Check out this chart from Flurry, a mobile analytics company that overlaid its data on top of an earlier chart produced by New York Times digital exec Michael Zimbalist for Advertising Age:

Important to note that the line graph doesn’t compare total audience, but “the proportion of consumers reached during a given hour on that respective medium.”

Flurry’s point is to show that mobile app use is comparatively higher than Internet and TV use during the day. Which makes sense — you may not always be in front of a PC from 6 am to 6 pm, and if you’re employed you probably don’t get a lot of TV-watching done during that time, either.

But I’m still struck by the peak evening use for all three mediums. I think you can file this away in two categories: “Growing evidence that we spend a lot of time watching TV while playing with other devices” and “Growing evidence that a lot of our ‘mobile’ use happens at home.”

The most recent batch will show up tonight, when the social network hosts a live stream of the Webby Awards, starting at 8 pm Eastern.

Oddly enough, while the sort-of-tongue-in-cheek awards show is now in its 15th year, it hasn’t offered a live webcast before. Or at least not one that organizer David-Michel Davies can remember.

And while I like to give the Webbys a healthy dose of ribbing, some of you folks seem to like it, a lot: Davies says that last year’s show, cut up into clips and replayed on Google’s YouTube, generated 3 million views.

So have at it. The interesting back story here is that all of the heavy lifting for the video streaming is being done by Major League Baseball Advanced Media, which is shooting the show, hosting the stream and distributing it out to Facebook and other sites via its own video player. Oh, and they’re sending it out live to Apple’s iPads and iPhones via new apps, too.

MLBAM, which spends most of its time selling subscriptions to its MLB.TV service, has been trying recently to use that infrastructure to do more than stream baseball games. You might recall that earlier this year it started experimenting with streaming live pre-season baseball games to Facebook, too.

Meanwhile, the Webbys haven’t abandoned YouTube altogether, and the video site will run a livestream of the event, too. But instead of doing it on its main YouTube.com site, it will showcase its ability to run live streams within display ads, via spots it will run on “b2b” sites like Advertising Age.

I don’t think that gives you much advantage as a magazine reader to read it on the tablet — in fact less so. It’s a little more difficult. From the publisher’s point of view I would think they’re crazy to encourage it.

Digital unenthusiast Jann Wenner, explaining why he’s not rushing to create special versions of his magazines — US Weekly, Men’s Journal and Rolling Stone — for the iPad or any other tablet. Well worth reading the entire interview in AdAge.

Steele is a longtime marketing exec with previous stints at the video ad start-up Tremor Media and Coca-Cola. She comes to Twitter at a time when the company is finally focusing on turning its service into a business. Twitter is expected to have about $100 million in revenue in 2011. It was valued at $3.7 billion in its most recent funding round, and well above that in off-and-on acquisition talks with Facebook and Google.

Steele’s Twitter account is here. Appropriately, we first learned of the news on Twitter, from Advertising Age editor Michael Learmonth. A spokesperson for Twitter confirmed the hire this afternoon.

As Yahoo (YHOO) seeks to sort out its women’s strategy online, Brandon Holley (pictured here)–the editor-in-chief of its main women-focused site, Shine–is leaving for a job with the same title at Condé Nast’s Lucky magazine.

In the women’s space, Yahoo’s Shine site, is huge, but has lagged in social networking and other current trends.

Juicing it up is important, since the women’s market is a big one for advertisers, with many competitors–from iVillage to AOL (AOL) to a recent effort by Demand Media to reach women using a site created with supermodel Tyra Banks.

Here is the press release from the New York media giant about the move by Holley, who had been at Condé Nast before (and you can read a story here in the New York Times from earlier this year, in which she compares her online and offline jobs):

BRANDON HOLLEY NAMED EDITOR IN CHIEF OF LUCKY

New York, N.Y., September 8, 2010–Brandon Holley has been named Editor in Chief of Lucky, it was announced today by Thomas J. Wallace, Editorial Director of Condé Nast. Her appointment is effective September 20, 2010. Ms. Holley was the Editor in Chief and business lead of Yahoo! Shine, one of the largest online destinations for women, since 2007. She replaces Kim France, who is leaving the company.

:Brandon is an extraordinarily innovative editor whose extensive experience in both the print and digital realms will be key to developing the Lucky brand across multiple platforms,” said Mr. Wallace.

