• 65% of banks increased basic salaries for workers in the wake of the financial crisis
• 88% cut back on bonuses – which had been vilified more than anything else source

• 2.4% of print newspaper subscribers are willing to pay money to get their traditional journalism online
• anything the amount they can charge; those who pay are willing to pay whatever source

The winners

• viewers After losing five months of first-run dramas on NBC (who had perhaps some of the best ones on TV for a long time), they’re coming back. That’s good.
• Leno Ten to one, Jay Leno is getting his old time slot back – and probably his audience. Considering he was supposed to be retired by now, this rules for him.
• cable This flub-up by a major network helped other major networks – as well as cable networks like TBS, A&E and TNT – gain ground and mindshare.

The losers

• Conan The “Tonight Show” host is probably the biggest loser of all – losing his hard-fought-for perch thanks to corporate manhandling. If we were him, we’d walk.
• Carson Ten-to-one, the “Last Call” host is going to lose his time slot thanks to this. We know the guy’s a tool and always has been, but come on! That isn’t freaking fair!
• NBC It’s going to take a long time for the network to fix the wrongs of what they’ve done to their viewers and the creative community. They screwed up. Badly.

• For us right now, instead of trying to reinvent, going back to basics is probably the smartest play.
• NBC Universal Television Chairman Jeff Gaspin • Regarding the changes to the network’s late-night schedule (which, by the way, he confirmed), but in a broader sense, the entire network. NBC has spent the last few years trying to shake up its business model – getting rid of the traditional television upfront, working on innovative advertising deals and coming up with ways to save costs that turn the traditional network television model on its head. “The Jay Leno Show” was really the crux of a long period of corporate thinking. Gaspin’s basically admitting the whole idea was a failure. Wow. source

• 17.7% increase in Chinese exports in December – giving China a leg-up on the Germans
• 13.9% decrease in overall imports and exports in 2009; so it’s not all massive growth for China source

• -85k number of jobs that were lost in December
• 10% level of unemployment – it’s staying steady
• +4k number of jobs ADDED in November (?!?!) source

• $75 average cost of digital cable for subscribers each month
• 5% average increase in cable prices each painful, depressing year
• $95 the expected average cost of digital cable in five years; blech source

• Berkshire Hathaway owns 9.4% of Kraft’s stock, so they should take heed. Kraft has been in unhealthy pursuit of the candy company for months, and just sweetened the deal again to convince them to go for it. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, however, warned Kraft they wouldn’t be voting for the purchase, calling it a “blank check” and saying Kraft’s stock is too valuable for a purchase like this. Too Velveeta-like in texture. source