The cable TV industry has started a $200 million ad campaign to tell customers they will be able to watch their favorite programs even after the transition to digital broadcasting. The effort features four 30-second spots on broadcast and cable nets, and the first ones started airing in Washington, D.C. this week. A 2005 report by the Government Accountability Office showed that 21 million households--about 19 percent of the total--still rely on antennae rather than cable or satellite. Cable subscribers won't be affected even if they have analog service, and while there is no federal requirement that the industry …

Hennessy, long a favorite cognac of rappers, is launching a new TV and online campaign that will keep the brand linked to the scene via music created by rapper/producer Pharrell. "Lost Weekend" is one 90-second spot set to debut on the company's site flauntyourtaste.com. In it, a woman invites a group of young musicians to spend the weekend at a luxury mansion and features a montage of parties, sailing and other decadent pursuits. Print ads will appear in magazines including GQ, Vanity Fair and Vibe. "Hennessy, volume wise, has a very urban skew to it," says Ewen Cameron, …

ESPN, which has added mightily to parent Disney's profits for the last decade, could well produce a smaller percentage of the media behemoth's profits in coming years, according to some analysts. One reason: Pro football, baseball, basketball and auto racing contracts that take effect by October of 2009 will raise the channel's expenses by more than $1 billion a year, while its deals with Comcast and Time Warner Cable limit increases in subscribers to 7 percent. Disney hopes that ESPN can increase revenue with online advertising, through channels like ESPN2, and by selling Internet services.

Big Ten Network, which got a major boost in buzz with its coverage of Appalachian State's huge upset of Michigan last Saturday, has also just scored on the distribution front today, inking a carriage deal with EchoStar Communications. The network, co-owned by the conference's 11 schools and Fox, will now be available to Dish subscribers that buy the satellite provider's "America's Top 100" package. Furthermore, all Dish customers will have the chance to preview BTN until early next year. The Top 100 package reaches 11.6 million homes nationwide, including 2.7 million within the Big Ten states. The pact is …

The filth just keeps flying in the "family hour" of broadcast television, according to one conservative group, with Americans watching more sex, violence and profanity than ever. A study by the Parents Television Council claims that instances of violence during family-hour broadcasts have jumped by 52.4 percent since its last such survey in 2001. Sex isn't as prevalent; the group finds objectionable behavior up just 22.1%. "In the past six years, the family hour has become even more hostile to children and families," says the PTC. It looked at programs originally aired during three two-week periods of the …

Retirement Living TV, shooting to become a 24/7 cable net before year-end, has signed a deal with the AARP to originate some shows from the powerful lobbying group's Washington headquarters. Launched a year ago, RLTV currently reaches viewers for just a few hours a day, via DirecTV and Comcast's CN8 service, but it has grand aims. By 2010, 82 million Americans will be 55 or older, and represent 27% of the total population. Kevin Donnellan, chief communication officer of the organization formerly known as the American Assn. of Retired Persons, says the group already "produces a tremendous amount …

Joe Mansueto, founder of Morningstar, could not come to terms on a deal to purchase Business 2.0 from Time Inc., so the mag's shutdown is expected shortly. Mansueto was the only one interested in the book, but a deal deadline has come and gone. According to insiders, he was offering about $5 million, not enough for Time Inc., which is still interested in hanging on to some of the pub's Web archives. "It's true we had taken a look at it, but ultimately we could not come to terms that were acceptable to all," says John Koten, …

Actors from ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" -- the show from which Isaiah Washington got canned after making anti-gay slurs -- are featured in a new ad campaign promoting tolerance. This week, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation rolled out 25 new public service ads it will push TV networks to air. Executions feature celebs talking about the power of anti-gay words, and the importance of accepting a gay or lesbian family member. T.R. Knight, Sara Ramirez and Kate Walsh of "Grey's Anatomy" are in; ditto Alexandra Billings, a transgendered actress who appeared in one episode of the …

The U.S. Census Bureau has tapped Interpublic's DraftFCB for a $200 million 2010 campaign after a review, according to insiders. Topped out in the end were shops including Ogilvy & Mather, JWT, Young & Rubicam and GSD&M Idea City. Neither the census bureau, DraftFCB or any of those shops are talking. Y&R had the business in 2000, an effort that Uncle Sam put some $100 million in media behind, according to TNS Media Intelligence. Since being dumped from the $570 million Wal-Mart account amid allegations that the retailer's code of ethics was broken by former marketing executive Julie Roehm, …

While food companies have been cleaning up their marketing to kids, a study from a few years ago shows just how far they needed to go. Published in the medical journal Pediatrics, data from 2003-2004 shows that almost all the TV food ads seen by young kids and teens were for products high in sugar, fat and/or sodium. The nine-month survey of the nutritional content of food ads in the 170 top-rated kids shows concluded that 97.8% of those viewed by children 2 to 11 were for foods with poor nutritional content. And the percentage would likely have been …