Under Ms. Holley’s leadership, Yahoo! Shine attracted 25 million visitors per month, according to comScore. Her appointment at Lucky marks a return to Condé Nast for Ms. Holley, who was Editor in Chief of Jane from 2005 to 2007, when it ceased publication. In 2001 she launched ELLEgirl where she remained editor until 2005. Ms. Holley served as senior editor at GQ from 1998 to 2000. She was also part of the launch team of Time Out New York where she served as the dining and shopping editor from 1995 to 1998. She started her magazine career as a writer for Paper magazine and worked as a fact checker for Rolling Stone. In 2002, Ms. Holley was named one of Advertising Age’s Women to Watch.

Lucky and Luckymag.com focus on shopping and style, showcasing what to wear and how to wear it, while making fashion and beauty fun and accessible. The magazine, which launched in 2000, has a circulation of 1.1 million. Condé Nast, a division of Advance Publications, operates in 25 countries.

In the United States, Condé Nast publishes 18 consumer magazines, two trade publications and 27 websites that garner international acclaim and unparalleled consumer engagement.

The microblogging service hired Dan Coughlin, the former director of media sales at Facebook, to be its director of ad sales for the East. Amanda Levy, who was the first ad-sales person at review site Yelp, is joining Twitter as sales director in the Western region. Mr. Coughlin and Ms. Levy, whose hires were first reported by Advertising Age, will be charged with helping Twitter expand its ad offerings, which the company calls its Promoted Suite.

“We’re putting together a top-flight sales team as we begin to open our Promoted Suite of products to more companies,” said Dick Costolo, Twitter’s chief operating officer, in an emailed statement.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

This time around, the CEO of the world’s biggest social network is making his case to advertisers at the annual advertising schmoozefest in Cannes. He’s scheduled to take the stage Wednesday afternoon, and his interviewer will be Advertising Age Editor Abbey Klaassen.

After Zuckerberg’s appearance at D8, I heard lots of chatter that he would have to stop taking questions in public. But unless the 26-year-old plans to stop running the company he founded, there’s no way that can happen. So best to get right back on the horse/bicycle/insert-your-own-metaphor here.

The good news for Zuckerberg: Facebook’s privacy issues don’t seem to have diminished advertisers’ interest in his site. Even better: After he makes his presentation, responsibility for the real pitching goes back to his large, expensive and top-shelf ad team, which has already helped the company rake in a lot of ad money.

Then again, they still have plenty of work to do. Financial Times:

Just two years after beginning to monetise its audience in earnest, Facebook’s revenue per user is already half the level of that achieved by portals such as MSN and Yahoo, Mr. Maude says. But relative to the many hours most users spend on Facebook each month, its income is “way behind” that of those more established sites.

Richard Pinder, chief operating officer of Publicis Worldwide, says Mr. Zuckerberg should keep his pitch to Cannes attendees simple.

“Most of the people making the big decisions [in ad spending] are not on Facebook,” he says. “They fear Facebook. Zuckerberg should explain what it is and why it works, and not make them feel bad about it.”

BoomTown started off at what has become a magically bottomless trough of posts. Kara reported on yet another exec, this time Angela Courtin, SVP of Marketing, Entertainment and Content, scurrying down the gangway of the SS MySpace. Kara mused that while posts on executive departures from My Space and Yahoo have been plentiful lately, they can’t keep coming forever. Midweek, she got on a plane to Beantown and caught up with Walt Mossberg at MIT’s new Media Lab facility. The video she came back with features foldable cars, cities of the future, awesome electro-opera gloves and the weirdest glowing-eyed owl-thing Weekend Update has ever laid eyes on. Seriously: Worth a watch. Toward the end of the week, Kara got deep in a piece she wrote for the Washington Post, where she worked back when newspapers were king. She wrote about what she thought the world would benefit from being rid of, namely physical keyboards and computer mice. Full disclosure: She wrote the post on her Apple (AAPL) iPad.

Digital Daily was a posting machine this week, starting early with some bad news for Steve Ballmer and the Internet Explorer fanboys out there (theoretically there should be some right?). It looks like IE’s dominating market share dropped seven percent, down to 59 percent since this time last year, under pressure from other browsers, according to a Net Applications study. Midweek, John moved on to a post about recent speculation that low AT&T (T) data plan prices for the iPad 3G may indicate an extension of the exclusive deal between AT&T and Apple. John finished things off with a nice post that brings some perspective to all the Apple ogling by the press. The comScore (SCOR) report names Samsung as the top mobile device maker in the U.S. market, even if an analysis of media coverage volume might suggest otherwise.

