Telemundo management changes

Telemundo's reorganization announcement today included a demotion, a semi-promotion and a lay-off in its news management.

Jorge Hidalgo, Sr EVP News & Sports will no longer oversee the news department. He will go back to strictly handling Telemundo's sports department.

Johanna Guerra, VP of News, will continue to be responsible for all news content at Telemundo network, including "Al Rojo Vivo," where she was EP for the news magazine prior to her promotion in 2006. She will no longer report to Jorge Hidalgo, but will report directly to Don Browne.

The cancellation of "Cada Día" took a toll on Guillermo Santa Cruz. According to Telemundo spokesman Alfredo Richard, "As the executive in charge of Cada Día, Guillermo Santa Cruz was impacted by the decision and he will no longer work at Telemundo."

"These changes are part of a strategic reorganization of the News and Sports department designed to align these key areas with changes in the industry," Telemundo president Don Browne wrote in an email earlier today.

Telemundo cancels national morning show

Telemundo network president Don Browne today announced the cancellation of its morning show "Cada Día."

In a memo to employees he wrote:

"Cada Dia is a show we believed in and very much wanted to succeed. It wasn't for lack of talent, we had the best. It wasn't for lack of passion, dedication or courage; no team had more than Cada Dia. In the end, the show was not able to generate the results that allowed us to continue our financial support."

The show launched in 2005 with host Maria Antonieta Collins, who joined Telemundo from Univisión. During the two and a half years the show was on the air, it had terrible ratings. Back in February, Maria Antonieta announced she would not renew her contract with the network, which expires in August.

What will replace the show? According to what Browne wrote in the memo: "We are in the process of developing a new concept for the morning. While the development process takes place we will transition with a block of programming including “Al Rojo Vivo con Maria Celeste,” local news, our talk show “Rocio” and Telemundo original novelas.

A Telemundo spokesman would not say exactly how many people will lose their jobs, except that the layoffs "represent less than 3% of the Telemundo's workforce."

2008 Print and TV Web revenue almost $5 billion

For all the crying over money troubles and need to reduce costs, TV stations, which for a long time have seen 30 to up to 50% profit margins are seeing the bright light of online revenues. And newspapers, which have been slashing jobs and blaming the internet for their woes, can say the same.

According to B&C, a Borrell Associates study shows that TV station Web sites will produce an estimated $1.2 billion in revenue in 2008 - a big jump from last year's $772 million.

But newspapers will fare even better - it's expected they'll be getting $3.7 billion of the $13.1 billion in local online advertising for the year.

For the study “What Local Media Web Sites Earn,” Borrell surveyed more than 3,100 local media properties, including 613 TV stations in the United States and Canada.

Durán joins Warner Channel Latin America

Industry veteran Alfredo Durán was recently named Sr VP, Branded Services and General Manager of The Warner Channel Latin America. He will be based in Miami.

Alfredo has nearly 30 years of television experience. For the past eight years he was EVP & General Manager, E! Entertainment Television Latin America. He previously served as VP Programming & Marketing for MGM Networks Latin America, and Vice President, Managing Director for WAMI-TV (Miami). Before that, he was President & Publisher of EXITO Magazine, a Tribune-owned weekly magazine in South Florida.

Noticiero Azteca América lays off 29, moves to Mexico City

When the rumor first broke that Noticiero Azteca América was moving to Mexico City in mid-March, VP of news María Elena Jáuregui (shown left) vehemently denied it. While she admitted there were changes coming, including some personnel cuts, she insisted that the local and national newscasts would continue to be produced in Los Angeles, with the TV Azteca news department in Mexico City "supplementing" the U.S. programming.

María Elena resigned from her position of V.P. of news last Wednesday. She is now in charge of special projects for Azteca América. Since I spoke with her in March, many of her newsroom employees jumped ship to other stations. But 29 didn't escape the ax.

An employee of the station confirmed station staffers were laid-off in two rounds - one on Friday and another on Monday. I'm told producers, APs, studio and control room staffers were amongst the casualties.

