As first reported by our sister site TVSpy, veteran anchor Randy Meier is being brought in to WCBS/Channel 2 during the holiday week.

Meier spent three years (2003 - 2006) as an MSNBC daytime anchor.

He is filling in at WCBS as the station is undergoing a major anchor shuffle.

A WCBS spokesman says Meier is not joining WCBS, rather he is simply helping out for a few days while they are shorthanded.   

Earlier this month, Chris Wragge left Channel 2 and his evening anchor duties, for The Early Show. His replacement, Maurice DuBois moves to nights from mornings, while weekend a.m. anchor Rob Morrison gets the weekday dawn patrol.

Both were expected to start on January 3, but likely due to the extended blizzard coverage, were already seen in their new roles.

Update: FishbowlNY has learned that Meier’s first WCBS shift is tonight at 5 p.m.

John Koblin of WWD has a report today that iPad magazines from popular titles like GQ, Wired, Glamour, and Vanity Fair are hitting a rough patch. In November GQ posted its worst month since the iPad came out (selling only 11,000 times), Wired sold almost 10,000 times less than its debut month, Glamour’s iPad sales dropped 40 percent, and Vanity Fair sales dropped to 8,700, down from its average of about 10,500.

There is hope, however, as Koblin points out that the magazines might get a boost in sales from people getting gadgets for the holidays. Here’s hoping people will be nice, and not naughty to the mags.

WLTW/Lite-FM, the perennial number one in the monthly Arbitron ratings, maintained the top spot for December. Officially, though, the latest figures emcompass November 11 through December 8.  

Lite-FM began their month long Christmas music format at Thanksgiving. The holiday tunes gave WLTW, which fell into a tie with WCBS-FM the previous month, a surge to 8.4 ( 2.7 ahead of CBS-FM).

Otherwise, it is pretty much status quo.

WHTZ/Z100 kept number three, slipping slightly to a 4.6.

Also, Clear Channel-owned WKTU made a narrow gain to 4.5.

‘Tis was not the season for all-news stations. WCBS-AM and WINS took big hits. WINS lost .5 to a 3.1. WCBS also ended up with a 3.1, dropping off 1.2 to get there.  

A look at the rest of the Top 10 after the jump. 

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As we reported last week, veteran radio talker Sid Rosenberg is joining 1010 WINS as morning sports anchor. The one-year deal starts Monday.

Rosenberg, known for having strong opinions and making controversial comments on WFAN (especially with Don Imus), may not have been the first choice for many to get the WINS gig.

“What people have to understand is, I have not given up on my radio talk show….That hasn’t changed,” Rosenberg tells FishbowlNY. ”But given the opportunity on top of that to get my voice on one of the most listened to stations in the country…it was a no brainer for me.” 

A polarizing radio figure, Rosenberg says on WINS he’ll find a way to inject his personality into the sportscast.

“It’s going to have a lot of New York flavor, obviously,” Rosenberg, a Brooklyn native, joked. “Just my accent alone gives you that. Certainly, it’s going to be energetic and it’s going to be enthusiastic, and there will be audio every now and then that will make you chuckle.”

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• SportsNewser: Sports Illustrated selects Mike Pereira as its Media Person of The Year. Pereira says of the award, “It’s good.”
• FishbowlLA: An LA Times reporter knew about Natalie Portman being pregnant before Natalie Portman did.
• GalleyCat: Is literary talent hereditary? Ask yo momma.

Reader’s Digest Association (RDA) has launched a new brand platform that focuses on holistic health called Best You. Peggy Northrop will lead the venture, which targets women 35 and over and features a book imprint, a website, a daily e-newsletter, and digital publications. Lucia Moses at AdWeek says Best You is a direct reaction to the struggles of Reader’s Digest:

The brand also represents RDA’s efforts to shift its emphasis away from its flagship, Reader’s Digest, which has struggled to define itself at a time when general interest publications are on the wane. RDA emerged from a prepackaged bankruptcy earlier this year and has cut the frequency and circulation of Reader’s Digest to reduce expenses.

The good news for Reader’s Digest is that the magazine will never die completely, because every old person in the nation owns at least 27 years worth of issues.

Nearly every New York TV station (with the except of FiOS 1 and PBS-owned WNET/Channel 13) went live just after 11:30 this morning for an update from Mayor Bloomberg on the snowstorm aftermath.

WPIX, which did cover Bloomberg’s opening remarks, was the first to leave the press conference as soon as the ”Q and A” portion started. Channel 11 returned for the final seven minutes of Jerry Springer.

WWOR took the feed of sister station WNYW.

Good Day anchor Greg Kelly and Tia Hernandez briefly wrapped up their coverage.

Kelly opined, “It’s a tough job, and it comes with the territory, Mayor Bloomberg. People want their snow out of there. You knew that getting into it.”

As Bloomberg’s news conference ended, WCBS and WABC began their noon newscasts. Channel 2 had the new morning (and noon tandem) of Rob Morrison and Mary Calvi.

Over on Channel 7, Ken Rosato anchored with Michelle Charlesworth, in for vacationing Lori Stokes. WABC chose to stay on the air for an additional eight minutes.

WNBC, not usually on with a newscast at noon, yanked The Rundown and Daily Connection, in favor of special snow cleanup coverage.

Rob Tannenbaum of The Village Voice has proclaimed that the Music Critic of the Year is an anonymous Twitter account titled @Discographies. The account posts snarky album reviews, and with over 20,000 followers, seems to be pretty popular. Tannenbaum interviews the person behind the account, who at times takes himself and his account a little too seriously. At one point the @Discographies writer suggests that Twitter is some kind of revoluionary communication tool:

Twitter may be the first mass communications system that also functions as a meritocracy: it actively promotes good ideas and good content, regardless of where they come from.

We just checked Twitter. A few of the top trending topics right now are “Teena Marie,” “Maury,” and a sponsored one for Cartoon Network. Never let it be said that FishbowlNY isn’t a Maury fan, but we find it hard to believe that discussing baby mama drama is “good content.” The majority of the interview however, finds the user behind @Discographies being funny and entertaining.

There are sure to be plenty of people who think picking an anonymous Twitter account as a Music Critic of the Year is wrong, but we side with Tannenbaum on his decision. Music criticism is an extremely subjective thing, so when selecting who did it best, why not pick someone who broadcasts his opinion to everybody and nobody, and is everyone and no one at the same time?

According to a poll conducted by The Daily Mail, even the British don’t want Rupert Murdoch having too big a say in their media. Murdoch’s News Corporation is attempting to buy the remaining 61 percent of UK broadcaster BSkyB that it doesn’t already own. The poll found that 84 percent of those polled opposed any single entity having too much control over the media, and 63 percent said that News Corp’s purchase should be subject to an additional independent review before being approved.

Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt has until January 15th to examine the government’s review of the takeover. If he is uneasy about the deal, he could submit it to their Competition Commission and ask them if the deal would result in a biased media presence in the UK.

The answer is yes.