How Many People Is AMI Firing?
The National Enquirer and Star could theoretically be out of business within weeks, what with publisher American Media facing a creditor takeover or even bankruptcy.
Reprieve for Pecker, Bono's Op-Ed, Couric Speaks
• David Pecker's magazine empire may avoid bankruptcy after all. [NYP]
• The mood is expected to be bleak when Sundance kicks off next week. [WSJ]
• Discovery has signed Paula Zahn to create a weekly news show. [THR]
• An op-ed and podcast by Bono in the Times will debut on Sunday. [JR]
• Three more Politicker sites…
Jett Travolta Story Shows Off RadarOnline's Gossip-Laundering Skills
RadarOnline.com was bought by National Enquirer publisher AMI in October, and Enquirer editor David Perel was put in charge of it. And thanks to Jett Travolta's death, the site is now a great gossip reputation-launderer.
Radar: The Final Insult
Radar magazine died a particularly gruesome death in its third iteration: bought by AMI, its website was gutted and replaced by a terrible Zombie Radar. Now, print mag subscribers received one last insult via postcard:
Troubled Enquirer Publisher Cutting Staff
<i>National Enquirer</i> publisher AMI is cutting staff (12 now, more tomorrow) as it races to avoid bankruptcy.
AMI Moving Towards Bankruptcy?
Is AMI going to go bankrupt? Nooooooooo! Do you know what that would mean: trouble for the new zombie version of Radar.com! Keith Kelly reports this morning that AMI, which publishes Star and the National Enquirer in addition to zombie Radar, missed a deadline on an interest payment and is "feverishly negotiating"…
Colmes Departs, Amanpour Scores, Forbes Denies
♦ Alan Colmes, the "liberal" who supposedly serves as co-host of Hannity & Colmes with Sean Hannity, is leaving the Fox News program at the end of the year. [HuffPo]
♦ A daily news program hosted by Christiane Amanpour is in the works at CNN. [NYT]
♦ Despite screwing up nearly everything he touches, NBC golden…
Tonight's Election Coverage (Now with 3D Holography!)
♦ Election returns may set TV viewing records tonight, assuming there's some "suspense." [AP]
♦ What's been on cable news channels all day? Mindless talk and speculation, for the most part. [TV Decoder]
♦ It's possible the networks will call the election before the polls close. [THR]
♦ Some of the high-tech…
AMI Adds Insult to Radar Firings
Don't blame the Radar staff for those horrible celebrity gossip items going up on the site today. The entire staff has been locked out of the office since Friday afternoon. After the news the magazine would be folding was announced on Friday during an interminable meeting, an HR official came in to tell the staff at…
Radar Haloween Party Still On After Everyone Fired
“The theme will still be ‘Vampires and Victims,’ but with an oh-so-appropriate ‘funeral’ spin." [WWD]
RadarOnline To Be National Enquirer-ed
The new editor of RadarOnline.com—presumably replacing Alex Balk—will be David Perel. He's the current editor of the National Enquirer! So what does he do on the same day that AMI buys the website and everyone there gets laid off? He tells CoverAwards, “I have already been contacted today by some top entertainment and…
AMI Buys RadarOnline.com
As rumored, AMI has bought the website RadarOnline.com, just as the print version of Radar folds. That, incongruously, puts the site under the same corporate umbrella as the celebrity mags Star and the National Enquirer, which may now become off-limits for mockery. The site will be "relaunched" in 2009. Judging from…
Convention Wrap-Up: Ratings, Analysis
Enquirer Publisher Still Fighting For Reprieve
"The bondholders, who own a portion of American Media's junk bonds, want the company's private-equity owners to give them a larger take in return for retiring some of its debt, according to sources close to several bondholders." [Post]
American Media Will Pay Later
American Media, the publisher of Star and the National Enquirer, has come to an agreement with its creditors to "refinance" $570 million of its more than $1 billion in total debt. That's code for going to the people you owe money to and saying, "Funniest thing—I just can't pay you. Wanna change our deal a little bit?…
Street Talk
Bonnie Fuller Can Never Get Enough Money
Bonnie Fuller was axed last month from her job as editorial chief of American Media. But the company gave her $2.4 million in fiscal year 08, which is 50% more than even CEO David Pecker got. And AMI, which is facing some serious financial challenges of its own, was planning a $2 million severance package for her if…
Slate's Mickey Kaus thinks that supermarket billionaire Ron Burkle's scheme to Source Interlink (he is the majority shareholder, and by the way, that stock is so deep in the toilet) with American Media Inc. gives the Clintons control of that company's tabloids. But we hear this weird rumor that Conde Nast will make a…
Bonnie Fuller's Hair And Makeup Allowance: Twenty Grand
Once again, American Media Inc., publisher of Star, the National Enquirer and Men's Fitness, filed its financial statement with the S.E.C. well past the due date. And we can understand why: The company is hemorrhaging money. Is there some way they could cut costs to help the bottom line? Well, maybe they could reduce…
Star magazine will miss its first-half targets; the title has been selling about 600,000 copies per week, a number which may drop further as the summer winds down. [WWD]
