NBC, CBS bidding for Weather Channel?

The Weather Channel went on sale in early January. After an unfruitful first round of bids, insiders say that CBS Corp and GE's NBC Universal will be placing bids in the second round.

According to Reuters, those bids are expected to be in the $3.5 billion to $4 billion range. The due date for the bids is May 8.

Landmark Communications, owner of the Weather Channel, CBS and NBC did not want to comment on the latest development.

Ramos receives "Distinguished Citizen" award

Univision anchor Jorge Ramos will be honored tonight with a Distinguished Citizen Award from the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco.

He is one of six immigrants honored by the club this year. The other recipients are San Francisco Ballet director Helgi Tomasson of Iceland; Koret Foundation chairwoman Susan Koret of Korea; Haile T. Debas of Eritrea, director of UCSF Global Health Sciences; Lore Harp McGovern of Germany, director of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT; and Maryles Casto, owner of Casto Travel, of the Philippines. Former UC regent David Lee, will get a lifetime achievement award.

The S.F. Chronicle today printed an interview with Jorge about the growing influence of Latinos in American politics.

200 buyouts offered at Raleigh paper

The News & Observer of Raleigh is offering voluntary buyouts to 200 of its 900 employees. The last day on the job for those who accept the offer is May 23.

According to a story that ran in its own paper, Publisher Orage Quarles III said he expects a small percentage of employees to accept a buyout.

Only full-time employees working in positions that could be eliminated using technology, efficiencies or consolidation of jobs are deemed eligible for the buyout offers. It's expected only 3 to 5 jobs will be cut in the newsroom.

The News & Observer is a McClatchy paper.

LATV gains 3 markets

LATV today announced a distribution partnership with Tribune Broadcasting. The deal gives the digital bilingual/bicultural entertainment and music network an entry into New York, Chicago and Dallas.

In just days a few days, LATV will celebrate its one-year anniversary as the nation’s first bilingual network distributed via digital multicast.

According to TVNewsday, LATV currently has 33 affiliates in 19 of the top 25 Hispanic television markets. LATV can also be seen on basic cable through its affiliates and in Los Angeles on KJLA .

The WB is reborn... online

Almost two years after The WB was dissolved to make way for the CW, the Warner Bros. TV group announced the disappeared network is being relaunched... but on the internet.

TheWB.com will be a new free, video-centric Web site where viewers can see old WB hit series, such as "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" as well as network hits from the company’s library, including NBC's "Friends." It will initially roll out as a private beta site before going public in late August.

Mediaweek reports there's speculation that the new Warner Web destination could serve as the foundation for a future cable or broadcast network – especially, if the CW fails. But WB's TV group president says execs are committed to the CW.

Univision - Televisa trial delayed

Televisa's material breach of contract suit against Univision won't get its day in court today, after all. In a last minute move, both sides agreed to push back the start date of the trial. The new court action date is July 1.

Reuters reports that Alfonso de Angoitia, Televisa's EVP told analysts last week that both companies tried, but could not reach an out of court settlement before the trial date.

More layoffs at OC Register

About 80 to 90 employees from The Orange County Register and its affiliated publications will be laid-off. President and Publisher Terry Horne blamed the cuts on declining advertising revenue. The cutbacks are scheduled to be completed tomorrow. This is the third round of layoffs in a year. The company also did a voluntary severance program to cut staff in 2006.

According to the OC Register, in this round of layoffs managers protected basic reporting and editing staff. They targeted high salary employees, in order to lay-off fewer people. The company has tried other cost reduction measures to avoid layoffs. Earlier this year, the OC Post was cut back from a six to a three-day-a-week tabloid and the Register newspaper's business coverage was merged inside the main news section, eliminating the Business Monday tabloid.

Univision-Televisa trial begins

The court battle between Univision and Televisa starts tomorrow. Grupo Televisa claims in a suit filed three years ago Univision cheated the Mexican company out of more than $100 million in royalties. At stake: breaking up a programming partnership that makes Univision the ratings leader among Spanish-language viewers in the U.S.

According to the L.A. Times, Univision last year generated $538 million in advertising from Televisa programming. Their net revenue was $2.1 billion. Univision paid Televisa about $145 million in license fees.

Televisa seeks to end its long-term programming agreement, currently set to expire December 2017. This would allow Televisa to charge higher fees for its shows.... or explore selling its programming elsewhere in the U.S.

Univision was purchased last year by a group of investors for $13.7-billion dollars.

It's estimated the trial could last 4 weeks, with Televisa CEO Emilio Azcárraga Jean and other executives from both sides testifying.

Roldán named Sr. VP and General Manager at Mega TV

SBS named Luis Roldan Senior Vice President and General Manager of MEGA TV in Puerto Rico. He will oversee the retransmission of Mega TV on WSJU-TV (Channel 30).

Until recently, Luis was President and General Manager for WKAQ-TV, Telemundo’s station in Puerto Rico. Prior to that, he worked at WNJU-Telemundo in New York as Account Executive, Local Sales Manager, General Sales Manager, Station Manager and Executive Vice President and General Manager. He began his career at WNBC-TV in New York.

