While there has been a big jump in sexual content on TV, with a new CBS show about swingers, contraceptive makers still face problems getting air time. According to one conservative group, sexual references are up 22% during early prime time when compared to the same slot six years ago. A 2005 study from the Kaiser Family Foundation claimed the number of sexual scenes on the tube has almost doubled since 1998. The new CBS series "Swingtown," would seem a new natural fit for condom marketers as it is about two generations of friends and neighbors who explore …

The woman who was singled out by a Southwest Airlines flight attendant for wearing an outfit deemed risque is now complaining about a new ad campaign from the carrier that pokes a little fun at her predicament. Kyla Ebbert is upset over Southwest's new "skimpy fares" ad campaign and says "they are exploiting me again by using my traumatic experience as a marketing ploy." But a Southwest spokeswoman says the effort only makes light of an incident that was an embarrassment for the airline. "Southwest Airlines has no official dress code and has never wanted to be in …

With a solid season of ratings on broadcast and cable, Major League Baseball is still a big draw for advertisers.Fox is about 85% percent sold out of its American League Championship and World Series inventory, while TBS has little time left for its Divisional Series games and the National League Championship Series. "Sports on television is generally hot right now, but baseball's popularity continues to rise," says Harry Keeshan, executive VP for national broadcast at PHD. "We used to be able to buy postseason baseball ad inventory for a steal. No more." Fox is charging about $200,000 for …

LG Electronics' $350 million brand and strategic-marketing communications business is in play, and the company will hear presentations in Seoul next month. The review comes on the heels of the appointment of a new head of global branding at the company and will encompass worldwide communications, strategy, creative and corporate branding for LG and its various units. Currently in contention are five agencies or teams from two of the big holding companies. Among them: Omnicom Group's DDB Worldwide and a team made up of Agency.com working with TBWA; Saatchi & Saatchi and Publicis Worldwide; and London-based Bartle Bogle …

USA has renewed its drama "Psych" for a third season, ordering up 16 more episodes for a summer 2008 debut. The show, which airs at 10 p.m. on Fridays after "Monk," was last year's No. 1 new cable program. As it wraps its second season, "Psych" is pulling an average 4.6 million total viewers, including 2.3 million adults 25-54, according to Nielsen and has also been the No. 1 cable show in its time slot this summer. "We are thrilled to bring "Psych" back for a third season," says Jeff Wachtel, executive vice president of original …

The parent company of Outback Steakhouse and Carraba's Italian restaurants has whittled the review of its $90 million media planning and buying account to three: Aegis Group's Carat, WPP's MindShare and independent Horizon Media, insiders say. Final presentations from the trio are set for this month at Outback's Florida headquarters. Right now, the business is split between Havas' MPG and independent agency Doner. Neither MPG, which plans and buys national media, nor Doner, which handles local spot, wanted to keep the business. Select Resources International is overseeing the search, and says Outback wants to consolidate the business at …

CNN will keep "Anderson Cooper 360" at two hours for the time being even though the second half has been shifted to a mostly taped format. The show posted good ratings numbers in August, helped by big stories like the deadly bridge collapse in Minnesota and Utah mine accident. Cooper opens the second hour with 10 to 15 minutes of live content before it cuts to the tape. So far this year, "360" is pulling an average of 831,000 viewers for its first hour, a figure that plummets to 524,000 for the second one, according to Nielsen. Still, …

Nissan and Yahoo! Music will take an online music partnership to MTV's MHD channel starting next week. The co-branded sets began in November and have featured artists like Christina Aguilera and Beck. Monday's debut broadcast will offer ucountry star Rascal Flatts. The shows will air each month with a 30-minute set taped live from a Nissan-branded studio lot that also has a Nissan lounge, with interactive product displays and advertising. Until now, the sets have been only available online. "Consumers are very accustomed to seeing television content pushed on the Internet, but this collaboration with MHD allows Nissan …

A conservative group that supports the current White House Iraq war strategy with a multimillion-dollar ad campaign has rolled out a new TV ad attacking a progressive group's criticism of Gen. David Petraeus. The "Freedom's Watch" spot is attempting to counter a newspaper ad from MoveOn.org that appeared in The New York Times under the tag "General Petraeus or General Betray Us?" The group also plans to run a print ad in the newspaper in response. Eli Pariser, executive director of MoveOn.org. defended the ad. Freedom's Watch launched a $15 million ad campaign last month targeting mostly …

Johnson & Johnson exec David Adelman has been tapped as MindShare's first chief marketing officer, a position the WPP Group media agency hopes will help build up its brand. The company's North American CEO Scott Neslund wanted to sign up a chief marketing officer following the departure of new-business director Greg Graham. The aim is to have a new person to mix business development with new product, service development and brand building. "This is a brand new position at MindShare, and after a long search we've determined that David is absolutely the right guy at the right time," …