Why, God, why? PC Magazine was such a nice, safe publication. It never hurt anyone. It sort of kept to itself around the neighborhood, but it seemed perfectly normal. Not at all like those rowdies at Infoworld. Ziff-Davis, the publisher, has already gone through bankruptcy. Wasn't that enough ? In a word: No. Seventy…
The latest we're-supposed-to-care chatter from the tipline: "It was just announced yesterday that Ziff-Davis Chief Technology Officer Robyn Peterson is leaving to go to NBC. Ouch!" Ouch? The real ouch is that Ziff-Davis Media, the considerably reduced tech-magazine publisher, was paying someone to be its CTO in the…
"The poor economic conditions have created a very different and difficult dynamic for us this year," says an email explaining the cancellation of next week's DigitalLife Expo in New York. But don't you quit your startup in a panic. Our gadgethound buddies at Gizmodo don't buy the economy excuse. "We think it's lack…
Ziff Davis Media, the publisher of PC Magazine and other tech magazines and websites, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy late yesterday. Its revenue from print has nosedived since the end of the tech boom, and it hasn't been able to make up for it yet online—like most other publishers. "We feel like we're in a position…
Jason Young, CEO of technology publisher Ziff-Davis, couldn't solve the company's $225 million debt problem. That means a round-trip back to bankruptcy court, whiled it restructures yet again. What it has left to restructure is an utter mystery.
"About three in four parents of young gamers never or hardly ever touch the stuff," reports an Associated Press poll. That might explain why so many tweens wind up with Grand Theft Auto in their Christmas stockings. What They Like, a startup, aims to guide out-of-touch parents through today's media landscape. Helmed…
Ira Becker, a former executive at troubled tech-trade publisher Ziff Davis, has raised half of a planned $3 million in financing for his videogame-focused "online review and advertising" website, called What They Like. John Davison, a former editor at Ziff, is also involved in the startup. [PaidContent]
More bad news for Ziff-Davis, the storied, and troubled, tech publisher: Two executives in its videogames group have left the company. General manager Ira Becker and editorial director John Davison announced they're departing to start a new venture, thought to be a family-oriented videogame site. Opportune timing…
Technology publisher Ziff-Davis continues to struggle financially. Second-quarter earnings fell 29 percent to $16.5 million compared to the previous year. [PaidContent]
Despite the recent sale of its enterprise group — a set of tech trade magazines including eWeek — vultures are circling technology publisher Ziff-Davis. Today it announced it was forced to forgo an interest payment on its $390 million debt. The skipped payment is permitted under its debt covenants, says CEO Jason…
Revision3 COO David Prager, asked to confirm that Patrick Norton is leaving the Ziff-Davis-owned DL.TV to join his online-video company, answers with a silence that speaks volumes. [Twit.tv]
Click to viewMore than one tipster tells us that Patrick Norton is leaving Ziff-Davis's DL.TV, and, after a brief paternity leave, joining Revision3. DL.TV, of course, was the brainchild of Jumpin' Jim Louderback, the former PC Magazine editor who's now Revision3's CEO. And before Ziff-Davis, Louderback and Norton…
Jason Young replaces Robert Callahan as CEO of Ziff Davis, the parent company of PC Magazine. [Business Wire]
Valleywag conference correspondent ConFonz drops an item too juicy to run with names — for now. Which Game Marketing Conference attendee isn't playing fair?
Valleywag's conference-going correspondent — or ConFonz, the name he's adopted for protection and lucrative merchandising ops — sends a multi-part report from the SF-hosted Game Marketing Conference. Why does ConFonz always get pushed out by dermatologists or dowagers?
