Super Deluxe
HarperCollins shuts down ReganBooks upon the firing of founder Judith Regan. Leaked documents revealed yesterday that Regan was to pay O.J. Simpson a $1.1 million advance for the "fictional" confessional that scandalized her imprint. [NYT]
As the Tribune Co. received no solid above-market offers by its auction deadline yesterday, the company may still try to talk its price up with potential buyers, or it may rearrange its assets or perform several other maneuvers — meaning we'll have to hear even more of this sale saga. [Chicago Tribune]
Turner Broadcasting just launched Super Deluxe, a comedy video site featuring rising talents like Chelsea Peretti ("The Show With Ze Frank," co-creator of "Black People Love Us" and a HuffPo contributor), Brad Neely (creator of work like music video "Washington, Washington" and alternate Harry Potter soundtrack "Wizard People, Dear Readers"), Eugene Mirman, Jon Benjamin, plus established comic pillars like Dave Foley (Kids In The Hall, Newsradio). The Apiary reports that it has almost a milllion videos banked, though that sounds like sort of a lot. It's definitely brimming with content, though, great contributors and is a slick, user-friendly site. No limitation on topics covered (which already puts it at an advantage over the now-defunct Office Pirates). Great news for comedians, and those who love them. [Super Deluxe]
The chairman of the FCC said yesterday that regulations prevent Sirius and XM Satellite Radio from merging. The companies' heads have hinted that they might seek a merger. An industry analyst says the regulation could be changed. [NYT]
MSNBC yesterday expanded its "Blogging Baghdad" blog, by NBC Baghdad correspondent Richard Engel, into the World Blog, which will address, well, more than just Baghdad. [MSNBC]
In the nightly news wars, NBC's Brian Williams continues to stay on top but isn't growing, unlike Charlie Gibson's "World News Tonight" at ABC, which continues to nip at its heels. CBS' Katie Couric remains a distinct and distant third; the NBC-ABC numbers are still within the spread ETP established here, but Couric's have slipped even lower, from 7.6 to 7.3 million, while both of her competitors have cracked 9 million.[B&C]
A PSA From ETP: Don't forget to tune into the O'Reilly-Colbert double-header this evening! ETP predicts a ratings surge on Colbert but not really on O'Reilly, who's got his gazillion viewers well-trained...but will no doubt send a glut of them to Comedy Central later. [TVNewser]
