Maybe at 21 the MTV Video Music Awards are finally maturing. The music net can usually be counted on for at least one outrageous moment or two at the annual trophyfest -a la the Madonna-Britney kiss last year. But at the 21st annual VMAs last night - held in Miami for the first time - there was nary a scandalous body part on display and only one naughty word slipped through the show's first-ever tape delay.

Catching Blondie's reunion tour broadcast at 4 a.m. wasn't an option for XM satellite radio subscriber and single father Scott MacLean. So the 35-year- old computer programmer from Ottawa, Ontario, wrote a piece of software that let him record the show directly onto his PC hard drive while he snoozed.

After Sunday's closing ceremonies, the Olympics will be fini at NBC Universal until Torino, Italy, hosts the 2006 Winter Games. But why? If NBC can draw a "Friends"-sized audience 16 nights in a row, it would stand to reason that a digital cable channel could draw the fraction of that viewership necessary to please distributors and advertisers.

The advertising orgy that was the 2004 Summer Olympics has mercifully ended, and not a moment too soon for the bleary-eyed audiences exposed to 13,000 to 14,000 commercials during the 1,210 hours of coverage across the seven NBC Universal networks.

The Athens Games may set an unofficial Olympic record for empty seats in the stands, but vacancies have been less glaring in the world's Barcaloungers. The Games' global television audiences, eagerly tracked by the International Olympic Committee, broadcasters and advertisers, are still being tallied. But early snapshots suggest that viewership of the Athens Olympics will stack up favorably against that of the Sydney Games in 2000.

As the Republican convention begins in Madison Square Garden, the reality is somewhat different from what promoters imagined it would be when they laid their plans.

Corporate America will always have the budget to grab the prime ad spots. For small advertisers, that means buying smarter.

ABC has announced it is planning to launch a second digital television channel in March next year.

First, there were navigation systems using satellite guidance for cars. Then there was satellite radio. Now you can get satellite TV with 140 channels in your SUV, minivan or large sedan.

President Bush said yesterday that he would team with Senator John McCain to force a crackdown on independent groups that run political attack advertisements.