Philadelphia's two largest newspapers reached a tentative contract agreement with their largest union, which the newspaper guild described as "a disappointing, giveback deal." The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News and the Newspaper Guild of Greater Philadelphia reached a three-year deal on all issues last night. The three-year pact, which extends until Aug. 31, 2009, includes no pay increase for the 900-member guild in the first year. Employees will get a $1,500 bonus, paid in two parts, in the second year, and receive a $25 per week raise in the final year of the contract. Another …

All that talk about "profane" talk not belonging on TV will be on TV after all. The oral arguments in broadcasters' challenge to the FCC's March profanity rulings against Fox Billboard Awards broadcasts will be televised. That's according to the docket of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York. The court has informed the attorneys involved that on Dec. 11, it granted a request from C-SPAN to televise the Dec. 20 arguments. Says Adonis Hoffman, senior vice president and counsel for the American Association of Advertising Agencies, "now that the fines have …

Emap Consumer Media has shuttered the U.S. edition of FHM, which launched in 1999 during the height of the laddie magazine craze. "With conditions in the U.S. worsening, we have decided to focus our resources elsewhere on faster growth platforms," said statement, Emap Consumer Media CEO Paul Keenan in a statement. Ad sales fell nearly 22% in 2006. FHM's total paid and verified circ fell 3.2% to 1.25 million in the first half of this year, compared to the year prior, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Newsstand copies fell 6.6%.

TNT is in negotiations to pick up drama pilots "Grace" and "Heartland," while deciding not to bring back paramedic drama "Saved" for a second season, sources said. Like TNT's hit cop drama "The Closer," which stars Kyra Sedgwick, both "Grace" and "Heartland" boast big-name leads. Oscar winner Holly Hunter heads "Grace," playing a jaded Oklahoma City police detective who gets a visit from an angel and a chance to redeem her life. Its slated for a 10 p.m. spot. In "Heartland," a medical drama, Treat Williams stars as a surgeon. The show is set in the high-stakes …

TV broadcasters, led by Fox, are apt to file their responses to the Federal Communications Commission's defense of its "indecency" enforcement approach this week. The moves will be the latest in a legal set-to in federal appeals court over profanity rulings the FCC issued, then re-issued after broadcasters took them to court, reversing rulings against ABC and CBS and saying the court should drop the case. The two remaining rulings are against Fox for swearing it allowed by Nicole Richie and Cher on Billboard Awards shows in 2002 and 2003. Last week, the commission defended its indecency enforcement …

The Dallas Cowboys is coming off the longest winning streak in the NFC and a favorite to make the Super Bowl. Their top wide receiver is a lightning rod and the movie star-handsome quarterback is rumored to be dating a Hollywood starlet. The team has a potent mixture of talent, great coaching and gossipy headlines that defined the team when it won three Super Bowls in the 1990s. And this is good news for the whole NFL, which is having a very strong ratings season. The Cowboys played in the highest-rated games this season on three of the …

The epidemic of childhood obesity and growing public and political reaction to it have yet to have much impact on the kids ad sales market, according to some top execs at ad-supported kids cable networks. They say the food category has actually been more active in 2006 than in the past, an uptick that follows a trend of more cooperation between marketers and the networks. "Because our [food] clients are rethinking the nature of how they formulate their products and our desire to work with them on how they bring their message to kids, we have been able …

The Warner Bros. movie "Blood Diamond" has left the diamond industry furiously trying to do spin control as the trade group World Diamond Council launches a $15 million public-relations and education campaign to combat the film's harsh images of diamond smuggling from war-torn African countries. "Blood Diamond" comes out during the heaviest selling season for the $60 billion-a-year diamond business. South Africa-based DeBeers, which markets more than 40% of the world's diamonds, has been front and center. While some watchdogs think a powerful Hollywood film could be the diamond business' worst nightmare, causing a boycott of the gems …

The NFL has confirmed that Prince will be the headline performer during the halftime show at Super Bowl XLI, set for Feb. 4 in Miami. The show will be presented by Pepsi and shown on CBS as part of the broadcast. Prince follows in the footsteps of other Super Bowl halftime stars, including the Rolling Stones, U2 and Janet Jackson. And he might be the one with the potential to create the most controversy since Jackson and her infamous "wardrobe malfunction" in 2004. Prince, currently headlining a show in Las Vegas, is "an electric performer whose body …

John Malone is one of cable's fabled cowboys, an entrepreneur, visionary and deal-maker who built up a cable company farsightedly called Tele-Communications Inc. into the largest system operator in the business. Now he is going to use that knowledge and experience to go up against his former colleagues; his Liberty Media is about to gobble up News Corp.'s 39% stake in DirecTV, the nation's largest satellite TV provider. Malone is likley to use his new asset to maintain--and expand--carriage for his programming, which includes pieces of Discovery Holdings, QVC, Starz and GSN. With that new clout with distributors, …