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)

Since we’re coming up on year’s end, it’s worth a quick review of the television season so far. It has stunk. There. That’s about all you need to know.

Don’t take our word for it, look at the weekly Nielsen numbers that came out yesterday. The lone exception is CBS, which continues to hold up relatively well in the face of all the challenges facing the TV market.

Here’s the Hollywood Reporter’s roundup:

Following its 12th consecutive weekly victory in total viewers, CBS became the first major broadcast network this season to move into positive year-to-year territory since premiere week.

Through Dec. 21, CBS has averaged 12 million viewers, up 1% from last year. NBC, ABC and Fox are each down 9%.

All of the Big Four are still in the red in the adults 18-49 demo, with CBS closest to breaking even at minus 3%.

As we all know by now, everything will probably change on January 13, when American Idol returns to Fox. Perhaps that — or the introduction of midseason shows — will give ratings a broad boost. If not, it’s going to be a long cold winter in the TV business.

Keep an eye on:

• As growth in online advertising slows, some Internet companies are easing the restrictions they impose on the categories and formats of advertising they will accept (WSJ.com)
• FedEx is pulling out of the Super Bowl due to budget worries amid the downturn (NY Post)
• China’s broadcasting watchdog has ordered a crackdown on low-brow confessional talk shows as part of a campaign against base entertainment (Reuters)

(Photo: Reuters)

It’s layoff week at Gannett — even the second N and T might be redundant.

The largest U.S. newspaper publisher and owner of USA Today, the nation’s biggest-selling daily paper, is slashing payroll just in time for the holidays. We read about layoffs everywhere these days, but if you want to see the slow-motion car crash version of how Gannett is doing it, look to Gannett Blog, run by former company reporter Jim Hopkins.

With no newspaper job to keep him busy, Hopkins chronicles nearly every event that he hears about Gannett. That includes a dose of rumor, but much of what he reports is more right than wrong.

Here is one of his latest reports:

Gannett launched what is likely the biggest mass layoff in newspaper industry history yesterday, slashing 655 jobs by early this morning, in an increasingly desperate bid to return the troubled 102-year-old publisher to prosperity. The final tally could run into the thousands.

Many more layoffs are expected today and tomorrow across the 85-daily community newspaper division, plus USA Today and the Detroit Free Press. As of 1:25 a.m. ET, only 17 papers had been accounted for, based on published accounts and Gannett Blog reader reports.

(My Gannett newsroom sources are telling me the same story.)

And while we knew that Gannett was going to cut deeply, he is keeping score at more than 80 papers, thanks to a legion of newsroom sources that dwarfs that of nearly every other reporter who covers the business.

A sample from Wednesday morning, all from anonymous posters:

The Tennessean has started layoffs today (Tuesday), a day earlier than they had told us. So far in the newsroom today we’ve lost two managers and a copy editor.

Fort Myers in progress; so far two copy editors and a designer.

Pensacola News Journal has finished up. At least five has been laid off, including the business editor who was called in from her maternity leave. Classy.

See the layoff ticker, which Hopkins updates often. Also check the documents that he posted on his website that purport to show Gannett papers’ double-digit profit margins as the company wields the axe.

UPDATE: Even Scotland is not immune,

Gannett is hardly the only publisher hacking away at payroll. Conde Nast, Time Inc and the Associated Press all are up to the same thing. The Financial Times, which not long ago was touting how good the financial crisis was for the paper, is offering buyouts and shorter work weeks. It also is freezing salaries for folks who make more than $50,000 a year.

Keep an eye on:

Yahoo: How does former AOL boss Jonathan Miller fit into the picture? Rupert Murdoch’s New York papers offer completely different stories, allowing you to believe one while scoffing at the other. The Wall Street Journal says Miller is trying to raise as much as $30 billion to buy Yahoo. The New York Post says Miller is trying to raise money for Velocity Interactive Group, the investment fund that he runs with former Fox Interactive Media chief Ross Levinsohn. We’ll only briefly remark on how funny it is that an investment firm is trying to raise money from investors.

