual younger generation of journalists.

"The revolución has started," says Adrián. "I say revolución because this is a revolt against the reporters, announcers, anchors, writers, en español in particular, that have blocked or still attempt to block our way, because we are bilingual journalists that enjoy covering American sports as well. I'm tired of hearing from these older 'colegas' that soccer is all Latinos care about. For this modest effort, I have gathered a good group of periodistas that share my sentiments to establish a new bilingual sports republic, where all sports roam free.

Adrián currently serves as play by play announcer and host for Fox Sports en Español, is a reporter and guest host for ESPN Radio in L.A. and a columnist for Béisbol Mundial magazine. Until June of last year, he was the morning news anchor for KVEA-52, where he started as weekend sports anchor. He previously worked as sports anchor in Telefutura's Contacto Deportivo.

KWHY-22 back on the market

It's official. KWHY-22, the independent station bought by Telemundo 52 in 2001 and then acquired by NBC when it purchased Telemundo in 2002, is up for sale... again.

Insiders say Ibra Morales, president of the Telemundo station group, broke the news to employees on Thursday.

NBC Universal had announced back in Oct. of 2007 that it was selling KWHY-22 and the Telemundo Puerto Rico O&O after its purchase of the Oxygen Media, but withdrew both stations from the market in December.

FCC raises $19.6 billion in auction

The FCC's auction of wireless airwaves ended on Tuesday, raising a record $19.6 billion.

The names of the winners have not yet been released, so it's unknown whether a new company will enter the wireless realm to compete against AT&T and Verizon Wireless.

Early on in the auction, Google had made a bid, but later removed its offer.

According to the Washington Post, the bid for the D-block, a spectrum to be used for public safety was sold for far below the minimum price set by the agency.

The proceeds of the auction will be used for education on the transition to digital television.

Alarcón Sr. to get lifetime achievement award

Raúl Alarcón, Sr. will receive the Medallas de Cortez Lifetime Achievement Award at the annual Radio Ink Hispanic Radio Conference on May 20. The event will be held at the Miami Biltmore Hotel.

Raúl, founder of the Spanish Broadcasting System, left his radio company in Cuba after Fidel Castro's rise to power and moved to NYC, where he re-established his radio career as a newscaster and disc jockey. According to Radio Ink, he bought his first station in New York in 1983 for $3 million dollars.

25 years later, SBS owns 21 radio stations, in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Puerto Rico, San Francisco, and Chicago. Raúl served as President of the board of directors of SBS until November 1999. Although he still remains on the board, the company is now run by his son, Raul Alarcón Jr.

Geraldo tackles immigration and Dobbs

Geraldo Rivera is making the rounds, promoting his book "His Panic: Why Americans Fear Hispanics in the U.S." He has battled Bill O'Reilly over immigration reform and has spoken harshly about Lou Dobbs' stance over the issue.

When Barbara Walters asked Geraldo on her Sirius radio show this week, what he thought of Lou Dobbs, he answered:

"He has resurrected a failed career on the backs of these poor people. He has been rabble-rousing, making a difficult situation worse. I get calls now from citizen Hispanics who tell me their children are coming home from school crying that they're being called border jumpers because you can't watch a Lou Dobbs program without seeing a Mexican kid jumping over the fence."

Earlier in the month, when Geraldo was a guest on ABC's "The View," he accused Dobbs of using his TV platform for "hate mongering" and stated "I would not shake his hand."

In his book, Geraldo examines the growth of the Hispanic population in the U.S., tackles the controversial issue of illegal immigration, specifically focusing on Hispanics, and reveals his father's struggle to assimilate into American culture, when he left Puerto Rico.

Univision signs deal with CNET

Univision.com and CNET have joined forces to help consumers navigate the world of high-tech in Spanish. Both companies have entered a content-sharing partnership that will provide breaking technology news, product reviews and original videos.

Adweek reports that Univision.com users will be able to access a Spanish-language technology mini-site by entering the key word "tecnología," where they will find product reviews of cell phones, TVs, computers and digital cameras.

The site will also include exclusive videos in Spanish that show expert reviews on the latest gadgets and an in-depth look at the most popular products.