Reporter Alicia Unger was given a pink slip and Nancy Agosto will no longer anchor. She will stay on as a reporter. Three other reporters, Carlos Zapata, Luis Treto and Claudia Mendoza will remain as part of a bureau set-up, with the U.S. local newscasts produced and anchored in Mexico.

Azteca América today sent out a press release proudly boasting an HD news studio in Mexico City and a new "alliance" with Fuerza Informativa Azteca.

Bottom line: Azteca América will be feeding U.S. Hispanics with a regionalized news service, produced in Mexico. While a few local news crews will remain, it will be interesting to see how producers in Mexico determine what's important to cover in L.A. on a daily basis.

Moreno also takes buyout from Washington Post

Sylvia Moreno, who covers affordable-housing issues in the District of Columbia is also saying good-bye to the Washington Post.

According to Richard Prince's journal-isms, Sylvia is taking a company buyout, but will stay at the paper until mid-July to finish a project. She has nothing lined up yet after her Post departure.

Sylvia joined the paper in 1997. She previously worked at the Dallas Morning News for 4 1/2 years. Before that, she worked 16 years for Newsday and New York Newsday as a reporter and editor. She began her career in 1975 with United Press International.

More than 100 WP staffers have taken early retirement packages.

Last week, Marie Arana confirmed she was leaving. Days earlier, Don Podesta announced his departure.

Ibra Morales exits Telemundo

Ibra Morales, president of the Telemundo station group, is leaving the company.

Sources tell me Ibra had a conference call with all the managers to tell them he had not reached a contract renewal agreement with Telemundo and therefore, decided to leave. His last day on the job is May 30th.

While at Telemundo, Ibra has been given several interim positions during management shuffles at a number of stations. He was the interim GM at the Puerto Rico station in 2006. He also took over at WSCV-51 in Miami and KVEA-52 in Los Angeles, when Mike Rodríguez, who managed both stations, was promoted to Sr VP of sales for Telemundo and also stepped in as interim GM at KWHY-22 when Araceli de León moved back to her old position at Telemundo in Phoenix.

Ibra joined Telemundo in 2002. Before that, he was Sr VP of Sales for Hearst-Argyle Television during the merger of Hearst Broadcasting and Argyle Television.

Telemundo spokesman Alfredo Richard confirmed Ibra's position will not be replaced. "As the business continues to rapidly change," he says, "the Station Group will continue to adjust and most likely evolve into a regional model." In the meantime, Telemundo President Don Browne will take over Ibra's duties until a reorganization takes place.

Time Warner vs. NBCU for Weather Channel

Today is the deadline for a second round of bids in the Weather Channel auction and Time Warner and NBC Universal, which has partnered with Blackstone Group LP, are the leading contenders.

According to an article in today's WSJ, it looks like there will be less competition and a lower price for the network, with bids expected to come in between $3 to $4 billion - $1 billion less than what Landmark Communications Inc., had hoped to get for its channel, the Web business and related assets.

Mendez moves to Tulsa

Marianly Mendez jumps 42 markets to KOKI in Tulsa. She'll join the Fox23 news team as a reporter. She leaves KHBS/KHOG in Fort Smith, Arkansas, where she was a reporter for the ABC and CW affiliates since February of 2006.

She previously worked at CBS in Miami where she was an associate producer during her last semester of College. Marianly is a graduate of FIU.

Navarro taken off anchor chair at KVEA

Lucía Navarro, the lead anchor of Telemundo-52 in L.A. for the past 7 years, was taken off the job the day after sweeps.

Sources tell me Lucía came in to work on Thursday, but did not anchor the 6 pm newscast. A quick glance at the station's Website shows that her picture, bio and blog are missing.

Although unwilling to confirm the news, one executive acknowledged she will not be on the air on Friday.

Sources also tell me Lucía's contract was up and the rumor was that she would not be renewed. I'm told it's expected more people from the station will be axed and a lot more changes will take place in the coming weeks.

