House Subcommittee Wades Into the Universal-EMI Deal

By BEN SISARIO

The Universal Music Group's proposed $1.9 billion takeover of EMI Music, already under close scrutiny by regulators in the United States and Europe, is facing additional pressure from a subcommittee in the House of Representatives.

On Tuesday, the top Republican and Democrat on the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet sent a letter to executives at Universal and two other major labels, asking pointed questions about how the merger would affect competition in the music industry.

Universal is already the world's largest record company, with about a 30 percent share of the global market for recorded music. If it absorbs EMI's labels, it would have at least 40 percent, and up to 50 percent in some markets in Europe. Opponents of the deal say that such a share would, among other things, give Universal too much power to set prices and terms for digital-music services.

To all ay the concerns of the European Union, Universal has offered to sell as much as two-thirds of EMI's holdings in Europe, but it has not made any such concessions in the United States or elsewhere.

The House letter, signed by Robert W. Goodlatte, a Republican from Virginia who is chairman of the subcommittee, and Melvin L. Watt, a Democrat from North Carolina who is the ranking minority member, takes a tack similar to one taken at a Senate subcommittee hearing in June, asking whether the music industry “has unique characteristics that may increase or reduce concerns” about the merger; how competition and innovation in digital music would be affected by the deal; and whether piracy and “powerful buyers, like Apple” would constrain Universal's added power.

In a statement, Universal said: “We welcome the opportunity to answer any questions that the subcommittee may have. The global music market has been in decline for over a dec ade and it needs well invested music companies to continue to create and nurture artistic talent alongside a strong and growing independent sector if it is to thrive.”

The letter was sent to Universal, EMI and the Warner Music Group, which has opposed the deal because it would result in what Warner's former chief executive, Edgar M. Bronfman Jr., has called a “super-major.” A copy of the letter was provided to The Times by a spokeswoman for Mr. Goodlatte.

Like the Senate panel, the House committee has no power to block the merger. But its involvement puts pressure on Universal and on the Federal Trade Commission, which is reviewing the merger.

Earlier this month, the heads of the Senate subcommittee on antitrust issues - Herb Kohl, a Democrat of Wisconsin, the chairman, and Michael S. Lee, a Republican of Utah who is the ranking minority member - wrote to the F.T.C., saying that the deal “presents significant competition issues” and asking the age ncy to examine it closely.

The Universal-EMI merger has already been approved without concessions in New Zealand and Japan, and last week it was also given the thumbs-up by regulators in Canada.

Ben Sisario writes about the music industry. Follow @sisario on Twitter.

Ex-Giant Michael Strahan Is Seen as Favorite to Join Kelly Ripa on \'Live\'

By BILL CARTER

Is the the former New York Giants great Michael Strahan about to play a new position on television?

Widespread reports this week have named Mr. Strahan as the choice of the Walt Disney Company to replace Regis Philbin and become the co-host with Kelly Ripa of the company's syndicated “Live” morning talk show.

The news was first reported in the media trade publication Broadcasting and Cable, which cited multiple sources as saying Mr. Strahan, 40, had been selected from among a roster of candidates to be Ms. Ripa's partner on the show. And The Associated Press reported that Mr. Strahan was in talks to finalize his deal.

Representatives of the show declined to comment in any way on the reports on Wednesday, citing a longstanding policy of not addressing  speculation about the coming selection of a co-host.

Mr. Strahan has been a frequent guest host with Ms. Ripa, and his name has frequently been mentioned a s one of the most likely winners of the who-should-replace-Mr. Philbin derby. Some viewers have praised his chemistry with Ms. Ripa, though others have noted that Mr. Strahan would not be a mainstream choice.

That is mainly because his background is dominated by his career as a star defensive end for the Giants, though an earlier star from that team, Frank Gifford, enjoyed a long and successful career on television.

Mr. Strahan's football-player physique also makes for a stark physical contrast with Ms. Ripa, who could be a model for petite-size fashions.

The “Live” show set off the speculation about the co-host by declaring that it would announce the new person when the show returned from vacation. Ms. Ripa will host the show solo on Labor Day, and the new co-host will be introduced the next morning, Tuesday, Sept. 4.

The list of potential co-hosts narrowed after Seth Meyers of “Saturday Night Live,” who was kno wn to be one of the favorites of the show's executive producer, Michael Gelman, took his name out of the running.

Among the other people rumored to be on the short list were the singers Nick Lachey and Josh Groban, and the NY1 anchor Pat Kiernan.

Mr. Strahan, who has another television assignment he is expected to keep even if he lands the “Live” position - as a member of the Fox Sports roundtable on NFL Sundays - has made no secret of his pursuit of the “Live”position. In May, he told the CNN program “Showbiz Tonight” that he was not going into the competition thinking the job would be to replace Mr. Philbin.

