Every day, Wal-Mart touches more consumers than a typical country's census bureau counts in a year. Small wonder the world's largest retailer is looking to significantly expand the in-store television network that's presently available in 2,600 locations. This includes new equipment, new programming, and the installation of 42-in. LCD TV monitors throughout the store. Already, the Wal-Mart TV captures approximately 130 million viewers every four weeks, placing it in the top five TV networks in the U.S. Not surprisingly, major advertisers such as PepsiCo are already on board. Many more (at least, according to Wal-Mart) are signing up.

The trade organization for the liquor industry is for the first time offering the public a look behind the scenes at how it handles complaints about advertising, like the one for a vodka that declared, "Remember: Tonight is only a success if it ends with breakfast."

A wise man said "If you can measure a thing, you can begin to manage it." That's probably why the 4A's stopped its clutter-watch report. Agencies can't manage it, so why try to measure it? Clutter is always the other guy's commercial.

Wars begin and end, presidents come and go, but only a handful of men and women have been welcomed into America's living rooms during that half-hour to tell the nation what is going on in the world. Some of those anchors, such as Walter Cronkite and the team of Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, became legends -- trusted voices trying to make sense of ever-changing American life. Even presidents stopped and watched: Lyndon Johnson would not hesitate to call the CBS newsroom to scream at Cronkite during commercial breaks. The men who followed Cronkite during the early 1980s -- …

WPP Group completed its purchase of Grey Global Group yesterday, according to company. The closing marks the end of independence for Madison Avenue's last remaining big independent.

Mark Burnett Productions is suing the entertainment marketing firm credited with bringing Procter & Gamble's Crest, Levi's and Mars to The Apprentice for alleged double-dealing and charging up to two and a half times Burnett's fees for securing the product placements.

Sony Corp. broke with convention and picked the Welsh-born head of its U.S. operations to replace Chairman and Chief Executive Nobuyuki Idei, marking the first time the Japanese electronics giant has named a foreigner to the top job.

Michael I. Roth, the new chief executive of Interpublic, the agency company, has not written advertisements, managed accounts, supervised the production of commercials or schmoozed with chief marketing officers at cocktail parties. Indeed, Mr. Roth, 59, has never been an advertising executive, although before being named chief executive on Jan. 19 he had served on the Interpublic board since 2002 and as chairman since July.

Sidney Frank, the liquor baron who recently sold Grey Goose vodka to Bacardi for $2 billion, was just back from Hawaii, where he had bought a house - his sixth - for $12.5 million. "I am on a quest for the best," he said by telephone from another of his homes in Southern California. He said that his search applied both to his personal life and his decision to start a new luxury magazine. "I want a magazine for my lifestyle and other lifestyles like mine."

Having already helped Barbie go Hollywood with a series of direct-to-video DVDs, her own American Idol line and a posse of celebrity friends, Mattel is now hoping to do the same for its Hot Wheels brand, targeting young boys.