They are the political ads many people love to hate: grainy pictures of the opponent; ominous music in the background and a sensational allegation about the person or his record. They are rampant this election season. Will they end? Not before the vote, because experts say they work. But research also suggests the public is sick of them, even as they watch and remember. Such ads have become a staple in Indiana's 9th District congressional race between Republican incumbent Mike Sodrel and Democratic challenger Baron Hill. "Well, some people have said we run negative ads," Sodrel says. "We run contrast …

With two weeks left in their battle for a U.S. Senate seat from New Jersey, Robert Menendez and Tom Kean, Jr. are appearing in some recent campaign ads, a change for the pair who have relied on nameless voices to attack each other since mid-September. But while Kean continues going after his opponent as corrupt, Menendez breaks new ground by speaking about his mother. Shown walking through a factory, the incumbent Democrat talks about how her work as a seamstress without a pension or health care led him to oppose the Bush Administration's plan to privatize Social Security. …

Australia's $3.5 billion free TV industry is pushing hard to stop the drift of revenue to other media, recruiting retailer Gerry Harvey to help sell the benefits of advertising on the tube. Harvey, whose companies spend more than $100 million on advertising a year, appears with three other advertisers in a $5 million testimonial campaign citing the strengths of the medium. The "Think TV" campaign was commissioned by industry body Free TV with the involvement of the three commercial networks and their regional counterparts. It follows 18 months of some of the flattest revenue figures in the mainstream media. …

The head of Thailand's Consumer Protection Board is pushing for more stringent bans on ads for alcohol in all media, insisting that existing statutes are not strong enough to punish violators. Rasamee Vistaveth says that even though regulations restrict alcohol and caffeine drink advertisements in movie theaters and billboards, businesses often violate the law. Last year, four companies, both Thai and foreign, were found in violation. One was a well-known Thai brewer and distiller of a variety of beverage brands. In theory, wrongdoers face six months in jail or large fines. However, the beverage companies were not threatened with …

Few new television shows seemed to have as much promise this fall as "Smith," a CBS series about a career thief out for one last big score. In most seasons, it would have been considered a hit, with its debut attracting 11 million viewers, and for the first three episodes, an average audience of over nine million. But it was yanked after just three weeks--despite the fact that the producers were well on their way to completing four more episodes. The quick demise underlines how, like the movie industry, TV is now a business where there is little room for …

Grim and unsteady from his battle with Parkinson's disease, actor Michael J. Fox is inserting himself the campaign for the U.S. Senate in a TV commercial about the importance of stem cell research. The latest ad, which endorses Democrat Benjamin Cardin over the GOP's Michael Steele in Maryland, is a graphic portrayal of physical degeneration with a strong political message. "Stem cell research offers hope to millions of Americans with diseases like diabetes, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's," Fox says. "But George Bush and Michael Steele would put limits on the most promising stem cell research." Cardin has run a series …

Both candidates in a congressional race have declaimed a TV spot sponsored by the National Republican Congressional Committee that accuses the Democrat of billing taxpayers for a call to a phone-sex line. The ad, which started running Friday, shows Michael Arcuri leering at the silhouette of a dancing woman who says: "Hi, sexy. You've reached the live, one-on-one fantasy line." But Arcuri's campaign says an associate mistakenly dialed the line from Arcuri's New York City hotel room, and notes that the number shares the last seven digits of the state Department of Criminal Justice Services, which was dialed right …

The sitcom is ailing, and for NBC it's probably dead in the first hour of prime time under a directive from network boss Jeff Zucker. With rising costs and sinking ratings, NBC says it will fill the first hour of prime time with reality and game shows, saving the more expensive scripted drama and comedy series for the 9-to-11 p.m. block. The logic: 8 p.m. is too early to attract decent audiences, as people come home from work later and spend a lot of time online. Zucker seems inspired by the success of "Deal or No Deal," the game …

While the Australian media scramble continues, the biggest question is what the landscape will be for the next 20 years. Changes in the '80s established laws that determined the past 20 years. The new rules will settle the next 20. "The Australian media and the companies involved are all in for a wild ride, a tumultuous time, perhaps even greater than the upsets of the '80s when every major media company changed hands and, ultimately, the big got even bigger--not at all what [the rules] had anticipated," notes the newspaper. And this time, the Internet has brought new dimensions …

Easing rules that bar a single company from owning a newspaper and broadcast outlet in the same market would allow just a few individuals to dominate news coverage in many communities across the nation, according to a new study. The Media and Democracy Coalition research found that eliminating the restriction could enable one company to increase its market power beyond the limit antitrust rules allowed when they decide whether to permit mergers. But while consumer groups are calling on the Federal Communications Commission to keep the cross-ownership bars, an industry think tank urges it to throw them out. …