News Corp., which already owns the New York Post, has broadened its presence in the city by acquiring two newspaper groups with 28 weekly papers serving Queens and Brooklyn. With the move, the company now increases its reach to boroughs outside Manhattan and the minority populations that have been strongholds of its main competitor, the Daily News. While the price of the acquisition was not revealed, a source says News Corp. paid $16 million for the TimesLedger and Courier-Life newspaper groups. TimesLedger publishes 16 weekly newspapers in Queens with a total circulation of 50,000. Courier-Life publishes 11 Brooklyn newspapers with a total circulation of 90,000. Courier-Life also publishes Caribbean Life, which has a circulation of 105,000 across the five boroughs and Westchester and Nassau counties. The sale will not affect the editorial staff of the acquisitions or change their content. Read the whole story...

Cablevision Systems has inked a deal with NBC that will allow it to sell on-demand versions of "The Office," "Law & Order" and other series for 95 cents each. Beginning immediately, Cablevision's iO: Interactive Optimum customers will be able to download "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," and "The Office" the day after they premiere on the Peacock Network. The fee gives subscribers access to each program for 24 hours. Plus, beginning next month, episodes of "Friday Night Lights" will be added to the lineup, along with "Las Vegas." There won't be any commercials during the VOD programs, although each has a brief NBC promo. Read the whole story...

Viewers can expect kinder, gentler political ads in coming months, according to David Axelrod and Mark McKinnon, media advisers and strategists for the Democrats and Republicans, respectively. Coming into this year's midterm elections and the 2008 presidential contest, the two expect voters to notice fewer negative ads from official campaigns. "[Voters] are very cynical about political advertising," says McKinnon. "They don't believe in political advertising, so that's a very tough filter that we have to break through." And "people don't want a lot of spin on the ball," says Axelrod--instead preferring simple and direct messages. Also, despite increased use of the Internet to get "viral buzz" for their spots, along with longer-form messages and quick responses to an opponent's latest ad, McKinnon does not see a spending shift away from TV. Of the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on campaigns now, he says 75 percent to 80 percent of the media budgets are still going toward broadcast and cable spots. Read the whole story...

Oprah Winfrey's new channel on XM Satellite Radio is looking good to the U.S. advertising community. XM and Oprah's Harpo Radio say that 13 "high-profile" advertisers have signed on with "Oprah and Friends," a 24-hour talk channel that debuted on XM Monday. The advertisers include Jenny Craig, Honda, and Target. "In terms of ad sales, this is XM's most successful channel launch ever," says XM vp D. Scott Karnedy. "Not only are clients investing millions of dollars to be a part of "Oprah & Friends," but most of them are advertising on XM for the very first time." Read the whole story...

The government of Kazakhstan has launched an ad campaign to salvage its country's image after being made a laughing-stock by Borat, the alter ego of comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. A four-page color ad supplement has appeared in The New York Times that paints the Central Asian nation as an industrialized, outward-looking place with a stable economy and thriving tourist industry. And that's a far cry from the anti-Semitic, "horse-urine drinking, incestuous people" that faux journalist Borat has brought to TV--and soon, to the big screen in "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan." Of course, Cohen has done anything but "make benefit" for the country, and the government is furious that it is the target of his ridicule. Despite threats of legal action (Borat's response is: "I have no connection with Mr. Cohen and fully support this government's decision to sue this Jew"), the Kazakh government is trying to counter Borat's image of a prostitute-ridden country, with a $50 million tribal epic called "Nomad." Read the whole story...