Rita Cosby will be gone from MSNBC at the month's end, as her contract is set to expire April 1 and will not be renewed, insiders say. The cable net canceled her 10 p.m. "Live and Direct" show months ago, naming her head of a new specials unit but using her talents sparingly. The former Fox News personality, once described as "dumber than a suitcase of rocks" by MSNBC colleague Keith Olbermann, gained notoriety for her celebrity pieces. "NBC replaced live programming with taped shows during some primetime slots, including mine," says Cosby. "I then began discussions with the network. …

TrimSpa, the diet-product marketer, is readying an allegedly "TiVo-proof" ad to break in April as it looks to move on after the minutely chronicled death of high-profile spokeswoman Anna Nicole Smith. The new spot will feature more than 400 "before" and "after" photos of TrimSpa users, presented to also show up when DVR users fast-forward through its ads, says Tony Azzizzo, president of Goen Technologies. He declines to offer further details on the campaign or how the ad would work technically, but describes it as part of TrimSpa's effort to develop a campaign following Smith's demise. "We recently lost our …

Corona is continuing the nearly two-decade-long "vacation-in-a-bottle" positioning that made it the leading imported beer in a new batch of ads. Corona "moments" will launch next week on TV, print and outdoor, all created by Cramer-Krasselt, Chicago. They were shot on the beaches of Tulum, Mexico, and use the palm trees, clear bottle, lime wedges and other images typical of the "Miles away from ordinary" campaign. Print will include Esquire, FHM, Maxim, Playboy and Rolling Stone, while TV will include programs like "Jimmy Kimmel Live," "Late Show with David Letterman," 'Saturday Night Live" and "Mad TV." The beer also …

NBC is bringing up "Baby Borrowers," a British show in which teenage couples get the chance to experience parenthood. The program follows teens as they fast-forward through the stages of parenthood, starting with custody of a real baby. After caring for the infant for a few days, the couples--living together for the first time--then have to watch over a toddler, a pre-teen, a young teenager and even a senior citizen. "It really is adult life on fast forward--the very opposite of 'Groundhog Day,' says Richard McKerrow, who produced the original BBC show. NBC has ordered up six hour-long episodes of …

AS NIELSEN PREPARES FOR THE rollout of new ratings data based on the audience of commercial minute averages in TV programs, a group of the nation's largest advertisers this morning made a push to move toward precise, "brand-specific" commercial ratings. The initiative, which is being driven the influential Television Advertising Committee of the Association of National Advertisers, is the latest volley in a hotly contested debate on the role of TV commercial ratings heading into this year's upfront advertising marketplace. In a white paper distributed to members this morning, the ANA committee makes the case that Nielsen's new average …

Mel Karmazin, the head of Sirius Satellite Radio, claims that a merger between his company and XM Satellite Radio would not mean higher prices for consumers. Speaking to a congressional committee investigating the possible combination, he says the most anyone would have to pay is $25.95, if they choose to receive all of the programming available on both services. "Prices will not go up," says Karmazin. "The only increase in pricing would be if you take content from both companies and their price comparison is $25.95, and the price will drop significantly from that." But Karmazin had left …

Fresh off a messy breakup with agency Cramer-Krasselt, CareerBuilder is looking for a new shop to handle its $60 million ad account. Among those reportedly in the pitch are Leo Burnett, DraftFCB and DDB, along with Boston's Arnold. The account is up because of the No. 1 recruitment site's rift with C-K. The agency says CareerBuilder put the account up for review after its Super Bowl ads failed to crack the top 10 in USA Today's Ad Meter poll. And then C-K immediately quit because, as agency CEO Peter Krivkovich puts it, "There are a few times …

A federal judge has ruled that the maker of Splenda must defend its advertising tagline that the product is "made from sugar so it tastes like sugar." Merisant Co., which makes Equal and NutraSweet, charges that Splenda parent McNeil Nutritionals misleads consumers by suggesting it is a natural product and contains sugar. Splenda contains no sugar; it is sweetened with a synthetic compound through a chemical process. U.S. District Judge Gene E.K. Pratter refused McNeil's motion to dismiss the suit, along with challenges over expert witnesses. The opinion paves the way for an April trial replete with experts …

While Discovery Channel's James Cameron-produced documentary "The Lost Tomb of Jesus" drew the largest audience for the network in more than a year, the network has been trying to downplay the project. For instance, it did not trumpet its big ratings win, and it scheduled a last-minute special that harshly criticized its own documentary. It has also yanked a planned repeat of the show. "This is not one where you necessarily beat the drum, from a business perspective," says David Leavy, executive vice president of corporate communications at Discovery. "It's not necessarily about making money, or making ratings, or …

New York's tourism office is rolling out its first major international ad effort, looking to sell potential visitors a city that is as much about hip-hop as it is the Empire State Building. The campaign is part of a strategy to promote the Big Apple across the globe and the office -- NYC & Company - already has operations in Dublin, Buenos Aires and London. But despite its reputation as a top tourist destination, the city has never yet embarked on a global ad campaign, relying on smaller, local efforts in specific countries. About 44 million people visited …