General Electric Chief Jeffrey Immelt resisted pressure from investors to sell NBC Universal for years. He may be about to show them it was worth keeping -- despite NBC's not-so-stellar ratings. "NBC has made investments in Internet, cable and international -- the combination should help to offset the declines in domestic broadcasting," says analyst Scott Davis. NBCU's market value may jump as much as 50% to …

A study of televised sex references last fall reveals that broadcast networks show sex between married couples as negative or nonexistent, while depicting extramarital sex as positive, according to activist group, The Parents Television Council. In a new report, the group says that that during prime time, verbal references to nonmarital sex outnumber references to sex in marriage nearly 3 to 1, and scenes implying sex between unmarried partners outnumber similar scenes between married couples 4 to 1. PTC President Tim Winter says his group is not seeking a return to the days of "Father Knows Best," …

CBS' long-running magazine show "Entertainment Tonight" will be expanding its presence on Microsoft's MSN portal next month. The new arrangement has the show providing articles, videos and photos across the entire site, including MSN Television, MSN Music and MSN Movies. MSN will handle ad sales related to the "ET" features. CBS is promised a cash guarantee, plus a split of the ad revenue. The two sides say the partnership will produce more than $1 million in the first year. CBS hopes the syndication deal will quickly boost ET's digital momentum, which is mostly limited to its own …

MediaVest executives revamped their media planning approach and renamed their planning unit the Truth and Design Group. Since April, the change has helped the agency win the $220 million Schering Plough account, the $160 million TD Ameritrade business and helped it retain a large, unnamed client. Lisa Donohue, president of the group, says "planning" is a counterproductive term that traditionally means "plodding, rigid and linear." Instead, planning now means design, "which is more creative with less of a building-block approach." The new design approach also means fewer interdepartmental meetings and more "active inclusion," in which the client …

Deepening the News Corp.'s presence in Indian media, Rupert Murdoch announced the company will spend $100 million on six new regional television channels there and will launch a Dow Jones index to track the Indian stock markets. Dow Jones also plans to increase its news coverage of India's economy, one of the fastest-growing in the world. Robert Thomson, Wall Street Journal managing editor, says the newspaper and Dow Jones Newswires will increase staff in India from 25 to 70.

Fox International Channels and The Wall Street Journal -- both owned by News Corp. -- have agreed to promote the newspaper's content on television networks in Latin America. Ads for WSJ Americas will appear on Fox, FX and National Geographic channels in the region. Fox International Channels does not own news networks in any of its own 16 channels in Latin America. The agreement is the latest development in how the sprawling global assets of News Corp are being to expand the Dow Jones franchise. Over time, that relationship could be further even expanded, says Hernan Lopez, chief …

Perkins Miller, chief of digital media for NBC Sports, explains the reasoning behind the network's programming strategy for the Olympics. He says that events will not be shown on TV as they happen because that is not what viewers want. NBCU execs contend that people want to watch the best content during prime time in HDTV on big flat screens in the living room, whether or not the events are live. "Our programming strategy is to try to deliver the best experience on the best platform and by far, that is the best way," says Miller. He says …