Nielsen will measure ESPN Deportes ratings

We'll soon find out if ESPN Deportes has significant viewership... or not. Nielsen Media Research will measure the 24-hour Spanish-language sports network's program ratings through the Nielsen Homevideo Index Hispanic (NHIH) Service.

ESPN Deportes execs seem confident: "The addition of ESPN Deportes to Nielsen’s U.S. Hispanic cable service will provide sponsors with an important additional metric to realize the value of investing on our network,” Paul Green, VP, ad sales, told Mediaweek. The NHIH data for ESPN Deportes will be available as of April 28.

Rodriguez named EP of CNN's American Morning

Award-winning producer Janelle Rodriguez is the new executive producer of CNN’s American Morning.

Janelle is a long-time CNN employee. Until recently, she was a senior producer on The Situation Room, working for the show since its launch, in 2005. Prior to that, she spent two years as senior producer on Anderson Cooper 360°. She began as a producer at Headline News in Atlanta before moving to CNN/U.S.

Janelle will be based in New York.

Llamas leaves anchor desk

Jacqueline Llamas, weekend anchor at KWHY-22 accepted a buyout. Her last day on the job is tomorrow, although she will not be on the air.

"It's been 7 years of working weekends. I was tired. I was missing out on life with my kids. Mom-wise, I've very happy. I almost feel like telling the station thank you for giving me my life back."

Jackie says she wants to remain in the news business, but that her priority now is family, leaving the door open to exploring "other opportunities."

"I'm not in a rush. I'm going to take things slow. I want to make sure I make the right decision in the next step of my career."

Jackie says she plans on staying in Los Angeles.

WFSL and Sun-Sentinel to produce AM show

Tribune properties South Florida Sun-Sentinel and WSFL-Ch. 39 are planning a morning news and information show for early 2009.

The Sun-Sentinel reports its Publisher Howard Greenberg, who also is general manager of the TV station, announced the program would air weekdays from 5 to 9 a.m. and would be a fast-paced, personality-driven, nontraditional news and information format. The emphasis will be on local content, supplied by the paper's editorial staff, with the possibility of using its reporters and columnists as on-air talent on the show.

Aguilar files EEOC complaint

Rebecca Aguilar, suspended for five months from her job and subsequently fired, has begun legal proceedings against Fox 4. Yesterday, she filed a formal complaint against the Dallas station with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Rebecca's attorney, Steve Kardell, says she wasn't fired for an overly agressive interview, but but rather for advocating changes at the TV station. In a press releaase, he states: "I'm confident the EEOC will uncover what our investigation has unveiled. Fox4 wanted my client to advocate change in the community through her reports, but to keep silent in improving working conditions in the newsroom."

That interview showed Rebecca questioning the motives of a 70 yr-old man who had shot two intruders dead in the span of one month and injured one other. The man's weapons had been confiscated, but he had just finished buying another shotgun when Rebecca interviewed him.

After viewing that video, many journalists, including myself, and several other journalism organizations determined Rebecca did not act inappropriately during the interview that eventually caused her dismissal from the station. NAHJ and UNITY early on called for her reinstatement.

Rebecca told Ed Bark yesterday she was fighting to regain her reputation: "I want my reputation back because how am I going to find another job? Nowadays when you apply for a job, no matter where it is, the first thing they're going to do is google your name."

If you do google her name, the entries link her to stories and vicious comments on her suspension.

Corral resigns as news director

Al Corral, who has been news director of Telemundo's KVEA-52 in Los Angeles since 2001, resigned from the job yesterday. His last day is May 2nd.

"I need a break. I need a change. I want to have more control over my life and I need to clear my head, " is Al's explanation about why he's leaving.

"I negotiated a good buyout and I felt it was a good opportunity for me and my family. My wife and I and our 8 yr-old daughter had a trip lined up to Europe in August and now we're going to extend it."

Al says running two news departments (KVEA-52 and KWHY-22) was exhausting. "I'm just going to chill for a while." He says he has nothing lined up, but that he's talking to people "who are doing cool things." What's cool according to Al? Public radio and producing content. He says he'll be staying in L.A. for the time being.

Al has previously worked as news director at KPIX-5 in San Francisco and at KCET in Los Angeles.

Univision expands news programming

Beginning April 28, the Univision O&O's in Los Angeles (KMEX), Miami (WLTV), New York(WXTV) and Sacramento (KUVS) will add another hour of morning news programming. The stations, which currently air news between 5 and 7 am, will also produce news from 7 to 8 am... but on Telefutura.

The news expansion takes advantage of the duopolies in those cities. By adding the news hour on Telefutura, the local stations will not interrupt "Despierta América," which runs from 7 to 10 am.

Telemundo cancels late night show

"Mas Vale Tarde con Alex Cambert" is history. Telemundo network pulled the plug on its Thursday-night talk show after six months of low ratings. The show made its debut on Nov. 29 of last year, side-stepping November sweeps.

