Media Roundup: News Corp. Cuts Five Percent, Digital TV Switchover May Be Delayed and More

(MoneyWatch)  News Corp. cuts five percent -- News Corp. has cut roughly 100 jobs from its Fox Interactive Media division. The cuts came from several divisions including photo sharing site Photobucket, MySpace and corporate. According to MySpace, the social networking site will still be hiring later in the year. [Source: TechCrunch]

Digital TV switchover may be delayed -- In agreement with President Barack Obama, the Senate has passed a resolution delaying the switchover to digital TV. The delay was requested by the president after the TV converter box coupon program ran out of money shortly before the scheduled switchover in February. The bill is scheduled for a vote in the House on Tuesday. [Source: Epicenter]

No layoffs at Time Inc. -- In an interview with MediaWeek, Time Inc. CEO Ann Moore revealed that the company does not plan any major layoffs, and that most of the company's magazines are profitable. Time also announced that its network of media properties ranks among the 20 largest on the Web. [Source: MediaBistro]

Missbehave goes online-only -- Missbehave, a quarterly young woman's magazine, is going online-only. The magazine believes that its target demographic spends more time online and the smart business position is to focus efforts on the Web. There were no shakeups in the editorial team. [Source: New York Observer]

Video games outsell DVD and Blu-ray -- For the first time ever, video game sales numbers have outpaced DVD and Blu-ray sales. Game sales grew 20 percent while DVD and Blu-ray sales fell six percent. Both trends are expected to continue in 2009. [Source: Gamesindustry.biz]

Variety cuts 30 jobs -- Variety has announced 30 job cuts across its corporate, editorial and sales staffs. The cuts were blamed on the economics downturn. [Source: MediaBistro]

Hardcore Gamer put on eBay, finds buyer -- Out of desperation, Hardcore Gamer publisher Tim Lindquist placed his company's only magazine on the online auction site eBay for an asking price of $42,000. Shortly before the end of the auction a bidder contacted Lindquist to purchase the gaming magazine for slightly above the asking price. [Source: New York Times]