• Nicole Richie found a boyfriend to carry her around the beach when her legs give out. [Us]
• Breaking News: Women who have to juggle careers and a house and kids with no help from their husbands are miserable. [Forbes]
• We'll just let Opinionistas handle it this time. [Opinionistas]
• Conan O'Brien will return to host the Emmys. Expect plenty of unoffensive and awkward humor. [AP]
• Look for Britney Spears in the $.99 bin, along with doubles of all of Sean Preston's clothes. [TMZ]
It seems as though celebs owning chunks of the media is the hot new trend. First Robert De Niro almost bought the New York Observer, then Kevin Federline and Britney Spears threatened to start their own magazine, and now Forbes is selling off 40% of their company to Bono. Yes, that woud be U2 lead singer and Time guy of the year Bono. Or, for business purposes, Paul Hewson.
Bono/Paul is one of 16 partners in a private equity group, Elevation, which purchased a portion of Forbes, including Forbes magazine. One of the intentions of the sale was (yup, you guessed it) to expand the mag's website. Basically, nobody really cares about the magazine anymore, but since this Internet thing is still kind of hot, Forbes thought maybe the forward thinking folks over at Elevation could make them relevant again via the Web.
With few hopes that the magazine would return to its glory years of the 1990’s as the largest magazine in terms of pages in the business news category, much of the value of the deal is built on potential profits from the Web site.
No hope of returning to the glory years of the 90's? Who understands that better than Bono?
Investors, Including Bono, Buy a Piece of Forbes [David Carr, New York Times]
As if we weren't acutely aware of the wealth and power most celebrities have, Forbes is here to remind us why we average people are so second rate.
Their "Celebrity 100" list lays out the top hundred "most powerful" celebrities using the following formula:
Earnings + Sizzle + Web References + Press Clips + TV/Radio mentions + Magazine Covers - # of Baby Drops = Powerful Celebrity.
So, who tops the list?
1. Tom Cruise
2. Rolling Stones
3. Oprah
4. U2
5. Tiger Woods
6. Steven Spielberg
7. Howard Stern
8. 50 Cent
9. Soprano's Cast
10. Dan Brown
Well, we don't really consider Dan Brown a celebrity, nor do we really think its fair to lump in groups like "Rolling Stones" and "the Soprano's cast" into one bunch.
We did, however, find it hilarious that Jennifer Aniston lands the number 34 spot, while Angelina Jolie falls right behind at number 35. See, if only Jen had popped out a baby when Brad Pitt wanted her to, she could be like ruling the world right now.
Today we learn that money minded mag Forbes, which also spends a minute or two on media coverage now and again, is looking to hack off 25 percent of its company. The mag is planning on doing a bit of traveling abroad, and would like someone to help front the cost.
Other executives in the business-magazine category speculated that Forbes may want extra cash to fund a new assault on Europe with a region-specific edition. It served Europe and other regions with Forbes Global from 1998 until last summer, when it remade the title as Forbes Asia.
The new competition, of course, is Conde Nast's latest venture, a biz mag headed by Wall Street Journal departure Joanne Lipman. Usually this boring money biz stuff is of little interest to us, but because it is Forbes' online pub that is raking in all the dough, it gives us a chance to laugh in the print media's face. (We like to live up to the "attack of the blogs" expectations whenever possible.)
Forbes Quietly Searches for Investor [Nat Ives, Ad Age]
• The party crew at Reuters really knows how to shake things up with liquor and ivy league humor. Cheney joke: "duck is not just a bird, it's a verb, too." Har, har. [Wonkette]
• It's tough to tell the difference between sound bites from Cookie and Playboy because (most) Playboy models are retarded and new moms have huge boobs. And with all these new hot moms posing for the nudie mag, things only get more complicated. [NYO]
• Nothing says "Happy 10th Anniversary" like shaking down those liberal cable and satellite operators for more money. Right Fox? [WSJ]
• Who knew the Belgians were really at the top of the journalism profession? So shocking that it isn't the Times. [E&P]
• Oh, Simon Dumenco. He sure does love bringing up that masturbating cat. [Ad Age]
• Forbes is bleeding staffers by the gallon. Lloyd Grove, we hope you're keeping your eyes peeled for all these job openings you'd be so perfect for. [Gawker]
Consumer magazines are continuing the attempt to enter the "digital space" and Hearst will not be left behind.
Since Hearst developed their online content, their mags have been on those crappy iVillage sites. The future looks a bit brighter, though, since NBC bought out iVillage — now mags like Cosmopolitan and O, The Oprah Magazine can attmempt to hit the Internet pavement with a little more speed.
“More than 76 million people read our magazines each month and, with the proliferation of digital media, we want our brands and unique editorial perspectives to be available to our consumers wherever and whenever they desire,†said Cathleen P. Black, president, Hearst Magazines.
So far, the only magazines that have been able to hack it online (in our humble opinions) have been New York and Jane. And maybe Forbes. Though we think if the folks at Esquire hired a web editor, their mag's site would have the potential to stop www.suckingsomuch.
HEARST MAGAZINES CREATES DIGITAL MEDIA UNIT [Nat Ives, Ad Age]
Just what the world needs, a 102 more billionaires. Forbes busted out their rich list today, listing the top money baggers of the world (also known as Joan Rivers' ideal dates). Of course everyone only ever cares about the top five, but they like to throw the 15 other richest richies up there for good measure.
Bill Gates lands the number one spot for the 12th year in a row, and as the poverty rate continues to grow, him and the other 19 richest people remind us that they have a crapload of money — a combined total worth of $2.6 trillion to be exact.
