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Sumner and Rupert: Just about the last two media moguls who are readily identifiable by their first names. The LAT looks at how and why the two old guys keep on ticking. "I am Viacom," Redstone tells the paper in an interview. Murdoch wasn't available. There's also a sidebar about their two much younger wives and how they "can be revitalizing for aging lions." Well, that's one way of putting it.
Selling the state: Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero is pushing the governor to sign legislation that would develop a strategy to attract more foreign investment and trade. During the budget crisis three years ago, a dozen trade offices around the world were shut down. The value of those offices was not always clear, but it's generally agreed that the state could do a much better job of marketing itself.
Wages lag: L.A. County might have a comparatively low unemployment rate, but its wages lag those of other areas in California. A report by the nonpartisan California Budget Project notes that the typical L.A. worker makes 83 cents for every dollar earned by the typical worker in the rest of the state. The explanations, as always, center on the county's heavy immigrant population and the low education levels of many residents.
Spinach update: Health officials are having a tough time pinpointing the source of the E. coli outbreak, which means that fresh spinach - both packaged and loose - will remain off store shelves. The packaging process apparently is very complicated. Growers in the Salinas Valley worry that their entire crop may have to be destroyed.
YouTube deal: Remember the CEO of Universal Music griping last week that YouTube was violating copyright laws by hosting music content without permission? Well, the video site has signed its first commercial partnership - with Warner Music Group. The agreement takes effect at the end of the year and will mean that Warner artists will be popping up all over YouTube. No word on Universal signing a similar deal.
Path to criticism: The NYT examines how ABC found itself shelling out $30 million on the controversial "Path to 9/11" without advertisers helping defray the costs. As recently as July, the Disney-owned network had hoped to find one or two major sponsors but no one ponied up. Wonder why.
Shrine rights: The group that runs the storied Shrine Auditorium is looking for a corporate sponsor that would purchase the naming rights, according to the L.A. Business Journal. Asking price: anywhere from $2.5 million to $4 million. I believe this is through subscription only, but here's the link. There's also an AP rewrite.
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted
until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.