Over at MediaMemo, Peter brought us a post early in the week on Google’s investment in Invidi, a start-up working on “addressable ads” in the TV space. We aren’t sure if Google (GOOG) is looking more Appley or if Apple is looking more Googley these days. From the light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel files, Peter posted that Time Inc. saw gains in both ad and subscription dollars last quarter. The question remains: Will it be a V- or a W-shaped recovery? At least it’s not just a backslash. Delivering a much anticipated piece of news, Peter posted that it appears Facebook will finally start rolling out location services sometime in the next several weeks. Advertising Age reported that McDonald’s (MCD), the international corporate face of individualized services, will be a partner for the launch. It makes a lot of sense if you think about it. At Mickey D’s, you can have it any way you want, as long as it’s the McDonalds way.

Personal Technology this week was a little more of a conceptual piece than a gadget review, but Walt always mixes it up at the right time. He devoted his entire column to demystifying some of the concepts around cloud computing and explains what it may mean for Joe and Jane user. Walt seems keen on the change with allows flexibility and interoperation among devices, and his explanation brings it down to ground level. Katie rounded us out with a hands-on review of Microsoft’s new Kin One, a roundish little smartphone designed to be a social platform as much as a phone. She liked the design and execution in most areas, though felt that the polish on this first Microsoft smartphone reincarnation was a little lacking. Best of all? Seems like Kin’s constant wireless upload of all content to the cloud might be the feature to beat.

Thanks for tuning in, logging on and tweeting out with our new Meebo bar. We’re in the final countdown to the D8 conference now, and we’re ready to level up to full-tilt awesome. Stay tuned!

The social network is finally ready to start rolling out its location service this month and has linked up with McDonalds (MCD) for the launch, Advertising Age reports.

As early as this month, the social-networking site will give users the ability to post their location within a status update. McDonald’s, through digital agency Tribal DDB, Chicago, is building an app with Facebook would allow users to check in at one of its restaurants and have a featured product appear in the post, such as an Angus Quarter Pounder, say executives close to the deal.

It’s easy enough to make fun of this one, because really, who wants to admit to eating an Angus? (Had one in September 2007. Awful.) But then comes everyone else:

Executives with knowledge say it was negotiated as part of a bigger media buy on Facebook, and McDonald’s will be the first marketer to take advantage of the service.

The fast feeder won’t be alone for long. While McDonald’s is expected to be involved in the rollout in the next few weeks, execs at other digital shops have begun to spec out location-based campaigns in anticipation of Facebook’s impending functionality, which will allow users to include their location in a status update.

Internet scribes get accused, with justification, of slapping the “-killer” suffix on anything and everything. But this one really is a threat to Foursquare.

Not only can Facebook replicate every feature on the much-hyped service, but it has something Foursquare won’t be able to boast of for a very long time: A sales team to match the location service up with big brands and a self-service ad platform that local businesses can plug into.

Add all of this to a user base of 450 million (!) people and it really is a problem for Foursquare, if Facebook wants it to be.

And that’s pretty much the defense I’ve heard when I bring up Facebook’s competitive threat to Foursquare boosters: “People always worry about giant Web company X stomping on zippy startup Y, but that almost never happens. Because giant Web companies are lumbering beasts that can’t move fast enough to take on zippy start-ups, and they don’t really care to, anyway.”

And maybe that will turn out to be true, here, too. If not, it may make all the talk of $100 million offers seem awfully hopeful.

“The Pre is probably being talked about more than other phones right now because of the marketing and advertising, and that’s a good thing. Could the ads work harder to show exactly how the phone works? Yes, but we knew it would be polarizing people to have a woman not shout at them and tell an interesting story.”

– Gary Koepke, co-founder of Modernista, the agency responsible for the absurd marketing campaign that launched the Palm Pre

Well, Modernista founder Gary Koepke was right about one thing: The absurd ads his agency conceived for the launch of the Palm Pre really could have worked harder to show how the phone worked–a lot harder. Because here we are a year after the device launched and Palm (PALM), which was the toast of the Consumer Electronics Show when it announced the Pre, is languishing amid lousy sales and an alarming inventory problem.

Little wonder then that Palm is rumored to be cutting the agency loose, evidently having finally realized that launching a bet-the-company smartphone with an advertising campaign that says almost nothing about it was unwise, if not utterly foolish–almost as foolish as choosing as a lead for that ad a female character far better suited for a role in “The Exorcism of Emily Rose.”

In the end, Modernista’s Palm campaign was simply far too short on product description and far too heavy on inane imagery (an army of jumpsuit-wearing Chinese dancers and a strange mumbling woman on a rock?) to be effective. If, as Advertising Age claims, Palm is dumping Modernista and negotiating with several other agencies to handle upcoming campaigns, it’s a wise move. Here’s hoping we see some new ads with clearer messaging and a focus on features over directorial foppery in the future.

