Marketers are getting ready to storm one of the few remaining ad-free zones with an Internet company now testing "in-call" advertising for Web phone service. Last month, privately held firm Jangl began making some customers listen to a short audio spot while waiting for their call to connect. Another company -- Jajah - -is set to launch in-call ads this year. Customers opt into that service and can get a break on their phone bills for listening to ads. While similar to the ads consumers hear while on hold with things like airline reservation services, Jangl and Jajah can …

Retailer Burlington Coat Factory has put media duties on its $70 million advertising account into review, endangering Initiative's longtime hold on the business. "We have had a long and successful relationship with Initiative," says Garry Graham, Burlington's executive vice president of marketing. "However, we feel it is time to explore the range of resources that are available to us in this fast-changing retail marketplace." The agency will get to defend a review to be handled by consultancy Ark Advisors. A decision is expected in the second quarter. The creative portion of Burlington's account had been handled by …

Coca-Cola, Ford and AT&T will again be the three main sponsors of "American Idol" -- but it is costing them even more to associate with the hit Fox show. The trio is shelling out $35 million each for the privilege of being featured in the No. 1 program, along with air time for ads, online content and co-branded marketing programs. That is up from the $30 million they paid last season, but the returns could also be higher. With the writers strike shutting down production on most original scripted programming, "Idol" is expected to be a bigger ratings …

As the housing slump worsens, the National Association of Realtors has rolled out a new ad campaign touting the "facts about homeownership and the value of real estate as a long-term investment." The idea is get people to worry less about national statistics or potentially short-term trends. "Nobody buys a home in the national real estate market," says association President Dick Gaylord, a broker with RE/MAX Real Estate Specialists in Long Beach, Calif. "All real estate markets are local, and buyers and sellers who are thinking about making a move should consult with a realtor in their local …

In the first week of the federal digital TV converter box coupon program, an effort aimed at helping consumers switch from analog to digital television broadcasting, more than 2 million of the coupons were ordered. The U.S. Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration is leading the educational campaign and administering the coupon program, which started taking orders Jan. 2. Each household can get up to two of them, worth up to $40, to help defray the cost of the boxes. Congress has set aside $1.5 billion for the program, enough to fund 33.5 million coupons. …

CBS is going for reality in a big way as it readies the launch of three series in the genre. New programs include "Game Show in My Head," a biweekly celebrity talent contest called "Secret Talents of the Stars" and "America's Top Dog." The trio represent the Tiffany Network's first unscripted series orders since the writers strike started. Still, even though CBS reality chief Ghen Maynard and his counterparts at rival nets had already been aggressively developing reality shows before the strike, they had not until recently rushed to order new ones. "Game Show" is based on …

Chief marketing officers seem relatively upbeat about ad spending trends going forward, with most saying they expect budgets to hold steady or tweak upward this year, according to one new survey. At the same time, however, many are frustrated by current organizational culture, senior management mind-sets, and insufficient budgets, suggests data from the CMO Council's annual Marketing Outlook study. About 825 senior marketing execs across the globe participated in the study and just under 38% say annual budgets are not likely to change this year. At the same time, 33% say they expect to increase spending by up to …

In one of the biggest moves yet from print to digital advertising by a top daily, the Chicago Tribune is getting rid of help-wanted ads in its weekday editions. Taking their place will be a listing of basic information in the Tuesday business section that will refer job-hunters online for the full listing. Help-wanted classifieds will still run on Sundays, but the section will sport "a bold new look with fewer columns, larger ads and clear headings that enable easier page scanning and navigation," the company says. That section rolls this weekend. "Chicago Tribune and the rest of …