In a written statement, Telemundo said canceling the show "was a very difficult decision" and that "unfortunately, the show did not produce the desired results," despite the efforts of an outstanding creative and production team.

The show's last episode is set for May 8th. "Titulares y Más" will return to five nights a week.

Rubén Salazar day

It's Rubén Salazar day, declared by the L.A. City Council. I posted an entry yesterday about the unveiling of a stamp in his honor.

If you're curious to hear what Rubén, a former L.A. Times journalist, had to say in his own words, check out this radio story by KPCC's Adolfo Guzmán López, that includes excerpts from a 1970 interview:

http://www.scpr.org/news/stories/2008/04/22/08_salazar_stamp_042208.htm

Hearst staff moves to McClatchy D.C. bureau

20 D.C. Hearst staffers moved into McClatchy's Washington bureau offices. It looks like it's all about cost-cutting and consolidation, even though Hearst spokesman did not explain the reason for the move.

According to E&P, legendary White House correspondent Helen Thomas, now a Hearst columnist, is among those who moved in to what used to be the Knight-Ridder D.C. bureau, before McClatchy bought the company.

That bureau now houses about 100 McClatchy staffers and the McClatchy-Tribune Information Service, in addition to newcomer Hearst employees.

News Corp to buy Newsday

The deal would be a "joint venture" and News Corp would be paying $580 million to acquire Newsday.

Reuters is reporting that the Tribune Co has reached an agreement in principle to sell the Long Island newspaper and that both companies are "very close" to a deal.

The joint venture would allow Newsday and News Corp's money-losing New York Post, to combine back office operations, reducing about $50 million in annual losses for the Post. The deal would allow Tribune to keep a small stake in the company.

Perez Hilton signs ABC radio deal

Starting May 5, you can hear celebrity blogger Perez Hilton on ABC Radio Networks. "Radio Perez" will hit the airwaves with a daily two-minute morning and afternoon celebrity and entertainment news update.

Radio Ink reports ABC Radio Networks will syndicate, sell, and distribute the feature, which will launch in seven of the top 10 markets, including WQHT-New York, KPWR-Los Angeles and WBBM-Chicago.

Besides his incredibly popular blog, Mario Lavandeira (Perez Hilton's real name), hosts What Perez Says on VH1.

New Web portal for ImpreMedia

ImpreMedia has launched a flagship Web portal that integrates all of its properties into one online network.

Impre.com pools content resources from all of its publications and provides direct links to every property in its network, which feature redesigned Web sites.

In a written statement, Arturo Duran, ImpreMedia Digital's CEO said: "Advertisers will benefit from the network's broad reach across the Hispanic market."

ImpreMedia's publications include La Opinion in L.A., El Diario La Prensa in NYC and La Raza in Chicago. According to the company, 2 million unique users visit ImpreMedia Web sites each month.

Alvarez moves to Austin

Mari Alvarez is leaving her anchor/reporter job at KTSM in El Paso. She’ll be joining the news team at KVUE, the ABC station in Austin, where she will also be an anchor/reporter. Her last day at KTSM is June 2nd.

A Vanderbilt University grad, Mari landed her first news job at KREY/KREX in Colorado, working as a "one man band," shooting and editing her own video. From there, she went on to become 6 and 10 pm anchor at KTXS in Abilene, before reaching El Paso.

Rubén Salazar gets stamp

38 years after his death while covering an anti-war demonstration, Rubén Salazar will be getting national recognition... on a stamp.

The former L.A. Times columnist and KMEX-34 news director is one of five journalists who will have stamps bearing their images.

Frank Sotomayor, an L.A. Times staff editor for 35 years and currently associate director at the USC's Institute for Justice and Journalism, will be speaking at the ceremony which will take place in Washington, D.C. tomorrow.

The City Council declared April 22, 2008 Ruben Salazar Day in Los Angeles.

For more on Rubén's history, check out this S.F. Chronicle article.

10 billion videos viewed online

It's mind-boggling! Internet users viewed 10.1 billion online videos in February— and that's just in the U.S. alone. The online viewing of videos is up 66% year over year—with Google’s YouTube in the lead, capturing 34% of the video traffic, according to Internet measurement firm comScore.

Multichannel News reports almost 135 million Internet users spent an average of 204 minutes viewing online video. The average online video clip duration was 2.7 minutes for February.

Here's the rundown of the most popular:

1. Google’s sites had 3.6 billion videos viewed (96% from YouTube.com)
2. Fox Interactive Media - 586 million videos (539 million videos served by MySpace.com)
3. Yahoo’s and Microsoft’s video sites - both with 293 million (2.9% each) videos
4. Viacom Digital (218.0 million)

ABC.com is hanging in the top 10 - with 7 million unique visitors who spend an average of 51 minutes of online viewing per person.

Just goes to show... there's still an interest in news...

SBS teams up with My Space Latino

Spanish Broadcasting System's TV and radio properties will be launching a joint campaign with MySpace Latino to pull 1 million Hispanics to the social networking site.

