pScott Sassa, the former CEO of Friendster, the founder and CEO of Uber.com, the social network which a href="http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-sasss-web-publishing-firm-ubercom-closing-down-investors-pulled-out" title="recently closed down"recently closed down/a, and once the president of NBC West Coast, among others, has now joined Hearst Corp as president of Hearst Entertainment Syndication, the operating group responsible for Hearst's interests in cable TV networks including ESPN (a href="http://finance.paidcontent.org/paidcontent?Page=QUOTETicker=DIS" class="ticker" title="DIS"NYSE: DIS/a), Lifetime, AE and History; Sassa will also become SVP of Hearst Corp. Bruce Paisner, who has served as EVP of the Group, is retiring after 27 years at Hearst and will become a consultant to the company. /p p Hearst's Entertainment Syndication Group also includes Hearst Entertainment, which produces reality programming and distributes Hearst's TV movie library, and King Features Syndicate, a major newspaper syndicator of comics and features. More a href="http://hearst.com/dev/news_content.php?id=458" title="details in release"details in release/a. br / /p piSocial Media Deals Report: This 199-page report, filled with charts and data, examines the categories, number and size of VC and MA deal in social media from 2007 through 2008. stronga href="http://www.paidcontent.org/reports/"Visit the ContentNext Reports page/a/strongi/p pa href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/pcorg?a=nSvq2K"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/pcorg?i=nSvq2K" border="0"/img/a/pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/pcorg?a=MyjZO"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/pcorg?i=MyjZO" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/pcorg?a=IPCnO"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/pcorg?i=IPCnO" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/pcorg?a=vCpmo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/pcorg?i=vCpmo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/pcorg?a=IDoCO"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/pcorg?i=IDoCO" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/pcorg?a=OGmhO"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/pcorg?i=OGmhO" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/pcorg/~4/474987093" height="1" width="1"/

pMicrosoft's quest to find a digital head will end in a rather technical choice: former Yahoo EVP of engineering for Search and Ad Tech Qi Lu, according a href="http://kara.allthingsd.com/20081204/former-yahoo-tech-star-qi-lu-likely-to-be-named-microsofts-digital-head-by-next-week/" title="to Kara"to Kara/a. The final details of his contract are being ironed out, and could be announced by next week, the story says. This position has been vacant since Kevin Johnson left and joined Juniper. /p p bThe logic for hiring Lu/b: since a lot of Microsoft's future rests on winning in the search and search ad space and catching up with Google and Yahoo, Lu is also well suited for the position. But it is still a curious choice, as Lu lacks the business acumen to drive MSFT out of its digital/online troubles. As a result, he could be paired with another senior MSFT business exec, and that's still being decided. He will be overseeing three major egos at MSFT: Satya Nadella, Yusuf Mehdi, and Brian McAndrews. McAndrews was thought to be a front runner to run the merged Yahoo-MSN group if MSFT was successful in buying Yahoo, earlier this year. Likely McAndrews could be that business partner to work with Lu, the story speculates. /p pstrongRelated/strong/p ul class="related" lia href="http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-msn-adds-to-the-confusion-does-some-more-reorg" title="Industry Moves: MSN Does More Reorg; Portal Remains A Mystery"Industry Moves: MSN Does More Reorg; Portal Remains A Mystery/a/li lia href="http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-industry-moves-former-time-vet-robin-domeniconi-to-head-up-msft-ad-sale/"Industry Moves: Former Time Vet Robin Domeniconi To Head Up MSFT Ad Sales In U.S./a/li lia href="http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-interview-jeff-dossett-svp-us-audience-yahoo-his-nex/" Interview: Jeff Dossett, SVP-U.S. Audience, Yahoo: His 'Next Mount Everest'/a/li lia href="http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-yahoo-confirms-that-moore-is-leaving-picks-up-msn-vet-dossett-to-us-au/"Yahoo Confirms That Moore Is Leaving; Picks Up MSN Vet Dossett To Head U.S. Audiences/a/li lia href="http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-industry-moves-microsofts-kevin-johnson-out-unit-reorg-coming/"Industry Moves: Microsoft's Kevin Johnson Out; Reorg Of Platform And Services; Ballmer Memo/a/li /ul p!-- iMark Logic Digital Publishing Summit, Thursday November 6, Westin Times Square. Insight and perspective from Outsell, Gilbane, Simon Schuster, BusinessWeek.com, more. Evening cocktail reception. Cost is complimentary. a href="http://content.adbureau.net/accipiter/adclick/CID=000010cb0000000000000000/SITE=PC_US/AAMSZ=PREMB_NEWS/relocate=http://marklogicdps.eventbrite.com/"Register now!/a/i --/p pa href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/pcorg?a=uFUP4G"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/pcorg?i=uFUP4G" border="0"/img/a/pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/pcorg?a=G8FLO"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/pcorg?i=G8FLO" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/pcorg?a=iA8UO"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/pcorg?i=iA8UO" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/pcorg?a=NOH0o"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/pcorg?i=NOH0o" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/pcorg?a=0fnNO"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/pcorg?i=0fnNO" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/pcorg?a=2sdDO"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/pcorg?i=2sdDO" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/pcorg/~4/474853430" height="1" width="1"/