KVEA-52 has struggled with extremely low ratings for years and a lot of negative publicity in 2007, after it became known that Mirthala Salinas, Lucía's replacement during her maternity leave, had an affair with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Univision to roll out VOD - without Televisa

Barely a little more than a day after Univision announced its plans to roll out a video-on-demand service of their programming starting January of 2009, Televisa warned not to count on their novelas.

Univision announced its VOD plan at the Cable show in New Orleans, saying it will offer 1,000 hours of sports, news, movies and entertainment previously aired on Univision, TeleFutura and Galavision... and even games from the 2010 World Cup!

Even though Univision does not mention Televisa programming as a VOD offering, the Mexican media company was quick to send out a press release stating: "Televisa's program license agreement with Univision does not confer upon Univision any video on-demand rights with respect to Televisa's content including its prime time telenovelas, series, shows or any other Televisa programming nor to Mexican Soccer League matches licensed by Televisa to Univision."

Univision is #1 in L.A. and in U.S.

Univision was quick to send out their Nielsen results for May sweeps. In a press release issued late Wednesday, sourcing Nielsen, the Spanish-language network announced KMEX-34 was the most watched station in L.A. and ranked #1 in the entire country, regardless of language, among adults 18-49.

According to the Nielsen Station Index data provided by Univision, KMEX leads in daytime and prime-time viewership. KMEX's news ratings also surpass all other local stations in the 6-7 pm and 11 pm slots. Univision network news also has a strong lead, including Jorge Ramos's Sunday morning newsmaker program "Al Punto," which shows higher ratings in all key demos, than ABC's "This Week," and CBS's "Face the Nation."

Yañez promoted to VP of news at KMEX

Roberto Yáñez was appointed VP of news at Univision's KMEX-34 in Los Angeles, effective immediately. He reports directly to Maelia Macín, the station's general manager.

Roberto has been with Univision for the past 13 years. Until his promotion, he was KMEX's station manager. Before moving back to L.A., he was news director at WXTV-41 in New York and at KUVS-19 in Sacramento.

Prior to joining Univision, Robert worked at the NBC Affiliate in El Paso, CNN in Atlanta, and KCAL and KCBS in Los Angeles.

Medallas de Cortez winners announced

The winners of the Medallas de Cortez awards were announced yesterday during Radio Ink's Hispanic Radio Conference in Miami.

Among the 12 winners: motivational speaker and ABC network radio host Maria Marin, for Personality of the Year in markets 1-10 and KTAM's Greg Rodriguez, for Personality of the Year in markets 11+.

SBS's Pio Ferro won Programmer of the Year in the top 10 market category, while station of the year went to WSKQ in New York.

Here's the list of all the winners.

During the ceremony, Raúl Alarcón, Sr., founder of SBS, was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Marie Claire hires García

Nina García has been named fashion director of Marie Claire magazine. She was previously fashion director for Elle, from where she was reportedly fired in April.

Nina has recently gained notoriety for being a judge on Bravo's Project Runway. That show, by the way, has now moved to Lifetime, which is half owned by Hearst, which also owns... Marie Claire!

But according to Mediaweek, Nina will continue representing Elle during Project Runway's fifth season taped this summer. She'll take the title of editor at large for Elle through Sept. 1, and start her new gig at Marie Claire on Sept. 2.

Nina is a native of Barranquilla, Colombia. Her fashion career started in the public relations department for Perry Ellis, before moving to Mirabella magazine as assistant stylist and market editor. From there, she went on to work for Elle, where she worked her way up the ranks until she became fashion director in 2000.

LAT TV shuts down

LAT TV, the Houston-based independent Spanish-language network, today announced it is suspending operations.

In an email sent out this morning, Patricia Torres-Burd, the company's VP of Programming and Branding wrote:

"The Board of Directors of LAT-TV determined on May 6, 2008 that because of the company's inability to secure a source of ongoing funding to continue operations, it was necessary stop broadcasting operations accordingly and to proceed with a company shutdown. Tapes and masters are being returned to all distribution and production houses this week."

