The Federal Communications Commission's increased scrutiny of broadcasters is of tremendous concern to the head of PBS. CEO Paula Kerger tells a gathering of TV writers that huge new fines are a big worry to public stations in particular. "We as an industry are very concerned when you have stations whose operating budgets are just a few million dollars," she says. "The fines now can put stations out of business, and we cannot have that happen." PBS also weighed in with a friend-of-the court brief in an appeal filed by a public television station in San Mateo, Calif. KCSM was …

It's unwelcome news for the nation's media sellers. Rising commodity costs are slowing ad-spending growth at Kimberly-Clark, Ad Age reports. As the company winnows its choices for its first global chief marketing officer, CEO Thomas Falk tells investors the winning candidate may have less to spend than once planned. Raw-material costs will be $50 million to $100 higher than hoped this year, he says, and the company is cutting back. "My guess is, for the full year, [ad spending will] be flat to up slightly," Falk says. He adds that K-C won't invest quite as much as it had, but …

Accused of sexual harassment and fired by ESPN, former "Baseball Tonight" analyst Harold Reynolds says he didn't do anything wrong and hopes he can regain his job, reports the New York Post. "This was a total misunderstanding," Reynolds says. "My goal is to sit down and get back. To be honest, I gave a woman a hug, and I felt like it was misinterpreted." He did not go into more detail, and sources tell the tabloid that the accuser is a co-worker. ESPN, which has had many sexual harassment complaints in the past, confirms that Reynolds was canned, but won't …

A bill to be introduced in the House of Representatives Thursday would force cable operators to provide subscribers with more options in selecting programming lineups, reports Multichannel News. Under its terms, a cable company would be required to either obey federal broadcast-indecency rules on basic and expanded-basic tiers and allow consumers to strip channels from tiers, or create a "family" programming tier as defined by politicians. All pay TV providers, including DirecTV and EchoStar Communications, would be required to comply. The bill's two sponsors are Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.), who got his job representing a Chicago-area district when party bosses …

In its coverage of the latest round of carnage in the Middle East, "Fox News has pointedly refused to cover every angle of the bloody, on-going story," writes Eric Boehlert at the HuffingtonPost. In his opinion, the channel has "walked away from professional journalism and crossed over into dutiful propaganda; a dangerous new chapter even for Fox News." He bases his conclusion on "a review of the blatantly one-sided collection of guests and experts FNC has booked to discuss the conflict recently." From that, he claims Fox News has opted to present an hermetically sealed version of events from the …

The melodrama involving Grupo Televisa and its stake in Univision can make you forget there's a huge business here that has little to do with the American Latino TV market, writes Stephen Simpson at the Motley Fool. Looking at revenue and earnings, Univision probably matters less to Televisa than college-football TV rights matter to Disney or OLN ratings matter to Comcast. But he notes: "This is a maelstrom that any true hardcore lover of telenovelas can appreciate." And litigation is still afoot as Televisa asks a judge to affirm its right to distribute programming content over the Internet in the …

As a journalist, local news anchor Diann Burns "regularly delves into the private lives of others. But she wants her own private life off limits," reports the Chicago Sun-Times. Burns, a fixture on the Chicago CBS affiliate, is trying to keep the media from seeing the details of a lawsuit she filed against the company that she contends built her $3 million home shoddily because she is black. In court documents, Burns and her agent/husband want a Cook County judge to seal much of the case. The filing, set for a hearing later this week, asks that everyone involved in …

"Change or die" is the war cry of News Corp.'s top two executives--CEO Rupert Murdoch and company President Peter Chernin--writes Diane Mermigas in the Hollywood Reporter. In the past 12 months, News Corp. has been forging ahead by riding its newly acquired online property MySpace.com and video gamer IGN to "meteoric heights." At the same time, it's posting record performance from its broadcast and cable television, film and print operations, even as they try to reinvent their models. "Our goal is to grow new business faster than the old ones decline," says Chernin. "While we have an obligation to maximize …

The company that owns the rights to Clifford the Dog says the big red critter belongs at the library, and not at children's birthday parties, reports the San Jose Mercury News. And Scholastic Inc., a $2 billion-a-year publishing company, is threatening to sue some San Francisco Bay Area clown companies for depicting Clifford and other characters at childrens' birthday parties without its permission. "It's important for us to protect our valuable property rights," says spokesman Kyle Good. "If Clifford is being presented outside our guidelines, it can become a very uncomfortable position for children as well." The clown companies received …

"It's no secret there is a strong connection between Nascar and country music," notes Mediaweek, and ABC is looking to make hay out of both. Starting this fall, the network is set to air the annual Country Music Association Awards for the next six years, while wheeling out Nascar next summer. The CMA is hoping that a move from CBS to ABC will help it reach younger viewers. ABC sees a chance to draw new eyeballs and promote the CMA and country music at various Disney properties. "There are a lot of opportunities for synergy with Nascar, ESPN and other …