Fox Broadcasting Co. closed out the 2003-04 television season Wednesday with a two-hour "American Idol" finale that crowned 19-year-old Fantasia Barrino as its latest made-for-TV pop star and ensured that Fox placed a competitive No. 2 in the key adults 18-49 demographic for the season.

More than 100 artworks from Charles Saatchi's famous collection have been destroyed in a warehouse fire.

The Chicago Tribune has selected DDB Worldwide of Chicago to handle its estimated $4 million advertising account, according to an executive close to the situation.

French advertising major Havas said on Wednesday it expected a sharp improvement in operating profitability this year and was also aiming for positive underlying revenue growth.

The first national no-call action filed by the Federal Trade Commission resulted from an ill-advised telemarketing call to an FTC commissioner, an agency official said yesterday during a session at the DMD New York Conference & Expo.

With two nights of ratings data left to be tallied, top brass at NBC and CBS claimed victory Tuesday for the 2003-04 television season and the May sweep.

The first private television channel in the Afghan capital of Kabul has begun airing programs. The channel, entitled Afghan Television Channel, was established with 200,000 US dollars commenced broadcasting on Friday, daily Hiwad reported, says a report of Xinhua.

A record year for political advertising has brought with it a hail of televised exaggerations, omissions and mischaracterizations that pollsters say seem to be leaving voters with mistaken impressions of Senator John Kerry and President Bush.

After less than a year, the relationship between Subway Restaurants and Fallon Worldwide in Minneapolis has reached the end of the line.

Two of the cable industry's biggest programming groups are expected to announce plans to launch new channels this week.