48 HR Magazine Responds To CBS
The aptly-named 48 HR magazine, which was created by a team of contributors over the course of one weekend, received a cease-and-desist letter from CBS, who thought the name was just too gosh darn similar to their “48 Hours” series, utter lack of vowels notwithstanding.
One of 48 HR‘s founders, Mat Honan, in the grand tradition of both Scott “I’M A DIRECTOR!” Baio and Courtney “???” Love, took to Twitter to express his displeasure, as well as to warn that, if CBS gets its way as it seems it will, the future of 48 HR will remain uncertain:
Honan told Business Insider that, the very day he posted the Tweet, he received notice from CBS demanding the following: that CBS be permitted to vet the magazine’s new name (60 MNTS was far too ambitious anyway, and Andy Rooney Growls From A Bunker was deemed off-putting) and that the network be granted ownership of the magazine’s existing URL, 48hrmag.com.
Honan called CBS’ conditions “unreasonable,” adding: “I don’t feel like they’re negotiating, I feel like they’re demanding.”