LAT-TV launched operations on May of 2006 with 5 stations in Houston, Austin, Dallas, San Antonio and Phoenix. Of those, only Houston and Phoenix were O&O's. Their business plan called for expansion in the top 50 Hispanic markets within its first 4 years.

With barely 2 years under their belt, LAT-TV had managed to expand its coverage to 31 stations in 25 markets, thanks to a partnership with Equity Media Holdings in May of 2007.

Thomson Reuters cuts 140 news jobs

Thomson Reuters Corp will eliminate 140 editorial jobs by the end of the year as its Reuters news service absorbs Thomson Financial News.

According to T-R, more than half the cuts will be in Europe. The rest will be scattered.

In a memo to employees, Editor-in-Chief David Schlesinger wrote that Reuters plans to add about 50 new jobs in growth areas, leaving the news organization with about 2,500 employees by the end of the year. "Wherever possible, we have worked to minimize job losses and to avoid redundancy by moving people into new roles and cancelling open posts that don't fit within the new organization," he wrote.

This is all part of a consolidation effort after Thomson Corp bought Reuters Group for more than $16 billion in cash and stock on April 17.

Thomson Reuters is also cutting as many as 650 jobs in its content, technology and operations division, according to another memo sent to employees.

Arana leaves Washington Post

Marie Arana has confirmed she's taking a buyout. The editor of the Washington Post's Book World section will leave her position on Dec. 31.

Marie told Richard Prince's Journal-isms she'll be "looking for a fellowship position (or some such like) at a university and writing a book about Simón Bolívar." Her second novel (and 4th book), titled "Lima Nights," comes out in January. "I'll be writing, rather than editing, in the future," says Marie.

Before joining the Post in 1992, Marie worked for Simon & Schuster, where she was VP and senior editor in the general book division for four years.

A native of Peru, Marie created and led programs on Latin American literature for the Kennedy Center, the Organization of American States, the Inter-American Development Bank and the Library of Congress.

Creste promoted to VP of News

Esteban Creste, news director of Telemundo's Chicago station, was promoted from news director to VP of News.

Esteban tells me he's thrilled with the promotion. "We all like our efforts to be recognized," he tells me. "Just like many of my colleagues who love this profession, I put in many hours a day, all my energy, attention and creativity. Perhaps the promotion is the fruit of my dedication."

Esteban points out that in his three and a half year tenure as news director in Chicago, he has overseen the expansion of news programming from 5 to 9 and a half hours a week.

Before moving to Chicago, Esteban worked as a reporter and managing editor for Telemundo 47 in NYC. He was previously a reporter at El Diario la Prensa and weekend news editor for WADO radio in New York.

Corchado selected for Nieman

Congrats are in order for Alfredo Corchado. He was one of 14 U.S. journalists selected for the 2008-2009 Nieman fellowship.

Alfredo, who works at the Dallas Morning News Mexico bureau, will study the fallout of organized crime on Latin America's young, fragile democracies, particularly the impact on the freedom of the press and consequences for the United States.

Televisa first to go MPEG-4 in North America

Televisa is upgrading its system from MPEG-2 compression to MPEG-4 AVC, making it the first major North American broadcaster to adopt the new transmission system.

What does that mean? Televisa will be able to deliver both HD and SD feeds in the same amount of satellite capacity. For all the techie specs, check out the details in B&C.

Even though the deadline for all Mexican stations to offer HDTV is 2021, Televisa has already started rolling out high-definition. It's currently offering seven hours of HD programming daily to affiliates in eight cities across Mexico.

The MPEG-4 compression gear, which cost Televisa about $3 million, is scheduled to go live May 19.

CBS to buy CNET for $1.8 billion

In a move to become a major player in online advertising, CBS has agreed to buy CNET networks for $1.8 billion in cash.