Titled "Queremos un millon de amigos," the promo campaign will air on SBS's Mega TV, its 21 radio stations and their respective Web portals.

Under the partnership, MySpace Latino will provide a networking community to SBS for promotion of its programs and artists, as well as provide links to the network's shows.

Medallas de Cortez finalists announced

The list of finalists for the second annual Medallas de Cortez awards was released by Radio Ink. The award, which recognizes outstanding achievement in Hispanic radio, is named in honor of Raoul Cortez, who founded KCOR-San Antonio in 1946. According to Radio Ink, it was the United States' first Spanish-language radio station.

Among the finalists for Broadcaster of the year: Maria De Leon, KXTD-AM in Tulsa; Pablo de Jesus Colon Jr. and Migdalia Colon, Radio Cumbre Broadcasting in Bridgeport, CT and Felipe Chavez , Bustos Media in Sacramento.

Winners will be announced at the Radio Ink Hispanic Radio Conference in May.

Lopez new weathercaster at NBC 5

NBC5 announced they have added Jennifer Lopez to their news team. Her first day on the job as the early morning meteorologist is June 16th.

Jennifer arrives from The Weather Channel, where she's been since May 2000. She previously worked at WTLV-TV in Jacksonville, Fla.

A native of St. Augustine, FL, she began her weathercasting career at WPTV-TV in West Palm Beach.

Gonzalez sues LAPD

Fox-11 reporter Christina Gonzalez is suing the city of Los Angeles and its police department. In the suit, filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Christina alleges negligence and assault and battery. She is asking for unspecified general, triple and punitive damages, after suffering "shock and injuries to her nervous system" and "severe emotional distress" during the LAPD's May Day melee in MacArthur Park last year.

KNBC-4 is reporting that the suit also alleges the commanders failed to adequately control the officers in the park and that she was targeted as a reporter and as a Latina. Camerawoman Patricia Lynn Ballaz filed a similar suit last September.

Modesto Bee offers 100 buyouts

More than 100 Modesto Bee employees were offered voluntary buyouts on Monday. The paper's publisher says not all applicants will be approved, with each division having a limited number of buyouts. Ad sales reps and reporters will be exempt.

An article printed in the Bee quotes editor and Sr. VP Mark Vasché saying the buyouts will affect a small number of the newsroom's 90-plus employees.

Contreras takes buyout at Newsweek

Joe Contreras, who is Newsweek's Latin America Regional Editor since July 2002, is taking a buyout after a 28-year-long career. He says the move will happen sometime this fall.

"I have no tangible, post-Newsweek plans," he tells me, "though I hope to remain in the business as a foreign correspondent, preferably in Latin America. That may prove to be a very tall order, however. "

During his Newsweek career, Joe has worked as Miami, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, Mexico City and Buenos Aires bureau chief.

Joe is a Harvard grad ande has an M.S. in International Relations from the London School of Economics.

Donaldson says Perez Hilton "delivers!"

Sam Donaldson received an RTNDA Paul White award yesterday afternoon. In his acceptance speech, he talked about this year's presidential elections and gave celebrity blogger Perez Hilton quite a plug. He mentioned how the blogger, whose real name is Mario Lavandeira, endorsed Hillary, and thanks to his blog, which gets over 7 million daily hits, "helped her get the youth vote in California."

"He delivers!" Sam said he had to get to know who this influential guy was "so, I called and said hi, I want to get to know you!"

It's great to know we have such an influential Latino in our media midst....

Telemundo Chicago adds newscast

WSNS-44 is expanding its news coverage. Starting next Monday, April 21, the Telemundo station in Chicago will be producing a 10:30 am newscast. Tsi-Tsi-Ki Felix will anchor the show. She will continue her anchor duties at 5 pm.

The new morning newscast will be geared towards women. News director Esteban Creste tells me the show will include news of the day, but will mostly focus on health, personal finance and community service segments. "There will be no sports!" he says.

Esteban, who's been heading the news department for over 3 years, says he had been trying to get this project off the ground for a while. Telemundo airs paid programming in that time slot.

"I've managed to double the news we produce since I arrived," says Esteban. "I think that's a pretty good story to tell."

His news department was not immune to NBC's 2.0 cuts. Last year, he lost 35% of his newsroom staff, including two reporters.

Geraldo keynotes Hispanic radio conference

Geraldo Rivera will deliver the keynote address at Radio Ink's Hispanic Radio Conference on May 19.

The 2 day conference, which will be held in Miami, will tackle issues such as immigration and radio, selling radio in a recession, new media, and sales development.

Telemundo's Santiago lands in governor's office

Milly Santiago, who until August of last year worked as reporter for Telemundo-44 in Chicago, has landed a new job... at the governor's office.

Milly is the new Hispanic media and community relations manager for Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

A Puerto Rico native, Milly has been in Chicago since 1978. She started her broadcast career in radio, before moving over to TV. She has worked for both the Univision and Telemundo stations in Chicago.

News Corp teams up with Microsoft for Yahoo?

Yikes! Talk about a powerhouse combination if it comes through! And a total change in the internet landscape...

