It’s just like vacation — except that you don’t get paid and really don’t have any choice in the matter and will likely spend the days worrying this could be a hint of (bad) things to come.

Some staffers at Gannett Co, the largest U.S. newspaper publisher, will be forced to take a week off without pay in its latest move to cut costs. Already, it has cut thousands of jobs, says this furlough will help it avoid more layoffs.

Here’s what Reuters reported:

“This means that most of our U.S. employees — including myself and all other top executives — will be furloughed for the equivalent of one week in the first quarter,” Dubow wrote.

Gannett, which publishes USA Today, the largest U.S. newspaper by circulation, is instituting the furlough after cutting thousands of employees from its payroll to deal with a severe decline in advertising revenue.

“We have made some very difficult decisions this past year, all with the goal of keeping Gannett strong and preparing for the future,” Dubow wrote. “I understand I have asked a great deal of you, and I regret adding to your burden with this program.”

With so many companies firing workers, perhaps staffers at Gannett should feel some sense of relief. But, frankly, it’s hard to feel anything but dread in the newspaper business these days. 

Keep an eye on:

• “American Idol” launched its latest run with 10 percent fewer viewers than watched last year’s season opener, ratings showed on Wednesday, despite hoopla surrounding a new judge for the hit talent contest (Reuters)
• Investors fear a change at the top of Apple will chill a product line-up struggling to come up with the next big thing (Reuters)
• AOL will rebrand its long-running sports channel as FanHouse, which is the current name of a blog/community-centric section within AOL Sports (AdWeek)

(Photo: Reuters)

Update: I made some changes here. The folks at Fox say that Tony Vinciquerra said he found the results shows in season seven boring — not the finale. They were right and I was wrong. Here is the entry, with my corrections (I rewrote the headline too.

You can’t say that Fox Chief Executive Tony Vinciquerra isn’t clear about what he wants from the American Idol staff. In short: he wants a less boring season finale with more interesting coaches for the contestants… and while we’re at it, more interesting contestants.

Talk about tough love from the big boss!

Here is what Vinciquerra said at a conference earlier on Wednesday when asked about News Corp’s Fox Network and the popular show that turns ordinary people into super-celebrities: The season seven finale (no — the result shows) were boring.

As for the celebrities who showed up as coaches, there was someone from Broadway whom “no one had ever heard of.” Then there was Dolly Parton: “A wonderful performer, but not what you want in developing the 18-49 audience.” And Neil Diamond: “Not the person you would want to be bringing in very young consumers, which is the audience of the show.”

And then there was one more critique: “I’m actually hoping the contestants have some personality this year, unlike last year.” Then he asked the moderator and the audience at the show to please not tell anyone that he said that.

We like Cat Stevens’s admonition: “If you want to sing out, sing out!” Then again, he’s too old for American Idol too, isn’t he, Tony?

(Photo: Reuters)

TV strike? What TV strike?

Seems that Fox survived the 14-week writers strike, and arguably thrived if you stack its prime-time ratings up against major broadcast networks. It has  finished the season as the undisputed ratings leader for the first time, thanks to a combination of the Super Bowl and that little talent show known as “American Idol.”

Sure, “American Idol” ended its latest run with year-to-year declines in both overall audience and ratings for viewers aged 18 to 49 – and the show notched some record ratings lows this season. But let’s be honest here, it’s coming off pretty tough comparisons.

Even if the talent show is fading a bit, the network has built a strong supporting cast around “American Idol,” one that includes “House,” “Bones,” and “24,” which will be back next year after the strike kept it off the schedule this season.

Simply put, Fox is dominating right now. As per usual, it winds up the season as the most popular network with young adults, but now, for the first time in its two-decade history, it also wears the crown of the most-watched network in prime-time. CBS had long owned that title.

Not that Fox is free and clear. In a year when the five largest English-language broadcasters — ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and the CW — ended the season down 10 percent collectively among young-adult viewers and 7 percent in overall audience, everybody in the industry is worried. Fox is just a bit less worried.

(Reuters)

 Keep an eye on:

• Yahoo has nominated nine of its 10 existing directors for reelection to the company’s board.

• Why hasn’t online online video advertising taken off as quickly as many expected? Executives attending the Reuters Global Technology, Media and Telecoms Summit this week cite inexperienced creative and sales staff and fear of the unknown among the roadblocks for online video advertising (Reuters)
• Steven Spielberg’s fourth “Indiana Jones” installment is one of the most highly anticipated films of the year – one that many in Hollywood hope will revive a sluggish box office (Reuters)
• The leading contenders to buy the Weather Channel in an auction are Time Warner and a partnership between General Electric Co’s NBC Universal and Blackstone Group LP, people familiar with the auction tell The Wall Street Journal.

(Photo: Reuters)

Take that Google!

Microsoft, in a bid to win share of the search market from Google and Yahoo, now plans to offer a new “cashback” service that provides a rebate when users buy something they found searching with Windows Live.

Chairman Bill Gates’ announcement of the rebate plan is the latest loud and clear sign of how much importance Microsoft is placing on advertising. (It apparently has been in talks with a company named, ummm, Yahoo, about just this).

“This is giving you a reason why you should use a particular search engine,” Gates said at the company’s Advance 08 advertising conference.

At first glance, it seems like a sound strategy, particularly given the timing of the initiative. Consumers could soon be facing $4/gallon gasoline prices, food costs have jumped and the overall economy still looks glum. If ever there was a time when people wanted coupons or rebates, this would seem to be it.

This alone isn’t going to close the gap with Google in the search department, but for a company that is facing a long road in catching up to the market leader, it just may be a step in the right direction.

Keep an eye on:

• David Cook won the coveted title of “American Idol,” dealing an unexpected but decisive defeat to a silken-voiced teenager on Fox’s blockbuster TV show (Reuters)
• Advertising on mobile phones has enormous potential to become a significant platform for marketers, but any breakthrough is years away and major operators must work together to succeed, executives said at the Reuters Technology, Media and Telecoms Summit (Reuters)
• With movies getting more costly to make and market, Hollywood is increasingly using release dates that have worked in the past to launch movies with the same genre, star or filmmaker (LA Times)

(Photo: Reuters)