Local television broadcasters may not have the windfall of political year advertising revenues in 2004 they have become so dependent upon to offset their increasingly uncertain and vulnerable financial base.

Drug companies are escalating the advertising race in one of the industry's hottest categories: cholesterol-lowering drugs.

Gary Ruskin is writing as fast as he can. His mission: To stop advertisers from commandeering every last nook and cranny of American culture.

Through Sunday afternoon, box-office estimates of $21.5 million in ticket sales placed "Seabiscuit" in the top 5 for its opening weekend. But the question is whether "Seabiscuit" will live up to its carefully calibrated $35 million marketing plan, which was created not for an opening-weekend throng, but for a steady stream of moviegoers in the coming weeks.

Forget the anti-U.S. rhetoric and product boycotts during the Iraq war; American brands are strong and getting stronger.

Microsoft Corp. said on Thursday that it will introduce a new version of its software for managing customer information, contacts and communication that will include language support for European customers and also expand its licensing for the software.

National advertising spending is on the rebound, but is that enough to lift media companies' stocks when they report second-quarter earnings?

Some see the national ad campaign as a way to educate the public about a little-known condition; others said Eli Lilly is trying to convince members of the public that they have the disorder to increase demand for its new medication.

"You can cruise for women; we'll cruise for men," quips Carson Kressley, the flamboyant fashion consultant on cable television channel Bravo's new smash hit, "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," to his straight companion.

The advertising forecasts by the nation's big newspaper chains for the rest of the year have often been as cautious as a kiddie ride at an amusement park.