The NYT reports Rupert Murdoch is talking to Microsoft about a joint bid for Yahoo. That would mean Microsoft’s MSN, News Corp’s My Space and Yahoo would be rolled into one big internet giant.

Yahoo, who has been resisiting Microsoft, has been talking to Time Warner and News Corp, looking for ways to stay independent. So it must come as a surprise that News Corp is talking with Microsoft - especially when Murdoch offered Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang his help in fighting off Microsoft. None of the companies are commenting on this turn of events.

Meanwhile, Yahoo yesterday suggested it might be willing to cede part of its core business to Google, to remain independent. For starters, in a 2-week test, it will outsource a small portion of its search advertising to Google to see if they can get more revenue if Google ran the advertising system.

Stay tuned...

Layoffs at Nielsen Business Media

Nielsen Business Media, publisher of The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard, Editor & Publisher, Mediaweek and Adweek laid off 40 to 50 employees, according to reports on the Washington Post and Folio.com.

Nielsen said the cuts were company-wide, and part of its restructuring plan to reduce the overall headcount at by 4,000.

Mirthala says "I'm sorry"

Mirthala Salinas, the Telemundo anchor/reporter who was at the center of the romantic scandal with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is on the May cover of Los Angeles Magazine. She talks about the affair with the Mayor, how it came about and the impact on her career.

In the interview, Mirthala apologizes for her actions saying she never imagined the consequences of her affair with the mayor: “I regret hurting people. I do. But I think we should learn from every experience. That’s what makes us better human beings.… And I’m taking the best out of this relationship to go on.”

She also reveals that she reached a legal settlement with Telemundo-52 when she quit her job last year. She had been working for the station for 10 years.

She obviously never imagined that the affair would ruin her reputation, her credibility as a reporter and her career. In February of this year, Mirthala landed a gig as a morning show co-host at a Tijuana-based radio station. She is no longer with the mayor and is apparently going to marry her ex-boyfriend.

Yahoo says No to Microsoft.. again

Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang and Chairman Roy Bostock on Monday again rejected Microsoft’s bid for their company, saying it undervalues Yahoo. But, they would be willing to reconsider a deal, if Microsoft makes a better offer.

Miguel Helft, of the New York Times, reports Yang and Bostock are continuing to explore alternatives to Microsoft’s offer. And, sources say Yahoo is still in conversations with Time Warner about a deal to merge AOL into Yahoo.

Microsoft's CEO, Steven Ballmer has threatened to begin a proxy fight to oust Yahoo’s directors if they can't reach a deal in three weeks and insinuated the delay could bring in an even lower offer for Yahoo.

Microsoft’s Jan. 31 offer was first valued at $44.6 billion, but has fallen to just over $42 billion after a drop in the price of Microsoft’s shares.

Castillo leaves NBC5

Weekend sports anchor Derek Castillo is calling it quits at NBC5 in Dallas, when his contract ends in June.

"I just couldn't do another contract working the weekends," Derek told Ed Bark, who added his decision to leave was to dedicate more time to his wife and 8 yr-old son. He says he’s leaving NBC5 on good terms and hopes to stay in the business.

Derek arrived to NBC5 in July 2001 from WCAU-TV in Philadelphia.

Junot Díaz wins Pulitzer

39 yr-old Junot Diaz won the Pulitzer prize for fiction for his novel "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao."

The novel, which also won the National Book Critics Award earlier this year, revolves about Oscar, an obese comics fan and his dysfunctional Dominican family.

"I am in disbelief," Junot told the Daily News yesterday. This is his first novel. He has also published a story collection, "Drown." His work has also appeared in The New Yorker and The Paris Review.

Until Monday, Oscar Hijuelos was the only U.S. Latino writer to ever receive the Pulitzer Prize in literature, for “The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love,” published in 1989.

La Estrella in Ft. Worth comes to an end

La Estrella in Fort Worth is history - publishing its final edition on April 25th. The 14 yr-old publication, originally a Knight-Ridder and now a McClatchy property, will be merged with the home-delivered entertainment and sports-focused weekly La Estrella en Casa starting May 2nd.

In a Star-Telegram article, Publisher Gary Wortel said about the move: "What we're finding is the home-delivery product is what advertisers are looking for." La Estrella en Casa is delivered to about 100,000 households in Dallas-Fort Worth.

La Estrella started as a weekly insert in the Star-Telegram. It evolved into a twice weekly stand-alone publication and went to five days a week when Belo launched Al Día in the same market. Last year, it was downsized to twice weekly and then to once a week.

Wortel said some La Estrella staff members will be reassigned within the Star-Telegram.

Will CBS outsource newsgathering to CNN?

If what the New York Times reports is true, CBS has been talking to Time Warner to "outsource some of its news-gathering operations to CNN."

The NYT sources the story to "two executives briefed on the matter," who wish to remain anynomous due to "the confidential nature of the negotiations." These executives say CBS is considering reducing the network's newsgathering capacity, keeping its "frontline personalities," like Katie Couric, and paying a fee to CNN to buy the cable network’s news feeds. Or... keep some CBS correspondents, pairing them with CNN crews.

