Soccer may finally be making some major inroads onto a vast market that has long spurned it in favor of a sport involving a bat and a ball: India, that country's Telegraph newspaper reports. While it is unlikely to replace cricket anytime soon, expectations are for 75 percent ad revenue growth for the World Cup tournament, which kicks off June 9. "There has been an unusual revival of interest in football across the country. The World Cup has always been big; but this time it is bigger. Some of the biggest ad spenders have planned [large] campaigns around the tournament," …

A raft of new English-language media outlets have launched around Asia to try and fill the gaps created by the demise of the Far Eastern Economic Review and AsiaWeek but none have been able to replace them, the International Herald Tribune reports. The publications, which run the gamut from single country-focused Web sites to regional magazines, have yet to find the right formula. "As a result, [analysts say], a highly literate and sophisticated market across East Asia remains ill served."

"American Idol" is either "the last roar of the network dinosaurs or proof that mass marketing is very much alive and well," Ad Age reports, "with the multiplatform 'Idol' economy already valued at $2.5 billion." And it is still moving forward fast, as the show is looking for four top-tier sponsors to buy in for as much as $25 million. Coke, Cingular and Ford are the current lead advertisers, but Fox is talking to "fast-food, electronics and health and beauty marketers with a view to adding another partner."

Amid reports that Virgin founder Richard Branson is planning to roll out a music channel to compete with MTV, Andy Fry of MediaBulletin says that "if any company has the credentials to create a credible challenger channel, it is Virgin. Given its strength in music retail, live events, digital downloads and radio, its lack of a branded TV offering seems an oversight." He talks to Patrick Johnston, head of business development at Entertainment Media Research, who says there is a case to be made for a Virgin offering, "but the audiences are so small and fickle that there is hardly …

As circulation continues to drop, newspapers are searching for ways to build reader interests, starting with the front page, reports the American Journalism Review. Since it is the first thing readers look at, it's getting the bulk of the attention -- and undergoing everything "from simple cosmetic changes in some cities to expensive, full-fledged makeovers in others." But one analyst says it is unlikely to work: "In terms of growing readership in the core paper, we just don't see it" posits Gary Meo, senior vice president of print and Internet services for Scarborough Research. At best it is only, "slowing …

Charles Gibson doesn't see the networks' news race as a showdown of personalities, TV Guide reports. The new anchor of ABC's World News Tonight says, "There is a natural inclination to write about it as Charlie vs. Brian vs. Katie. I really don't see it that way. My hope is that we have a competition between news departments." An anchor is there, "to say that here's the product of ABC News and we think it's better than the product of NBC or CBS, and that's why we want you to watch. To the extent that I can, I want to …

Hollywood studios and the three major television networks have filed suit against Cablevision Systems in an attempt to keep it from launching an "on-demand" service that competes with digital video recorders, ZDNet reports. The suit claims that Cablevision would violate copyright law with a system where subscribers would store and play back TV programs through computer servers it controls. "Cablevision is actually copying, storing and retransmitting it," says a spokeswoman for the Motion Picture Association of America. "A commercial entity can't establish a for-profit, on-demand service without authorization from copyright owners whose content is used on that service" For its …

Pennsylvania has settled a lawsuit against Time Warner and its AOL subsidiary, with the media behemoth agreeing to fork over $23 million to various Keystone State entities, the Associated Press reports. The suit, filed in 2004, charged that the company misled investors about its financial position -- causing some of the state's state public investment funds to lose at least $100 million. Time Warner does not admit to anything -- but a spokeswoman says it is happy to have put the litigation behind it. The suit was focused on the period when AOL merged with Time Warmer, which happened in …

Electronic media is a major focus of even very young kids' lives, used by parents to manage busy schedules, keep the peace, and facilitate family routines, according to a study released by the Kaiser Family Foundation Wednesday. Among the findings: In a typical day 83 percent of children under six use "screen media" for an average of about two hours. And media use increases with age, from 61 percent of infants younger than one to 90 percent of 4- to 6-year-olds. Says Vicky Rideout, director of Kaiser's Program for the Study of Entertainment Media and Health: "Parents use media to …

While two Canadian firms failed in the attempt to gobble up Philadelphia's two main dailies, Black Press Ltd. and Onex Corp., the pair will probably try to buy some other American papers before long, reports globeandmail.com. They were outbid by local businessman in McClatchy's auction of the Inquirer and Daily News after it purchased Knight-Ridder. "Onex and Black Press will now turn their attention to several other papers still on the block as a result of that deal," writes reporter Grant Robertson.