Is Bloomberg chilling out? The news and financial data provider (and our competitor) looks like it’s trying to make life at the hard-driving news and information provider a little less crazy.

“Starting August 1, employees can request schedules better suited to their personal lives — including flexible hours, a shorter work week and working from home,” writes Reuters reporter Robert MacMillan, who obtained a copy of the plans. “The new work schedule system may be Bloomberg’s first public acknowledgment of the need to accommodate an employee’s personal life — and that the changes would help the business.”

It’s not clear whether there’s a connection, but the new policy comes as Bloomberg is getting ready to defend itself against a lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charging discrimination against pregnant women and new mothers.

It’s an interesting cultural shift for Bloomberg, whose staffers work in what many people describe as a very intense workplace. And it raises a lot of questions. Will the move help Bloomberg with employee retention? Will the company actually get more out of staffers, because they will be presumably be happier in the workplace? Could it take away the edge, but in a bad way? Is it even realistic to think that Bloomberg can make such changes to its culture?

For the article, Bloomberg employees contacted by MacMillan declined to comment. We understand (do we ever!) , but our comments section on this blog never said you had to include your name along with your sharp observations. We’re eager to hear from you, Bloomberg folks.

Keep an eye on:

• A start-up led by former star Google engineers unveiled a new Web search service that aims to outdo the Internet search leader in size (Reuters)
• Yahoo director Robert Kotick’s resignation will take effect after the company’s annual meeting this week, where he will stand for reelection, to comply with a settlement with investor Carl Icahn (Reuters)
• Sirius Satellite Radio’s second-quarter adjusted quarterly loss narrowed as it increased subscribers to its pay radio service (Reuters)
• Publishing group Pearson Plc, owner of the Financial Times, posted stronger than expected results and an upbeat outlook in a display of resilience in an otherwise depressed media sector (Reuters)

So often with these things, there’s a lot of PR-speak and dancing around. But let’s give Microsoft’s top brass some credit –  they pretty much addressed the whole Yahoo thing head on during the annual meeting with Wall Street analysts up in Washington state.

Finance chief Chris Liddel was particularly clear on the subject. Take it from his boss, Steve Ballmer.

“I think Chris was just about as black and white on that topic as we’ve ever been,” Ballmer said shortly after Liddell finished speaking.

So what did the CFO say? Have a read. Oh, and we bolded a couple of key points if you don’t want to read the whole thing.

“A few comments on Yahoo. Why Yahoo and what view changed going forward? Clearly, as Steve said, this was a tactical way of driving progress in the key areas that we see. We went into the acquisition totally genuine. We thought it was best for us to combine as companies and we believed we offered incredibly good value of the shareholders of Yahoo. What changed? We took the view — and we still take the view — that Yahoo is essentially a declining asset. We made an incredibly generous bid with a very high premium because we were looking for speed. Speed was, as I’m sure you all will agree, the last thing that we’ve actually managed to achieve with the acquisition… 

Time passed and value eroded. And we don’t have a situation now where the initial offer that we made makes any sense from economics. I get the question – I got it recently as lunch — ‘You guys need this for online strategy there’s no sort of boost you can get from Yahoo! by doing things organically?’ Yes.  Does that mean we should pay anything for it? Does that mean we should pay $31, $33, $40 whatever number you like? There has to be some economic justification for acceleration at the end of the day. If time passes and the value of what we are buying erodes for one reason or another, it stops making sense for us to do it.

In terms of going forward, I think the chances of us buying Yahoo on a full acquisition basis are so small that they are essentially negligible. I never say never. Who knows in years to come? But a full acquisition just certainly in the time frame and (with the) sort of economics that we’ve previously thought…  essentially makes no sense. We still have the possibility of doing a search transaction that we think makes economic sense.  If I had a worry (it’s that) the parallel paths continue. About the time that Yahoo decides that search deal makes sense for them, it’s about the time we’ve worked on our plan so much that it no longer makes sense for us. But we shall see.  

 As Ballmer said, that’s pretty black-and-white. 

If for some reason you assumed that Yahoo’s deal with Carl Icahn would quiet the chatter about a deal, you were mistaken. The conference call to discuss quarterly earnings made that clear.

Past distractions, future possibilities, it was all there for listeners. The only problem is that for all the chatter on the call about deals, there was no real insight offered about what Yahoo might do.