The discussions are allegedly being led by CBS News President Sean McManus and Jim Walton, president of CNN.

But according to the Hollywood Reporter, CBS News denies it's striking a deal with CNN to outsource their newsgathering.

11 Emmys for Univision and Telemundo NY

There's some good news in the midst of all the layoff gloom...

WNJU-47, NY's Telemundo station, picked up 5 Emmys including best "Evening Newscast: Under 35 Minutes." Patsi Arias and Jorge Ramos anchor the newscast (shown left). Andrea Romero won in the On-camera talent "Anchor-Weather" category. Sports anchor Veronica Romero picked up an Emmy for Sports Coverage, Single Story. You can read more on their win and pictures of the winners on their site.

WXTV-41 got the Emmy for "Continuing Coverage" for its work on the murder of a day laborer in Mount Kisco. Reporter Alex Roland (shown right) won in several categories, including "Feature News: Single Story". Producer/writer Jose Arturo Lopez picked up the "Feature News: Series" trophy. You can check out photos of these winners on the Univision site.

Seattle Times to cut 200

Citing a loss in revenue and the need to reduce expenses, Seattle Times publisher Frank Blethen told employees aproximately 200 positions will be eliminated at the paper.

In a memo to staff, he says: "We had hoped the expense reductions made at the beginning of the year would prevent the need for further downsizing, but that is not the case." He also notes there will be a $15 million dollar cut in the budget, to be implemented over the next two months.

Crosscut.com points out the cuts translate to about 49 newsroom positions - 30 layoffs and 19 unfilled jobs staying that way.

García new ED at L.A. Daily News

Carolina García is the new Executive Editor of the Los Angeles Daily News, the newspaper’s publisher announced today. She moves to L.A. after 5 years as Executive Editor of The Monterey County Herald, a 35,000-circulation paper. She was previously the managing editor of the San Antonio Express-News from 1998 to 2003.

She replaces Executive Editor Ron Kaye, who resigned Friday. In a D.N. article, she says her priorities will be on local news and continuing the newspaper's watchdog role: "The energy and passion and commitment to the community is not going to change."

Carolina will be taking over a newspaper that is trying to evolve into a multimedia news source, as newspaper subscribers decline and readers migrate to online news sites. The challenge will be accomplishing those goals with less staff.

Just last month, the 150,000-circulation Daily News laid off 100 employees, including reporters, photographers, editors and library and clerical staffers.

Ramirez wins Pulitzer

Michael Ramirez was among today's Pulitzer winners for Editorial Cartooning. It's not his first. He picked up a Pulitzer in 1994.

Michael is a senior editor and editorial cartoonist for Investor's Business Daily. He has been an editorial cartoonist for the L.A. Times, The Commercial Appeal and USA Today. He is syndincated in over 450 newspapers around the world. Check out his work.

6 Pulitzers for Post, 2 for NYT

The Washington Post won 6 of the 14 Pulitzers today, including the coveted Public Service award. The Post's six-prize sweep was the most ever for the D.C. paper and

The New York Times 2 wins were for investigative reporting and for Explanatory Reporting. The Chicago Tribune tied in the investigative category.

Winners were announced at 3 p.m. at Columbia University. For a complete list of the winners, check out the E&P story.

Hernandez new Telemundo COO

Telemundo has named Jacqueline Hernandez as its Chief Operating Officer. In the newly created position, Jacqueline will be responsible for all domestic revenue and marketing; digital media and emerging platforms; mund2, Telemundo's Latino-youth cable network; affiliate relations; and all research functions.

She will be based out of New York and will report directly to President Don Browne.

Jacqueline was previously the publisher of People en Español. She currently sits on the board of the Emmy's en Español and New York City's Latin Entertainment Commission.

Streaming media to generate $70 billion in 6 years

$70 billion in revenue - that's a lot of dough! And it just goes to show how media consumer habits are changing. Because, according to an Insight Research report, those $70 billion will be generated bystreaming video and music over the next six years.

A story in Information Week points out that content streamed over the Internet, IPTV networks, and mobile handsets will increase revenue through content and networks. The Insight study indicates that on-demand audio and video, as well as the revenue they generate, will boost the market, growing at a compounded annual rate of almost 29% through 2013.

And if there are any doubts about people paying for these services, Robert Rosenberg, Insight Research president, makes an excellent observation: "Questions surrounding consumers' willingness to pay for content have been dispelled by satellite radio and iTunes."

Adler named weekend sports anchor at Fox-5

ANDY ROSA ADLER was named weekend Sports Anchor for Fox 5 (WNYW) in New York. Before covering sports, she was the Web reporter for MYFoxNY.com and an entertainment contributor for Fox 5 and My9 News (WWOR).

Andy joined Fox 5 from KPSP, the CBS affiliate in Palm Springs, where she was the co-host of a daily entertainment show. She has also worked for the nationally syndicated programs American Latino Television and LatiNation. She is a San Diego native.

