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New Superman movie to film in Chicago

From Crain’s Chicago Business | Warner Bros.’ next Superman movie, “Superman: Man of Steel” will be filmed in Chicago starting this summer, Crain’s Chicago Business reported. Filming is expected to take two to three months. Get the full story>>

Last episode of ‘Oprah’ to be May 25

Winfrey’s Chicago-based Harpo Productions confirmed Friday that the final original episode of “The Oprah Winfrey Show” will air May 25. Winfrey announced live on the show in November 2009 that she would end its run after 25 years. She since has launched cable’s Oprah Winfrey Network.

Beatty wins suit against Tribune over Dick Tracy

From Bloomberg News | Actor Warren Beatty has won a suit against Tribune Co. over television and movie rights to Dick Tracy.

R.R. Donnelley buys Brill’s Journalism Online

Media veterans Steven Brill and Gordon Crovitz sold their company Journalism Online that helps publishers charge for content to printing services firm R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. R.R. Donnelley did not disclose terms of the acquisition Thursday. Get the full story »

Sun-Times Media CEO Halbreich to be chairman

The investors in Sun-Times Media Holdings have elected Jeremy Halbreich successor to the late James Tyree as chairman.

Netflix back up after 4-hour outage

Netflix Inc. suffered a service outage Tuesday night that left customers unable to view movies or television shows through its online streaming service or through devices such as Roku. The California-based content provider said Wednesday that the service was fully restored.

“Netflix is up and on as usual,” said Netflix spokesman Steve Swasey, via email. “Last night we had an unanticipated and rare technical issue that interrupted the service for about four hours, since fixed.” Get the full story »

USA Today reinvents itself to cope with Internet

USA Today, a newspaper created nearly 30 years ago to appeal to people who grew up watching television, is revising its formula to try to counter the Internet’s threat to its survival.

The nation’s second-largest newspaper is expanding its coverage of advertising-friendly topics, designing content for smartphones and tablet computers and refreshing the look of its print edition, whose circulation has fallen by 20 percent during the past three years. Get the full story »

Howard Stern sues Sirius XM over bonus

Howard Stern. (Reuters/Shannon Stapleton)

The production company and long-time agent for radio “shock jock” Howard Stern has sued Sirius XM Radio Inc. in the New York Supreme Court, alleging Stern was promised performance-based stock awards the satellite radio company refused to pay.

Attempts to reach a spokesman for Sirius XM Radio to respond to the suit were not immediately successful. Get the full story »

Ex-Tribune Co. shareholders open to new suits

From Bloomberg News | A Bankruptcy Court judge ruled Tuesday that creditors can file state suits against former Tribune Co. shareholders who netted billions of dollars when the media company was taken private in 2007. Federal lawsuits are under way on the matter. The company filed for Chapter 11 in 2008.

Tribune Co.’s Meek to exit company

Chicago Tribune parent Tribune co. is moving its Tribune Digital divsion into Tribune Technology, under Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer Steve Gable, employees were told today.

Don Meek, who had led Tribune Digital as executive vice president since November, when it changed its name from Tribune Interactive, is leaving the company.

China misses deadline on piracy ruling

China has missed a deadline to comply with a World Trade Organization ruling against restrictions on foreign companies distributing copyright-intensive goods including books, newspapers, films, DVDs and music, U.S. movie and music groups said Monday. Get the full story »

More job cuts in Sun-Times newsroom

The Chicago Sun Times building at 350 N.Orleans Street. (Nuccio DiNuzzo/Chicago Tribune)

A day after the death of Sun-Times Media Chairman James Tyree, who led the effort to save the local media company from liquidation 17 months ago, the company’s  flagship Chicago Sun-Times on Thursday laid off several newsroom employees.

“That was something that had been planned for a while. It certainly had nothing to do with yesterday’s news,” said Jeremy Halbreich, Sun-Times Media’s chief executive .

Sources said they believed the reduction affected four staff members, but Halbreich did not confirm an exact figure. The cuts, he said, were part of an ongoing effort to centralize certain operations among the company’s many area publications.

New York Times shares rise on paywall news

The New York Times Co. said it will launch a long-planned digital paywall this month to boost revenue at its flagship newspaper, as the media company seeks to reverse the effect of industry-wide declines that have pulled down its top line. Get the full story »

Groupon to start offering movie tickets

A promotional still for "The Lincoln Lawyer," starring Matthew McConaughey, right. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

Groupon launched a two-day national deal Wednesday offering discounted tickets for the upcoming movie “The Lincoln Lawyer,” partnering with Lionsgate in what the studio said was a first for the feature film industry.

“The Lincoln Lawyer,” starring Matthew McConaughey in the lead role, opens nationwide on Friday. Groupon is selling $6 tickets to the film. Subscribers who purchase the deal will get a special code to redeem their tickets on Fandango at any time during the movie’s theatrical run.

Lionsgate said it is the first Hollywood studio to promote a major feature film through Groupon. Movie tickets have been featured on daily deal sites in the past; earlier this month, Groupon rival LivingSocial offered a national deal where consumers could purchase two tickets on Fandango for $9. Get the full story »

Blagojevich’s fill in for WLS’s Don and Roma

Tower Ticker | WLS-AM 890 has found another husband-and-wife team to fill in Wednesday morning for Don and Roma Wade: Former reality TV stars Rod and Patti Blagojevich.

“I feel like the time is right, given all that’s going on in the state of Illinois and city of Chicago,” station boss Michael Damsky said, “regardless of whatever else is going on.”