The newspaper business has apparently gotten so bad that it no longer pays attention to it. That's the conclusion reached by independent analyst John Morton and media economist Miles Groves, who are folding their well-respected Morton-Groves Newspaper Newsletter. Morton, who has published about the industry since 1976, joined with Groves in 2002. "I'm getting tired of producing painful forecasts," he says. "Recently, as down as they get to be, they never seem to be down enough." More to the point, ongoing consolidation has cut deeply into the newsletter's subscription base. "Our base is eroding," Groves says. …

With marketers and media companies failing, in their view, to act on the issue of childhood obesity, a Republican senator and three FCC commissioners have demanded more progress. At the first meeting of a government/private-industry task force on the topic, Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., also a right-wing fringe presidential candidate, says he wants a new proposal by July. "Nineteen percent of kids are overweight. That's just unacceptable," he says. "We must take responsible action to protect the nation's children." Meanwhile, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin claims the problem is now "a national crisis." Neither of the two came …

Major League Baseball president and COO Bob DuPuy charges that IN Demand's offer to match DirecTV's $700 million, seven-year carriage rights deal is "not responsive" to MLB's terms. The league says the offer "fails short of all the material conditions." But IN Demand president Robert Jacobson disagrees: "Our offer was fully responsive to Major League Baseball's requirements and public statements." While both sides are vague as to the points of the deal, insiders say IN Demand will match the dollar amount to carry the MLB Extra Innings package of out-of-market games and launch the MLB Channel. But …

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While little in the way of broadcast network sitcoms seems to attract viewers, the classic American TV format is far from dead. Indeed, we are watching as many or more comedies than ever, only as reruns on cable or syndication. The problem is not with the sitcom, but with the broadcast networks, says a report from Magna Global: The networks just got it all wrong, going with themes that just don't resonate. What still works are shows about families like "Everybody Loves Raymond," or family-like groups, such as "Friends" or "Seinfeld." But instead, the nets air stuff like …

The broadcast networks should either stop charging advertisers integration fees to put their ads on the air or take the cash and use it to convert to a new second-by-second ratings system, according to Andy Jung, senior director, advertising media services, Kellogg Co. The fees were put in place when someone had to manually place a commercial into sequence, a process that is now computerized. Jungs call them a "legacy charge from years ago" that has "no cost justification today and need to be phased out. It's time for this issue to be put on the table and …

The $4.5 billion direct-to-consumer drug ad business is drawing more scrutiny on Capitol Hill as a new bill in the House of Representatives would allow the Food and Drug Administration to ban new-drug ads for up to three years. The proposal comes as the industry faces legislation in the Senate that could sharply curb DTC advertising for prescription drugs. That move would allow the FDA to ban drug ads for two years. But besides adding a year to any new-drug ad bans, the House bill requires packaging thatlets consumers know a drug is new to the marketplace. Both …

The "NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams" starts broadcasting in high-definition on March 26, and according to a poll by TVPredictions.com, many people will be watching: 79.5 percent of those asked. It will be the first evening network news program run in high-def, and only 5.5% of the site's readers said they wouldn't watch it, while 15% say they don't watch any network news program. The results would seem to indicate that high-def viewers will tune in specifically because a show is in HD. Since the advent of high-def in the late 1990s, many industry observers have noted …

February ad revenue at The New York Times Co. fell 6%, as weakness at its namesake and regional papers offset online strength. Total revenue for the company was down 3.6%, while the New York Times Media Group fell 7.5% to $93.7 million. National ads were off on weakness in technology, movie and auto categories. Retail was also down, and classified fell across the board drops in all three categories: real estate, help wanted and auto. At the Regional Media Group, ad revenue fell 8.1% to $28.2 million, with a decline in New England of 4% to $29.9 million. …

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