WSFL and Sun-Sentinel merge

The Tribune Co. is merging its broadcast and print news operations under one roof in South Florida. Miami CW affiliate WSFL will move into the Sun-Sentinel's building in Ft. Lauderdale.

According to TVNewsday, the company says the newspaper will be “a new and innovative content engine for WSFL’s on-air and online programming” and give advertisers greater market coverage.

The Sun-Sentinel's publisher, Howard Greenberg, who is also interim publisher of the Orlando Sentinel, becomes WSFL’s GM.

NBC is selling its Miami and Hartford stations

NBC Local Media, a division of NBC Universal that oversees their local O&O stations, announced it's selling WTVJ in Miami (DMA 16) and WVIT In Hartford (DMA 29) to "concentrate on the nation's top 10 television markets and on growing our digital platforms."

TV Newsday reports WTVJ could go for $340 million and WVIT for $230 million.

Telemundo's O&O in Miami, WSCV, is not for sale.

Rivas named ZGS GM in Philly

ZGS Communications has named Clara Rivas general manager of its newly acquired Telemundo affiliate in Philadelphia, WWSI-Channel 62. She comes from Denver, where she was GM at Telemundo-owned KDEN-Channel 25. She previously worked at Telemundo 's KVDA-Channel 60 in San Antonio.

Univisión airs 2nd DTV special

Unvisión is doing its best to make sure it doesn't lose its audience come January '09. So, it's investing heavily in its DTV education campaign. Its second digital television special, TV Digital: Cuanto Sabes? hosted by Fernando Arau airs this Saturday at 4:30 pm (ET/PT).

Univisión's first special aired in December.

According to Multichannel News, a Nielsen study released in February showed nearly 17% of Hispanic households could be left without full power television service if the transition happened today.

Banojian remains COO at Caribevisión

Last week, Hispanic Market Weekly erroneously reported that Miguel Banojian, the COO of Caribevisión had been fired. I included this in my blog, but pulled it as soon as HMW admitted its mistake.

I had the opportunity to talk to Miguel, who told me he is still the company's COO, a post he's held since January 17, 2007.

"I have no idea," says Miguel about what could have prompted confusion of his employment status. "But I'm still very much here and with no plans to leave."

Isabel López Machado, a spokesperson for the company, confirmed Lillian Tartaglia, the Programming Director, as well as 10 employees in their NYC offices were laid-off 3 weeks ago as part of a downsizing effort after partnering with Spain's Telecinco. She also said there are plans for a relaunch of the network with new programming and expanded distribution.

Meanwhile, Miguel says he's busy "setting up the infraestructure of the new stations."

Miguel worked for KRCA-62 in Los Angeles for 7 years. He took a 7 month sabbatical prior to joining Caribevisión. "I needed a break," he says.

SBS branches out into film

Radio network Spanish Broadcasting System moved into the television arena in 2006 when it launched Mega TV. Now it has announced it will get into the film biz with Megafilms.

Emmy award-winning director and screenwriter Agustín Fernandez was named Managing Director of the new SBS division. Agustín has 10 feature film credits and helmed the NYC released "El Vacilón: The Movie."

Megafilms will produce Spanish-language full-length feature films, miniseries, telenovelas, and documentaries for theatrical, broadcast, and DVD release. In a press release, SBS indicates its first production will be announced in the second quarter of 2008.

Slate launches "The Big Money"

The Washington Post's online mag Slate is launching a business analysis and commentary site this summer.

According to Reuters, "The Big Money" will use wit and irreverence to explain what's going on in Wall Street, just as Slate has done with general and political news.

Santos named VP of Programming for BMP radio

20- year radio veteran José Santos has been named VP of Spanish Language Radio Programming for Border Media Partners. Until recently, José was program director of Univision's KLVE in Los Angeles.

New addition to Univision's strategic planning

Univision has hired Graciela Eleta de Cacho. She has been placed in a "strategic planning role," without revealing more specifics.

AdAge reports Graciela will be working four days a week at Univision's NYC headquarters and commuting to Puerto Rico to spend weekends with her family.

Until the end of 2007, Graciela was the head of Hispanic marketing at Procter & Gamble Co., where she founded a multicultural marketing unit.

New morning show at KTLA

Starting next Monday, KTLA in Los Angeles is re-shaping its morning lineup with a new local talk show at 9 am.