“I just look at it as an opportunity to go on TV and tell stories and have fun and entertain myself and other people,” Mr. Strahan said. “I think the show fits my personality.”

Bill Carter writes about the television industry. Follow @wjcarter on Twitter.

A Web Site That Aims to Help Manage Student Loans

By ANN CARRNS

I don't have student loans anymore (thank goodness). But I do recall that managing them was a challenge. How many loans did I have? How much was I paying in total? When would they all be paid off? Who is Sallie Mae, and why did I borrow so much money from her?

A new Web site called Loanlook.com aims to help current students and graduates manage their financial aid and loans with less confusion. The site allows users to access federal loans and grants, but will be expanded to include private loans in about a month. (Parents can also register to see information about PLUS loans taken out on behalf of their children.)

The site makes use of data that is provided on the National Student Loan Data System, the central database for student aid maintained by the federal Education Department, as well as your university (and any institutions you may have attended previously). But Loanlook allows the information to be displayed and a nalyzed in a more useful way, said Mark Rowland, vice president of information systems at Loanlook.

That all sounds promising. But Loanlook probably has some skepticism to overcome. That's because the site's parent company, Ceannate Corporation (formerly FMS Services), which provides various services under contract to the Education Department, also operates two other units, including one specializing in student loan debt collection.  So it's possible that if you somehow get behind on  your loans, it could be Loanlook's sister company that chases you for payments.

But Balaji Rajan, Ceannate's president and chief executive, said any concern that information given to Loanlook could somehow be used against the borrower by one of its other subsidiaries was unfounded. Ceannate's three subsidiaries are completely separate companies below the top executive level and can't use information given to one to assist another, he said. “Absolutely no data is shared or exchan ged between those companies,” he said.

He noted that many companies in the educational finance industry operate firms that work in different parts of the industry - say, making loans as well as servicing them and pursuing delinquent borrowers.

If  you are comfortable using Loanlook, you log in using the student aid PIN provided by the Education Department. Loanlook doesn't store the information when you use it, Mr. Rowland said. You must re-enter it each time you want updated loan information.

The site's dashboard provides a snapshot of your overall aid, including pie charts showing how much of the aid represents loans and how much is in grants, which don't have to be repaid; the total balance; and the average interest rate on the loans.

The site also lists the loans by amount, type and lender, and notes its status (in repayment, for instance).

A  potentially useful feature is the loan optimization tool. This gives you different scenarios, s howing, for example, how much you will save if you pay extra toward the principal, compared with a standard 10-year repayment plan. It's important to note, however, that Loanlook can't actually arrange your preferred payment plan for you. It's up to you to contact the loan servicer. And it's important that users do so, Mr. Rowland said, to make sure payments are properly applied. In most cases, without specific instructions, servicers simply apply extra payments to future monthly payments, rather than reducing the loan balance.

The site also offers a live chat feature, which connects users with counselors who can help answer questions about loans and repayment options. The overall idea behind Loanlook is to help students stay current on their loans by providing easily accessible information.  If you're behind on your loans, the site will direct you to contact your servicer to discuss ways to get back on track.

The site also offers a section on loan records, whic h allows you to upload documents like promissory notes so you can easily access them in one place. This section also includes contacts for the servicers of your loans and provides a space for you to include notes about your conversations with them. (So if, for example, a servicer agrees to a forbearance, you have a record of that call.)

The site includes, on each page, a snapshot of the total debt due, the date of your last payment and a running tally of the daily interest accrued.

The site is developing a tool aimed at helping high school students figure what sort of salary they might expect in different metropolitan areas after graduating with a certain type of degree, to see if they can afford the amount they're expecting to borrow. The tool is being fleshed out with additional economic data to broaden its usefulness, Mr. Rowland said.

Later this year, the site will add more functions, including the ability to make a loan payment. The site is free curren tly, but there will be a per-transaction fee added for users who want the payment capability.

Would you be comfortable using Loanlook?

Most New Long-Term Care Claims Are Filed by Women

By ANN CARRNS

While deciding to purchase long-term care insurance is a complex decision, it is one that women, in particular, may want to spend some time considering. Nearly two-thirds of new claims under long-term care policies in 2011 were made by women, according to the latest data from an industry group.

The data was reported by the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance in its annual “sourcebook” released this summer.

Women have longer life expectancies than men, and are more likely to live alone at advanced ages, said Jesse Slome, the association's executive director. “Women live longer and are more likely to ultimately have a need for long-term care,” he said.

At the same time, women have lower incomes than men on average, so affording long-term care insurance can be more challenging for them, according to the AARP.

But rates for long-term care insurance currently are u nisex, Mr. Slome said. That is, despite the difference in use of the benefits, a single, 65-year-old man living alone will pay the same rate as a single, 65-year-old woman living alone.