Man, that's like enough to cover Lindsay Lohan's coke habit, Lloyd Grove's bar tab, and still have enough left over to throw at broke-ass Crash producer Cathy Schulman.
Keeping your resume to one page is so LY.
Today, when Forbes announced the editor of their new media column, James Brady, they just had Brady announce himself. Never forget that before Bonnie Fuller, Kurt Anderson, and Richard Johnson, there was this guy.
After going from a copyboy at the New York Daily News to a Women's Wear Daily reporter, and eventually founding the Intelligencer column at New York magazine, Brady's latest stint was on camera for CNBC.
Wow, this guy is really accomplished, right? He's done tons of reporting, interviewed celebrities, hell, he even edited Star and created and wrote Page Six. What a bomb life! Brady is obviously a natch choice for this new media column — plus, how thrilled are we that the new whole in our hearts, (left by the empty space once occupied by Jon Friedman) will now be filled.
Brady asks: Why did Steve Forbes and Forbes.com Editor Paul Maidment hire me to write weekly about media?
The answer: I'll be reporting what people in the business say, do or even suspect–writing what Maidment calls "off-the-beaten-track media stories."
A media reporter reporting on what people in the media business are saying and doing? Brilliant!
Resume Of A Life In Journalism [James Brady, Forbes]
Who's the richest kid on your block? Well, Forbes has nothing else to talk about and (sadly) neither do we.
Their list of the top richest young celebrities includes athletes, actors, and people that born rich. Here are Forbes' top young and loaded celebs, their ages, and how much cash they're raking in:
1. Amanda Bynes, 19, $1.5 million
2. Hilary Duff, 18, $15 million
3. Paris Hilton, 24, $6.5 million
4. LeBron James, 21, $22.9 million
5. Adriana Lima, 24, $4.5 million
6. Lindsay Lohan, 19, $11 million
7. Frankie Muniz, 20, $8 million
8. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, 19, $21million (combined)
9. Maria Sharapova, 18, $18.2 million
10. Ashlee Simpson, 21 $5.3 million
11. Serena Williams, 24 $12.7 million
Well, someone needs to cover this stuff while all the real journalists are busy with the freezing, starving children in Pakistan.
The World's Best-Paid Young Celebrities [AP]
Best-Paid Youn Celebrities [Forbes]
• Hey, everyone in this industry needs a code for "I'm too rich to need a job." Jessica Joffe's happens to be "I'm writing a book." [Page Six]
• New York's Fox 5 affiliate is sketching out on court room sketchers. As in, not paying them. [Gatecrasher]
• Why would anyone be a restaurant critic (especially at Forbes) if they couldn't get free food, prompt service, and a blow job from the hostess? [Page Six]
• After Friends went down the tubes, and Will & Grace went down the tubes, and every other show on their network started to suck, NBC is now at number 4 — which is pretty much last. [Variety]
• There is no such thing as blogging. We're just figments of your imagination. [Ad Age]
• Time Inc. is running around telling advertisers it was hit with a U.S. Attorney's Office subpoena back in July concerning its circulation practices. But the real question is: How'd this stay under wraps since July? C'mon, leakers!
• Speaking of circulation lies, OK!'s initially dismal figures of 200,000 might actually clock in even lower.
• Former ABC correspondent Richard Gizbert slapped his ex-employer with a $4.2 million lawsuit, alleging the Disney-owned network didn't renew his contract because he refused to go war zones to report.
• NBC is joining the New York Times in the layoff game with Jeff Zucker and Steve Capus telling staffers they can expect some "rebuilding" and budget crunching in the coming months.
• It's only fitting that the same week The Economist is opening up its fee-protected wall of content to influential bloggers, Gawker opens up its new comments feature to, ahem, influential bloggers.
• Forbes is making its regular listicle rounds, this time with The Forbes 400. It won't spoil much of the surprise to reveal Bill Gates is at the top.
• Not sure why Anna Wintour's friend Mohammed Al Fayed, owner of Harrods, would put his own daughter Camilla in harm's way, but he's managed to enlist her to be the Vogue editrix's personal intern this fall
• Conde Nast's business title might be nearly two years away, but it's already got Forbes owners worried enough to send out a missive to the entire biz staff.
• Jason Binn's luxe publishing house Niche Media unleashes its latest ode to wealth, Capitol File. The D.C. glossy weighs in at a heft 346 pages and probably weighs more than its cover subject, Ashley Judd.
• News Corp, fresh off its MySpace.com $580 million acquisition, continues its buying spree with a $650 million offer for Internet video gaming company IGN Entertainment.
• Men's Health will feature a disabled person for the first time on its November cover. Though don't expect David Zinczenko to pick a wheelchair-rolling ab maniac anytime soon — Cpl. Peter Sprenger "only" lost an eye and dons a patch.
• Apprentice no more! Bill Rancic, the winner from the show's first season, announced at a Malaysian conference that he's leaving The Donald next March to start his own business (and maybe have an office with a window?). But he's not totally severing ties, since he'll make guest appearances in Seasons 4 and 5 of the reality hit.
• NBC might be in fourth place in the ratings war but it's leading the buzz game when it comes to its fall season. At least that's based on what the society agenda-determining blogosphere is saying.
• eBay, already part owner of Craigslist, is looking to expand its one-of-the-people image with the purchase of VoIP company Skype. The price tag? An outrageous $2 to $3 billion, or as much as $5 billion.
• Today we celebrate NY1's 13th anniversary! Yey for local cable news actually worth watching more than its big brother cable nets.
Editorial Director
