Hype surrounding steroid-fueled slugger Barry Bonds helped boost overall ratings for Tuesday night's Major League Baseball All-Star Game, even thought the numbers for one key demographic group were actually down in double-digits. More than 31 million viewers tuned in to see the game on Fox -- its best number since 2004 -- and the first time the net has had back-to-back yearly audience increases. Viewership may have been helped by a pre-game tribute to legendary Giant Willie Mays, who also sat for an interview by Derek Jeter and Ken Griffey Jr., a chat the network will show more …

Hallmark Channel will commission 30 original movies for 2008, the largest such slate it has ever done. Many will have relatively modest budgets of $2 million to $3 million, but David Kenin, executive vice president of programming, says a couple each year will be more expensive and possibly even premiere in theaters before getting to the tube. He says the movies will be "family-friendly, predictable and consistent" to appeal to a target demo of adults 25-54, although the net skews toward the older end. The average age of those watching Hallmark's prime-time fare from October through May was 63, …

U.S. Senator Sam Brownback, a right-wing Republican currently running for president, is pushing to give the Federal Communications Commission back the power to block dirty words on TV -- power that a federal court decision took away. The Kansas Republican plans to offer an amendment to a finance bill that "reinstates the FCC's ability to prohibit the use of profanity and indecent images from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. on broadcast TV, when children are most likely to be in the audience," according to the Parents Television Council. That would pretty much overturn a decision by an appeals …

Researchers in Germany have developed technology that can recognize emotions from facial expression -- a tool that could have huge potential for advertisers. Normally, they can only guess at the public's reaction to a new campaign -- or gather it through polling or focus groups. But marketers using the technology under development by the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits could make the data instantly accessible. It works like this: A video camera records the face of each person who passes an ad in, say, an airport and registers if he or she looks happy, surprised, sad or angry. Then …

Kraft Foods is going with Ogilvy & Mather for its Oscar Mayer business that had bent at JWT. Ogilvy snagged the $60 million account after a review that included DDB and mcgarrybowen in New York, both on the company's agency roster. "Ogilvy showed terrific insight into how today's consumers view our categories," says Tim Cofer, general manager of Oscar Mayer. "They transformed that consumer perspective into an ownable campaign for Oscar Mayer, which helped solidify our choice." The move will align the brand's advertising with its promotional assignments, handled by a separate Ogilvy unit. The …

Interpublic is still facing hard times, as the struggling holding company is expected to lose part of its considerable share of Johnson & Johnson's estimated $3 billion media-buying account when the results of J&J's agency review are announced. This blow would come after two high-profile losses, and raises questions about Interpublic's ability to continue a turnaround and meet its financial goals for next year. The company suffered a string of account losses in 2005 but has since been coming back by winning some new ones, including K-Mart and Saturn. But it stands to lose an estimated $40 to $50 …

Ad messages are infiltrating smaller-market TV newscasts, perhaps as a way to counter DVR-enabled ad skipping, according to researchers from the University of Oregon. And such "stealth advertising" means viewers are unaware of potential slants in coverage as the connection of a story to an advertiser is rarely disclosed, says Jim Upshaw, a professor of journalism. He notes that commercial messages intended to promote a product or service often "are cloaked in some other garment than a normal commercial." Plus, "stations are not telling their viewers that what they are putting on the air in news or feature stories …

"The New Chrysler" is readying a corporate effort that tells consumers, dealers -- and investors -- to "get ready for the next 100 years." Set to bow once the buyout of the automaker by Cerberus Capital Management closes next month, the effort will begin with radio and newspapers and print is tagged "Jeep. Dodge. Chrysler" and features the return of the pentastar logo. For the first time in a while, all of Chrysler's brands will be in the same ad, a departure from a DaimlerChrysler approach to mark each with a separate identity. "Under Daimler, Chrysler was never able …

Newspapers are losing ad dollars to the Internet at a faster pace than other media, according to a report from Wachovia Equity Research. Of 55 advertisers in automotive, retail, telecommunications, financial services, general services, media, and tech/Internet only one category -- financial services -- actually increased its newspaper spend. In total, newspapers lost 14.3% in ad dollars last year among those seven, while TV gained 4.4% and the Internet jumped 17.8%. Telcos moved the most out of print, from spending 31.6% in newspapers in 2005 and just 24% in 2006. And an auto shift hurt as well, with …

The Federal Communications Commission has officially reprimanded a pair of TV stations for violating kids programming rules. WTXX in Waterbury, Conn., is one of two on the hot seat, admonished for airing a show with an extra 60-second spot in it along with three program-length commercials, including one for the Pokemon E-Reader. Also in trouble with regulators is WBPX in Boston for allegedly failing to supply the age range of kids shows to electronic guide publishers. In the WTXX case, a show on the channel had a Nintendo Gameboy E-Reader ad with a fleeting image of Pokemon …