NBC Universal plans to launch a new television show based on its iVillage Internet site over its Bravo cable network and 10 owned-and-operated TV stations. The media conglomerate purchased iVillage earlier this year for about $600 million and hopes the property will be an important factor in reaping profits from the Internet. "This is a real interactive, online and on-the-air television program that we are not going to judge by its ratings," NBC Universal Television Chief Executive Jeff Zucker told the Credit Suisse media and telecom conference in New York. While Zucker did not elaborate on …

Now that magazines' verified copies are broken out in circulation reports, pink sheets--estimates published by the Audit Bureau of Circulations--are seen in a new hue. Debate about the value of verified circulation is ongoing, with publishers saying it's an important tool for building audience. But media buyers are skeptical. Asked whether verified is valuable, the stock answer: "It depends." Buyers want magazines to show that those copies have value to advertisers and aren't just being used to deliver the rate base. They get suspicious when there are big jumps in verified circulation, and while magazines want advertisers …

To the advertising industry's everlasting shame, it has been incapable of reliably measuring the relationship between marketing and sales. But now the industry's top research provider is banking on an agency executive--one who has been critical of its progress--to connect the dots. That is what's riding on Jon Mandel, the head of WPP Group's MediaCom, who was tapped last week to head the Nielsen Connect unit. His main mission is to find useful new links within a marketing-metrics-and-analytics behemoth that includes Nielsen Media Research TV ratings, ACNielsen retail-scanner and consumer-panel data. He won't be the first to try …

You've got to hand it to the NFL. Its end run couldn't break through Time Warner's defensive line so the NFL Network launched a new offense known as cable bypass, providing live Web broadcasts of the NFL Network's Thursday and Saturday telecasts to Verizon's FiOS and DirecTV television and Internet subscribers. The idea is that if the cable operator won't carry the game, it gets given directly to the viewer via the Web. But the real question isn't whether this will work from a monetary standpoint, but other "gnarly issues" that arise. Those include how much to charge …

With numbers dropping for "Survivor," "The Apprentice" and "The Bachelor" show, the reality TV craze seems to have faded among most TV viewers. But among kids ages 2-11, reality is still the hottest thing on the TV, holding the top five spots in that demo on broadcast this season. Two editions of "Dancing with the Stars," a top five show in total viewers, rank No. 3 and No. 4, while "Survivor," a longtime favorite among 2-11s, is No. 2. Meanwhile, "America's Funniest Home Videos," the 17-year-old show that airs Sundays at 7 p.m., ranks No. 44 this season …

France's first round-the-clock international news TV network goes to air this week, pushing a French viewpoint to counter rivals CNN and BBC. France 24 will launch its main parallel French and mostly English channels after first doing an Internet streaming late on Wednesday, with TV kicking off on cable and satellite on December 7. "We are positioning ourselves as an international channel equipped with a French eye," says Gregoire Deniau, France 24's editorial director. "We have an approach which is more distanced and closer to the south than the other international news channels." Although the …

While Alabama teen Natalee Halloway's fate is still a mystery since her 2005 disappearance in Aruba, public outrage and bad press has largely dissipated. That's why the Dutch island has rolled out a new ad campaign aimed at American tourists. The Aruba Tourism Authority just launched a $4.3 million effort with 30-second TV spots, along with magazine, newspaper and Internet advertising handled by the Fitzgerald+CO in Atlanta. "Aruba is a unique place, and we wanted to showcase its beauty and what sets our island apart from other Caribbean destinations," says Minister of Tourism and Transportation Edison Briesen. …

The Sci Fi Channel will move its flagship series "Battlestar Galactica" to Sunday nights starting next month, after two-and-a-half seasons of anchoring the cable net's Friday-night block. The change is designed to avoid what Sci Fi executive vice president and general manger David Howe says is tougher competition in the science-fiction genre from broadcast, such as CBS' "Ghost Whisperer." But "Battlestar" will now go up against "Without a Trace" and other top offerings from cable and broadcast networks, on probably the most competitive night of the week. Howe says he believes it will thrive in its …

Media buyer Harold Mitchell said that although Australia's Nine network won the ratings race this year "by a whisker", the ad momentum is still with rival Seven. Some agencies are talking down Nine's prospects in the annual rate negotiations with buyers by predicting the net would be forced to drop its prices in client-level talks. But "Nine can still hold the line to some extent," Mitchell says. More important is the reception its 2007 program line-up gets in presentations made direct to agencies over the next few weeks. "What it does mean is a highly competitive …

While ABC is the current leader in the 18-49 demographic, some researchers say that CBS may end up No. 1 for the season. That, combined with its telecast of Super Bowl XLI on Feb. 4, could be enough for the network to hold off Fox and "American Idol" to win the season in the key demo. "CBS is the only network that does not rely on short-term programming for ratings boosts," says Steve Sternberg, executive vice president of audience analysis for Magna Global USA. "This puts CBS in good shape going forward. It should win [the season] among …