Here’s a look at what Yahoo’s executives said about M&A during the call:

• Frankly, I think Yahoo’s ability to perform is especially impressive in light of the extraordinary events surrounding the company this year. It has been nearly six months since Microsoft made an unsolicited proposal for Yahoo and everyone here, the board, management and over 14 thousand Yahoo’s around the world have continued to work for one central goal, maximizing value for our shareholders.
• Significantly, we have also actively explored a number of alternatives to maximize value for the company, and we remain open to value creating transactions that provide real tangible value.
• I don’t want to speculate on any potential transactions or spin-outs that might have been mentioned in the press. I will say that we have examined various alternatives for Asia and will continue to do that.
• We have looked at just the about every alternative you could imagine as far as looking at how do we best position the company to go forward either through transactions and/or financial options. At this point, we clearly are still looking at what the best ways for us to continue to drive shareholder value. We don’t have anything specific that we will talk about but clearly, we view that we continue to have very strong balance sheets and we have ability to generate cash, so we’re going to take that in act as we think about what’s the best way to move forward.

OK, we get it. Yahoo wants to maximize shareholder value … whatever that means.

The big three networks — and their big three evening news anchors — are all over Barack Obama’s trip to the Middle East. Extensive coverage is planned, interviews will be touted, and ABC, NBC and CBS are sure to document his every more.

So is this attention on his trip just more evidence that the media plays favorites with Obama, as some have argued? (Who can forget the SNL skit?)

One evening news anchor, CBS’ Katie Couric,  made her feelings on the subject quite clear in a talk with TV critics. She believes there are “a number of really critical questions” Obama needs to answer about foreign policy.

“It’s not as if it’s going to be,  you know, ‘How do you like the weather in Jordan, Senator?’”

Here’s more on her take:

I think we’ve made a very conscious effort to be fair about how much attention we pay to each campaign and in the primary process as well.  I know there’s been a lot of discussion about Barack Obama’s upcoming trip and how much media attention it will receive, but I think editorially if you look at the fact that there have been questions about his foreign policy expertise and about his national security experience, prompted largely, quite 
frankly, by his Republican critics, and the fact that Iraq remains front and center in terms of how the United States may or may not extricate itself from that theater, then this is a really important trip newswise and editorially in terms of really being able to pin down Barack Obama on his foreign policy vision, if you will.

So much for the weather question.

 (Photo: Reuters)

We’re once again wondering who will blink first in Hollywood.

The Screen Actors Guild and the major firm and television studios are having another pow-wow today, and the subject is an ominous sounding “final offer” that management has presented to the union.

As we have seen, the talks so far haven’t gotten around the same sticky issues that prompted a strike this winter by the Writers Guild of America strike. So a take-it-or-leave-it offer by the studios doesn’t sound too promising if the entertainment biz is to avoid another strike.

But wait! SAG executive director and chief negotiator, Doug Allen, suggested on the eve of his union’s formal response that the door to further deal-making remained open. He had this to say in an interview with Reuters:

“I don’t know that those categorical statements are always to be taken at face value,” he told Reuters. “In fact, somebody from the WGA told me they got a total of 10 final offers from the AMPTP (during their talks). So we’ll see.”

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports that the studios may be looking at a slight change in strategy. It reports:

“The studios, fearing SAG leadership might drag negotiations on through the union’s elections in September, are considering adopting a more aggressive strategy. The producers have discussed the possibility of publicly asking SAG leadership to allow its members to vote on the current deal or declaring an impasse in the talks, which would allow them to implement parts of the current offer.”

Keep an eye on:

• In a CNBC television interview, Sumner Redstone says his daughter is no longer the company’s heir apparent and that she will leave the Viacom board as part of an agreement he had reached with her (NY Times)
• Financial news and data company Bloomberg LP is creating several new units as part of a reorganization that includes a shuffling of top management (Reuters)
• Interpublic Group, the advertising services company, named Matt Seiler as global chief executive of its Universal McCann media buying agency as part of a broader shake-up (Reuters)
• Yahoo will let customers, academics and even rivals build customized Web search services on top of its own technology, introducing a resale model into a major Internet market where it ranks a distant No. 2 to Google (Reuters)

(Photo: Reuters)

The media bigwigs are out and about in Sun Valley, Idaho, showing off the hottest looks in “executive casual.” Reuters photographer Rick Wilking caught some of them in action. Have a look:

Here we go…

Two days before the iPhone’s launch, fans around Asia are queuing up to buy Apple’s latest offering. They don’t seem to care that it’s raining or freezing cold or if lining up early means missing work or school.

The July 11 launch will be the first chance, after all,  for Asian consumers to own an iPhone.

