Media Roundup: YouTube and Universal to Launch Music Site, LA Times Runs Front Page Ad, Staff Rebels and More

YouTube and Universal to launch music site — Google and Vivendi will be launching a new music video site featuring artists signed to Vivendi’s Universal Music Group. The new site, dubbed “Vevo,” will be a Hulu-like site featuring Google’s technology and UMG’s content. Vevo will also have its own channel on YouTube with a uniquely branded player. UMG anticipates that, at launch, Vevo will be the highest trafficked music video site on the Web. Vivendi’s deal with YouTube is the latest in a series of premium content providers making special arrangements with YouTube. Sony renewed its deal with YouTube two months ago and Disney recently signed a deal to feature its content on YouTube. [Source: Epicenter]

LA Times runs front page ad, staff rebels — On yesterday’s front page, The Los Angeles Times displayed an ad on its front page promoting an NBC police drama. The advertisement was formatted to appear as an article, though it did feature a heading and border that labeled it as an ad. Staffers have signed a petition describing the ad as having done “incalculable damage to this institution,” and a staff meeting is reportedly planned today. The New York Times ran an ad on its front page for the first time earlier this year, however the advertisement was a traditional graphic-based ad for CBS. [Source: All Things Digital]

Newspaper stocks spike — Gannett led a rally of the nation’s newspaper stocks on Thursday. The nation’s largest newspaper chain saw its stock rise nearly 40 percent, and the stock traded at double its average daily volume. The spike was likely because of an announcement by a capital management firm that upped its stake in Gannett citing the market’s overreaction to Gannett’s debt problems. The New York Times Co. also rose nearly 12 percent. The Dow Jones Average closed up 246 yesterday. [Source: Editor & Publisher]

Twitter deciding between Microsoft and Google for search — Fresh from rumors of an acquisition by Google, it appears that Twitter was likely instead discussing an exclusive search deal. The micro-blogging site is in talks with Google and Microsoft over exclusive search rights to the site’s 140-character “tweets”. A search of Twitter’s content could provide a powerful real-time look into the opinions and thoughts of millions of Internet users, and could be an avenue for highly specific search advertising. It is unclear whether Twitter will even strike such a deal, as management has expressed that it is solely focused on growing the site, not monetizing it. Other Web startups such as Digg have signed exclusive deals with companies like Microsoft to help bring in the site’s first revenue. [Source: All Things Digital]

ESPN to launch local edition — The self-proclaimed Worldwide Leader in Sports is set to launch a local edition of ESPN.com. The company plans a Chicago-themed edition of its popular sports site to go live on the day of the Chicago Cubs home opener, April 13th. The Windy City’s ESPN radio affiliates will have special subsections on the page and the site will link news and traffic back to the region’s ABC affiliate. ESPNChicago.com is the first locally themed ESPN site, and the company said it plans to roll out more local editions in the future. [Source: MediaWeek]