Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., the world's fifth-largest media company, will likely say quarterly profit rose about 8 percent, in part from higher advertising sales at cable-television networks such as Fox News Channel.

The "secret weapon" of the Omnicom Group, Peter Arnell, has done it again. His Arnell Group has landed an important project from a company that regularly works with an Omnicom competitor. The Arnell Group, based in New York, planned to announce today that it is being awarded a global assignment from Electrolux, the world's biggest maker of home and outdoor appliances, which uses as its global agency of record Lowe & Partners Worldwide, part of the Interpublic Group of Companies.

CBS has ordered 12 episodes of the crime drama "Numbers," starring David Krumholtz and Rob Morrow. Separately, CBS confirmed it would yank its struggling freshman drama "Dr. Vegas," starring Rob Lowe, from its Friday schedule, at least for the November sweep (Nov. 4-Dec. 1).

WPP Group's J. Walter Thompson today said it has named Ty Montague executive vice president and chief creative officer and co-president of its New York office, a move that is meant to infuse the old-line agency with a jolt of nontraditional marketing energy.

Conrad Black stepped down Tuesday morning from his position as chairman and CEO of media holding company Hollinger Inc. The move was expected, as Black announced late last week that he would resign as part of his plan to have another holding company under his control, Ravelston Limited, take Hollinger Inc. private.

Today, after spending $600 million this year to market their candidates, the supporters of President Bush and Senator John Kerry wait to see which side will close the sale.

Time Warner Inc., the world's largest media company, probably will report a 26 percent increase in third- quarter net income, helped by a rebound in Web-advertising sales at its America Online unit.

A little over a month after G+J USA Publishing closed YM and sold its assets to Condé Nast, the status of its management team is finally being addressed. Joan Sheridan, YM's former publisher, who moved over after G+J shuttered Rosie, left the company last week. Linda Fears, the former No. 2 at Parents who moved over to YM to revamp the teen title after Christina Kelly's resignation, is said to now be developing yet another young women's magazine at G+J, according to sources familiar with the situation.

Think of it as a David-and-Goliath battle with a dance pop sound track and a 37-cent stamp. When the behemoth U.S. Postal Service found out that a young rock band had named itself "Postal Service," executives weren't happy. They sent a cease-and-desist letter to the band's label, Seattle-based independent Sub Pop Records. But what began as an argument over name rights turned into the mail-delivering institution's first cross-promotional music deal.

At the start of the 2003-04 fall season, the question the networks wanted answered was: "Where did all the young male viewers go in prime time?" Four weeks into this new fall season, the question is: "Where did all the female daytime viewers go?"