“I’ve told my professor I was going to go buy an iPhone, and he gave me permission,” said Hiroyuki Sano, a 24-year-old graduate student who early on Tuesday arrived in rainy Tokyo from Nagoya to be first in line. Sano, speaking to Reuters, and incidentally wearing a T-shirt with an Apple logo, described his professor as an equally big Apple fan. “He sent me off cheerfully.”

The United States has already been through this, when the iPhone first went on sale a year ago. As the New York Times recalls, “TV news coverage was relentless. Hard-core fans camped out to be the first in line. Bloggers referred to Apple’s new product as the ‘Jesus phone’.”

The paper adds, “This time, though, when the iPhone 3G goes on sale in AT&T and Apple stores, iPhone Mania will be considerably more muted. That’s partly because the mystery is gone, partly because the AT&T service costs more and partly because there aren’t many new features in what Apple is calling the iPhone 3G. ”

But let’s be clear: There’s still a boatload of interest in this phone and plenty of people will be talking about it this week, offering their two cents on what they like and dislike about the iPhone.

One big name, the Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg, is already weighing in, with a mixed review, knocking the battery life but applauding the phone’s introduction of third party software. 

“I’ve been testing the iPhone 3G for a couple of weeks, and have found that it mostly keeps its promises. In particular, I found that doing email and surfing the Internet typically was between three and five times as fast using AT&T’s 3G network as it was with the older AT&T network to which the first iPhone was limited.”

“Bottom line: If you’ve been waiting to buy an iPhone until it dropped in price, or ran on faster cell networks, you might want to take the plunge, if you can live with the higher service costs and the weaker battery life. The same goes for those with existing iPhones who love the device but crave faster cellular data speeds. But if you already own an iPhone, and can usually use Wi-Fi for data, you probably should hold off and get the free software upgrade before deciding whether it’s worth getting the new hardware.”

But is it worth a two-day wait in line, in the rain, wearing a silly T-shirt?

Keep an eye on: 

• Carl Icahn would have more support in his proxy battle against Yahoo if he pledged not to sell the company for less than $33 a share, said Legg Mason portfolio manager Bill Miller (Reuters) 
• WPP Group, the world’s second-largest advertising company, made a hostile 1.08 billion pound ($2.13 billion) bid for Britain’s Taylor Nelson Sofres, challenging its agreed merger with GfK Holdings AG (Reuters)
• A blind trust run by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is willing to pay between $4.5 billion and $5 billion to buy Merrill Lynch & Co’s 20 percent stake in financial news and data provider Bloomberg LP (NY Post)
• The smaller of Hollywood’s two performers unions ratified a new prime-time TV contract on Tuesday, undermining a last-ditch bid by the larger, more militant Screen Actors Guild to secure a richer deal (Reuters)
• NBC Universal Chief Executive Jeff Zucker is looking to spin off or sell some of the company’s assets when he attends a media conference (NY Post)

(Photo: Reuters)

.

 It wasn’t exactly an auspicious start to the week for entertainment companies.

Right out of the box, Lehman Brothers analyst Anthony DiClemente cut his rating on News Corp, Disney, CBS and Time Warner. Not one of them is now rated above “equal weight” by the broker.  And he stuck the whole entertainment sector with a negative rating.

What’s the deal, DiClemente? Well, he points out that television and film companies are barreling toward the same sort of problems that have created such headaches for the music business. Remember how the major music labels seemed so ill-prepared for that whole Internet thing?

“In reality, while there are many obvious differences between music/audio and movie/video media forms, the core properties of video distribution and consumption are not different enough from music content to continue to justify why movie/TV content will be spared fragmentation,” DiClemente wrote.

DiClemente tried to give the movie and TV business the benefit of doubt.

“In our research of the entertainment industry to date, we have been increasingly eager to study and learn the reasons why widespread digital distribution of films and TV shows is not likely to eventually cause massive disruption to traditional forms of entertainment delivery. We have been largely unsuccessful in building compelling logical arguments in support of the continued growth for the movie/ TV content owners
in a digital environment. To us, the dual concerns of 1) deteriorating economics to the content-owners of legal online distribution; and 2) rampant piracy concerns are together too significant to ignore.”

Not exactly what you want to read if you’re an media industry executive — or shareholder — first thing after a long holiday weekend.