Equity Media sells 5 stations for $8 million

Financially troubled Equity Media has acted quickly to kill some of its debt. The company announced today it will sell five low-power TV stations in southwest Florida (WUVF, WLZE, WBSP, WEVU and WTLE) for $8 million.

TV Newsday reports the buyer, Luken Communications, is owned by two Equity Media execSs—Chairman, CEO and President Henry Luken and Thomas Arnost, CEO of Equity’s station group.

As I posted yesterday, the second-largest affiliate group of the Univision and TeleFutura networks had a net loss of $ 40. 7 million in 2007 and currently has more liabilities than assets.

Cuba creates new TV station

UPI is reporting that Cuban state media will create a new TV channel with foreign content to be made available for local viewers. According to the announcement, made on the communist Granma newspaper, the 24-hour channel by the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television will reportedly feature a variety of programming. But it won't be free press... the content will still be subject to state approval.

Hurtado hired at ABC NewsOne

Viviana Hurtado leaves her reporter job at Al-Jazeera English to become a Washington, D.C. correspondent for ABC NewsOne.

Prior to working for Al-Jazeera, Viviana worked as an investigative reporter and anchor at the CBS and FOX affiliates in Providence, Rhode Island.

Viviana began her journalism career at CNN en Español, based in Washington, D.C. She has a Ph.D. from Yale and a Master's in Latin American studies from Stanford University.

Impremedia and McClatchy to share content

Impremedia and the McClatchy Co. will be sharing Spanish-language sports, entertainment and features content. According to E&P, the agreement, revealed this week, allows the publishers to share material from sources such as McClatchy's El Nuevo Herald in Miami and ImpreMedia's La Opinion in Los Angeles.

Equity Media Loses $40.7 Million, could file for bankruptcy

Equity Media Holdings Corp., the second-largest affiliate group of the Univision and TeleFutura networks, is in big trouble.

In an SEC filing on Tuesday, Equity reported a net loss of $ 40. 7 million in 2007, compared to $3. 2 million the year before. The company also had a drop in its broadcast revenue to $ 28. 3 million from $ 30. 4 million in 2007.

According to Arkansasbusiness.com, the Little Rock-based publicly-traded company, which has 121 television stations, licenses and permits, does not have enough cash to operate and is considering filing for bankruptcy protection.

Equity reported $25.3 million in assets, but $84 million in current liabilities as well as an additional $13.7 million in with long-term liabilities.

Univision owns approximately 8% of Equity Media, with which it has a 15–year affiliation agreement.

Saralegui quits Univision

Javier Saralegui, president of Univision Online since 1999 when the division was created, resigned Tuesday. AdAge reports Univisión released a statement indicating Javier will "pursue other opportunities." Before taking the helm of Univision Online, Javier was president at Galavisión.

César Conde, chief strategy officer of Univision Communications, is the interim president of Univision Online while the company searches for Javier's permanent replacement.

Sanchez loses election

He tried, but lost. Former radio host Gil Sanchez, who competed against 7 others for the Anchorage school board, did not win in Tuesday's election. According to what Gil told me a few days ago, he would have been the first Latino elected to that board.

Although disappointed, he does not feel defeated: "This is my first political campaign, ran undeclared, and at least 3110 people thought I was good for the job. "

Are the layoffs about need... or greed?

Reading or hearing about the layoffs in print and TV is enough to make those of us in the business quiver. If you review entries in my blog in the past couple of months, you'll see many of them are about layoffs in the newspaper industry. But slowly, the broadcasters have been following suit.

NBC was the first one to announce big job cuts when it went into 2.0 mode at the end of 2006. ABC just last week laid-off 20 folks. But CBS's draconic cuts around the country has many in shock and wondering about the impact on the quality of the news product to come - and if they could be next. Is the TV industry really in that much trouble?

"If you're used to 45 percent profit, then if you only have 20 or 30, it feels like you're in the poor house," Bob Papper told reporter Joe Garofoli of the S.F. Chronicle. Papper is a journalism professor at Hofstra University, who is also in charge of doing a yearly TV survey for RTNDA.

Garofoli's assesment: "the TV news layoffs are more a reflection of a transforming media marketplace - and the financial expectations that are changing with it."

The 2008 State of the News Media report indicates the local TV news business "remains robust," with newsrooms "a big factor in the economic success of local television." Even though the study, produced by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, points out there's been a drop in the evening newscast ratings, newsrooms "contributed 42% to a station’s total revenue, according to local news directors." That's why half of the country's news directors reported increasing their budgets last year - because they maintain their newsrooms are profitable. So then... why eliminate the very people that are helping the station keep its news credibility and those elusive revenues?

"They're fighting a continued fragmentation of the market," says Papper." Just as newspapers have found out, there are a lot more places to go to get news."

While station spokespeople may argue the cutbacks won't affect the station's coverage, experts like Papper doubt it. Less people... and less experienced journalists, covering more.

What do you think? Leave a comment.

