Talk about reaching a captive audience. NBC Universal has signed a deal with the VST Media Network that will allow it to run three-minute clips--the average time it takes to fuel one's vehicle--at service-station pumps. Pumpers will see local news, weather, sports, and entertainment--both video and headlines--plus local advertising. State Farm Insurance and Tropicana are among the initial advertisers. A pilot program has already begun in Southern California. According to Broadcasting & Cable, each service station that is participating in the program has about 20,000 visitors per month. Shell is the first company to sign on to the program, but other gas retailers are expected to join in soon, according to NBC. Read the whole story...

Even though the New York Times recently dropped its own, tepid version of a regular gossip column, the current hoo-ha over former Page Six contributor Jared Paul Stern has forced the august Times to focus on the history and meaning of the New York Post's powerful column. In sum, says the Times, Page Six helps set the tone and agenda for the buzz that courses through New York City's arteries. Even though it's often wrong, perhaps "willfully" so, says the Times, Page Six is read by everybody who is everybody in fashion, media, the restaurant and real estate businesses, even finance. "Page Six certainly can't move markets or knock Wall Street for a loop," says the Times, "but in those New York industries where buzz matters... the right blurb can have a more profound impact than any number of deeply reported articles in more sober newspapers." Writer David Carr, who covers media for the paper, cites a number of VIP Manhattanites on the importance of Page Six. Hotelier Ian Schrager's observation was typical: "It is a little like the Good Housekeeping seal of approval. When I do hotels in cities that don't have gossip columns, like London or L.A., it is more difficult to market them. Page Six is a way of marketing by avoiding a tremendous advertising expense." Read the whole story...

A professor at the University of California at Berkeley says competitors to cable TV would result in lower bills for consumers. Says C|Net News: "Yale Braunstein, professor in the School of Information at Berkeley, analyzed data from the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the Federal Communications Commission and calculated that cable television subscription prices would drop 15 percent to 22 percent in California if cable companies competed directly with another wireline paid-TV provider, such as a telephone company." Braunstein's study was commissioned and funded by AT&T, which of course has a huge stake in the industry and is eager to begin delivering to-the-home content via its wirelines. Along with Verizon Communications, AT&T is positioning itself as a do-everything content deliverer. "Over the last five years, cable rate increases have far outpaced inflation and the Consumer Price Index," Braunstein said. "But when faced with competitive television providers, cable rates have actually gone down in many markets while services increase." Read the whole story...

Jonathan Thompson of the New Zealand Herald has a fascinating piece concerning the clear downside of high-definition television. Unless you've been blessed with the skin of Nicole Kidman, every wrinkle and blemish is caught and magnified by high-def, and that can be unpleasant for viewers. Ouch. "In the United States," writes Thompson, "previously unseen spots, blemishes and crow's feet are prompting outbreaks of fury and talk of legal action against commentators who have ridiculed celebrities over their looks. In Britain stars are scurrying for new makeup products and even surgical treatments to beat the intrusive lenses of high-definition cameras. 'For the last few weeks in our makeup department we've started experimenting with make-up for HDTV,'" says Kate Gerbeau, a BBC newsreader. "'One of the big things is we've been using an airbrush to apply the foundation, which looks like a dentist's drill. It's like being a canvas that's spray painted, but the idea is that it gives a natural, uniform look to the complexion of the presenters.'" Thompson says on-air personalities forced to perform in front of high-def cameras are asking that the cost of botox injections be added to their compensation. "They are doing so largely as a result of what has happened in the U.S. There," he says, "celebrities ranging from 'Desperate Housewives' actress Teri Hatcher to pop star Britney Spears have been slaughtered over their 'real' appearance." Read the whole story...

The New York Post says Michael Eisner, late of The Walt Disney Company, is trying to launch a private investment firm but is having trouble attracting participants. "Sources in the financial community have said Eisner is having a tough time getting investors, given that during his time at Disney he rarely kept investment banks on the payroll," reports Tim Arango in an "exclusive" story in yesterday's paper. The story also makes mention of other activities that have been keeping the post-Disney Eisner busy. He's got a brand-new talk show on CNBC, off to a decent start. And he's just invested an unknown amount of his own money in Veoh Network, a small Internet TV company. Time Warner is another investor in Veoh. Eisner, for his investment, has joined the board of the fledgling company. "Veoh is a community of publishers and consumers, where published content is approved by editors, and consumers are assured that they get what they request," Veoh said in a statement meant to explain its business model. Read the whole story...