The long-term care association's report notes that the largest open claim, filed by a woman who has been receiving benefits under her policy for 15 years, had reached $1.7 million in benefits.

The report also noted that home care is becoming increasingly prevalent: last year, half of new claims filed were for home health care. New claims filed by women receiving home care represented about a third of all new claims last year.

Alzheimer's disease was the leading cause of filing claims for a nursing home or assisted living community, and cancer was the top cause for claims that began at home.

Although about a quarter of claims begin when the policyholder is age 70 to 79, most claims - nearly 66 percent - begin when the holder is 80 or older.

Have you considered buy ing long-term care insurance? Do you think it is more important to have it if you are a woman?

Navy Seal\'s Book Will Describe Raid That Killed Bin Laden

August 22, 2012, 12:53 pm

By JULIE BOSMAN

A detailed first-person account of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, written under a pseudonym by a Navy Seal who participated in the mission and was present at bin Laden's death, will be published next month, according to two publishing executives familiar with the deal.

The book, “No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama bin Laden,” which is scheduled to be released on Sept. 11, has been a tightly held secret at the publisher, Penguin. It promises to be one of the biggest books of the year, with the potential to affect the presidential election that will be held less than two months later.

The author's name will be listed as Mark Owen by Dutton, an imprint of Peng uin. The author, a former member of Seal Team Six, was one of the first men who entered the third floor of bin Laden's hideout and was present at his death.

A co-writer, Kevin Maurer, is the author of four books and was embedded with Special Forces in Afghanistan six times.

According to a description of the book, provided by a publishing executive, the author gives a “blow-by blow narrative of the assault, beginning with the helicopter crash that could have ended Owen's life straight through to the radio call confirming bin Laden's death, is an essential piece of modern history.”

The publishing executives familiar with the deal would not say to what extent the book was vetted by government agencies. The Obama administration has cited the killing of bin Laden as one of the president's signature achievements of his first term.

The author also recalls his childhood in Alaska, his grueling preparation to become a Seal an d other previously unreported Seal missions. He completed 13 combat deployments during since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2011, and retired within the last year.

The author was a “team leader” in the operation that resulted in the death of bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on May 2, 2011. For security reasons, he used a pseudonym and changed the names of other Seal members.

Bookstores were first given a few clues about the book last month. One independent bookstore owner said in July that she was told only that Dutton, an imprint of Penguin Group USA, had added a “big, major book” written by an anonymous author to its fall list.

Members of Dutton's sales staff were given a detailed description of the book during a conference call with Dutton executives on Wednesday. Christine Ball, a spokeswoman for Dutton, declined to comment.

The publisher is expecting a major bestseller, with a planned print run of 300,000 copies in hardcover, according to a p erson familiar with the plans.

Because the book is written under a pseudonym, the author will appear in disguise during television interviews to promote the book. At least one major network prime-time appearance has been planned, a person familiar with the plans said, and during interviews on television and radio, the author's voice will be altered.

Donations by Media Companies Tilt Heavily to Obama

August 22, 2012, 12:37 pm

By AMY CHOZICK

Wall Street may lean Republican this presidential election cycle, but the New York media world is staunchly Democratic.

All the major media companies, driven largely by their Hollywood film and television businesses, have made larger contributions to President Obama than to his rival, former Gov. Mitt Romney, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit, nonpartisan Washington-based research group that publishes the Open Secrets Web site.

The center's numbers represent donations by a company's PAC and any employees who listed that company as their employer.

Even companies whose news outlets are often perceived as having a conservative bias have given significantly more money to M r. Obama. Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, for example, has contributed $58,825 to Mr. Obama's campaign, compared with $2,750 to Mr. Romney. The conglomerate, which owns Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post and the 20th Century Fox studios, gave roughly the same amount to Mr. Romney's Republican primary competitors Rick Perry and Ron Paul as it did to Mr. Romney.

But the choice of Representative Paul Ryan, the conservative congressman from Wisconsin, to be Mr. Romney's running mate, might help win News Corporation dollars. Shortly after Mr. Romney's announcement, Mr. Murdoch took to Twitter: “Thank God! Now we might have a real election on the great issues of the day. Paul Ryan almost perfect choice.”

Mr. Murdoch has not been shy about expressing his criticism of Mr. Romney, including at a tense Journal editorial board meeting with the candidate that led the newspaper's opinion pages to characterize Mr. Romney as Consultant in Chief. The ann ouncement that Mr. Ryan would join the ticket came after The Journal's editorial page published a column titled “Why Not Paul Ryan?”

