New York Daily News, February 8, 2005 NBC shook up the ranks at CNBC yesterday, kicking up embattled CNBC chief Pamela Thomas-Graham to a new chairman's post, while bringing in a seasoned TV exec to run the business news network. Mark Hoffman, 47, an NBC veteran who most recently led NBC's TV station in Connecticut to big ratings and revenue gains, was named president of CNBC.

Mediaweek, February 7, 2005 The football game was very good, if not great. The runup was entertaining,if uneventful. The halftime show was superb musically, but perhaps boring to those who prefer Hip-Hop and Britneyesque girations to the stylings of Sir Paul. The ads were mostly ho-hum, but safe. The ratings were huge, but far from record breaking.

The New York Times, February 8, 2005 Rik Kirkland, managing editor of Fortune magazine, announced yesterday that he would step down on April 1, saying he was tired of the management part of his job and wanted to go back to writing.

The New York Times, February 8, 2005 Just how contentious was the tug of war over the contents of Super Bowl commercials? During the game on Sunday, Fox made the highly unusual decision to withdraw a spot that was to have run in the fourth quarter after it appeared in the first quarter.

Ephron on Media, February 4, 2005 "If the law supposes that," said beadle Bumble in Oliver Twist, "the law is an ass." I don't recall the reason for Bumble's rage, but I recall the feeling. Close to one hundred of us shared it at a Special Meeting of the ARF. The subject was "The Accountability of Audience Measurement." The subtext was "that monopoly called Nielsen."

USA Today, February 7, 2005 Even in a year when Anheuser-Busch consciously avoided airing crude Super Bowl commercials, the beer giant bested the field, again, with one of its most potent advertising weapons: a silly sight gag.

The New York Times, February 7, 2005 It is not uncommon for large corporations to buy full-page newspaper ads to defend their reputations. For individuals to do so is rare, and for someone to do it in defense of a movie is practically unheard of. Yet that is just what Rob Schneider, the star of "Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo," did last Thursday when, in full-page ads in Daily Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, he responded to a front-page article in The Los Angeles Times written by Patrick Goldstein.

The New York Times, February 7, 2005 It may be hard to say, and harder to believe, but Madison Avenue could owe Janet Jackson a big thank-you. The commercials that were broadcast on Fox last night during Super Bowl XXXIX were, in general, markedly better than typical spots from the last few Super Bowls - though there were some stinkers. And the reason for that improvement could well be Ms. Jackson's breast-baring during the halftime show last year.

Adweek, February 3, 2005 Interpublic Group's Initiative Worldwide said it tapped Mike Tunnicliffe for the newly created position of North American chief strategic officer.

USA Today, February 4, 2005 When it comes to TiVo, it's hard to tell whether the hard drive is half empty or half full. Investors are growing skeptical about the digital video recorder (DVR) pioneer. They see cable operators rolling out low-priced DVR services. TiVo's relationship with DirecTV - which accounts for about 61% of TiVo's roughly 3 million subscriptions - is in doubt now that the No. 1 satellite company is introducing receivers for its own DVR service.