Archive by Month
December 28, 2007
He's back on the air next Wednesday - with writers. The Writers Guild has cut a deal with his Worldwide...
Alan Greenspan knows a thing or two about trying to project into the economic future and admits that it's pretty...
That's the likely launch date for contract negotiations between the Directors Guild and the media companies (aka the Alliance of...
Don't expect the brouhaha over living wages at LAX-area hotels to end just because an appellate court upheld a city...
December 27, 2007
Stock prices for most of the big media companies have barely budged since writers walked off their jobs in early...
The parent of the OC Register had planned to buy out two private equity firms - Blackstone Group and Providence...
The assassination of Benazir Bhutto, along with a decline in crude-oil stockpiles, should keep prices above $96 a barrel today...
December 26, 2007
He'll be back on the air on Jan. 2 with or without writers, reports the NY Post, and considering that...
You might be surprised how many folks are putting in three and even four days this holiday week. A ays=0&postorder=asc&vote=viewresult"...
Normally we focus on Dataquick's median prices, which have stayed relatively stable in L.A. County for much of the year...
The head of DreamWorks Animation tried and failed to broker a compromise last week between striking writers and the media...
Lots of luck. As usual, the preliminary numbers are being deciphered any number of ways. Here's the lede of Monday's...
December 21, 2007
Remember John Hockenberry? He was a correspondent for NBC's "Dateline" until getting the ax a couple of years ago. Hockenberry...
The jobless rate rose to 5.3 percent in November from 5.1 percent the previous month - not a huge jump,...
There's nothing like an activist shareholder to make things interesting. Soon after news of billionaire Nelson Peltz acquiring a 14...
With New England likely to be going for an undefeated season, next week's matchup with the NY Giants could be...
Wacky economics 101: So you’ve read all those gloomy stories about a sluggish holiday shopping season, right? And retailers are...
December 20, 2007
This will be the year most remembered for the subprime meltdown and resulting credit crunch, though up until now it's...
It's a pretty intimate group of seven (not counting Zell) that includes Jeff Berg, CEO of International Creative Management (that’ll...
So much for Chicago. Tribune's new chairman and CEO seems convinced that the idea of centralizing operations under one roof...
The parent company of the LAT and KTLA finally completed its $8.2 billion buyout this morning. Real estate mogul Sam...
That's one of the tea leaves retail analysts and economists will be looking at this week - one of the...
Completing Tribune deal: Yup, it's all but done, with those reluctant bankers signing off on the remaining funding needed to...
December 19, 2007
He's billionaire Nelson Peltz, whose Trian Star Trust investment fund has acquired a 10 percent stake in Calabasas Hills-based Cheesecake...
That's what the WSJ's M&A guy Dennis Berman just posted, based on three sources. And Tribune stock, after falling sharply...
*Update: Zell is adding another $65 million to his initial investment of $250 million, though contrary to earlier wire reports...
Tribune deal gets interesting: It'll almost certainly go through in the next few days, but the Chicago Tribune reports that...
December 18, 2007
That's the videogame industry's annual get-together, which moved to several Santa Monica hotels last summer after 12 years at the...
This just in from our NY bureau (via Craigslist and Dealbreaker). Is there a movie here? the holidays suck. i...
Can anybody figure out why CW's "Gossip Girl" has only so-so Nielsen ratings but is routinely the most downloaded show...
Give Kevin Martin credit - not only does the guy orchestrate far-reaching plans to overhaul the nation's communications industries, but...
Don't get too excited - they're only up 2 percent from October to November. Year-over-year, Socal sales fell 42 percent...
Money and the mayor: During his first two years in office, Mayor Antonio raised $19.6 million for his favorite causes,...
December 17, 2007
Purists can start to relax - it's looking like the Trojans will stay put. School officials have backed off on...
Forbes is out with its annual survey of basketball franchises, and the Lakers roll in at No. 2, with a...
Here we go - desperate developers employing desperate means to unload all those downtown properties. MJW Investments, developer of Santee...