That's an awful lot of money for a company that just weeks ago cried money troubles, laying-off hundreds of employees from their news departments nation-wide.

According to AdWeek, the deal would add to the company a series of highly trafficked Web properties, including the tech-focused News.com and ZDNet, gaming site GameSpot and music destination mp3.com. CBS said that combining those assets with its existing Internet properties, would put the company among the top 10 U.S. Web firms with 54 million monthly users.

Senate blocks FCC cross-ownership

The Senate voted tonight to invalidate the FCC's decision to loosen the newspaper-broacast cross-ownership rule.

Since the FCC approved the lifting of the 32 yr-old ban on Dec. 18, Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) has been lobbying hard for a reversal, arguing that media consolidation has led to a lack of localism and diversity.

B&C reports the measure passed on a voice vote, with Dorgan saying the vote sent the signal to the FCC to "get things right."

FCC commissioner Michael Copps expressed praise at the move: "The Senate spoke for a huge majority of Americans tonight by voting to overturn the flawed FCC decision gutting our long-standing ban on newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership...With courageous leaders like Sen. Byron Dorgan, the Senate has struck a blow for localism and diversity in a media environment crying out for more of both."

Senators and presidential candidates Clinton and Obama are among the co-sponsors of the resolution, which now must be voted on by the House. The Bush administration, which supports the FCC decision, is against the resolution and has said it would likely veto it.

Podesta leaves Washington Post

Washington Post veteran Don Podesta is taking a buyout. Don, an assistant managing editor for copy desks, told Richard Prince's journal-isms: "I've been working since I was 16 and in newspapers starting in high school, so I'm ready for some time off and then something different."

He says he wants to "chill for a couple of months then do a little traveling," before looking for the next job - and not in newspaper journalism.

Don, 58, was born in Chile and spent many childhood years in Colombia before coming to the United States.

Pappas forced into personal bankruptcy

Creditors have forced Harry J. Pappas into a bankruptcy filing. The Chapter 7 filing, which took place Monday, could lead to a court-ordered sale of his personal property to pay off massive debt.

The move comes just days after Pappas Telecasting filed for Chapter 11. His efforts to save his television company and avoid financial disaster are at stake, as creditors claim Pappas personally owes them $15 million.

According to the Fresno Bee, Lenders Fortress Credit Opportunities, Ableco Finance LLC and Silver Oak Capital LLC, are asking for an interim trustee to be appointed to protect their interests and secure the Pappas assets while the matter can be sorted out.

Pappas Telecasting, based in Visalia, owns 30 television and two radio stations across the United States. Pappas started the company in 1971, when he put KMPH on the air.

De Lama leaves Chicago Tribune

George de Lama, managing editor for news at the Chicago Tribune has resigned. He was one of the highest-ranking Latinos in mainstream daily newspapers.

George, the son of Cuban immigrants, started as a summer intern at the Tribune. During his 30 year career at the paper, he rose through the ranks from metro reporter to national and foreign correspondent. He eventually became national and foreign editor, before taking over as managing editor for news in 2006.

"I've spent my entire adult life at the Tribune, walking in the door as a summer intern at 21, never dreaming I would still be here all these years later. And now the time has come for me to move on and bid you all a warm farewell," George wrote this afternoon in a memo to colleagues.

"For some time now, I've been thinking hard about my desire to do something new. Over the last few months, I began discussing it in earnest with Ann Marie. Earlier this year I finally decided that the time was right, and since then I have been working with her to help ensure a smooth transition."

George will be on the job until Memorial Day weekend. No word yet on what he'll do next.

McClatchy to sell Seattle Times stock

Gary Pruitt, McClatchy's CEO, reassured shareholders Tuesday the company is on the right track despite falling profits, revenue and stock price. He also announced the company is open to selling its 49.5% share of the Seattle Times Co, acquired with the purchase of Knight Ridder in 2006.