The show is actually an extension of the channel 5's morning news show and will be hosted by members of the "KTLA Morning News" team, but will focus on news and features targeted to women.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the talk show is being described as a local version of "The View."

Telemundo signs deal with Televisa

Now that their legal battle is behind them, NBC Universal's Telemundo and Grupo Televisa have signed an exclusive programming license agreement to distribute Telemundo content in Mexico broadcast TV, PayTV and emerging digital platforms.

Starting in April, the 10-year strategic alliance with Televisa will place more than 1,000 hours per year of Telemundo original programming on XEQ-Canal 9 - Mexico City's "Galavisión," as well as on a new PayTV channel that Televisa will launch later this year.

A Telemundo press release today indicates Televisa and Telemundo will also sign agreements to distribute Telemundo's content in Mexico through emerging platforms including Internet, mobile phones, home video and VOD.

This new relationship could put Telemundo in a beneficial position if Televisa's legal dispute over their program licensing agreement ends their ties with Univision. At the moment, Televisa has an exclusive programming deal with Univision until 2017.

Aldape moving to Chicago

Last week, I reported that Javier Aldape was leaving Hoy. What's the story? Javier assures me he was not pressured to leave his job at the Spanish-language paper, or his duties at the L.A. Times.

Javier, whose official title is VP, Audience Development L.A. Times and GM & Editor, Hoy, Los Angeles tells me: "It was a very personal decision for me to go back to Chicago and it felt like the right time to do the transition. I love Chicago and I was looking forward to moving back."

He says he's leaving a paper which during his tenure has had "sustained growth" and "a bright future."

Prior to coming to L.A. in February of last year, Javier was working for Hoy out of Chicago. Before that, he was the publisher of La Estrella, in Forth Worth.

What's next? He didn't want to say, even though I tried to pry it out of him.

"Something is in the works. I'm not ready to talk about it. My current plan is to stay in the industry. I want this period to be about the new GM and Hoy. I will be working prety aggressively on a transition schedule."

Roaldo Morán will replace Javier, whose last day on the job will be March 28.

USA reporter saved from fines... for now

Just last week a judge had ordered former USA Today reporter Toni Locy to pay hefty fines - out of her own pocket - for not identifying confidential sources in her 2003 anthrax attack coverage.

The fines were set to rise from $500 to $5000 a day until she revealed her sources and prohibited her former employers or friends to step in and help. An appeals court this week temporarily suspended the fines, but it has prompted multiple media companies and news associations to urge Congress to pass a federal shield law that would protect journalists.

If the appeal fails, the district court judge could reinstate the fines. As the LAT wrote, journalists shouldn't face financial ruin or spend time in jail for doing their job.

AOL buys Bebo fo $850 million

With its internet business eroding, AOL is hoping its acquisition of Bebo, a British social networking site, will help jumpstart its online advertising business.

Some analysts say the $850 million is too hefty price to pay for the hopes of gaining more appeal with younger internet users. The Washington Post reports Bebo is the top networking site in Britain, with 40 million users, but it's in third place in the U.S.

Barajas to anchor weekdays in Houston

Erik Barajas leaves his weekend anchor gig at KSAT-12 in San Antonio for the 4 pm weekday anchor slot at KTRK-13 in Houston, his hometown.

Erik departs San Antonio in mid-March and will start his new job at the ABC affiliate in April.

Erik's first job was as reporter/photographer in Corpus Christi, where he got promoted to weekend anchor after 6 months on the job. He moved to Fox 7 in Austin a year later, before joining KSAT in San Antonio.

Now, there will be two Barajas in town - Erik's uncle is Mike Barajas, weeknight anchor at Fox-26, where he has worked since 1986.

Arizona Establishes Hispanic Media Day

Seven Hispanic communicators were honored last Monday at the Arizona State Legislature.

Carlos Loret de Mola, host of Noticieros Televisa, Luis Manuel Ortiz, editorial director of La Voz, Mirna Pineda, host of La Buena Onda 1190 AM, René Sánchez, host of Radio 740 AM, Nora Barraza, Prensa Hispana reporter, Mary Rábago, Noticias Univisión 33 anchor and Araceli de León, Telemundo's general manager all took part in a special ceremony where state legislators designated March 10 as "Hispanic Media Day."