PREVIOUSLY:

• Creepy Lady Mercifully Absent From New Palm Commercials, Redux
• Creepy Lady Mercifully Absent From New Palm Commercials

So when will we see it? Think mid-April.

One good bet is at Chirp, the company’s developer conference four weeks from now. That would make sense because the search ad strategy Twitter is working on–a play on Google’s (GOOG) AdWords/AdSense model–is very much tethered to the third-party software and services that distribute the Twitterstream.

Another educated guess: Trade magazine Advertising Age is hosting its Digital Conference in New York on April 13 and 14–just before the Chirp conference. I’ve talked to two sources familiar with the company who expect the announcement to come during that event. It’s worth noting that Dick Costolo, Twitter’s chief operating officer, and the man who has overseen the ad strategy, is a keynote speaker on April 13.

The required caveat: Twitter’s ad strategy also requires a lot of work–rounding up hundreds or thousands of advertisers to “seed” the system with their ads at launch, for instance–so no matter when the company announces the platform, it may take a while to roll out. The most definitive answer I’ve heard is, and remains, “the first half of 2010.” So be patient.

Meanwhile, the announcement that Twitter did make today won’t be of interest to those of you who aren’t publishers. For those who are: The company is making it easier to integrate Twitter with your pages. And there are some other bell and whistles. For instance, you’ll be able to “follow” particular Twitter users who write articles or are mentioned in them by hovering over their names on a page.

That sounds cool, and in a best-case scenario, it allows Twitter to turn publishers into distribution partners. That’s a good thing. But it’s not fundamental to Twitter’s future either.

CBS (CBS) says it will stop doing business with the ad networks, which are ubiquitous on the Web, and will offer access to its audience of 60 million unique visitors solely via its own salesforce.

AdAge’s Michael Learmonth says CBS, bolstered by its 2008 purchase of CNET, is the biggest publisher on the Web to cut off the hundreds of networks that try to match publishers and ad buyers.

Sounds right to me. Because while lots of people like to complain about ad networks, almost everyone uses them.

Other big publishers that have cut off ad networks entirely include Time Warner’s (TWX) Turner Networks, the Gawker Media blog network and…not many others.

The ad network debate in a nutshell: Anti-ad network types argue that handing over inventory to the networks gives publishers a short-term boost because it allows them to sell ads they wouldn’t move on their own. But doing so trains buyers to avoid buying higher-priced inventory from the publishers themselves, which means that stuff gets harder to sell in the long run.

The counterargument: What are you people smoking? Ad buyers should be trying to reach their target audience at the lowest possible price. And trying to fight that impulse is like fighting gravity.

Still, there is a larger movement afoot to try to at least sell some inventory at higher prices, even if that means leaving dollars (or pennies) on the table.

That’s one of the cornerstones of Aol CEO Tim Armstrong’s strategy, and it’s what Yahoo (YHOO) is trying to do as it reshapes its Right Media platform. See also: Firms like 5to1, which say they can turn publishers’ low-rent “remnant” ads into more valuable stuff.

The countermovement, though, is at least as strong, as ad buyers and brokers use technology to move more and more inventory at ever-more “efficient”–i.e., cheap–prices. See: Google’s (GOOG) relaunched DoubleClick exchange and the one that Microsoft (MSFT) intends to roll out next month.

If you’re lucky, you can get the press to do some marketing for you. And if you’re really lucky, you can get Apple (AAPL) to do your marketing for you.

The newest set of Apple ads focuses on apps made by big brands–Barnes & Noble, Pizza Hut, Gap, Epicurious and Zagat–that can certainly afford their own promotional pushes.

And certainly those guys paid cash or some other kind of compensation for the consideration, right? Not as far as Advertising Age can discern: The trade mag notes with a bit of dismay that there isn’t any kind of application process to get into Apple commercials and that “the marketers in question didn’t request to be in the commercial at all.”

As far as I can tell, this mirrors Apple’s overall policy for iTunes, whether you’re talking about music, movies or apps: Unlike traditional retailers or even competitors like Amazon (AMZN), there’s no way to buy shelf space at Apple’s digital store. If you want Apple to shine a spotlight on your stuff, you just have to hope that someone there likes your stuff. AdAge:

Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the story, but it’s clear the company looks for apps that use as many aspects of the iPhone as possible, such as sound, shaking, GPS or the camera. It also seemed to favor anything that highlights features of the newest operating system, such as in-app payment. Additionally, it appears that brands are given more credit for good user experience than whether or not they can match Apple’s own cool factor.

