Brill Media Holdings

Online media and entertainment news site Inside.com, which Brill Media Holdings bought in a stock deal in April, has begun charging for most of its news. All subscriptions to the online publication will cost $3.95 a month or $39 a year for access to most news and information on the Inside.com site. An earlier rate of $19.95 a month for premium services has been discontinued. Users also will be able to read stories on a one-time basis for a fee that has yet to be determined.

Brill Media Co. is seeking $300 million in damages in a lawsuit against Los Angeles investment company Trust Co. of the West and other former creditors, alleging they wrongly forced it into bankruptcy protection last year. The Evansville, Ind.-based radio station and newspaper publishing company is seeking $75 million from TCW and other investors who bought Brill Media's bonds.

Special-interest magazine publisher Primedia Inc. is consolidating its media trade publications and conference businesses into a new subsidiary that will be run by Steven Brill, the entrepreneur who founded Brill's Content magazine. Brill will contribute 49% of the equity of his privately held company, Brill Media Holdings, into the new Primedia subsidiary, which will be called Media Central.

Only six months after Brill Media Holdings and Primedia Inc. executives announced their partnership, a spokesman said the two sides have decided to go their separate ways. The decision will result in the layoffs of about 38 workers at media Web site Inside.com and Brill's Content magazine, which is being suspended, according to a memo sent by Brill Media founder Steve Brill to staffers and obtained by Reuters. In the memo to staff, Brill said Primedia will buy Inside.

Only six months after Brill Media Holdings and Primedia Inc. executives announced their partnership, a spokesman said the two sides have decided to go their separate ways. The decision will result in the layoffs of about 38 workers at media Web site Inside.com and Brill's Content magazine, which is being suspended, according to a memo sent by Brill Media founder Steve Brill to staffers and obtained by Reuters. In the memo to staff, Brill said Primedia will buy Inside.

Brill Media Holdings closed its Contentville Web site, company founder Steven Brill said in a message posted on the site. The site shut down Sept. 28, and 15 people will be laid off, but it won't affect the publication of Brill's Content, a quarterly magazine that focuses on the media industry. In the message left on Contentville, Brill said the site was shut down because "we simply were unable to entice enough people for us to see our way to a viable enterprise."

Expanding its coverage of the media industry, Brill Media Holdings, the magazine company founded by Steven Brill, agreed to buy Powerful Media Inc., owner of the Inside.com Web site and Inside magazine. Terms weren't disclosed. The deal announced Monday appears to ensure the short-term survival of Inside.com, which has built impressive traffic over its nine months, even as it has struggled to sign up paying subscribers for expanded services.

Brill Media Co. is seeking $300 million in damages in a lawsuit against Los Angeles investment company Trust Co. of the West and other former creditors, alleging they wrongly forced it into bankruptcy protection last year. The Evansville, Ind.-based radio station and newspaper publishing company is seeking $75 million from TCW and other investors who bought Brill Media's bonds.

Steven Brill, founder of a media watchdog magazine, stepped down as editor in chief a day after announcing in New York a controversial business venture with several media companies. David Kuhn, who joined the company last fall, becomes editor of Brill's Content; Brill will remain chairman and chief executive officer of the parent company, Brill Media Holdings. The deal with CBS, NBC and other media firms forms Contentville.com, which will recommend books and other items to readers.

Only at the Webbys would Intel Corp. Chairman Andy Grove share the spotlight with a costumed Peter Pan wannabe and a beefy, bewigged sendup of the late female impersonator Divine. In a glitzily offbeat celebration as diverse as the Internet itself, the powerful and the bizarre came together to party in the face of adversity Wednesday night at the fifth annual Webby Awards.

Brill Media Holdings closed its Contentville Web site, company founder Steven Brill said in a message posted on the site. The site shut down Sept. 28, and 15 people will be laid off, but it won't affect the publication of Brill's Content, a quarterly magazine that focuses on the media industry. In the message left on Contentville, Brill said the site was shut down because "we simply were unable to entice enough people for us to see our way to a viable enterprise."

Online media and entertainment news site Inside.com, which Brill Media Holdings bought in a stock deal in April, has begun charging for most of its news. All subscriptions to the online publication will cost $3.95 a month or $39 a year for access to most news and information on the Inside.com site. An earlier rate of $19.95 a month for premium services has been discontinued. Users also will be able to read stories on a one-time basis for a fee that has yet to be determined.

Expanding its coverage of the media industry, Brill Media Holdings, the magazine company founded by Steven Brill, agreed to buy Powerful Media Inc., owner of the Inside.com Web site and Inside magazine. Terms weren't disclosed. The deal announced Monday appears to ensure the short-term survival of Inside.com, which has built impressive traffic over its nine months, even as it has struggled to sign up paying subscribers for expanded services.

Special-interest magazine publisher Primedia Inc. is consolidating its media trade publications and conference businesses into a new subsidiary that will be run by Steven Brill, the entrepreneur who founded Brill's Content magazine. Brill will contribute 49% of the equity of his privately held company, Brill Media Holdings, into the new Primedia subsidiary, which will be called Media Central.