Google: The party is officially over, according to The Wall Street Journal. Side projects involving grand visions for absent-minded professors appear to be “out.” Making money appears to be “in.” (The Wall Street Journal)

MySpace: Rupert Murdoch’s online social network is letting members use their mobile phones and devices to watch videos posted to their MySpace homepages. That does NOT include the Apple iPhone — yet. (Reuters)

(Photo: Reuters)

Are people going to watch more TV because they’ve no money to go out? According to media buying and planning agency MPG — a subsidiary of Havas, the world’s sixth-largest ad firm — the answer is no, unless the TV networks come up with better shows.

“That’s inventory for us, that’s our supply,” MPG Chief Operating Officer Steve Lanzano told the Reuters Media Summit in New York. “The thing is, there are no hit shows out there on the big networks,” he added. “And if there’s no supply in the marketplace, that just makes it harder and harder for us.”

With the economy seizing up and people seeking more stay-at-home entertainment, this could be the perfect time for the big networks to hook people on to some new shows and boost ratings. That would bring in advertising revenue at a time when many advertisers are scaling back spending.

But the networks don’t seem quite up for it yet, Lanzano said. ”"They need hits and nobody has them right now.”

Fox, Lanzano said, was a bit edgier than the others. “Clearly, they have these must-see shows that they’ve been able to promote.”

Meanwhile, CBS — which probably has the largest number of total viewers — could do with some younger programming, Lanzano said. “Have they been able to lower their age a bit?”

As for NBC, “they’ve been fortunate because of Sarah Palin.” Shows like 30 Rock and of course, SNL, have gotten a boost because of Tina Fey’s turn as the former Republican vice-presidential candidate, but with Jay Leno going off the air soon, they might be stuck looking around for another winner.

ABC has done well with younger viewers, but still needs a big audience winner to bring home the big bucks, Lanzano said.

Only the cable channels have met with some success in churning out hit shows, he said. “To some degree you see the breakout hits are on the HBOs and the Showtimes because their hands are not tied.” Cable channels also give their shows more time to grow, unlike the networks, which try too many different things in hopes of a quick hit.

First President-Elect Barack Obama sparked a run on newspapers, and now his appearance on 60 Minutes helped deliver CBS the largest weekly audience of any network this season. The news program, featuring Obama’s first post-election interview, drew more than 25 million viewers, the biggest number since January 1999.

Not surprisingly, that helped CBS win the week in total viewers and in the 18-49 year-old category.  Season-to-date, CBS is tops in total viewers, and essentially tied with ABC for the 18-49 crowd. Here are the Nielsen figures for the week ending Nov 16::

Total Viewers (’000, change from 2007-08)

CBS 12,314, +3 percent

ABC, 10,467, +1 percent

NBC, 7,742, -6 percent

Fox, 6,782, -21 percent

Adults 18-49 (ratings, change from 2007-08)

CBS, 3.3, no change

ABC, 3.1, -9 percent

NBC, 2.9, -6 percent

Fox, 2.7, -21 percent

Week’s Top shows for Adults 18-49 (network, rating)

Sunday Night Football, NBC, 7.4

60 Minutes, CBS, 6.3

Desperate Housewives, ABC, 6.2

Grey’s Anatomy, ABC, 5.7

House, Fox, 5.5

CSI, CBS, 5.1

CMA Awards, ABC, 5.0

Two And A Half Men, CBS, 4.9

Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick, NBC, 4.6

Dancing With the Stars, ABC, 4.2

Family Guy, Fox, 4.2

How I Met Your Mother, CBS, 4.2

(Photo: Reuters)

Want proof that Philadelphia is still the City of Brotherly Love? NBC and Fox are joining forces in Philadephia to gather and distribute video coverage to other local media.

The service will be managed by Fox Television Stations and NBC Local Media, which hope to roll the program out to other markets. For now, local media in Philadelphia will have access to the news service’s video footage — presumably at a cost.

Here’s how the companies described it in a release:

NBC Local Media and the Fox Television Stations will provide newsgathering and transmission resources to the local news service: including a helicopter, personnel and equipment, while also maintaining their own separate capabilities. The news service management will independently identify the stories to be covered each day and make arrangements to gather and transmit the video back to each of the stations. The stations will each decide how the material is to be used in their own newscasts, using their own writing and editorial voice. All employees involved in the local news service will remain part of their respective companies.