Pizza Hut, for instance, doesn’t have many common associations with the tech giant but its app was the first from the quick-service industry that let users place delivery orders.

*Note that Apple’s app ecosystem has grown faster than its ad agency expected; the new campaigns announce that there are 75,000 apps, but that number is 10,000 short, according to a release Cupertino put out yesterday.

Last December, talks between Warner and YouTube to renew a licensing deal broke down, and Warner’s videos disappeared from the world’s largest video site. Now, as Advertising Age has reported, an agreement is in the works that will bring Green Day, Madonna and their label-mates back to the site.

What hasn’t been reported, so far: The deal terms themselves. Neither company is talking, but sources familiar with the negotiations tell me the new pact will be similar to the one Google’s (GOOG) video unit struck earlier this year with Universal Music Group.

That deal created Vevo, a sort of “Hulu for music videos,” owned by Universal and Sony (SNE). So think of Warner’s deal as a “son of Vevo.”

The big idea is the same: Try to create more value for videos by limiting their distribution and creating a more ad-friendly atmosphere around them, and share ad revenue between YouTube and the videos’ owner. The big points:

• Unlike Vevo, Warner and YouTube won’t be creating a separate site for Warner videos, and Warner won’t be creating a separate company dedicated to its videos. Instead, YouTube will help Warner create a “premium advertising platform” for its videos within YouTube.
• Warner will take primary responsibility for selling its videos, and YouTube will receive a cut of the revenue.
• Warner will no longer receive a licensing fee each time one of its videos is played.

I gather that a lot of this is still being hashed out, and some of this will evolve even after the deal is inked. For instance, Warner needs to figure out how it’s going to sell advertising for its clips, since it doesn’t have its own sales force. Timing is also up in the air: Even after the two sides formally announce the pact, users shouldn’t expect to see Warner videos instantly reappearing on YouTube; it may be that they only get rolled out as the new ad platform is built.

Then there’s the ad platform itself: I haven’t been able to get a concrete definition of what this is supposed to look like, but for now, I’m imagining something like the “channels” YouTube has made for partners like ESPN, except they’d be made on an artist-by-artist basis.

All in all, this sounds like a fair deal. Warner loses a guaranteed revenue stream, but if its contention about the value of its videos is correct, it will make even more than it did under the old arrangement. Meanwhile, YouTube gets to hang onto “premium” inventory without being locked into the kind of  pay-per-play arrangement that helped drive the site’s expenses sky-high.

The potential downside for YouTube: If this works–or if the Vevo deal works–it will have to create similar packages/portals/platforms to retain or attract other “premium” content suppliers, like, say Hollywood studios. But given that the site has had limited success getting those guys on board so far, that’s not the worst fate in the world.

In the meantime, even though Green Day is Warner act, you can still find plenty of its clips on YouTube–it’s just that most of them are odds and ends like this grainy concert video:

Multiple sources close to the situation said that the online search and advertising deal between Microsoft and Yahoo has been struck and will be announced within the next 24 hours.

While it is not clear if the actual papers have been inked or approved by the boards of the two companies, sources said it was a formality and that negotiations are complete on a deal that is less sweeping than originally conceived.

In any case, making any partnership is likely to be the cause of much relief at both companies, since they have been trying–without success–to join together to mount a better offense in the sector against the dominant Google (GOOG).

According to sources, as had been previously reported by Advertising Age, there will be no upfront payment to Yahoo, with the focus on a revenue share between the two companies.

Sources said Microsoft search technology will be used on Yahoo sites, although it is not clear if it will be branded as “powered by Bing”–Microsoft’s handsome and innovative new search offering–or not.

In addition, sources said Yahoo would still sell search ads on its sites and on Bing too, although Microsoft’s AdCenter advertising sales technology will be underneath it.

(Panama, we hardly knew ye!)

This makes the deal much smaller than ones previously envisioned, which included Microsoft taking over both Yahoo’s search and its text-based search advertising businesses in exchange for large payments and guaranteed revenue.

Previous discussions also considered Yahoo selling display advertising for Microsoft’s MSN consumer sites.

Doing its own search ads means the cost savings to Yahoo will be less than previously estimated, but it also solves its longstanding issues about control of relationships with advertisers and also of consumer data.

Still, once in place, it is a significant deal in the Internet arena, bringing together two of its most powerful players in an unusual alliance that has been long in coming.

“After three years of trying, it looks like it finally stuck,” joked one person familiar with the situation about the Silicon Valley icon and the Redmond, Wash., software behemoth finally joining together.