Sal Murillo, from La Voz reports this is the first time Hispanic communicators are recognized for their work during a legislative session in Arizona.

Horta signs "beauty" of a deal with ABC

He many not work in news, but his show makes the news. Silvio Horta's "Ugly Betty" success has gotten him a super deal at ABC network.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, he has just signed a two-year, mid-seven-figure deal to stay on board ABC's Thursday-night dramedy as well as an opportunity to develop new projects for the Disney-owned studio.

As creator of Ugly Betty," Silvio came up with a winning adaptation of the Colombian telenovela "Yo Soy Betty La Fea," which aired in the U.S. on Telemundo in 2000.

A bit of trivia: Silvio is an alum of the NAHJ's student project.

LATV announces new lineup

LATV, the bilingual music/entertainment network is premiering 5 new shows starting March 17. The new spring lineup includes En la Zona, Classic en Concierto, Texty Videos, which incorporates an interactive text forum, Verdad y Fama, which highlights celebrity biopics and Wáchale, a spoof on Latino TV and pop culture.

Pappas cancels English & Spanish newscasts in Reno

A little over a year since KREN-CW launched a 10 pm newscast in Reno, the news operation was shut down. KAZR-Tu Visión's 6 pm Spanish-language news was also eliminated. The final broadcasts aired Monday. 19 employees are out of a job. Among them, KAZR anchors Pablo Gutierrez and Laura Calzada (picture shown), meteorologist Jeff Martinez and videojournalists Louis Santiago and Wendy Garcia.

According to its own Web site, "the elimination of news is partly the result of the impending sale of some Pappas Telecasting properties and partly because the stations didn't see adequate advertising revenues to justify the expense of the news division."

Novarro steps in as 9 pm anchor

An anchor departure in Fox's Chicago station gives David Novarro additional anchor duties.

Mark Suppelsa, who has been anchoring WFLD's marquee 9 p.m. weekday newscast for the past 5 years, did not renew his contract and was taken off the air immediately.

David was named interim anchor for the 9 pm newscast. He will continue to co-anchor the 10 p.m., a job he's held since April of 2007.

Bids for Weather Channel end today

Landmark Communications, which put its Weather Channel up for sale in early January, expects the final bids for the network and weather.com today. The company is looking to sell for $4 billion dollars.

B&C reports that G.E.'s NBC Universal, CBS and Time Warner have considered buying the network, although there has been no confirmation on their interest.

Alterna'TV expands in Texas

Alterna’TV, a Latin American TV distributor in the U.S., has secured a four-channel carriage deal in Texas.

TV Newsday reports that México 22, Once México, CB Tu Televisión Michoacán and AyM Sports will be available to Grande Communications customers in Austin, Corpus Christi, Midland, Odessa, San Antonio, San Marcos and Waco.

Alterna'TV already distributes other Latin American channels throughout the U.S., including Ecuavisa International, through cable and satellite agreements.

Mexicanal launches newscast

MX-24 Noticias is now on the air on Mexicanal Network. The regional half-hour newscast, hosted by Eleane Eguía (pictured), Miguel Gallegos and Raúl Espinoza is available M-F on DirectTV Más and on cable systems in Mexico.

According to TVNewsday, the newscast will have U.S. and Mexico-based correspondents in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. and is touted as the first all-Mexican regional newscast specifically targeting Mexicans living in the U.S.

3 Latinos out at Merc

Travel writer Michael Martinez, page designer Elizabeth Goodspeed and Latino affairs writer Erik Javier Olvera are among the 15 newsroom employees laid-off this morning at the San Jose Mercury News.

Diaz wins book award

Dominican-American author Junot Diaz last night won the National Book Critics Award for fiction for his debut novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.

NYT reviewer Michiko Kakutani has described the story, which weaves comedy and tragedy with 20th century Dominican history, as “Mario Vargas Llosa meets ‘Star Trek’ meets David Foster Wallace meets Kanye West.”

50 jobs cut at Mercury News

The San Jose Mercury News today eliminated 50 jobs at the paper, through a combination of layoffs and buyouts.

