Walt Disney Co. brass apparently were furious that the world exclusive on the embargoed Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis book and tapes from her 8 1/2 hours of interviews with Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. ran first on NBC, not on ABC, which like the book’s publisher, Hyperion, is owned by Disney.
Hyperion said that it learned that NBC had obtained a copy of the book and audio set only on Friday after “NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams” aired its first report.
The book, “Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy” — based on recordings she made with Schlesinger in 1964 and kept secret until now — had an embargo date of today.
The audio first aired Friday on the Nightly News with excerpts of Jackie Kennedy’s putdowns of LBJ and Martin Luther King, Jr. NBC’s “Today Show” aired more excerpts on Monday and Tuesday morning.
Hyperion offered the gift-wrapped scoop to the New York Times for publication yesterday, but after NBC broke the embargo, it allowed the Times to run the story on Monday, a day ahead of schedule.
ABC still pressed ahead with its two-hour “exclusive” with Diane Sawyer last night at 9 p.m., which featured among other things a sit-down interview with Caroline Kennedy, who had written the foreword to the book, and longer excerpts from the audio tapes.
“Caroline Kennedy and her family granted ABC the exclusive rights to the audio,” said Marie Coolman, a spokeswoman for Hyperion. “We made NBC aware of the copyright, and we urged NBC to respect those copyrights.”
NBC apparently obtained the book via a bookstore owner who put it out for sale early. However, the network did limit its excerpts from the audio to what is commonly termed “fair use” excerpts.
Whatever angst Hyperion may feel for its sister division ABC, its irritation must have been eased by all the publicity, which propelled the high-priced ($60) book and audio set to the top of pre-publication best-seller lists.
Yesterday, prior to the Diane Sawyer special on ABC, the book ranked in the top five on Amazon and was No. 1 on Barnes & Noble’s list.
RDA options
The hedge funds that staged a dramatic coup of the Reader’s Digest Association board in April appear to have been burned in the recent turn of events that resulted in the third CEO in less than six months.
The handwriting was on the wall in August, when the company cancelled its Sept. 8 town hall meeting and installed an “operating committee” that reported directly to the board — bypassing now ousted CEO Tom Williams.
Hedge funds, including Point Lobo, Alden Capital and Luxor, didn’t realize that by seizing majority control and tossing out the board, they brought about a material change in ownership that triggered a default in RDA’s loans and accelerated vesting options for top executives.
One source said that the move led to $50 million in payouts and costs to renegotiate the loans at a time when the company badly needed cash flow. Yesterday, RDA said the $50 million figure was too high and that the cost was closer to the $11 million range.
The hedge funds succeeded in taking over the board and tossing out Chairman Fredric Reynolds by offering to pay up to $36 a share.
In stark contrast, the shares yesterday were listed at around $7 on private-share exchanges.
On Monday, RDA named board member and telecom exec Robert Guth as CEO to replace Williams, who held the job for just five months.
Hungry
Sam Sifton no longer has to hide. The man who has held the restaurant critic job at the New York Times yesterday was promoted to national editor by Executive Editor Jill Abramson.
Sifton held the job in an era when the once-sacred word of the food critic has been watered down by a flood of new competition, particularly on the Web, where review sites such as Yelp prevail.
There’s no word yet on who will take over, but even in its diminished state, it is still expected to be a sought-after position for foodies.
Former Gourmet Editor-in-Chief Ruth Reichl, who held the food critic job at the Times from 1993 to 1999, said, “I still think whoever has the seat, it is still worth a lot of money to New York restaurants.”
Niche
Author Mandi Norwood, a former top editor at Hearst’s Shop Etc. and earlier at Condé Nast’s now-defunct Mademoiselle, has been tapped to be the new editorial director of Niche Media. She’ll oversee editorial and creative for Niche’s 10 lifestyle magazines, including Gotham, Hamptons Magazine and LA Confidential.
Before she arrived in the US, she was an “editor of the year” in the UK, where she helmed the British edition of Cosmopolitan. She’s the author of “Sex and the Married Girl.”