And, in fact, Yahoo (YHOO) and Microsoft (MSFT) have been engaged in talks about a variety of partnerships over the years, as well as in a hostile takeover struggle that soured their relationship badly.

But, under new Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz, the companies have re-engaged in recent months, discussing a deal to share search and online advertising technology.

A spokesman for Microsoft declined to comment, as did a spokeswoman for Yahoo (even though BoomTown asked: “Pretty please?”)

The Wall Street Journal just posted a similar story on the deal coming to fruition, as did Advertising Age.

Both posts noted that Yahoo and Microsoft were concerned about regulatory approval, although with Google’s share at close to 70 percent in the search market, it would be hard to argue that their union hinders competition.

Together, Yahoo and Microsoft’s share is about 30 percent.

A search and advertising partnership between Yahoo and Google failed to gain regulatory approval last year–and thank goodness for that!

Yahoo and Microsoft will likely try to paint this one as a counter to Google’s power and hope such an argument will be supported by advertisers, who have long wanted a stronger second-place competitor to Google.

Here’s how SmartMoney.com did it, according to Advertising Age. In October, it stopped selling one of the three display ads it sells on each page. Since it dropped the one few people saw in the first place–the “skyscraper” unit Web users wouldn’t see unless they scrolled down to the bottom of the page–the move wouldn’t cost the publisher much.

But the online arm of the personal finance magazine says the move actually made it money by somehow increasing the click-through rate–and thus the value–of its remaining ads: “The result: a 21% increase in aggregate click-through rates. Some advertisers that had quit buying the site have returned, including Scottrade and Options Xpress. And the site was sold out in the fourth quarter, though [publisher Bill Shaw] said that trend hasn’t continued in first quarter.”

SmartMoney’s experiment wasn’t enough to fend off lousy times for Web publishing in general and financial titles specifically: The site laid off about a dozen people in January. Both the site and the print title are a joint venture between News Corp.’s (NWS) Dow Jones and Hearst. (Dow Jones owns All Things Digital.)

And, of course, on the Web, the concept of scarcity is a tough one to sell. Even the most optimistic Web sales guy will privately moan about the glut of online ad inventory that gets bigger every day.

And note that SmartMoney didn’t exactly turn its site into a commercial-free zone–it is still running text ads from Google (GOOG) at the bottom of its pages, and it added a second ad to its homepage.

Eventually, if online publishers are going to really increase the value of their advertising, they’re going to have to find ways to make their ads fundamentally more compelling. But in the meantime, expect to see them keep nibbling around the problem with gambits like this. In times like these, every bite helps.

[Image credit: kennymatic]

Condé has tapped former Wired publisher and current New Yorker publisher Drew Schutte to be Condé Nast Digital’s chief revenue officer, a newly created position. The appointment follows last month’s (apparently) bloodless reorg of Condé’s digital properties, which are now consolidated under Sarah Chubb. Here’s a summary from Advertising Age’s Nat Ives, who broke the story:

Mr. Schutte was tapped to lead The New Yorker in January 2008 but was never as successful there–in an admittedly terrible year for most magazines–as in his previous role overseeing Wired magazine and Wired Digital. The New Yorker’s ad pages declined 26.8 percent last year, according to the Publishers Information Bureau.

Mr. Schutte wouldn’t necessarily have an easier job at Condé Nast Digital. Condé Nast is above all a magazine company, one whose efforts to build revenue online have not gained a lot of traction yet. Condé Nast Digital itself is a new formulation of company strategy in the area.

Condé, publisher of major titles such as Vogue and Vanity Fair, enjoyed a period of double-digit revenue growth earlier this decade, but the recession ended that. The company’s cooler, calmer approach–a departure from earlier years–also seems to have suffered. Last week Condé shut down Domino magazine.”

Ad Age recently estimated that Time Warner’s (TWX) Time Inc., the magazine company that has made the biggest strides in moving its properties online, is making more than 10 percent of its revenues from the Web. Time Warner reported yesterday that Time Inc. had seen a $57 million increase in annual sales from its digital properties last year.

Condé Press Release:

February 5, 2009 (New York, NY) — Drew Schutte has been named Senior Vice President & Chief Revenue Officer of Condé Nast Digital, it was announced today by Charles H. Townsend, President and C.E.O. of Condé Nast.  This newly created position takes effect immediately.

Mr. Schutte will be responsible for all sales and marketing for Condé Nast Digital. He will manage the newly consolidated digital sales team and work closely with the publishers on integrated sales throughout all of the company’s titles.

