The renewal of Fox News Channel and a "placeholder" provision for its business channel with Time Warner Cable are just pieces of a larger pact the cable operator struck with News Corp. Citing a Time Warner executive familiar with the details, the trade magazine says the contract--finalized last week--also covers retransmission-consent carriage for Fox's owned-and-operated stations through 2009; renewals for Fox News and Speed Channel; the addition of Fox Reality Channel; and a commitment to the business channel. While a Fox News spokesman confirmed the extension agreement for the news service and the placeholder pact, he declines …

Court TV has lost its distribution on EchoStar's Dish Network after the channel and the No. 2 U.S. satellite provider couldn't agree on new carriage terms. The feed was pulled at 12:01 a.m. ET Monday, leading to a loss of about 12 million subscribers for Court TV. "We were unable to reach an agreement with EchoStar and, as a result, we had no choice but to discontinue their carriage of Court TV. They were unwilling to pay the standard industry rate for a popular network that is currently ranked in the top 20," say Turner Broadcasting executives. …

In a the crowded field of Super Bowl messages, one man is hoping his marriage proposal will stand out--if he can find a way to get it in the game. The hopeful groom, who goes by the name J.P. so as to to not blow the surprise, wants an advertiser to sponsor him. The idea came to him during the summer, and he has since been chronicling his experience online. Inspired by people like Alex Tew, who sold a million pixels on his home page for $1 each, J.P. thought he'd try to raise the $2 million-plus needed …

Dick Ebersol, head of NBC Universal Sports & Olympics, says the first season of "Sunday Night Football" on the network "more than met corporate goals" by bringing in more male viewers and propping up the entire Sunday night lineup. It also served as a platform to promote freshman drama hit "Heroes." He calls the football offering the "cornerstone of the prime-time turnaround at NBC" and says the successful launch of "Heroes" can be attributed, in large part, to the promotion it got. Through the first 16 weeks of the regular season, "Sunday Night Football" averaged a …

News outlets faced the choice of whether to televise the execution of Saddam Hussein when a cell phone video of the event emerged over the weekend, with some running portions after it was made easily available online. Fox News was the first to run some of the footage: a grainy depiction that includes the hanging and exchanges between Saddam, his executioners and witnesses as he is led to his death. It is not clear who shot it, but the video was uploaded to an Associated Press video news service, which makes it available to every network. "The …