NBC

NBC Local and Fox announced last week their plan to pool resources to cover local news in certain markets, an encouraging sign that TV stations are beginning to understand the desperate need to rationalize their massive newsgathering costs. Is there too much local TV news? I think yes, and it's a warning bell I've sounded for some time.

Ben Silverman was on Charlie Rose show last night, and talked about, in big part, shows like SNL and 30 Rock, and NBCU's and TV networks' digital future. On digital, he has some polite words about YouTube, vis-a-vis Hulu, but ultimately disses it when asked about its advertising potential: "Because that same image is next to a cat peeing in a toilet...So I think if you`re an advertiser, and you look at the environment of NBC, you know you're in a protected environment.

Major League Baseball Advanced Media, the digital arm of MLB, is dropping Microsoft's Silverlight after a year, for a return to Adobe (NSDQ: ADBE) Flash beginning in 2009. MLBAM gave Silverlight a boost when it switched from Adobe Flash in 2007 as part of the media player's launch.

With the help of minority-stakeholder NBC, auto-focused Web site and VOD channel DriverTV has launched a new content and ad network. The network, which features the DriverTV's proprietary "Virtual Showroom Experience" videos, lets publishers and advertisers pair targeted overlay and display ads with its targeted content.

Don't count Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) out—at least that's what agencies like GroupM and companies like Chrysler are saying.

-WWD has an early look at the year-end ad page totals for monthly magazines. Among the biggest losers: More, Real Simple, InStyle and Esquire. And that's only counting the titles that are still in business. [WWD]

A new digital studio called Agility Studios, started by three online vets, has launched today. The company, based in Los Angeles, has been founded by Scott Ehrlich, former VP of media at RealNetworks, who will serve as the company's CEO; Larry Tanz, till recently the President and CEO of LivePlanet, and will be the President and COO; and Keith Quinn, recently SVP of Production & Development for LivePlanet, who will oversee programming and production as the company's Chief Creative Officer.

Software firm Six Apart, which many major media and publishing companies use to run their blogs and in some cases power their entire Web sites, is laying off 8 percent of its staff—or about 16 employees—and the entire management team will take a 15 percent pay cut.

-Publishers are fearing the worst holiday book sales they've seen in a while. Don't people know that getting laid off is a great chance to catch up on your reading? [NYT]

-The economic downturn is causing some marketers to think twice about buying Super Bowl ads. That said, NBC is in relatively good shape, having sold most of its inventory by September. [WSJ]

Social media studio SpectrumDNA has acquired Revyver, a Seattle-based digital design firm. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Revyver will operate as the studio's subsidiary. SpectrumDNA was founded in 2006 by former Warner Bros. exec Jim Banister, and develops white-label and branded "enginets" (or custom Websites, applications and widgets) like Addictionary.