The publisher of In Touch Weekly and Life & Style Weekly will roll out a new young-women's service magazine called Cocktail Weekly in September. Priced at $2.49, the title is aimed at 20-somethings with its mix of celebrity news, relationship advice, health, fashion and beauty. The target readership is attractive to advertisers, but still underserved by publishers, claims Hubert Boehle, president-CEO of Bauer Publishing. "The older age group for teen magazines and the younger age group for celebrity magazines kept telling us that there wasn't a magazine that really met their needs," he says. "This is the first …

Jimmy Siegel, the adman behind Gov. Eliot Spitzer's TV spots during the last election, has signed on to help U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) in her bid for the White House. "We're delighted that Jimmy and Danny (Levinson) are helping us," says Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson, also referring to his partner at their production company, Moxie Pictures. They have consulted for the campaign, and are expected to be important parts of the campaign's creative team, which Mandy (Grunwald) is putting together. Grunwald worked on President Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign and also designed ads for Hillary Clinton's first Senate …

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a pair of appeals over the campaign-finance reform law limiting "issue ads." Oral arguments will be in late April, with a ruling expected by the end of the high court's term in June--just months before the 2008 election officially kicks off with primaries and caucuses. The court will decide whether issue ads aired mainly on television-- and funded by businesses, labor unions, and other groups--can be banned 60 days before a general election, and 30 days before a primary. That restriction is a key part of the McCain-Feingold bill that …

While the stampede to digital media is often blamed for many of Time Inc.'s magazine woes, the company's other big problem: a changing marketing approach by the domestic auto industry. As magazines try to adapt to the Web, Detroit's carmakers -- long big print spenders -- are cutting their costs, while looking for more direct and interactive connections with potential customers. Domestic automakers slashed spending with Time Inc. by a total of more than $100 million last year with General Motors, formerly Time Inc.'s biggest advertiser, cut its spending by 29%, or $47.8 million, according to TNS …

The Gap hopes that star power and a new focus on khaki apparel will give its struggling sales a shot in the the arm. A new integrated campaign, "khakis with attitude," that includes national print and outdoor in select markets, features the store's apparel as worn by actors Kyra Sedgwick, Kate Mara, Chris O'Donnell and others. Laird + Partners, New York, created the campaign. It comes in the wake of the departure of two top Gap executives earlier this month, when Denise Johnston, president of Gap's adult division, and Ivy Ross, head of product design for Old Navy, …

Anderson Cooper has signed a new multiyear pact with CNN, according to insiders of the CNN prime-time show "Anderson Cooper 360" and will be able to continue as an occasional contributor to CBS' "60 Minutes." While the net would not comment directly, CNN chief Jon Klein says that Cooper "is an exceptional journalist. His dedication in going after important stories wherever they occur makes him a natural fit for CNN." His previous contract with CNN was worth about $2 million a year; this one is more than double that and the network has also made him the …

Mediacom Communications would accept terms similar to those Sinclair recently gave Time Warner Cable to settle its dispute with Sinclair over retransmit charges. On Jan. 6, Sinclair yanked 22 of its stations from Mediacom in 13 states when the contract between the two companies expired, leaving more than 700,000 cable subscribers -- 250,000 in Iowa alone -- without cable access to network-affiliated stations. Documents filed earlier in the dispute show a difference between Sinclair's asking price and Mediacom's offer of about $1 million. Rocco Commisso, Mediacom's chief executive, says the company is pleased that Time Warner's viewers "did …

With the rise of digital video recorders such as TiVo, the allure the Super Bowl holds for advertisers could get even stronger. While Americans use DVRs to zip past commercials on many shows, the Super Bowl is among the few broadcasts to be watched live and straight through. "The Super Bowl is the least affected by the TiVo effect because it's live," says Bob Garfield of Advertising Age magazine. "Hardly anyone watches the Super Bowl on Thursday." Josh Bernoff, an analyst with Forrester Research, notes Super Bowl ads are so highly anticipated that people may not even go to …

It is a widely held belief that men watch sports and women don't. But while that has never really been true, new research shows it's less so than ever. More women are watching the world's top sporting events, according to Initiative Sports Futures, a consultancy division. sThey're actually a big factor in the growth of the top events. In some countries, women account for more than half the viewing for some major events. It has more to do with celebrity than sport, as top stars increasingly enter the pop-culture arena. Case in point: The worldwide hoopla when …

"The Closer" star Kyra Sedgwick has cut a new deal with TNT to continue her role on the hit police drama. The pact will make here one of the highest-paid actresses on television, and she will also become a producer on the show. In addition, her original contract has been extended by a year to a total of seven seasons. The series returns this summer for a third season. While no one would comment on the specifics of the deal, sources told the trade magazine that she will be getting $250,000-$300,000 per episode, including bonuses. …