Marketers are starting to personalize in-store promotions, based on what products the consumer recently picked up or purchased. But that is just the beginning. Soon digital retail ads will also target shoppers based on what they looks like. In a test in Buffalo, N.Y., people ordering a morning coffee at Dunkin' Donuts see ads at the cash register promoting the chain's breakfast sandwiches. At the pick-up counter, the coffee-buyers see ads prompting them to return for a coffee break in the afternoon. Thanks to audience fragmentation, marketers feel compelled to make their pitches when consumers are closest …

ESPN and Major League Baseball have expanded their digital rights deal through 2013 and added the rights to live stream games and events on ESPN360.com and ESPN Mobile TV. Included in the pact are simulcasts of "Sunday Night Baseball," 'Monday Night Baseball" and 'Wednesday Night Baseball." The arrangement also covers emerging platforms, including videogame consoles, interactive television, interactive online programs and portable devices, such iPod, Zune and XBox Live. In addition to live game and event streaming in the U.S. and overseas, ESPN gets expanded online and mobile highlight rights.

Is Apple an electronics brand or a media outlet? At some point, Apple commercials have morphed into musical tastemakers, resulting in overnight stardom for the artists being featured. For instance, after the Canadian pop song "1234" was used to peddle the iPod Nano in September, it skyrocketed from 2,000 downloads per week to 73,000. Apple asserts there is no set formula for picking artists used in campaigns. Israeli singer-songwriter Yael Naim was plucked out of obscurity when her song "New Soul" accompanied the Macbook Air ads in January. Without radio airplay or a major label push, …

Radio's revenue story is bleak, yet some analysts say the industry is still in denial. Spot radio advertising dropped 7% in the first half of the year to $8.4 billion, per the Radio Advertising Bureau. Factoring in a robust 12% rise in online ads to $889 million and a 3% climb for network radio, radio advertising is still down 5% at mid-year. (The RAB has forecast online activity to pass $2 billion in 2009.) Jim Boyle, analyst with CL King & Associates, accuses the industry of sitting on its hands. "Radio does not appear ready to …

NBC Universal took another step in its international expansion this week, buying the U.K.'s Carnival Film & Television, producer of glossy dramas like "Hotel Babylon." The deal was worth about $56 million. The move is the first acquisition by NBC's London division and fits with NBCU's goal to more than double non-U.S. revenue by 2010. The deal gives the network a U.K. production headquarters and access to inexpensive overseas locations and the British acting pool. "Getting high production value with less cost is absolutely an aspect of the acquisition," says NBC executive Angela Bromstad.

Turner has rolled out a new Web application for golf fans who can't get to a TV but want to monitor their favorite PGA players and tournaments. The free PGA Tour Shot Tracker, launching on Turner's PGATour.com August 21, allows fans to follow specific players' shots, as officials post live information on where each ball exactly lands on the course, and which path each shot takes. The shots are presented online in graphical form. Shot Tracker will be available during all the remaining PGA events this year.