The Sacramento Bee reports that Pruitt told the Blethen family, which owns the rest of the Times Co., of McClatchy's interest in selling their share of the company.

During the shareholder meeting, Pruitt acknowledged he doesn't know when the company's decline in revenue will end, but that McClatchy's focus on Internet operations will help them recover once the economy improves.

Telemundo revives "El Clon"

Telemundo announced that it has signed a co-production deal with Brazil's TV Globo to bring back to life one of the world's most popular novelas: "El Clon."

This time, though, the setting will be California, not Rio de Janeiro, although it will be shot at the Telemundo studios in Colombia. It will be produced specifically for the U.S. Hispanic population. The deal gives Telemundo exclusive broadcast rights to the updated novela in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

No word yet on who will play the leading roles.

Sports reality show debuts on Univision

Starting this fall, Univision will air "El Juego Supremo"- a soccer reality competition series which will feature five Mexican soccer stars and five from the U.S. and elsewhere in the Americas training inexperienced players. Each episode will end with teams eliminated after matches.

MediaPost reports this five-episode series is a co-venture with a Hispanic marketing agency and has already signed big exclusive sponsors that will have branded-entertainment opportunities.

125 job cuts at Seattle Times

The Seattle Times Co. eliminated 125 positions. 73 were laid off. 52 left voluntarily, with 51 accepting buyout offers.

15 layoffs were newsroom employees, almost wiping out suburban reporters. Another 19 newsroom staffers took buyouts. The Times closed several news bureaus and stopped publishing zoned editions for two counties.

An article in the Times states the cuts stemmed from the need to reduce expenditures as the company battles shrinking revenues.

Pappas files for bankruptcy

Pappas Telecasting announced over the weekend that several of its properties have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In a press release, they blame the breakdown of negotiations between the company and non-bank lenders in resolving financial issues and a downturn in ad revenue. Lousy CW ratings are also mentioned.

Only 13 of their stations have filed for bankruptcy. Pappas owns another 17 television and 2 radio stations, which are not included in the Chapter 11 filings. Among those filing for protection, several Tu Visión stations, including KTNC in San Francisco, KAZH in Fresno and KAZR in Reno, which eliminated its Spanish-language newscasts in March, sparking a lawsuit from its former employees.

Cablevision gets Newsday

In a deal announced today, Newsday will become a Cablevision property. The final price tag: $650 million - $70 million more than what News Corp and The Daily News had bid for the Tribune-owned paper. Cablevision would hold 97% and Tribune would keep 3% of the equity.

According to the L.A. Times, the deal gives Tribune $630 million in cash to pay down almost $13-billion of debt. A big chunk of that - $8.2-billion was incurred in the December buyout of the company.

The deal is expected to close in the third quarter.

Purdue gives Curiel honorary doctorate

Carolyn Curiel, currently an editorial writer for The New York Times, was named Doctor of Letters, Honoris Causa at Purdue University on Saturday afternoon.

"What made it especially wonderful is that the degree was conferred during the first commencement under the university's new president, France Córdova, the first woman to lead the school, and a Latina. She is a dynamo, an astrophysicist," says Carolyn.

"Purdue said it wanted to acknowledge my contributions to news media and to public service. The diploma reads "Ambassador Carolyn Curiel" -- and that, too is a kick."

Carolyn is a former ABC news writer and speechwriter for President Bill Clinton. The former president appointed her Ambassador to Belize in 1997. The 3 year gig allows her to keep the title of "ambassador for life."

News Corp pulls Newsday bid

Will Cablevision get Newsday in the end? Now that Rupert Murdoch has withdrawn his $580 billion dollar bid for the Long Island paper, the question is who will become the new owner?

Richard Pérez Peña, of the NYT, reports that Mort Zuckerman, of The Daily News is still interested. But enough to raise his $580 billion dollar bid? He would be competing against Cablevision, owned by the Dolan family, which appears to have an advantage.