Last-minute rush: Today will be the busiest shipping day of the year, with the Postal Service expecting 1 billion cards,...
December 15, 2007
Most of America wouldn't have Countrywide Financial on a list of admired companies, but the world of professional golf is...
December 14, 2007
Gov. Arnold is expected to declare a state of emergency under never-before-used rules that would force lawmakers into a special...
It's starting to look that way, at least according to Variety. The trade is quoting folks close to the matter...
Not that we want to burst any bubbles among the short, tubby, balding guys out there (gals too), but is...
Longtime business section editor Martin Romjue has left the paper, and his position will be eliminated. Reporter Muhammed El-Hasan will...
Er, I don't want to make a big deal out of this, but today is the first day that Rupert...
Toll roads gaining favor?: Let's hope so. The "congestion pricing" plan being pushed by the MTA and Caltrans would mean...
December 13, 2007
It depends on who you're listening to. Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan tells NPR that the odds are rising because...
Boy, there must be a writers strike. The late-night ABC news program beat both Leno and Letterman for the second...
They plan to begin bargaining with the media companies after the first of the year. That will certainly change the...
More lead found: This time it's in children's jewelry, and stores across California are being ordered to pull bracelets, rings...
December 12, 2007
Not a lot - just 12 - but among them are notables, such as national editor Anthony Bianco and photo...
Janice and Henri Lazarof have been intensely private about their love of art - until this morning. They're the folks...
The November numbers show another huge drop in classified advertising, what's become of the bane of the newspaper business. Within...
Squabbling among writers?: The LAT reports that a number of prominent WGA members are not happy about the way guild...
December 11, 2007
Pity the WSJ staffers who were left out of News Corp.'s big bash at the NY Hilton on Friday and...
As you might imagine, newspapers have been a disaster, with a 5.2 percent drop in revenue for the first nine...
But only by a quarter-point, to 4.25 percent, and that's bound to disappoint some on Wall Street who were hoping...
Forbes had a piece last year that figured Igor Olenicoff was worth $1.6 billion and deserved a slot on The...
Fed meets on rates: Not much action this morning on Wall Street because everybody is waiting for the Federal Reserve...
December 08, 2007
Well, what do you expect when the two sides hate each other and don't trust each other? The various accounts...
December 07, 2007
For much of the year the Port of Los Angeles has been commemorating its centennial, but the big celebration is...
It's another victim of the cut-throat computer game. Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim invested $2 billion into the chain, but the...
Writers talks looking bleak: Don't be surprised if the studio and network side break off negotiations as early as today....
December 06, 2007
Sure, there are terminals to be built and people movers to be installed, but what about the smaller stuff that...
After yet another strong day on Wall Street, the Dow is now less than 400 points from 14,000. Today's gains...
No recession, but... Economists at UCLA's Anderson Forecast say that California and the U.S. are being whacked by a terrible...
December 04, 2007
I have non-LABO commitments today and tomorrow, so no morning headlines and limited posting....
The Writers Guild supposedly will deliver a counteroffer to what the media companies proposed last week. No one is sounding...
December 02, 2007
It's a little too early for specifics, but Vivendi's purchase of a controlling stake in Santa Monica-based Activision might not...
December 01, 2007
Call it spin, posturing or whatever, but the NYT's Michael Cieply reports that entertainment executives were "privately expressing shock" that...
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Forget plastics, the real action these days is arranging going-out-of-business sales.
More From Mark Lacter:
Without referencing its recent layoff, the Ventura County Star's editor says the suburban LA paper is now "more streamlined and, in many ways, much more efficient."
We stripped the Indians of their ponies, and now we're doing it to ourselves.
When the sun looks like that, there's a big fire somewhere regardless of whether we see or smell smoke.
After 22 years of loyalty, Baylor is unceremoniously shown the door.
Lee Abrams, Tribune Company's chief innovation officer, doesn’t seem too impressed with the Los Angeles Times. That’s the feeling I got when he appeared at the Los Angeles Press Club.
Seven or fifteen minutes from now I can definitively say I didn't hear the sound of sirens.
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