It's been a tough week for Nissan Motor Company. While fighting rumors on the West Coast that it is about to abandon Southern California as its U.S. executive and design base for less expensive real estate in Tennessee, the Japanese automaker yesterday elected to modify one of its TV commercials after consumers said the spot was decidedly insensitive. The commercial for its Titan truck line had featured music from the 1957 film "Bridge on the River Kwai." Some viewers found this offensive because the film, a hit at the time, told the story of U.S. prisoners of war forced to …

For its competitors in the late-night arena, it's no laughing matter, but Comedy Central seems to have found another hit show for the insomniac crowd. The basic cable channel has given the recently launched "The Colbert Report" a full-year order. In less than a month's time, the "Report," hosted by Steve Colbert, has demonstrated an ability to retain nearly 90 percent of the audience from "The Daily Show," the program that precedes it and from which it was spun off. Steve Colbert's pompous, sometimes fanciful, anchorman character--modeled, he acknowledges on Fox's Bill O'Reilly, among others--has struck a chord with Comedy …

Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, the former chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, was forced to step down as a board member yesterday following a report that said he had used CPB monies to promote more conservative programming. The report, by the inspector general's office, noted, among other things, that Tomlinson had once hired a researcher to monitor the political leanings of the show "Now," hosted by Bill Moyers. The CPB, which, as established, is meant to be nonpartisan, has long been the focus of conservatives, who complain that its programming too frequently expresses liberal biases. In a statement yesterday, …

Random House Goes Hollywood In an effort to optimize the value of its literary acquisitions, Random House has signed a deal with Focus Features to create films based on the publisher's titles. Focus, a unit of NBC Universal, will codevelop, coproduce, and cofinance the pictures, according to the Wall Street Journal. The deal reportedly gives Focus access to the back titles of Random's worldwide imprints, as well as books in current circulation. Under the terms of the deal, the film company--its recent releases include "The Motorcycle Diaries" and "The Constant Gardener"--will not have automatic rights to every book from …

CBS and Fox finished essentially tied for first place Wednesday night after ABC chose to air reruns of "Invasion," a new series, and "Lost," a bona fide hit in its second season. NBC, struggling to find a breakout show, was in third place. Fox's strength on Wednesday was built in part on the season premieres of two reliable ratings-grabbers, "That '70s Show" and "Trading Spouses." ABC will bounce back when its franchise programs return with fresh episodes. In other news, one of the best TV dramas these days is not on the air but rather in the executive suites of …

Actor/humorist Will Rogers was born on this date in 1879 in what was then called Indian Territory--and is now the state of Oklahoma. Rogers was a top box-office draw in the Twenties. Later, he was a popular radio personality, attracting avid listeners with his thought-provoking political observations.

Mickey Mouse debuts in 1928. The cartoon character appears in "Steamboat Willie," the first fully synchronized sound cartoon ever produced. Mickey's voice is provided by Walt Disney himself.

A 31-year-old Punjabi villager whose gang rape and subsequent trial three years ago brought her to international prominence has been named Glamour magazine's Woman of the Year. Mukhtaran Bibi will receive the award ($20,000) in New York along with 11 other nominees, including Catherine Zeta-Jones. According to Britain's MediaGuardian Web site, the "rape sparked international outrage and a legal saga that is now before Pakistan's supreme court, where 13 men could face the death penalty." Since her daring court testimony, reported MediaGuardian, "U.S. media and civil rights groups have showered Mukhtaran...with plaudits." Glamour's previous Women of the Year include former …

Sirius Satellite Radio has begun airing liquor advertising on some of its channels--talk, sports, and news--but not music, which continues to be ad-free. The first campaign to air on Sirius is for Tanqueray. Stuart Elliott says in today's New York Times that Tanqueray had trouble getting its musically themed spots on terrestrial radio. "Satellite is a little new, offbeat," says Glenn Porter, vice president and creative director at the Tanqueray agency, Grey Worldwide, part of the Grey Global Group division of WPP Group. "We wanted a way to bring the consumer to the brand in a cool...way," he told Elliott. …

Following the lead of ABC, which earlier posted episodes of its hit series "Desperate Housewives" on the Web for download, CBS has announced that it will make its new drama, "Threshold," available at CBS.com. But CBS' strategy differs in some critical ways from that of its Disney-owned rival: Download of the program will be free (ABC had charged $1.99 per episode at Apple's iTunes site), and only three episodes will be available. CBS' Nancy Tellem, head of the CBS Paramount TV Group, says the move is further evidence that television must increasingly work with nontraditional media in order to promote …