A slower-paced and more secretly negotiated broadcast television upfront is expected to wrap up this week, reports Mediaweek--and "neither side is willing, or maybe even able, to project the final prime-time dollar tally." Media buyers think it will be lower than last year's roughly $9 billion as they hold back money for digital and other new programming opportunities. But as of the end of last week, buyers and sellers estimated that about $5 billion in prime time had been bought. Still a question: Will NBC include four hours of "Sunday Night Football" or follow ABC's standard operating procedure of keeping …

Dan Rather might announce his departure from CBS on Tuesday, Forbes reports, as rumors swirl through West 57th Street that an announcement is imminent. Supposedly, the honchos at CBS News want him out before Katie Couric takes the seat he once had--a chair held before him by Walter Cronkite and Edward R. Murrow. While Rather's contract does not officially expire until November, the network has been negotiating an earlier exit, Forbes claims. Rather joined CBS in 1962 and was anchor and managing editor of the "CBS Evening News" for 24 years. He was forced out of that post after a …

The popularity of Spike TV's reality show "The Ultimate Fighter" may also be adding some weight to the Ultimate Fighting Championship's pay-per-view numbers, reports Multichannel News. The show, now in its third season, was created for the express purpose of exposing a broader audience to the sport, says UFC President Dana White: "Reality was hot at the time and ["The Ultimate Fighter"] turned out to be our Trojan horse. . . .You get caught up in the story line and eventually that interest spills over into the actual events." Averaging 1 million viewers in its first season, the show ballooned …

Fashion magazine Elle is launching its first Middle East edition this week, reports The Wall Street Journal. The issue set to hit newsstands in Lebanon, Jordan, and Morocco on Friday, is a mix of stylish clothing photos with advice for those who wear "loose-fitting abayas or chadors in public but want to look chic underneath and indoors." One spread photographed in Damascus features a model in a purple Etro dress with a violet head scarf. "We can mix the East and the West in fashion," says Désirée Sadek, publisher of Elle's Middle East edition, part of Hachette Filipacchi. "Young women …

As more retailers yank Shock as a result of the dispute over a cover photo, Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. is defending the title in a letter to retailers, Ad Age reports. The fuss is the latest to erupt after Shock hit the stores in May with a photo of an American soldier cradling an Iraqi girl--an image captured by blogger and former Green Beret Michael Yon, who claims he has not authorized its use. Hachette says it bought the pic in good faith from an agency--and that Yon backed out of an agreed settlement. Tower Records was the latest chain …

"News about the news business moves almost as fast as free food in a newsroom, and creates even more chaos." writes Dan Haar in the Hartford Courant about the brouhaha between his paper's parent Tribune Co. and its second-largest shareholders. the Chandler family. With the company unofficially in play, it is possible that it will be sold off and/or broken up. "That would mean big changes not only for us on the inside, but for you, the loyal news consumer who cares about broad coverage of central Connecticut," he says--adding that Tribune management has made deep cuts and is not …

The Indian government is looking to impose some tough new cross-ownership restrictions on media companies, reports the Business Standard. Newspapers and TV and radio broadcasters may have to reduce their equity holding in other media ventures once the new regulations--currently pending cabinet approval--are imposed. And broadcasters would also have to answer to a new content and carriage regulator for the broadcasting sector--the Broadcast Regulatory Authority of India. Under the terms, no broadcasting company would be permitted to own more that 20 percent in any other broadcasting company--including radio or television distribution firms like cable or satellite operators. Neither would they …

Rupert Murdoch may be a Yank now, but he is still taking on his former country's government over changes in media ownership laws, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. In what the paper calls a "dramatic about-face," Murdoch's News Ltd has pulled its support for foreign- and cross-media ownership rules--unless the Australian government ponies up more free-to-air television licenses. The company claims that proposals by Communications Minister, Helen Coonan are "highly discriminatory deregulation that entrenches protection for free-to-air television broadcasters." While the paper notes that "media reform is not a government priority and the Prime Minister, John Howard, has said he …

A media battle for hearts and market share in the Middle East "is evolving into a teeming crowd of Western news organizations poised to deliver headlines--and geopolitical views--in the language of the Koran," reports the International Herald Tribune. With government backing, Germany's Deutsche Welle plans to air as much as 24 hours of news programming in Arabic this autumn, while a French CNN-style Arabic channel is in development. Even the state-owned Russia Today is eying the region, with plans for a Web site and Arabic television. Only CNN is holding back for now--sticking with its Arabic Web site, currently getting …

Right-wing pundit Ann Coulter hasn't lost any of her newspaper clients or the support of her syndicate, despite remarks in a new book about how some 9/11 widows "enjoyed their husband's deaths"--a contrast to what happens when progressive columnists or cartoonists tackle incendiary material, reports Editor & Publisher. Coulter, who has also called President Bill Clinton a "rapist," keeps her newspaper clients "because she has a loyal fan base of conservative readers who look forward to reading her columns in their local newspapers," says Universal Syndicate spokeswoman Kathie Kerr. While she notes that certain "Doonesbury" or "Boondocks" cartoons are routinely …