pIn another sign of the times, Viacom (a href="http://finance.paidcontent.org/paidcontent?Page=QUOTETicker=VIA" class="ticker" title="VIA"NYSE: VIA/a) will cut roughly 850 jobs, approximately 7 percent of the company's workforce across all divisions during yet another overhaul of the company's structure. The company also will write down assets and programming. Viacom estimates that the combination of write downs and restructuring will result in Q408 pre-tax charge of $400-$450 million—and pre-tax savings of $200-$250 million in 2009. Senior-level management pay raises have been suspended for 2009 (no mention of bonuses). /p p bUpdate/b: I've confirmed that the layoffs, which are being made now, not only cut across divisions but run at least as high as EVP—possibly higher—and are meant to be global and domestic. No official numbers by division but MTVN is likely to take the biggest hit. This isn't a corporate restructuring and a spokesperson said "how it is playing out is being determined by each division." Viacom has been working on the plans for at least a month, causing intense speculation. Those affected are being notified "right away" and will remain on the payroll at least through year's end; severance will kick in after that. /p p We have the bfull memo, embedded below/b: /p p "Dear Colleagues: /p p With less than a month until the close of 2008, our entire organization continues to do everything possible to anticipate and adapt to the unprecedented changes affecting all our businesses.nbsp; We know it hasn't been easy and we couldn't be more proud or more appreciative of how you have risen to the challenge. bLots more after the jump..../b /ppDear Colleagues: /p p With less than a month until the close of 2008, our entire organization continues to do everything possible to anticipate and adapt to the unprecedented changes affecting all our businesses.nbsp; We know it hasn't been easy and we couldn't be more proud or more appreciative of how you have risen to the challenge. /p p Even in these tough economic times, Viacom has a strong hand to play. We have a broad stable of outstanding brands, diverse revenue streams and an impressive global footprint, backed up by exceptional financial strength.nbsp; Added to that we have talented employees, extremely able leaders and a creative ingenuity that runs deep. /p p Unfortunately, our advantages and best efforts can't completely protect Viacom from the very serious and broad-based challenges of this economic recession.nbsp; Viacom's long-term health will depend on our shared commitment to adapt, to innovate and to make difficult choices. To compete and thrive, we need to create an organization and a cost structure that are in step with the evolving economic environment. /p p Today, we are announcing a company-wide restructuring plan that includes staffing reductions in all divisions.nbsp; This will result in a reduction of our worldwide workforce of approximately 7 percent, or about 850 positions. We are also suspending salary increases for the Company's senior level management in 2009.nbsp; In addition, after a comprehensive review of our operations, we will write down certain programming and other assets.nbsp; These three actions will bring us significant cost savings and other efficiencies. /p p Top managers at every part of the company worked thoughtfully, carefully and compassionately to create a leaner, more focused organization.nbsp; It was not an easy task, but it was an essential step that will keep Viacom at the competitive forefront today and tomorrow. Department heads and supervisors will provide you with more information about the changes that will be taking place in your division. /p p Saying goodbye to friends and colleagues is always difficult, particularly when we have shared so much. Those of you who will be leaving should be proud of your contributions, which we will always respect and appreciate.nbsp; We thank you and we wish you the best. /p p The true measure of an organization is how it deals with change and overcomes challenges.nbsp; We know that you are up to the task and that together we will push through the difficulties ahead and go on to even greater achievements. /p p We truly appreciate your continued commitment and hard work and we thank you for everything you do each day.nbsp; /p p Sincerely, /p p Philippe and Tom /p piSocial Media Deals Report: This 199-page report, filled with charts and data, examines the categories, number and size of VC and MA deal in social media from 2007 through 2008. stronga href="http://www.paidcontent.org/reports/"Visit the ContentNext Reports page/a/strongi/p pa href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/pcorg?a=DDI0Ks"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/pcorg?i=DDI0Ks" border="0"/img/a/pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/pcorg?a=MttVO"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/pcorg?i=MttVO" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/pcorg?a=60rAO"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/pcorg?i=60rAO" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/pcorg?a=IJrIo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/pcorg?i=IJrIo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/pcorg?a=4YpMO"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/pcorg?i=4YpMO" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/pcorg?a=KGthO"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/pcorg?i=KGthO" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/pcorg/~4/474721465" height="1" width="1"/