News Corporation has donated $504,162 to individuals, Super PACs and candidates in 2012, according to the Center for Responsive Politics's OpenSecrets Web site. Eight of the 10 top recipients of that cash are Democrats. (Mr. Murdoch's personal contributions largely favor Republicans, though his wife, Wendi Murdoch, has donated to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat from New York.)

In 2008, News Corporation contributed $380,558 to Mr. Obama's campaign, compared with $32,740 to the Republican nominee John McCain.

Other media companies have contributed more significantly to Mr. Obama, including Time Warner, owner of CNN and the magazine publishing house Time Inc. The company, which is based in New York and also owns Warner Brothers and HBO, has contributed $191,834 to Mr. Obama in the 2012 ele ction cycle, compared with $10,750 to Mr. Romney. The Walt Disney Company, owner of ABC and ESPN, donated $125,856 to Mr. Obama and $9,950 to Mr. Romney.

Philadelphia-based Comcast Corporation, owner of NBCUniversal and one of the biggest spenders in lobbying money in Washington, has given $206,056 to Mr. Obama and $20,500 to Mr. Romney.

Each of these media companies were among the roughly 150 organizations listed by the Center for Responsive Politics as “heavy hitters” that have given the most money. The New York Times Company was not among the center's “heavy hitters” and does not have a PAC; the newspaper discourages employees from contributing to political campaigns.

Despite the media money pouring in to his opponent, Mr. Romney and the Republican National Committee still have a significant cash advantage over Mr. Obama and the Democrats. According to a Federal Election Commission report released Monday, the GOP had $186 million on hand, compare d with $124 million for Democrats.

Amy Chozick is The Times's corporate media reporter. Follow @amychozick on Twitter.

The Breakfast Meeting: Kimmel, Fox and \'Call Me Maybe\' Make Waves

By THE EDITORS

This year's ubiquitous summer hit, “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Jepsen, signals a bigger change than just the weather for the media business, writes Ben Sisario. Even last year, the big hits were all produced by old-style music companies pushing for radio play but this year songs like “Call Me Maybe” and Gotye's “Somebody That I Used to Know” got their initial push through social media before ending up on Top 40 radio.

In Ms. Jepsen's case, a storm of YouTube tributes, including several by Olympic athletes and even one featuring President Obama that he even liked, propelled her song to summer hit status. We've gathered many of the best tribute clips here.

ABC is taking a big risk moving Jimmy Kimmel to 11:35 to take Jay Leno and David Letterman head-on, writes Bill Carter. The network is moving the most popular show in that slot, “Nightline,” in the belief that Mr. Kimmel can capture a younger audience than t he two aging lions of late night and that will result in bigger ad dollars. The last time a network tried that strategy? Oh yeah: it was NBC with Conan O'Brien.

On Monday night, Jay Leno took a shot at Comcast over cuts made to the staff of “The Tonight Show” and to Mr. Leno's own compensation. “As you may have heard, our parent company has downsized ‘The Tonight Show.' And we've consistently been No. 1 in the ratings. And if you know anything about our network, that kind of thing is frowned upon.”

When NBC executives met with Michael J. Fox over his proposed new show, they were surprised by how well he was able to keep the symptoms of his Parkinson's disease under control, writes Brian Stelter. On Monday, the network announced that it had won the bidding for Mr. Fox's new show and made an unusually strong commitment to 22 episodes in the first year. Mr. Fox, who already has two hit shows under his belt, “Family Ties” and “Spin City,” now takes a combination of drugs that he believes will allow him to maintain a rigorous filming schedule.

Yes, Virginia, there is branded entertainment. Macy's has decided to get into the high school musical business by developing a play based its “Yes, Virginia” animated TV special that schools can perform free. The giant retailer is even making grants of $1,000 for schools to perform the musical, underscoring just how important branded entertainment has become, especially for companies targeting younger consumers.

Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp has made a bid of about $300 million for the About group, the owner of About.com, that The New York Times Company put up for sale earlier this year. That offer trumps the bid of $270 million made by Answers.com, creating an unlikely competition for About.com, which has struggled in recent years.

Was that heavy breathing on an earnings call? Barnes & Noble announced a loss of $41 million, or 78 cents a share, for the last quarter in which sales of its popular Nook device were essentially flat. So what was working? Sales of the erotic trilogy “Fifty Shades of Grey” helped raise comparable store sales by 4.6 percent, a remarkable performance by any book without the words “Harry” and “Potter” in the title.

Finally, a coalition of interest groups is charging that companies including McDonald's and General Mills have violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act by enticing children hand over personal data without the seeking prior parental consent.

Wednesday Reading: When Your Child\'s Diet Changes Yours

By ANN CARRNS

A variety of consumer-focused articles appears daily in The New York Times and on our blogs. Each weekday morning, we gather them together here so you can quickly scan the news that could hit you in your wallet.