McClatchy 's rating down, but CEO's salary $4.6 million

The McClatchy Co.'s revenue has dropped 13.2 % in the first months of 2008, prompting its credit rating to be lowered again Tuesday. Last year, the company's revenue fell by almost 8% and the company's stock price plunged, losing about two-thirds of its value. However, CEO Gary Pruitt made $4.6 million in total compensation in 2007. Well... that's $1 million less than in 2006, when McClatchy bought the Knight-Ridder papers.

According to the SacBee, a company SEC filing shows Pruitt's $4.6 million salary includes $1.1 million in base pay, an $800,000 performance bonus, about $2 million in stock and option grants and other forms of compensation. But now McClatchy officials believe the proxy statement overstated Pruitt's true compensation in 2007, stating he actually made $2.9 million last year.

Mmmmm... that's still not bad, considering all the cuts in the industry to "save money."

Moody's downgrade takes McClatchy deeper into non-investment grade, or junk bond, status.

Layoffs at KCBS reach Garza

The CBS station in L.A. was not immune from the nation-wide, cost-cutting layoffs... and news of the casualties came in late in the day on Tuesday.

Reporter Jaime Garza was among the employees eliminated from the station's payroll. An insider says the staffers were escorted out of the building. The L.A. Times reports about a dozen people were laid-off, including anchors Harold Greene and Ann Martin.

Jaime was originally hired by KCAL 9 in 1995 and became part of the KCBS team when Viacom/CBS bought KCAL in 2002. Prior to moving to L.A., Jaime worked as anchor/reporter in Las Vegas and Sacramento.

Latino casualties at CBS

"When I walked in, they told me it was going to be a bad day in the newsroom," Manny Ramos told the S.F. Chronicle. "Then they told me it was going to be a bad day for me, too."

Manny, an Emmy-award winning reporter who has been at KPIX-5 for 28 years, was given the pink slip yesterday.

Anchor Maria Arita, who joined CBS11 in Dec. 2003, was also laid-off, but on Friday. She co-anchored the station's first high-definition newscast. She previously worked as general assignment reporter for the NBC station in Dallas, for E! News Daily and hosted the nationally-syndicated show "Hispanics Today."

I reported earlier this morning that Rafael Romo, a reporter at WBBM-2 in Chicago was also a casualty.

"Black Monday" at CBS

Several CBS stations across the country have done a wave of layoffs eliminating, in some cases, long-time veterans. Here's the roundup:

WBZ-4 in Boston: the Herald reports management "whacked 30 employees," with insiders dubbing the day “Black Monday.” The station refused to identify who was let go, but sources say the managing editor, writers and producers were axed. No reporters or anchors, who are under contract, were cut. It’s the second round of layoffs in just over a year at WBZ.

WBBM-2 in Chicago: 18 employees were eliminated from all departments, including the station's lead anchor, Diann Burns. Reporter Rafael Romo, who crossed over from Chicago's Univision station, was one of the casualties. The Tribune reports some were layoffs, others were told their contracts would not be renewed, as in the case of anchor Diann Burns.

KPIX-5 in San Francisco: The Chronicle reports the Bay Area was hit with 14 job cuts. Among them, veteran reporters Manny Ramos and Bill Schechner, who had been at the station for decades. Two other reporters were also cut.

WCBS-2 in NYC: 2 reporters are out and the "Sports Sunday" wrapup show is history as part of station cutbacks, according to the NY Daily News.

KTVT-11 in Dallas: The station started their cuts earlier - on Friday. Ed Bark is reporting at least 5 newsroom staffers, including anchor/reporter Maria Arita are out of the picture at the station. By the way, check out his blog, it has a very interesting critique about CBS and their "mandatory cuts."

Sanchez running for office

Gil Sanchez, who started a Spanish-language newscast at KSKA in Alaska 17 years ago, is running for the Anchorage school board.

Gil, who also produced and hosted "Intercambios," an 11-yr old bilingual public affairs show for the same radio station, felt compelled to run because of the lack of diversity on the school board and in the school district, where 50% of the students are minorities.

"If I'm elected, I would be making history," he says. "Because I would be the first Latino to serve on the board."

That election is taking place today. "I think I have a 50-50 chance," says Gil. "A lot of people know me because of the radio show and my advocacy work for the community."

A lot of the community work he did on the radio is now history. "Unfortunately, KSKA has new managers and they didn't feel it was appropriate to have Spanish-language programming, so they canceled the shows," says a disappointed Gil. "Now there is no more Spanish news in all of Anchorage. And that's a disservice to the Spanish-speaking community," which he says is about 45,000 strong in the Anchorage city and valley areas.

Gil is currently working on a book about his experiences as a Cuban living in Alaska.

Romo one of 18 out at WBBM

Rafael Romo is one of 18 casualties announced at the CBS O&O in Chicago. He started working at the station on March of 2004. The layoffs, according to chicagotribune.com, are effective immediately. Among them, also $2 million a year anchor Diann Burns.

Prior to joining WBBM, Rafael was the weekend anchor for Univision's station in Chicago, where he worked from 1997 to 2003.