“Drew has a proven track record of selling online and print—as well as an understanding of the complexity of selling integrated campaigns–which makes him uniquely qualified for the job,” Mr. Townsend said.

Mr. Schutte became VP & Publisher of The New Yorker in January 2007. Previously he was VP & Publishing Director of Wired Media. He joined the magazine in 1994 as West Coast Advertising Manager.  Before joining Wired, Mr. Schutte spent three years at Business Week based in San Francisco. Prior to that he was East Coast Manager for PC Week and West Coast Manager for Inc.

Mr. Townsend also announced that Lisa Hughes is being named Vice President & Publisher of The New Yorker. Her position is effective immediately.

“Lisa is an experienced publisher, a strategic thinker, and an innovative marketer who is inherently well suited to lead the business side of The New Yorker,” Mr. Townsend said.

Ms. Hughes has been Vice President & Publisher of Condé Nast Traveler since 1995 and has guided it through some of its most successful years. In 2008, Condé Nast Traveler was named to both Adweek’s “Hotlist” and Advertising Age’s “A-List.” Previously, she held positions as VP & Publisher of House & Garden, and as Associate Publisher of Vanity Fair.  Ms. Hughes began her career at Condé Nast in sales at Mademoiselle.

Condé Nast, a unit of Advance Publications, includes twenty-three consumer magazines, Condé Nast Digital, the Fairchild Fashion Group, Parade, the Condé Nast Media Group, and the Shared Services Centers.

Kelly’s number for today “may be on the high side,” a person familiar with the matter counsels me. In any event, I expect to have more details later in the day. As always, I value your input, and I keep all correspondence anonymous: peter@allthingsd.com.

In the meantime, an update on this week’s cuts: I’m told Time Europe editor William Green and senior editor James Graff were laid off via phone yesterday, and that more cuts in the London office are expected today. And four-year-old Cottage Living magazine has been shut down, which means that 38 out of 47 people who worked on that title are out of work; the remainder will be placed elsewhere in the group. Announced along with the job cuts today were the departures of executives from Cooking Light and Southern Progress. Chris Allen, Senior Vice President and Publisher of Cooking Light is resigning his position, as are Southern Progress execs Bruce Akin, Karla Hardy and Dick Gardner. Here are the memos:

November 18, 2008

To:Time Inc. Employees
From:Sylvia Auton
Re: Cottage Living Magazine

I regret to inform you that we will no longer be producing Cottage Living magazine. The November/December 2008 issue, on newsstands now, will be the magazine’s last. Cottageliving.com will also shutdown. However, the company will keep the brand alive in one of its other leading shelter titles and these plans will be finalized over the next few weeks.

Since its inception, Cottage Living attracted significant advertiser support and fostered a loyal following among readers. However, the economic downturn has particularly affected the shelter market and while the brand was genuinely loved by readers and advertisers alike, the economy inhibited its ability to grow and therefore, sadly, we had to make the decision to close it.

Cottage Living launched with a unique editorial mission. Its readership celebrated community and character over conformity, personality rather than perfection, and informality instead of pretension. The brand’s tagline: ‘life just right,’ showed how one could ‘live large,’ even luxuriously, in a lighter footprint.

Launched in September 2004 with a circulation of 500,000, the brand quickly grew to 650,000 in January/February 2005. One year later, Cottage Living increased its rate base to 900,000, and then to one million in January/February 2007. Cottage Living also produced many one-time special-interest publications including Cottage Christmas and Cottage Makeovers.

Cottage Living also received many industry accolades including AdWeek’s ’2005 Startup of the Year’ and Advertising Age’s ’2005 Launch Worth Watching.’ It was also named to AdWeek’s ‘Hot List’ 10 Under 50 list for two consecutive years: 2006 and 2007.

I want to thank the many dedicated and talented Cottage Living staffers. It was developed, edited and published by some of the best talent in the business and we can remain proud of its many achievements.

S.A.”

Subject: Staff Announcement
To:       Lifestyle Business Unit Employees
From:   Sylvia Auton and Steve Sachs
Re:       Staff Announcement  

With the departure of Bruce Akin, we’re pleased to announce that Bruce Larson will assume the role of Senior Vice President and the lead executive in charge of SPC operations for Time Inc. He will be responsible for the general management of all operations in the Birmingham office, Oxmoor House and Southern Living at HOME.

Bruce joined the company in 1991 as a manager of corporate reporting. Over the last 17 years he has been promoted numerous times and has held jobs in a variety of areas, from corporate accounting to IT to consumer marketing and production.

During his tenure with Southern Progress, Bruce has shown outstanding decision-making and leadership skills and has been a key player responsible for the strong financial growth the company has enjoyed over the years.

