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From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer | Actress and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals activist Bea Arthur is being featured in an anti-McDonald’s ad posthumously, to mark the one-year anniversary of her death.
The ad targets chicken-slaughtering techniques used by McDonald’s suppliers with the tagline, “McCruelty: It’s enough to make Bea Arthur roll over in her grave.”
Get the full story: seattlepi.com
(AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
By Julie Wernau | Redbox ended its fight with Hollywood Thursday, announcing it had struck deals with Twentieth Century Fox and Universal Studios Home Entertainment that will allow $1 per night video rentals and multi-million dollar movie budgets to coexist. As part of the agreements, Redbox agreed to wait 28 days after the movies are released to DVD before placing the discs in their rental kiosks.
Redbox has been embroiled in legal battles with the studios since October 2008, when it filed its first suit against Universal Studios Home Entertainment.
| By Dawn C. Chmielewski and Meg James | Hulu, the popular online site for watching television shows, plans to begin testing a subscription service as soon as May 24, according to people with knowledge of the plans.
Under the proposal, Hulu would continue to provide for free the five most recent episodes of shows like Fox’s “Glee,” “ABC’s “Lost” or NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.” But viewers who want to see additional episodes would pay $9.95 a month to access a more comprehensive selection, called Hulu Plus, these people said. Get the full story: L.A. Times’ Company Town blog |
See also • How the online sites compare • Gov. Quinn backs off download tax
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From Bloomberg News | Dow Jones Newswire owner Newscorp. has filed suit against Chicago-based financial news Website Briefing.com, claiming it stole a significant amount of its content, often within minutes of it being published. A Briefing.com spokeswoman had no immediate comment.
Get the full story: businessweek.com
From Reuters | Procter & Gamble
Co. announced that it has signed a multiyear advertising deal with OWN:
The Oprah Winfrey Network. The Wall Street Journal reported the story
first, citing sources who said it was a three-year deal valued at more
than $25 million annually.
Get the full story: reuters.com.
By Phil Rosenthal | Rock critic Jim DeRogatis on Monday quit the Chicago Sun-Times and will become a blogger for Chicago Public Radio, home to his nationally syndicated radio program since 2005. Sun-Times editors did not respond immediately to outside inquiries about his resignation, and it is not known how, when or if the newspaper plans to replace him.
It is the second time DeRogatis has exited the Sun-Times, where he started in 1992. He left in 1995 to join Rolling Stone, a job that lasted eight months, and was back at the Sun-Times in three years.
Get the full story: Tower Ticker
Associated Press | Attorneys have agreed on the appointment of an independent bankruptcy examiner to look at issues surrounding the 2007 leveraged buyout of Tribune Co.
Attorneys in Tribune’s Chapter 11 case presented a proposed order Monday that outlines what the examiner would do.
By Phil Rosenthal | John Canning, founder and chairman of the Chicago private-equity group Madison Dearborn Partners, is set to be announced Friday as the new board chairman of the nonprofit Chicago News Cooperative.
Since November, CNC has provided two pages of Chicago content twice weekly for localized editions of The New York Times, as well as content for public broadcaster WTTW-Ch. 11 and its own nascent chicagonewscoop.org Web site.
Get the full story: Tower Ticker
By Michael Oneal | A U.S bankruptcy judge in Delaware granted Tribune Co.’s request for
continued exclusivity in its 16-month-old Chapter 11 case, rejecting a
plea from a large group of creditors led by distressed bond investor
Oaktree Capital that it be allowed to file a competing restructuring
plan.
Tribune Co. filed its plan on April 12 with the support of a range of
junior and senior creditors. It grants the holders of the company’s
senior debt 91.5 percent of Tribune Co.’s value. Junior bondholders
would get 7.4 percent.
By Phil Rosenthal | The Chicago Blackhawks have agreed to a three-year extension of its rights deal with WGN-AM 720, its radio home the past two seasons. The agreement, which will keep the Blackhawks on WGN-AM through the 2013-14 season, long had been anticipated.
Get the full story: Tower Ticker
Associated Press | Consumer Reports has given the Lexus GX460 a rare “Don’t Buy” warning, saying a problem that occurred during routine handling tests could lead the SUV to roll over in real-world driving.
In the latest blow to Toyota’s reputation, the magazine said that during a test of the vehicle’s performance during unusual turns, the rear of the vehicle slid until it was nearly sideways before the electronic stability control system kicked in.
By Michael Oneal | After 16 months in bankruptcy court, Chicago-based Tribune Co. filed a restructuring plan Monday that would officially transfer control of the media conglomerate from real estate magnate Sam Zell to a group of large banks and hedge funds led by JPMorgan Chase and distressed debt investor Angelo, Gordon & Co.
But even before Tribune Co. lawyers could put the final touches on the documents, a large group of disgruntled senior creditors in the case led by Oaktree Capital Management attacked a settlement proposal at the heart of the plan and asked the court for permission to file an alternative restructuring scheme.
By Phil Rosenthal | Conan O’Brien’s new program will be seen at 10 p.m. here in Chicago, bumping George Lopez’ talk show to 11 p.m. on the Time Warner-owned basic cable channel. The new O’Brien show is expected to make its debut in November, it was announced Monday.
Get the full story: Tower Ticker
From Daily Finance | The president of 1-800 Flowers made a stop at the company’s Fannie May chocolate factory, where he discovered that workers were being given unrealistic production goals.
Get the full story: dailyfinance.com.
Tribune staff report | Playboy Enterprises Chief Executive Scott Flanders earned $3.25 million in his first year on job, according to the Chicago-based media company’s proxy materials filed today.
Flanders, who was appointed in June 2009, earned a salary of $430,769 and a bonus of $400,000. He was awarded $406,500 in Playboy stock and more than $2 million in stock options. He was also compensated $732 for protection services, the company said.
