Despite fierce competition and new entrants, the celebrity magazines continue to pull in readers. US Weekly, People, Star and InTouch all posted circulation gains in the first half of this year, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, which verifies figures for the industry.

Roger E. Ailes, the media adviser to three Republican presidents who has been chairman of Fox News Channel since its inception nine years ago, was given an additional title yesterday: chairman of Fox Television Stations. The appointment, which was announced by Fox's parent, the News Corporation, gives Mr. Ailes oversight of Fox's 35 broadcast television stations and a production studio, Twentieth Television.

Sears, Roebuck and Co. is consolidating creative duties on its U.S. advertising account at WPP Group's Young & Rubicam here, according to the company. The Hoffman Estates, Ill., retailer had asked Y&R and its other incumbent, WPP sibling Ogilvy & Mather, for proposals to integrate the account, according to the retailer. The move is effective Oct. 1.

Marketing executives at GM's Hummer division, a frequent advertiser in the glossy culture magazine Black Book, have often said they want exposure outside traditional ad pages. In Black Book's spring/summer issue, they got it. The magazine's editors conceived of, wrote and printed a brief article about Ratatat, a hot young band whose songs have received wide exposure in the carmaker's commercials. The accompanying photo pictured band members with a Hummer superimposed near their heads.

Robert A. Iger does not officially get the keys to the Disney castle for another six weeks, but he is already well along with his restoration plan. Mr. Iger, the 54-year-old president of the Walt Disney Company, becomes chief executive on Oct. 1 as the handpicked successor to Michael D. Eisner, who ran the corporation with skillful determination for 21 years but has more recently reigned over a troubled kingdom.

What happened to the dog days of summer, the time when nothing big happened in August and agency people took long overdue two-week vacations and spent Fridays on the golf course? In July and August alone, at least 20 marketers have put more than $2 billion in billings into review, and the summer isn't over yet. That's 5 percent more than in the same period a year earlier and a whopping 82 percent more than 2003's snapshot of $1.1 billion, according to Adweek estimates.

In the latest nod to "real" women -- and the latest blow to the wafer-thin body image -- Nike has introduced a campaign that celebrates women's "big butts, thunder thighs and tomboy knees." It comes on the heels of a Dove campaign that touched a cultural hot-button and set off a flood of media coverage culminating with models from the ads appearing on the cover of People magazine.

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn on Monday urged Time Warner Inc. to separate its cable business and buy back at least $20 billion worth of its stock, saying management has not done enough for shareholders.

Manhattan-based JSM Music, advertising giant BBDO and Daimler-Chrysler have teamed up to produce a full-length album and music video - the first such partnership in the advertising industry.

For the first time in the 80-year history of The New Yorker magazine, a single advertiser will sponsor an entire issue. The Aug. 22 issue of The New Yorker, due out Monday, will carry 17 or 18 advertising pages, all brought to you by the Target discount store chain owned by the Target Corporation. The Target ads will even supplant the mini-ads from mail-order marketers that typically fill small spaces in the back of the magazine.