Please join us in congratulating Bruce on his new assignment.”

To:  Southern Progress Colleagues
From:  Bruce Larson

I regret to announce that two longtime, trusted Southern Progress colleagues, Karla Hardy and Dick Gardner, have decided to retire at the end of the year.

Karla has been a steady presence in our advertising production circles ever since she joined the company in 1977 as advertising traffic manager for Progressive Farmer. In 1985, she accepted a position as assistant to the editor and advertising/production coordinator for Southern Living Classics, which merged later that year with the newly acquired Southern Accents, where she eventually moved up to advertising production manager. When we launched Coastal Living, Karla began working on both titles, and in 2007 she began helping manage advertising production for Cottage Living as well. And let’s not forget her work on Entrée. With her incredible depth of knowledge of advertising production and her keen eye for detail, it’s no wonder that Karla is so highly regarded. She knows how to best position each ad for space efficiency and visibility, and she knows how to work with our sales staff and advertisers to ensure that everyone is happy with the outcome.

Dick began his Southern Progress career just nine months after Karla, back in 1978. He spent the first 13 years of his SPC career on the corporate side, managing building operations, office services, and purchasing, before moving to the magazine side of the business as financial manager for Southern Living and Southern Accents. In 1995, he was named general manager of Southern Accents. One short year later, he added responsibility for the soon-to-be-launched Coastal Living. In 2004, he was named vice president and general manager for Coastal Living alone, and in 2007 he took on the GM role for Cottage Living as well. Dick is well respected for his wisdom, leadership. and kindness, not to mention his astute business sense. He knows his titles—and his staff—inside and out and never fails to find the right solution to any challenge. Plus, he has a great sense of humor.

There have been several times over the years when both Dick and Karla have been counted on to work on more than one title—a sure sign of how highly they’re valued around here—and each did so while managing to maintain a positive, calm outlook. Please join me in thanking them for all they’ve done for us and letting them know how much they’ll be missed.”

Subject: Staff Announcement
To: Lifestyle Business Unit Employees
From:  Sylvia Auton
Re:  Staff Announcement

After careful consideration, Chris Allen, Senior Vice President and Publisher of Cooking Light, has decided to leave the company.

A 26-year veteran, Chris first joined Cooking Light in 1991 as eastern advertising sales director and quickly rose through the ranks. Chris’ leadership and expertise resulted in enormous successes for the Cooking Light brand: Under his direction, Cooking Light has grown to become the world’s largest epicurean and healthy lifestyle magazine.

During his tenure, Cooking Light was named to AdWeek’s Hot List four times, Advertising Age’s ‘A List,’ Capell’s Circulation Report’s prestigious ‘Triple Play Award’ three times, and ‘Most Notable Launch of the Past 20 Years’ awarded by Media Industry Newsletter and Samir Husni in 2005. Chris also presided over the launch of several groundbreaking marketing campaigns, including The Cooking Light Cruise, the Cooking Light Fit House, and Cooking Light Supper Clubs.

An avid cook and exercise enthusiast, Chris lived the Cooking Light brand. He’s also a rock star: The Cooking Light band, Way Past Close, has performed throughout New York City and Birmingham to clients and colleagues.

Earlier in his career, Chris spent eight years at PEOPLE rising from salesperson to New York divisional sales manager.

Please join me in thanking Chris for his many contributions to Southern Progress and Time Inc. and wishing him the very best.”

Apple (AAPL), Research In Motion (RIMM) and Google (GOOG) are duking it out for consumers’ smartphone dollars this fall. But here’s an early winner: Time Warner’s (TWX) AOL, which has just landed a giant contract to push Google’s G1 phone for the next two days.

Wireless carrier T-Mobile, which is selling the phone in the U.S., is launching a big push on AOL’s Platform A ad network today. It has agreed to buy a billion impressions today and tomorrow, reports AdAge.

Reporter Michael Learmonth talks to industry sources who think the buy could cost T-Mobile around $1.5 million, which would work out to a cost per thousand of $1.50. Ad folks I talk to think that number sounds high, and guesstimate that the CPM will be closer to the $1 to $1.10 range.

But no matter what the number is, the campaign will be a win for AOL. Anything approaching $1 million over two days will be well-received at the company, which saw ad revenues drop six percent in the last quarter.

And the fact that AOL can offer an advertiser a billion impressions in two days also points out how the ad network business is supposed to work: Gather lots of Web sites and offer their combined inventory to advertisers, who can buy a lot of eyeballs at a discount. Now AOL just needs a lot more of these, fast.