College sports' Southeastern Conference is weighing the idea of its own TV channel, talking to national networks and cable distribution companies about a possible launch in two to three years. And while the top sports would have star billing, there is plenty of others around to fill the airtime. "No question, there would be football and basketball on it," says SEC commissioner Mike Slive. But with something like 8,700 hours of programming, he notes that school presidents and chancellors want to create an outlet for non-athletic content from universities. "There are a lot of events on our respective …

The NFL Network is fighting back against Comcast's shift of the channel from a tier that reaches 6 million customers to a more expensive sports package with just 250,000. It is sending an email blast consisting of a one-page pamphlet/ad distributed to Comcast customers urges subscribers to "demand that NFL Network remain in your current cable package" or "demand a rebate for the loss." It also includes Comcast's 800 number. Last month, a ruling by the New York Supreme Court emboldened the cable company to start dumping NFL from a no-extra-charge digital platform to one that costs $4.95 …

The Federal Communications Commission has warned a handful of retailers, including K-Mart, Best Buy, Circuit City and Radio Shack, that they need to start warning customers about analog sets not working after broadcasting goes all digital in 2009. And if they don't heed, they face an $11,000-per-day fine, up to $97,000. The warning, either on or in close proximity to the sets, should read: "This television receiver has only an analog broadcast tuner and will require a converter box after February 17, 2009 to receive over-the-air broadcasts with an antenna because of the nation's transition to digital broadcasting. …

Spike TV is rolling out a pair of branded entertainment interstitials aimed at keeping viewers with the channel during programming breaks. The move comes as commercial ratings start to play a big role in TV ad buying and selling. Two 30-second "Spike Men of Action" clips make fun of action movies. One is sponsored by Dairy Queen and the other by Lamisil. Niels Schuurmans, Spike's senior vice president and creative director says the pair are meant to discourage channel surfing, a top sales strategy for MTV Networks. Plus, they also generate more money while building the Spike brand. …

JWT has bailed from the final round of Global Hyatt's account review, while at least two other shops cut earlier have been invited to try again. JWT and Euro RSCG had been finalists for the $40 million business, but the latter now remains the only confirmed contender. Tom O'Toole, Hyatt's senior vice president of marketing and systems, declines to identify the agencies asked to come back, although he says they had been around earlier in the process. He adds that JWT's departure would not delay the review, and final presentations are set for the end of the month. …

Isaiah Washington, the actor who has played Dr. Preston Burke on the ABC hit "Grey's Anatomy, is gone. He left the show after the season finale -- and ABC Studios made a decision not to pick up his option for next season. The move follows speculation about his future on the show after he uttered an anti-gay slur in reference to castmate T.R. Knight. (Knight recently closed a deal to stay with the program.) The first report about Washington's use of the slur came in October, but he then chose to repeat his remarks at a press conference …

"Greenvertising" buys have surged over the last few months, getting ever more mainstream as consumers worry about environmental degradation. And while "green" can be tough to define, companies are rushing to embrace this new consciousness in their product messaging. "Two years ago, our advertiser presentations talked about reaching a tipping point," says Christine Engelbrechtsen, vice president of integrated sales and marketing for Lime. "That tipping point has now arrived." And the trend is unlikely to be short-lived as firms heavily invest in green initiatives: "Establishing your green cred is now just part of doing business, especially with the …

After collecting more than $22 billion worth of fees from customers last year, Bank of America is pushing ads that claim it can help customers avoid them. More than half the company's annual revenue comes from non-interest income that includes fees, and it isn't saying whether the new ads, tagged "a little knowledge is a powerful thing" are apt to cut into the take. "Customers told us they want simple ways to manage their money and track their accounts when, where and how they want," says Liam McGee, president of the bank's global consumer and small business banking. …

TNT has signed on five new sponsors for its presentation of the Pepsi 400 Nascar race on July 7. The net's "wide open" approach is slated to run continuous race coverage with no national commercial breaks. But it will feature animated national-sponsor messages like original branded content and on-screen graphic elements. That will appear along the bottom of the screen instead of the usual ad breaks, and the telecast will have just three local commercial pods an hour. As a result, Turner Broadcasting says the show will have 22% more unobstructed action than a standard race telecast. …

NBC apparently wants Rosie O'Donnell for its lineup as new programming chief Ben Silverman is telling folks he would do just about anything to get her onto the Peacock Network. And that doesn't mean just day jobs, either: Silverman is talking to O'Donnell about being the host of a prime-time game show, along with a daytime hour, much like the ABC's "The View," which she recently -- and fairly acrimoniously -- departed. Her final ratings on that show skyrocketed, bringing in unprecedented numbers, and now host Barbara Walters has a big hole to fill this summer …