Why was there so much interest in buying this paper when the industry is in so much trouble? Turns out Newsday is more profitable than anyone thought. In 2007, it generated more than $80 million in profit on about $500 million in revenue.

Tribune owner Sam Zell, in need of getting some cash quick due to the heavy debt he acquired when he bought the company, is looking to unload Newsday.

Telemundo affiliate included in Cowles purchase

The Cowles Publishing Co. has acquired four TV stations in California —two duopolies—from Newport Television.

According to TVNewsday, the deal includes full-power CBS affiliate KCOY Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-San Luis Obispo and KKFX-CA, the low-power Fox affiliate in the same market. The other duopoly is CBS affiliate KION in Monterey-Salinas and KMUV, a low-power Telemundo affiliate.

Cowles is a Spokane, Washington-based company which owns KHQ Spokane and KNDO/KNDU Yakima-Pasco-Richland-Kennewick, as well as The Spokesman-Review, Spokane’s dominant newspaper.

The terms of the sale were not disclosed.

Is Baquero on the way out?

There's talk Lynda Baquero, who has been an anchor at WNBC since 1996, first on the weekend desk and then on weekdays at 6 pm, will be taken off the newscast at the end of the month.

Richard Huff, of the NY Daily News, today is reporting that with changes expected since new management took over the station, Lynda has been looking for another job in New York. The Sr. VP of news and the GM of the station both left in March.

According to Huff, about Lynda's potential change in status, channel 4 spokeswoman said "Discussions are ongoing."

Entravision radio station changes format

Entravision's Regional Mexican KLYY (Oye 97.5) in Los Angeles switched to Spanish-language Adult Hits as "97.5 Jose FM."

According to Radio Ink, Andrea Becerra, who programs the Jose Adult Hits network, is supervising the station, which is currently running without DJ's.

Cuban blogger gets award

Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez won the Ortega y Gasset Prize in digital journalism for creating a blog called "Generation Y."

The year-old blog, which criticizes the Communist regime, gets more than 1 million hits a month, mostly from abroad.

But the 32 yr-old Yoani was unable to travel to Madrid for the award, because Cuban authorities did not allow her to travel to attend the ceremony, which took place yesterday.

According to the AP, despite the criticism of the government, Cuban authorities have "made no sustained effort" to shut down Yoani's blog, but pro-government sites accuse her of taking money from opposition groups.

Yoani, a philologist, was selected by Time magazine as one of the world's 100 most influential people.

WNBC launches 24-hr news, others may follow

NBC announced this morning they are launching a 24-hour local news channel in NY and revamping its studios at 30 Rock, to turn it into a "content center" capable of producing and distributing multi-platform content.

According to the NYT, NBC plans to rebuild WNBC’s newsroom and "meld" its content with the new 24-hr operation and the existing local Web site. The network will remove the WNBC name off its local news Web site and just call it NBC New York.

The channel will be available on the digital tier of cable systems in the New York area starting November. Execs told employees there would be no layoffs, but "extensive retraining" for producers and other staff members, whose shifts will probably change.

If NBC succeeds with this project, other network stations, like Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia will undergo similar changes.

Lozano receives Ohtli

Mónica Lozano, Publisher and CEO of La Opinión was this year's recipient of the "Ohtli" award for her role in the political, economic and social empowerment of Mexican communities in the U.S.

The award is the highest recognition given by the Mexican government to exemplary Mexicans living abroad. Margarita Zavala, president Felipe Calderón's wife, was present at the ceremony, held on May 2nd.

Another lawsuit against Arbitron

A second class action suit has been filed against Arbitron. This time, it's on behalf of all persons who bought Arbitron stock between July 19 and Nov. 26, 2007.

Radio Ink is reporting Bala Cynwyd, a PA-based law firm of Brodsky & Smith, filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of N.Y. alleging the company violated federal securities laws "by issuing a series of material misrepresentations to the market, thereby artificially inflating the price of Arbitron."

