Madison Avenue's going for game shows, and quiz shows too, not to mention talent shows. To attract attention amid the commercial clutter, a growing number of advertisements appearing on television are borrowing creative elements from famous TV shows of the past. There are spoofs of vintage game shows, salutes to successful quiz-show contestants, fast-talking announcers delivering prize pitches and characters who impersonate the judges on "American Idol."

Although the broadcast networks publicly play down the impact of ad-skipping technologies, it was clear from a panel at last week's National Cable & Telecommunications Association conference that TV moguls see the spread of digital video recorders as a serious threat to their ad base.

The Los Angeles Times, owned by media company Tribune Co. said on Monday it would spend more than $10 million this year on marketing campaigns to boost its declining circulation. The fourth-largest U.S. daily newspaper said it launched a $2.5 million ad campaign late last month and would spend $8 million on database/direct marketing efforts to attract new readers. It said ads will run on radio, TV, in the newspaper and over the Internet.

Microsoft Corp. Monday said it would unveil the next generation of its Xbox video game console in a May 12 special on cable music and entertainment channel MTV.

The average level of television consumption increased on nearly every continent last year, but a new study has found that Japanese viewers watch more TV than anybody. The newly released report from Eurodata TV Worldwide, the focus of a panel discussion at the MIPTV convention in Cannes, also found Americans' daily dose of TV climbed by three minutes last year to an average of four hours and 28 minutes -- nearly 90 minutes above the world average.

America Online on Monday announced plans to launch a Web-based radio service with XM Satellite Radio in a move that may help XM win customers from AOL's 24 million subscribers, driving XM shares higher.

When Paul Colichman began developing Here, his company's new cable service aimed at the gay market, he heard the same question over and over. "Everybody asked me if the channel was going to feature pornography," said Mr. Colichman, 42, whose company, Regent Entertainment, produces films and television programming. His answer was and is an emphatic no. And while his company's programming may not look entirely like American Pie - a show being promoted this month is called "Adored: Diary of a Male Porn Star" - Mr. Colichman said his channel was intended for mainstream gay Americans.

Oprah Winfrey is thanking her 2.6 million readers for their loyalty with a treat. In May, along with the fifth anniversary issue of O, The Oprah Magazine, will come a book of Ms. Winfrey's wit and wisdom, sponsored by Dove soap. The book, which will be given free to the magazine's subscribers and its nearly one million newsstand readers, cost between $1 million and $2 million to produce and was published in-house by the magazine, which is a co-venture of Hearst Magazines and Harpo Print.

BMW of North America, which scored a major publicity coup with its groundbreaking online film series The Hire, has turned the story line's Driver character into a branded entertainment comic book series.

Advertisers are flocking to Major League Baseball telecasts this season, with national sales on ESPN and the FSN regional sports networks running significantly ahead of a year ago.