(Reuters photo of Rocky statue in Philadephia)

What you — and everyone else –  watched on TV was the election, apparently. More than 71 million Americans tuned in to see the end of the presidential campaign, and coverage on ABC and NBC ranked among the top 10 shows during primetime last week, according to the latest Nielsen numbers.

Election night, combined with Sunday night football, left little room in the top 10 shows for regularly scheduled dramas and comedies. But it should be noted that ABC managed to squeeze in the top two rated dramas among 18 to 49 year-olds, Grey’s Anatomy and Desperate Housewives. ABC and NBC shared honors for the highest ratings among the 18-49 crowd for the week.

Total Viewers (’000)

CBS 11,040

ABC 10,400

NBC 8,900

Fox 5,870

Adults 18-49 (ratings)

ABC 3.2

NBC 3.2

CBS 3.0

Fox 2.3

Week’s Top Shows for Adults 18-49 (network, rating)

Sunday Night Football, NBC, 6.7

Grey’s Anatomy, ABC, 6.0

Desperate Housewives, ABC 5.9

SNL Presidential Bash ‘08, NBC 5.6

CSI, CBS 5.1

Vote 2008, ABC 4.9

Two and a Half Men, CBS 4.6

Decision ‘08, NBC, 4.5

Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick, NBC, 4.3

The Office, NBC, 4.3

We’re guessing Rupert Murdoch isn’t smiling quite so much right now. Not after News Corp reported a larger-than-expected drop in quarterly profit and cut its full year outlook.

The problem? In case you haven’t heard, advertising, particularly at the local level, is in terrible shape. Any company with local TV stations — and News Corp is one of them — is hurting right now.

Indeed,  Fox Television Stations’ first-quarter operating income fell 48 percent from the same period last year. Overall, News Corp profit fell 30 percent.

What seems to be surprising media-watchers and analysts is the extent of the advertising pullback. Now everyone seems to be rushing to ratchet down their estimates well into 2009.

“There’s probably still going to be negative sentiments on the sector since people are starting to realize…that we’re probably not going to be getting out of a recession for another three quarters or so,” said Miller Tabak analyst David Joyce.

“Going forward, the debate will now shift to whether this new more dour outlook represents just the type of earnings reduction investors will need to get interested in the stock,” said Citigroup’s Jason Bazinet. “Or, alternatively, it could suggest we’re still in the early innings of a protracted downturn that could extend beyond fiscal 2009.”

Next up: Walt Disney Co this afternoon.

Keep an eye on:

• Media companies that lapped up millions of political advertising dollars in 2008 will feel the loss of that money next year (Reuters)
• What Yahoo needs is a new CEO –  someone to make everyone believe that a true leader is at the helm, ready to fight (TechCrunch)
• Johnson & Johnson has consolidated U.S. creative duties on more than 35 prescription drug brands at WPP Group and Interpublic Group (AdWeek)
• Barack Obama’s win on Tuesday captured the attention of more than 71 million television viewers, a record audience for a presidential election (LA Times)

(Photo: Reuters)

It was all about sports last week as the World Series and a couple of big football games ranked among the most-watched prime-time shows. Fox was the big winner, according the the latest Nielsen figures.

With the World Series Game 5, the hospital drama “House,” and the comedies “The Simpsons” and “Family Guy,” Fox brought in the highest ratings among adults 18-49 for the week ending Nov 2. Year over year, Fox boosted its ratings last week by 26 percent.  Just wait until ”American Idol” and “24″ return.

Total Viewers (’000, change from 2007-08)

CBS 11,384, down 8 percent

ABC 10,140, down 11 percent

Fox 9,527, up 36 percent

NBC 7,529, down 6 percent

Adults 18-49 (ratings, change from 2007-08)

Fox 3.4, up 26 percent

ABC 3.1, down 14 percent

NBC, 2.8, down 7 percent

CBS, 2.8 down 22 percent

Week’s Top Shows for Adults 18-49 (network, rating)

World Series Game 5, Fox 6.2

Sunday Night Football, NBC 6.2

The Simpsons, Fox 6.2

Desperate Housewives, ABC 5.8

Grey’s Anatomy, ABC 5.7

House, Fox 5.4

Family Guy, Fox 5.1

Office, NBC 4.8

CBS, CBS 4.8

The OT, Fox 4.4

Saturday Night Football, ABC 4.4