34 employees - 15 from the newsroom and 19 from other parts of the paper were laid off. Earlier in the week, 16 employees took buyouts, including 5 news managers: Editorial Page Editor Steve Wright, AME Pam Moreland, Business editor Rebecca Salner, Matt Mansfield and Alvie Lindsay.

According to a Merc insider, the most recent round of layoffs leaves the paper with 170 FTEs down from 400 at its peak, with a 39% reduction taking place since the end of 2006.

The Mercury News reports other Bay Area newspapers owned by MediaNews and operated by the Bay Area News Group also went through cuts. The Oakland Tribune and the Contra Costa Times on Thursday reduced 10% of their staff through 107 buyouts. There were no layoffs at the other newspapers.

Santos and Ferrero join WRTO-FM

Univision Radio's WRTO-FM "La Kalle 98.3" in Miami hired Enrique Santos and Joe Ferrero. Their new show will debut March 13 in the 6-11AM slot.

The duo hosted "El Vacilón de la Mañana" at SBS's WXDJ-FM "El Zol 95.7" in Miami, where they crank-called president Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro on the air back in 2003.

The DJs quit that job in 2006 and most recently had been hosting the morning show at WCAA-FM "La Kalle" in New York.

AARP starts TV company; airs shows on RLTV

The AARP announced it has launched AARP TV. The new company will produce news and lifestyle programming for a 50+ audience.

Their first two shows air next week. Inside E Street, which debuts on March 10, is a consumer-affairs program. My Generation will focus on health, money and other lifestyle issues. It gets its start the following day on Retirement Living TV, a cable channel with almost 30 million subscribers.

B&C reports these are the first two shows stemming from an exclusive content distribution deal between AARP and RLTV.

Moreno hires political consultant

There's an update on a story I posted yesterday about New Orleans anchor Helena Moreno leaving her news job to enter the world of politics.

She has hired Greg Buisson as her political consultant, although she has not yet publicly announced her intentions. A story in today's Times-Picayune indicates she is indeed considering running for a seat in the U.S. Congress for Louisiana's 2nd District, which covers most of New Orleans.

That seat is currently held by Rep. William Jefferson, who was indicted in June of 2007 on federal charges of racketeering, money-laundering, soliciting bribes and obstruction of justice. He has refused to vacate his congressional seat, so now his trial is on hold while an appeals court determines whether his status protects him from prosecution. There's talk the stalling could prompt him to seek re-election in the fall.

This could very well be one of the reasons why Helena might be considering the move - added to the fact that she's apparently frustrated over a stalled post-Katrina recovery progress.

"She has a strong desire to be involved in public service," Greg Buisson told the T.P. "It's fair to say she's frustrated by the level of inactivity in some areas, and that has led her to get much more involved. She's exploring the best opportunities to become involved."

A formal announcement of Moreno's congressional candidacy could come within the next two to three weeks.

According to co-workers, the 30 yr-old Helena, comes from a wealthy family and intends to self-finance her campaign. She has yet to announce her political affiliation, but New Orleans has voted predominately Democrat.

Aguilar's suspension becomes permanent

Award-winning reporter Rebecca Aguilar has been dropped from her contract at Fox-4, in Dallas. She had been suspended with pay for the past five months, after management questioned her handling of a story.

At the time, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, who weeks earlier had named her Broadcast Journalist of the Year, defended her actions. UNITY, Journalists of Color followed suit.

Rebecca got the news via mail yesterday, reports Ed Bark in his blog.

Sevcec interviews President Correa

Pedro Sevcec, anchor of Noticiero Telemundo, interviewed President Rafael Correa, of Ecuador about the escalating conflict between Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador.

In the interview, conducted in Venezuela, Correa responds to accusations of supporting FARC and calls Colombian President Alvaro Uribe a liar. It airs tonight at 4 pm in "Al Rojo Vivo" and at 6:30 pm in "Noticiero Telemundo."

Aldape leaves Hoy

Javier Aldape, GM and Editor of Hoy since February of last year, is leaving the Spanish-language paper.

He will be replaced by Roaldo Morán, who has been chairman of Creadtiva Communications Inc., a marketing agency he founded in 2005. He was previously VP of sales for Univision Radio Network.

Nazario takes buyout at LAT

Pulitzer prize winner Sonia Nazario is among those at the Los Angeles Times taking a buyout.

