Facing a sales slump, Beck's beer is putting its ad account up for grabs, according to insiders, and Ground Zero--which got the business just a year ago -- and isn't trying to keep it. In the past, the Inbev-owned brand, now distributed here in the U.S. by Anheuser-Busch, has spent about $40 million on domestic advertising, that dropped to $22 million in U.S. media in 2006, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus. Prior to Ground Zero, Beck's had been with Leo Burnett in Chicago and when last in review, that agency was among the contenders, along with Lowe and Bartle …

It is still a couple years before Conan O'Brien takes over "The Tonight Show," but NBC is trying to figure out how to keep departing host Jay Leno in the fold after he steps down. Indeed, apart from its problems in prime time, the biggest challenge facing the network is how to make sure Leno does not stray to ABC or Fox. We want him to stay at NBC for life," says co-chairman Ben Silverman. "And [we] are aggressively trying to come up with ideas that would make Jay happy." Although ad sales in the late night day …

With 13,000 people hitting 60 every day, and with most of them packing major spending power, Dave Bunnell thinks there are plenty of reasons his new magazine Eldr has a good shot at success. "This (magazine) isn't for people who sit around in their rocking chairs," says Bunnell, founder of magazines including PC World and PC."We are trying to redefine what it means to be 60." The national quarterly, set for an initial run of 75,000, will be distributed free to select folks in high-income Zip codes and sold at Barnes & Noble bookstores. Publisher Chad Lewis says …

AMC's "Mad Men" premiere scored a 1.4 household overnight rating, according to Nielsen, topping the net's average for the time slot by 75%. The show is AMC's first stab at an original series production and is set on Madison Avenue, circa 1960. "We're really pleased," says Rainbow Media Holdings spokesman Matt Frankel. "It's been a great week for us here with the premiere of "Mad Men" and the Emmy nominations for "Broken Trail." The latter miniseries trailed only HBO's "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" in Emmy nods. Indeed, it was "Broken Trail's" success in …

Booze behemoth Pernod Ricard has begun a global media review of its $200 million account, according to insiders, putting incumbent Carat's North American share of the account in play. The France-based alcohol company, with brands like Stolichnaya and Kahlua, had earlier announced a review of media in its European markets. Carat has only had the business here for two years. Some reports suggest the review is aimed to reduce media costs, even as Pernod Ricard reported a sales increase of 7.3% in the first half of 2007, tracking the liquor industry's strong performance against rival tipples like wine …

The conflict between Sumner Redstone and his daughter Shari has kicked up a notch, as she raises questions about her father's dealings -- questions that echo earlier charges that he misused family funds. The accusations could help Shari in her negotiations about getting out of the family's media empire, which includes controlling stakes in Viacom and CBS. The two have fought over various matters, like corporate governance and her desire to closely tie executive compensation with shareholder returns. Another issue involves funds held by National Amusements -- the Massachusetts-based theater chain -- and how they have been spent. …

Many of Tribune Co.'s largest dailies already are already selling -- or soon will sell -- ads on their front pages. The Chicago Tribune is already talking to top clients about the 1.5-inch strip of space along the bottom of Page One, while at the Los Angeles Times, selling similar space is in the planning stage. In the face of competition from other media and lagging readership, newspapers have little choice but to look for new revenue streams. "The Chicago Tribune is constantly exploring ways to provide value to our customers but also grow revenue," says Trib spokesman …

The House of Representatives overwhelmingly rejected a Republican plan to eliminate a $420 million federal subsidy given to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The outcome of the vote, which was 357-72, was widely expected, as the Democratic takeover of Congress has made moot Republican attempts to slash PBS' budget. The latest move to kill public broadcasting's grant came from Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) who says that "taxpayers are being asked to pay more in taxes because Congress is not willing to make hard choices and balance our spending with our income." But Congress created PBS 40 years ago …

According to TiVo, the least fast-forwarded television campaigns in April were direct-response ads that run in daytime. That is one finding from the company's first "Top Commercial Rankings" report that tracks viewing behavior on a second-by-second basis in both live and timeshifted viewing contexts. The "Stop-Watch" ratings service, rolled out earlier this year, offers a sortable database of ratings for national programs and ads in prime time and daytime. Categories tracked include top total viewing commercials, compared with total viewing of top programs, along with time-shifted commercials against time-shifted programs -- and least fast-forwarded brand campaigns. …

The Senate Commerce Committee has unanimously passed a bill to give back to the Federal Communications Commission authority to fine radio and TV stations for fleeting use of profanity. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D. W. Va.), is a response to a federal court ruling that held an FCC policy of punishing unscripted, one-time uses of expletives was a departure from precedent and "arbitrary and capricious" under a laws imposes due-process requirements on federal agencies. "This bill is a narrowly tailored approach that would allow the FCC to maintain its policy adopted in 2003 and hold …