AT&T's foray into cable TV is back on track after a resolution of technical glitches with the help of network software upgrades. Over the last few weeks, AT&T has resumed direct mailing and distribution of promotional "door hangers" for its new U-verse television service, the first marketing since efforts were suspended in October.

AT&T is also introducing U-verse in parts of Milwaukee and Racine, Wis., immediately, followed by the Dallas-Fort Worth and Kansas City markets in March. The four launches will bringing the total to 15 markets and are the first since nine cities were added at the end of December.

U-verse is delivered over a high-speed Internet connection and is key to AT&T's strategy of fending off cable companies that now sell telephone services. It hopes to win customers with next-generation features that merge TV sets, cell phones and computers. Read the whole story...

Global finance firm CIT Group has launched a new ad effort taglined "Capital redefined." The campaign, which focuses on the power of relationships and customized solutions, rolled out with an ad in Barron's and a three-page spread in The Wall Street Journal. Print is also running in Fortune and Business 2.0.

Radio and TV are also on the way, along with event marketing -- including a ball aboard the QE2 in May. In addition, CIT has formed what it calls "a unique partnership" with Conde Nast Publications called "Behind the Business." Beginning in April, it will include print ads in Golf Digest, The New Yorker, Wired and Portfolio, a Conde Nast business publication that launches that month. Read the whole story...

If satellite radio companies Sirius and XM do merge, the combined entity would have almost 3.5% of all radio listening, according to an analysis of Arbitron fall 2006 survey data. The search is the first time the satellite radio audience has been quantified, compared to the total radio audience.

About 5.6% of survey respondents mentioned listening to satellite and the highest audience share captured by a single channel was 0.2%. The average satellite channel had a .009 listening share. But in a bit of good news for terrestrial broadcasters, satellite radio listeners are heavy listeners of all radio and actually spend more time with terrestrial radio than satellite or Internet radio.

Satellite radio listeners spend 14 hours with AM/FM, 10 hours and 45 minutes with satellite radio and 8 hours and 15 minutes with Internet radio. The survey was the first in which Arbitron added instructions in the diary asking respondents to indicate their listening to satellite and Internet radio, in addition to traditional AM and FM radio. Read the whole story...

NBC is nearing a deal with former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham for a reality show, according to insiders. The program would key off her move to America with her husband, soccer star David Beckham, soon to be playing for the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer.

The pending agreement was brokered by Simon Fuller, who managed the Spice Girls, handled David Beckham's new soccer contract, and is behind "American Idol," the hit show on Fox. "The Americans were falling over themselves to sign Victoria up for a TV show, but we had to choose the right deal for her," Fuller was quoted as saying in a British paper.

"NBC won out in the end, as they have really taken a shine to Vic's hilarious sense of humor, and they want to capitalise on this." An NBC spokesperson declines comment. Read the whole story...

Encouraged by data showing recent sales gains for Miller High Life beer, Miller Brewing Co. is rolling out a new round of ads that tout the long-moribund brand's blue-collar ties. Miller launched a "Take Back the High Life" campaign in November 2006 in core markets, including Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Minnesota and Michigan. "We're continuing to evolve the campaign," says Pete Marino, spokesman for Milwaukee-based Miller.

The new ads, currently being shot, will launch in April and again be limited to the Midwest. There are no plans to take the campaign nationwide. A burly High Life delivery man will again feature in the spots along with the tagline, "a good honest beer at a tasty price." In the initial ads for the campaign, the delivery man forcibly removes High Life from a trendy bistro, a high-end grocery store and an upscale nightclub.

The spots, produced by Miami ad agency Crispin Porter & Bogusky, return the beer to places "where the high life still exists," such as corner pubs, says Marino. In the 13 weeks leading up to the launch, sales of High Life in the Midwest market declined 8%, but since mid-December, they have risen about 0.5%. Read the whole story...