In one year, tens of millions of televisions may instantly become obsolete with the switch to digital from analog, but a low-cost converter is available to allow consumers to continue to use their existing sets, Conrad MacKerron thinks it is a safe bet that millions of people will decide to upgrade. What will happen to the old TVs pushed aside by the shiny new mega-screen units? Many will be pushed into closets or tossed into dumpsters. And although old TVs are loaded with lead that can spill out of broken cathode ray tubes, only about 10 states have …

The mortgage market may be in the dumps but that hasn't slowed down some of the industry's top players from cranking out the ads. Among the current offerings: Countrywide Financial's brag that "No one can do what Countrywide can" and that the company "can show you the way home;" Wachovia's "Approved" stamp; and Bank of America's vow that "home ownership is the best medicine." Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors is running a national TV campaign on the idea that there has never been a better time to buy a home. So, despite rising foreclosures, defaults, lawsuits and investigations, the …

As scripted series return to the airwaves with the conclusion of the writers strike, media buyers will be making sure that their clients get the spots in programming they bought in last year's upfront. As fresh episodes vanished over the last few months, buyers have tried to make sure their ads were still reaching the same number of viewers the networks guaranteed. But now it is back to the original plan. For instance, when a top show unexpectedly goes into reruns, buyers had to negotiate adjustments -- in some cases, commercials in other shows to make up for …

Washington Mutual has rolled out a new advertising campaign that features print, billboards, radio, TV, direct mail and the Internet and is built around the "Whoo hoo!" theme, That tag, the company says, is supposed to reflect moments of "a dream-like state where customers visualize moments of personal elation in response to learning about WaMu products and services." At the same time, WaMu has dumped the suited "bankers in the pen" that represent villainous competitors that nickel-and-dime their customers. WaMu switched its advertising account from Leo Burnett to TBWA/Chiat/Day last year and says the new campaign is "a …

As newspapers are forced to make cuts due to declining circulation and ad revenue, some are starting to look at their stand-alone business sections as increasingly expendable. The Denver Post, which just folded its business section into other sections on every day but Sunday, has become the eighth daily to make that move since early last year. The cuts have caused some outcry from business reporters and public-relations executives, but many analysts, advertisers and publishers say the stand-alone sections were not great for ad revenue and were often beat by national and online competition, apart from hyperlocal stories. …

Some big advertiser and ad-agency associations are pulling together to push ABC, CBS and NBC into reconsidering the $125 million per year in fees the nets charge each year just for buying time in their TV shows. According to documents obtained by trade magazine Broadcasting & Cable, the American Association of Advertising Agencies, along with the Association of National Advertisers will call for a new look at the fees -- but let the nets defend the current structure, if they can. "In today's environment, marketers are demanding accountability from their media investments and transparency in their relationships with …