Advertising companies WPP and Grey Global have agreed to extend by two months the amount of time to complete their $1.3 billion takeover deal a week after European regulators said the files on the transaction were incomplete.

Under new management and emerging from one of the highest-profile corporate scandals of the last half-century, Tyco International is launching its first corporate branding ad campaign in recent memory.

An overhaul of the Direct Marketing Association's staff -- part of an effort by its new president/CEO to refocus the organization's resources -- resulted in the elimination of three senior executives, the DMA said yesterday.

Firms team with 'The Apprentice' to place their goods center stage. Producer Mark Burnett says that fits the show's business theme.

The Universal Music Group, the global conglomerate that releases music by stars like U2 and Shania Twain, may soon have an answer for executives who complain that no cable channel on earth will play their latest music videos. The company is discussing the creation of a satellite TV music channel, according to executives involved in the matter.

The Super Bowl's sizzling even more than Janet Jackson at halftime. Shrugging off last year's nipplegate scandal, advertisers have already snapped up 75% of the ads in the must-see TV event, media execs said yesterday.

Charles Schwab, the troubled discount brokerage firm, is turning in an unexpected direction for marketing help in trying to reverse a series of setbacks that have led to lower profits, turmoil in the executive suite, branch closings and layoffs. Charles Schwab & Company is expected to announce today that it is naming the flagship New York office of Euro RSCG Worldwide, a division of Havas, to handle its national brand and retail advertising, with billings estimated at more than $100 million.

In the end, after all the mind-bendingly tough answers like Leif Ericson, Johannes Kepler, George III and Ecuador (the clue: "a Spanish dictionary defines it as 'Circulo maximo que equidista de los polos de la Tierra,' ") it was a plain old accounting firm that finally brought down Ken Jennings, the "Jeopardy!" champion, ending the longest winning streak in game show history.

On the evening of Oct. 14, a young Marine spokesman near Fallouja appeared on CNN and made a dramatic announcement. "Troops crossed the line of departure," 1st Lt. Lyle Gilbert declared, using a common military expression signaling the start of a major campaign. "It's going to be a long night." CNN, which had been alerted to expect a major news development, reported that the long-awaited offensive to retake the Iraqi city of Fallouja had begun.