Sonia, who won the Pulitzer for Enrique's Journey, is working on her second book.

Stay tuned for more details about her post-LAT plans.

Univision Music Group sold for $153 million

In a regulatory filing, Univision disclosed it sold its music recording and publishing business to Universal Music Group for $153 million. $113 million from the sale of Univision Music Group will be due at closing. Univision will use the $113 million to pay down debt.

UMG includes Univision Records, Fonovisa Records and Disa Records, Univision Music Mexico and Univision Music Publishing. Among the recording artists on their rosters: Marco Antonio Solis, Los Tigres del Norte, Gloria Trevi and Ivy Queen.

As part of the deal, Universal Music, will promote its Latin artists on Univision network.

Cutbacks at L.A. Daily News claim 2 Latinos

Among those hit by the layoffs and buyouts at the Daily News last Friday were Minerva Hernandez and Tom Mendoza.

Minerva had been an editorial assistant since December of 1990. According to an internal blog, she "played a key role in breaking one of the paper's biggest news stories -- interviewing Corina Villaraigosa's mother by phone in Spanish about Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's affair with a Telemundo reporter."

Tom joined the paper as a photographer in July 1990. His colleagues lament losing a talented photog, who is said to be leaving the journalism biz.

Moreno leaves anchor desk for Congress?

Helena Moreno signed off for the last time yesterday from WDSU-6 New Orleans, where she's worked for the past 7 years.

According to a Times-Picayune story, she told colleagues she's thinking of running for a U.S. Congress seat in Louisiana's 2nd District, which is currently held by William Jefferson. And on the air, she told viewers she was leaving "because some recent opportunities have presented themselves to me, opportunities I need to take for the betterment of this city and for the citizens of New Orleans."

Helena started her run at WDSU in November 2000 as a general assignment reporter. She was promoted to morning news anchor in January of 2005, and last year joined the station's investigative team. She previously worked at WTOC-TV in Savannah, Ga.

Helena, born in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico, is a graduate of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, and a former intern for First Lady Hillary Clinton.

More layoffs this week at Mercury News

San Jose Mercury News news employees are bracing for more layoffs this Friday. This would be the third round in 15 months. Needless to say, morale is incredibly low at the paper, as many long-time employees have also left the Merc, foreseeing the coming of the ax.

Once again, employees will be notified via phone if they're laid off. All staffers have been told to wait by the phone on March 7. If they don't get a call, then they can come in to work.

They're not the only ones in the Bay Area chewing their nails... almost all of the aproximately 1,100 employees working at the Bay Area News Group-East Bay, which includes the Oakland Tribune and Contra Costa Times, have been offered a voluntary buyout.

There's no word on how many staff reductions they're looking for, but they've made it clear they will resort to layoffs if they don't get enough voluntary buyouts.

Spanish-language stations rolling in the dough in Texas

With tomorrow's primaries in Texas and Ohio considered to be decisive for the democratic presidential candidates, both Obama and Clinton camps have been buying a lot of ad time on Spanish-language stations in Texas... bringing them a lot more revenue than they expected.

The Pew Hispanic Center has reported that Latinos could account for a third or more of the ballots cast in Texas and both candidates are apparently aware the Hispanic vote could tip the primary scales.

According to B&C, Univision, Telemundo and Azteca stations have been airing continuous spots featuring former San Antonio mayor Henry Cisneros urging Latinos to vote for Clinton as well as Obama ads reading in Spanish: “Yo soy Barack Obama y apruebo esta mensaje.”

It's estimated political ad spending across Texas could reach $2 million. But that's not the only state that has seen Spanish-language ads from both candidates. The first Spanish-language spots aired in Nevada before the January 19 caucus. Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico and New York also saw their share, with total spending estimated to be slightly more than what was spent in Texas alone.

This trend could signal a lot more spending in the months leading to the November elections.

Mexican soccer network debuts in L.A.

Estadio TV enters the U.S. Hispanic market on KNLA-27 in Los Angeles. The Mexico-based soccer network was founded in January of 2007 by commentator Francisco Javier Gonzalez as an extension of Mexican radio network Estadio W.

The station has a low-power signal, which reaches high-density Hispanic zip codes in L.A. County. It can also be seen on DirecTV and Dish Network.