Ikea is conducting a review of its global media account, currently serviced by two WPP shops: Mediaedge:cia, which handles the business in the U.S., and MediaCom.

The company's estimated annual global ad budget is $300 million. Ikea spent $95 million in measured media in the U.S. alone last year, per Nielsen. Both incumbent shops have said they will pitch the consolidated global account and it is unclear how many other agencies will be competing. Read the whole story...

Sports and other live events are experimenting with 3-D programming, as several networks look forward to putting 3-D in homes. Kerner Software Technologies, for example, is part of a new 3-D TV network venture with AMG TV and hopes to be broadcasting 3-D part time by the end of 2009.

BSkyB had its first3-D telecast earlier this month, sending a Keane concert out from Abbey Road Studio to a few 3-D viewing venues and over the Web. Concerts and opera in 3-D are likely to become a regular attraction in theaters, but experts think that sports will be the "killer app" for 3-D TV in the home.

Indeed, 3-D sports tests are accelerating. In the U.S., 3ality Digital has worked with the National Football League and the NCAA to beam football games to theaters. ESPN has also tried 3-D with basketball, football and the X Games, though none of its tests have been seen publicly. Read the whole story...

ABC Entertainment Group President Stephen McPherson could be the programming executive under the most pressure to produce a breakout hit heading into next month's upfronts. McPherson's ABC trailed only CBS in total viewers back in 2006. But since then it has lost more viewers than any other network.

As a result, Disney insiders, talent agents, producers, media buyers and rival programmers say McPherson is "feeling the heat" to find a new hit. "ABC has struggled with scripted series and [with its lineup] on Friday and Saturday nights," says John Rash, Campbell Mithun director of media analysis.

Many in Hollywood say this is a make-or-break development season for McPherson. While his job may be secure, his reputation as a talented script doctor and series shaper is seen as clearly on the line. Read the whole story...

Jack Haire will take over as Parade CEO in July, after spending some 28 years at TimeWarner, including stints as publisher of Time magazine and as a top executive for several other magazines.

Haire admits he has a lot to learn about newspapers, but believes the weekend supplement is poised to come out of the current recession better than other publications. He seeks to position it as an attractive option to marketers who want a broad-based ad vehicle.

Haire is replacing Walter Anderson and notes that he brings a business-side view to Parade that is different from Anderson's background. "I am a marketing and advertising sales guy," he says. Haire declines to offer specific plans, but says he sees Parade doing more with other technologies that include not only the Internet, but growing mobile and electronic options: "There are some new technologies coming that allow a better bridge between offline media and online media. Parade will be a great place for some of them." Read the whole story...

Satellite-television provider DirecTV Group has agreed to pay $2.3 million and cable TV company Comcast will pay $900,000 for violating the federal "do not call" law. The companies were accused of having employees or telemarketers call consumers who specifically told the companies not to call them again.

A DirecTV telemarketer also agreed to pay a $115,000 penalty for making prerecorded sales calls to consumers who asked not to be called, violating a 2005 court order barring it from making such prerecorded calls. DirecTV paid $5.3 million under that 2005 order.

Last month, the FTC also filed a complaint against Dish Network and two of its telemarketers, alleging they called consumers whose phone numbers are on the National Do Not Call Registry, which began in 2003. Those cases are pending. Read the whole story...

John Madden, whose plainspoken, straightforward style set the standard for football analysts, is retiring after 30 years in the broadcast booth. Most recently, he appeared on NBC Sports' "Sunday Night Football."

Madden surprised NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol with the decision this week, and he declined Ebersol's efforts to persuade him to continue working part time. Cris Collingsworth will move from the pre-game "Football Night in America" show to the "Sunday Night Football" booth to replace Madden.

Madden is the only sports broadcaster to serve as the lead football analyst for each of the Big Four broadcast nets. He's earned 16 Sports Emmys as a sports analyst/personality. His last game was the Feb. 1 Super Bowl. Madden is well-known for his reluctance to fly, even in a job that requires frequent travel. He was famous for traveling to game sites in a custom-built RV; the strain of all of that travel may have contributed to his decision to retire. Read the whole story...