Bob Liodice, representing the Association of National Advertisers, has posted on his blog ("ANA Marketing Musings") the letter he sent to Advertising Age  in reaction to its Dec.12 editorial headlined "Food Companies Must Respond to Study."  Saying he was "terribly disappointed" by Ad Age's stand that, according to the trade, "more regulation is a bad idea," he accused Ad Age of offering a "knee-jerk" response to the recently released Institute of Medicine report.  Said Liodice:  "It entirely overlooks the fact that the marketing industry has been an active, willing participant in combating the issues of childhood obesity.  I'm surprised that …

Sirius Satellite Radio has launched the Christian Talk channel through an agreement with FamilyNet, the broadcast unit of the Southern Baptist Convention. The channel will air FamilyNet's most popular programs, which include "The 700 Club" with Pat Robertson and "This Week" with Jay Sekulow. Sirius has also expanded its relationship with the National Basketball Association. The new deal makes Sirius the official NBA marketing partner, according to a report in Mediaweek. As part of the arrangement, Sirius has launched NBA Radio on Sirius, a 24/7 channel devoted to all things NBA.

Ann S. Moore, chairwoman-CEO of Time Inc., announced a reorganization yesterday that entailed the dismissal of 105 employees, many of them senior managers at the company. Among those leaving the Time Warner unit: Jack Haire, exec vice president of the corporate sales and marketing group; Richard Atkinson, exec vice president of the news and information group; David Kieselstein, president of the parenting group; and Steve Bueger, vice president of sales and marketing, corporate sales. The move by Moore was seen by some as an effort to maintain profitability at a time when future revenue remains uncertain. There's no evidence that …

Standard and Poor's Ratings Services is not optimistic about the outlook for media and entertainment next year. Although local elections and the Winter Olympics are expected to help perk up revenues, S&P sees "slowing momentum" in traditional advertising. S&P is currently targeting 5 percent ad-spending growth in 2006. It cites "numerous concerns" for the somewhat gloomy outlook: "Most important, continuing deterioration of the financial health of U.S. automakers," which would likely have a negative impact on ad spending. Some highlights of the S&P forecast: Broadcast and cable nets "to grow in line, or slightly faster than, GDP." TV Station Groups: …

Under the temporary leadership of anchorman Bob Schieffer, who replaced Dan Rather, the "CBS Evening News" has demonstrated surprising audience growth, according to Nielsen Media Research for the week of Dec. 5-9. While the flagship newscasts of both NBC and ABC have remained steady in recent weeks, CBS seems to be improving its position. It is currently within 1.15 million viewers of "ABC's World News Tonight," which has lost some viewers from the year-ago period, when the late Peter Jennings sat in the anchor chair. Schieffer, citing the more chatty nature of his network's on-air correspondents as a reason for …

ABC was the top broadcast network in terms of Golden Globe nominations; HBO was tops among cable operations. The nominations, announced yesterday, once again cast a spotlight on ABC's megahit, "Desperate Housewives," which came away with five nods. This year actress Eva Longoria was among the nominees, of interest chiefly because she was notably absent in 2004 when the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which runs the awards program, tapped most of her other castmates for Globe noms. Other ABC programs nominated yesterday included "Commander in Chief" (brand-new this season) and "Grey's Anatomy." At HBO, "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "Rome" were …

One significant benefit to Viacom as a result of the deal to purchase DreamWorks' motion-picture unit is that it will lead to a full-scale distribution relationship between Viacom's Nickelodeon channel and DreamWorks' animation division. Sources say that DreamWorks Animation, which was not purchased by Viacom, will likely provide a steady stream of content to Nick. Hit movies such as "Shrek" and "Madagascar" could be transformed into TV series, DreamWorks cofounder Jeffrey Katzenberg told investors during a conference call yesterday. What's more, DreamWorks' animation division could create a number of new shows exclusively for Nickelodeon. While DreamWorks Animation could have arranged …

The stream of talent from broadcast to satellite radio continues unabated. Latest to sign on to the new medium is the legendary Bob Dylan, who has agreed to host a weekly program for XM Satellite Radio beginning in March. According to a statement by XM, Dylan, 64, "will offer regular commentary on music and other topics, host and interview special guests, including other artists, and will take e-mails" from XM subscribers. The as-yet-untitled program will feature music hand-picked by Dylan. In a statement, Dylan said, "Songs and music have always inspired me. A lot of my own songs have been …

Patrick McGurn, special counsel at Institutional Shareholder Services, an advisory firm, said he is "95 percent certain" Time Warner will face a proxy battle for control of its board. According to McGurn, the New York-based media conglom has virtually no chance of settling with financier Carl Icahn before its May shareholder meeting: "There is not enough common ground between them. Right now, it seems this will go to a vote." Icahn currently holds about three percent of Time Warner's outstanding shares. His contention that the company needs to break apart, unleashing the value of each of its constituent parts, …

In a move of pure genius--and an expression of how TV creatives are now able to cross-pollinate excitement between on-screen and online platforms--Fox-owned FX recently developed a MySpace.com profile page for the devilish and mysterious "Carver" character on its "Nip/Tuck" series. In the weeks leading up to "Nip/Tuck"'s season finale, in which The Carver's identity will be revealed, the character has been writing about himself on MySpace, revealing elements of his personality not seen on the popular TV show. "The Carver page is everything you think about when you hear the word 'viral,'" said Stephanie Gibbons, senior vice president of …