While "Survivor" features plenty of product placement - Jeff Probst occasionally whores Doritos, Pringles or other products by dangling them in the face of starving contestants - "The Apprentice" frequently features full episodes shaped around sponsoring companies. They're more than just infomercials; they're advertisements disguised as an episode of a competition-based reality show.

General Motors Corp. has pulled its advertising from the Los Angeles Times over what it called factual errors and misrepresentations in the newspaper, a spokesman for the automaker said on Thursday.

Time Warner and its bidding partner, Comcast, have reached a tentative deal to acquire Adelphia Communications for nearly $18 billion in cash and stock, executives involved in the discussions said yesterday. Adelphia, the nation's fifth-largest cable TV operator, has been in bankruptcy protection since 2002.

To what lengths will television advertisers go to be noticed amid a sea of 30-second commercials? How about 120 seconds, or 90, or perhaps 45 or 40. Maybe 10 seconds, or 15, or 10 - or even a "blink and you may miss it" 5.

In a surprising move, media agencies owned by rival agency holding companies WPP Group and Havas today announced a joint venture, 2MV. The purpose, according to executives familiar with the situation, is to pitch the PSA Peugeot Citroen account, now in review across eight European markets, as well as another European-based account.

ABC's Extreme Makeover sucked me in for two or three episodes. The drama of down and out or otherwise victimized families getting a real house to live in makes for good story telling. But beyond that, it's probably the best example of appropriate product placement on the air today.

Always on the lookout for a good marketing opportunity, banks are aggressively elbowing their way onto the front of MasterCard and Visa credit cards.

Given Pope John Paul II's global footprint in life, it is not surprising that all forms of mass media have converged on Rome to honor and document his death. And given the appetites and needs of modern journalism, it was inevitable that the sacred and the profane, the solemn and the silly, would cross paths again and again.

Just weeks after awarding an Interpublic Group of Cos. media agency start-up $80 million in media buying and planning business, Church & Dwight has moved the account to WPP Group's Maxus, another finalist in the packaged-goods company's recent review.

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia today named a new publisher for its flagship magazine, Martha Stewart Living.