There has been a lot of doubt about publishers’ hopes that tablet devices could help return magazines and newspapers to the days when scarcity helped drive ad revenues and consumers couldn’t get all that content for free on the web. A new study from the major publishing JV Next Issue…

Manish Chandra, the founder and CEO of social shopping site Kaboodle, is leaving the company and is being succeeded by Anne Zehren. The change in leadership at Kaboodle, which was acquired by Hearst three years ago, comes as the social shopping space has attracted a lot more users and competition.

Five days after releasing its iPad app version of Popular Mechanics, Hearst Magazine says iTunes users have downloaded more than 10,000 copies of its $1.99 “showcase issue.” While other mag publishers, like Condé Nast, focus on creating digital replicas around a few, high-profile titles, Hearst is taking a broader approach,…

David Carey is leaving his post as group president at Condé Nast to become president of Hearst Magazines. Carey will succeed Cathie Black in the role, as she moves up to chairman after 15 years as president. This is the second high-profile executive departure to hit Condé Nast this month,…

Updated: In a doubleheader announcement meant to move the needle on Rupert Murdoch’s ambitious paid content plans, News Corp has acquired the Skiff e-reading platform from the Hearst startup and is joining forces with Steve Brill and Gordon Crovitz through a stake in their start-up Journalism Online. The Skiff acquisition…

It took just six months, but Esquire magazine’s iPhone app has crossed a big threshold: it’s gotten 100,000 downloads of in Apple’s iTunes Store. But that’s only for the free “shell” that serves as a storefront to buy individual issues or subscriptions. While the Hearst mag says it’s sold about…

Hearst has finally succeeded in buying search marketing specialist iCrossing, we have confirmed with a source familiar with the matter. The company is paying $325 million plus earn-outs for iCrossing, which it has been in talks to acquire for more than six months now. Hearst had initially bid $250 million…

AOL (NYSE: AOL) is tapping Hearst Digital‘s digital services and development director Julian Downing to be its director of its AOL Media division in Europe - the latest step in staffing up its content arm in the continent. Downing will report to David Shing, who was upped to head European…

AETN makes the expected official: the programmer is staying inside when it comes to a successor for Andrea Wong as head of Lifetime. Nancy Dubuc, president of the History brands, adds president and GM of Lifetime effective May 1. Dubuc was considered a strong candidate to replace Wong, whose departure…

It’s not a done deal yet, but after several months of negotiations, Hearst Corp. is close to buying digital marketing firm iCrossing, the WSJ reports, citing unidentified sources. The price is said to be around $357 million with additional payments tied to certain performance targets. A few months ago, Hearst…

National newspaper online ad alliance quadrantONE has hired Datran’s Mario Diez to head up sales as it plans to launch a search for a new CEO, the company told paidContent. Last week, the company lost CEO Andy Ellenthal to semantic ad specialist Peer39. In the newly created post of SVP,…

After working together for years through a trade association, a dozen broadcasters are now forming a financially-backed joint venture to develop a national mobile service, including live and on-demand video, local and national news and entertainment from both TV and print companies. The joint venture is upping the financial stakes…

Andy Ellenthal is leaving as CEO of quadrantONE, the national online newspaper ad alliance, paidContent has learned. Ellenthal, who was traveling, couldn’t be reached for comment and quadrantONE spokesman Drew Kerr would not comment on Ellenthal’s job status. Asked about rumors circulating that the company was in turmoil and was…

Hearst has about 70 apps under its LMK banner in the iTunes App Store right now and it just plans to keep adding more and more. Most of the LMK apps sell for about $1.99, while a handful cost $0.99 per download. The LMK initials stand for “Let Me Know”…

The Financial Times has a sizeable and nicely growing subscription business—so why mess with micropayments? FT.com Managing Director Rob Grimshaw says that half the FT’s print customers are newsstand buyers, and the company needs to offer an similar a la carte option online as well. Grimshaw, in an interview with…

Atex, which provides software systems to media firms, has purchased a majority stake in classifieds site Kaango. Atex is buying the stake from MediaNews and Hearst Corp., which paid $20 million for 80 percent of Kaango in November 2007. Both companies will retain a minority stake in Kaango, which powers…

As expected, Dow Jones (NYSE: NWS) has bought the remaining 50 percent stake in personal finance mag SmartMoney from Hearst. The financial terms weren’t disclosed. In addition to the magazine, Dow Jones will own 100 percent of the related website along with the SmartMoney Custom Solutions unit. In a statement,…

Dow Jones (NYSE: NWS) wants to buy the 50 percent stake it doesn’t currently have in personal finance mag SmartMoney from Hearst, the WSJ reports, citing unidentified sources. No word on what price DJ is offering for the magazine, though a deal could be hammered out by next week. The…

I don’t know anyone who thought it would last—and it didn’t. A few months after the August merger of Lifetime Networks into A&E Television Networks, Andrea Wong is leaving as president and CEO. PaidContent can confirm that she announced the move to her staff via e-mail after the news first…