AP debuts Mobile News Network

The Associated Press launched its Mobile News Network yesterday. The multimedia news portal targets wireless users that want to access international, national and local news content anytime and anywhere from the AP's Digital Cooperative.

According to E&P, the web application is optimized for use on iPhones. It can be accessed directly at www.apnews.com.

More than 100 news publishers are participating in the network's launch, with future versions of MNN to include content from more newspapers and broadcasters.

MNN is the first project by AP's Digital Cooperative, aimed at finding new digital outlets for the news and information produced by AP members.

NY's Guzmán in car accident

Pablo Guzmán, a WCBS-TV correspondent, was injured in a car accident on Monday night.

Police say Pablo lost control of his car and slammed into a rock wall. He was listed in stable condition last night, but kept overnight at the hospital for observation.

Microsoft gives up on Yahoo!

On Friday there was talk that Microsoft was working on "sweetening" a deal for Yahoo, bringing the stock up to almost $30 bucks, before closing slightly above $28. Well, Yahoo rejected Microsoft's final offer of $47.5 billion over the weekend, saying it was still too low. So, rather than face a lengthy and non-cost-effective hostile take over, Microsoft has backed off entirely from buying Yahoo.

The opening price this morning on Yahoo stock: $23.05. Many shareholders are very unhappy the deal fell through. Now the pressure is on for Yahoo's CEO Jerry Yang to show he can increase the value of the company. What's next? Check out Miguel Helft's NYT story on what could happen to Yahoo after Microsoft. Could a Google partnership truly be a possibility?

Arbitron sued over PPMs

Investors are accusing Arbitron of violating SEC rules and issuing "false and misleading statements" about the progress of its Portable People Meter ratings service. They have filed a class action complaint against the radio ratings company.

According to Radio Ink, the suit charges that Arbitron "lacked a reasonable basis for their positive statements about the timing" of the PPM rollout and its own business prospects and future earnings.

S.F. MediaNews employees file to unionize

More than half of the 250 newsroom employees at the Bay Area News Group-East Bay (BANG-EB) papers signed guild authorization cards seeking union representation, surpassing the 30% required by the National Labor Relations Board to hold a vote.

E&P reports nine MediaNews Group dailies in Alameda and Contra Costa counties are involved in the effort, filed Friday, for a vote to certify a new combined union. This action comes just nine months after MediaNews Group withdrew recognition of the Newspaper Guild unit at its Alameda Newspaper Group outside San Francisco, after the company consolidated ANG's editorial functions with the Contra Costa Newspapers.

A response from the NLRB is expected in six to eight weeks. A simple majority of union-eligible employees would be needed to approve unionization.

Less revenues for Entravision

Entravision Communications Corp. had a 2% drop in revenues for its television stations in the first quarter of 2008. The company reported revenues of $36.1 million compared to $36.8 million in the same period in 2007.

In a press release, Entravision attributes the revenue loss to a drop in national advertising sales, “primarily due to a decrease in advertising rates.” The company expects another decrease in revenues in the second quarter.

Cruz leaves anchor seat for N.D. job

Anchor/reporter Luis Cruz is leaving Las Vegas to take his old job back as news director in Yuma, Arizona.

Luis has been at KVBC for the past two years. Before taking the weekend morning anchor job at the NBC station in Vegas, he was news director at KYMA-TV from June 2004-2006.

At the RTNDA conference a few weeks ago, Luis told me he missed working in management and wanted to be in charge of a news department again. About leaving Las Vegas he says:

"I've been here for the past two years. I've had a great time here, but I wanted a new challenge and this opportunity came up. Some people ask me what's the new challenge in something I've already done... and I tell them... it's pretty much a whole new staff I get to work with. I had great success when I was there the first time and many of the people I hired are now in larger markets. Well I want to be able to help this new group accomplish their goals and move up in their careers as well. Coaching is something I've always enjoyed doing... and I'm very much looking forward to doing it again. "

Luis won't even be taking a break between jobs. His last day at KVBC is May 25th and he starts at KYMA on May 26th.