A Senate committee has moved a bit closer to letting the Food and Drug Administration ban outright any direct-to-consumer drug advertising for a product's first two years on the market. Democrats on the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee beat back a Republican move to strip the ban from a law reauthorizing fees for the review of new drugs. The legislation is apt to get a full floor vote in June but the GOP -- much larger recipients of pharmaceutical industry campaign cash promises a fight.

The legislation is co-sponsored by Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., the committee's chairman, and Michael Enzi, R-Wyoming. Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kansas) wants to drop the ban, but give the FDA new powers to fine advertisers for "false" or "misleading" drug advertising.

Until the Democrats took control of the Senate after the last elections, Roberts was chairman of the Intelligence Committee and an ardent supporter of the Bush Administration's warrantless domestic spying program. He was also one of only nine Senators to vote against an amendment banning the "cruel, inhuman" treatment of prisoners in U.S. custody. Read the whole story...

Following a month of talks, the future for NBC crime dramas "Law & Order" and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," remains unsolved. Following rumors about the cancellation of the original series, a meeting between reps for creator Dick Wolf and the network moved it back into "undecided" status. Negotiations between the two are apt to stretch into next month before any decisions are made.

"Law & Order: SVU," meanwhile, has already been renewed. "Talks have been taking place and continue to take place about the future of both "Law & Order" and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," " Wolf says. "I think the discussions have reached a productive stage, and it's my finest hope that we will find a way to have both shows picked up. I feel that creatively they are remarkably strong.

"L&O," in its 17th season, and "L&O: CI," in its sixth, are expensive to produce, with ensemble casts and New York-based production. And while their ratings are steady, they have fallen from their higher levels of several years ago. Read the whole story...

TV commercials are always easy to make and can be might expensive, especially for small businesses. But a couple of startups are making it cheaper and more efficient for companies that don't have a lot of cash to throw around. One company in this burgeoning market is Spot Runner, which has the backing of firms like Interpublic, WPP and CBS, all of which have invested in it.

A more recent entry is Amsterdam-based Spotzer. Both have libraries of pre-produced commercials available for customization and will also help clients with media buying and planning. Andrew Klein, founder of Spotzer, has a financial-services background and thinks the ad-buying process is much like the brokerage business; it needs to be treated more like a commodity.

"There are enormous similarities between financial services and media," Klein says. "Media is becoming commoditized in a way that media companies don't like to recognize. But the ad-buying business should become more about electronic connectivity and brokering." Read the whole story...

Amp'd Mobile has three San Francisco-area ad agencies participating in a review of its $65 million account. Insiders say contenders are Omnicom's Cutwater, Publicis & Hal Riney and independent Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners. The agencies and search consultancy Select Resources decline comment, but final presentations are slated for mid-May, with a decision by the end of the month.

Incumbent Taxi is not involved in the review. Amp'd aims at 15-34-year-old mobile-phone subscribers who like features such as TV service, video on demand and Web browsing on their phones. Last month, the company said it will use Third Screen Media's software to deliver ads within its video.

An RFP values the business at $65 million, although Amp'd spent $35 million in media last year, according to TNS Media Intelligence. Read the whole story...