Keep an eye on: 

• Microsoft Corp on Monday said it would be willing to reopen talks to buy all or part of Yahoo Inc, but only if a new Yahoo board is elected, a major boost for investor Carl Icahn’s board slate (Reuters)
• Merrill Lynch & Co. is moving closer to selling its stake in Bloomberg LP as it tries to raise cash to make up for $6 billion in coming write-downs (Wall Street Journal)
• NBC Universal and private equity firms Bain Capital and Blackstone Group agreed to buy The Weather Channel from Landmark Communications (Reuters)
• “Hancock,” a film about a petulant, perpetually drunken superhero, proved to be review-proof as well as bulletproof this weekend, overwhelming competitors and giving star Will Smith his fifth top-selling film on a Fourth of July weekend (LA Times)

(Picture: Reuters)

It’s turning out to be a pretty good week for Rush Limbaugh, the conservative talk radio host beloved by millions of weekly listeners.

A powerhouse in radio since he began his national show in 1988, Limbaugh has renewed his contract with Premiere Radio Networks and Clear Channel Radio AND has landed on the cover of the Sunday New York Times Magazine. Not too shabby.

The release announcing the contract is light on details, but does a pretty good job of piling on the platitudes. Premiere Radio Networks President Charlie Rahilly said he was “proud to partner with Mr. Limbaugh deep into the next decade.” Clear Channel Radio CEO John Hogan tossed in that “broadcasters of Rush’s quality come along once in a lifetime.” Limbaugh himself stated that “I’m having more fun than a human being should be allowed to have.”

Yes, but how much money is he making?

It had better be a lot. As the New York Times Magazine profile points out, he drives a black Maybach 57s, which costs in the neighborhood of $450,000, and has another half dozen similar cars on his estate. He also recently bought a Gulfstream G550 for about $54 million, the magazine said.

Limbaugh can afford to live the way he wants. When we met he was on the verge of signing a new eight-year contract with his syndicator, Premiere Radio Networks. He estimated that it would bring in about $38 million a year. To sweeten the deal, he said he was also getting a nine-figure signing bonus.

So $38 million a year. At least $100 million in signing bonus. No wonder he’s having so much fun.

(Photo: Reuters)

Yahoo’s stock price was rescued (yet again) by rumors that Microsoft is getting ready to bid for the web company’s search business (yet again).

The shares had looked set to fall below $19.18 on Wednesday — the level they stood at on January 31 before Microsoft first announced a takeover bid for Yahoo. But thanks to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Yahoo shares jumped about 6 percent in electronic trading early in the morning.

If this reversal of fortune sounds familiar, it should. These days, Yahoo’s stock seems more likely to rise on speculation about possible deals than anything having to do with its actual business. Check back on a MediaFile posting from June 24 that points out Yahoo shares jumped 15 percent after TechCrunch reported that it was back in takeover talks with Microsoft.

Here’s what the Wall Street Journal is saying about the latest talks:

“Microsoft Corp., positioning itself for a new run for Yahoo Inc.’s search business, has approached other media companies in recent days about joining it in a deal that would effectively lead to Yahoo’s breakup, say people familiar with the discussions.

Microsoft has held discussions with Time Warner Inc. and News Corp, among others, say people involved in the talks.”

Investors seem pretty pumped about the report, given the stock’s early morning surge. But they may want to read a bit further — and keep in mind all the past speculation that hasn’t resulted in a Microhoo deal — before getting too bullish.

“Some of the people familiar with these talks say they are preliminary and unlikely to result in a deal with Yahoo. Indeed, two weeks ago, Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer called Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock to suggest they meet to discuss a new idea involving other partners, according to a person familiar with the matter. The meeting, scheduled for Monday, was subsequently canceled by Microsoft, which Yahoo took as a sign that Mr. Ballmer’s efforts to find a partner have so far failed.”

Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports that the Justice Department has opened a formal antitrust investigation into the advertising deal between Yahoo and Google.

“It doesn’t mean they have drawn any conclusions,” Peter Guryan, a partner with Fried Frank and formerly an antitrust lawyer in the Justice Department, told the newspaper. But “it is a significant step beyond a request for voluntary information,” he said. “It demonstrates that the DOJ clearly has questions.”

Keep an eye on:

• The 2008 presidential race, which has already drawn a record number of dollars and voters, is poised to shatter another record: the amount of money spent on television advertisements (Reuters)
• Sony Corp is seeing little or no sign of softer demand among U.S. consumers for its range of digital TVs, cameras and computer goods despite a weakening economy, a top regional executive said (Reuters)
• “Kit Kittredge: American Girl” has her work cut out for her as she expands to movie theaters across North America on Wednesday after two weekends of solid returns in limited release (Hollywood Reporter)