Everything is relative -- even intrusive and distracting commercials. Advertising is being invited to the dentist's chair via video goggles that patients wear while getting root canals and other sometimes-stressful procedures. The goggles, launched a year ago by InChairTV, show movies and TV shows from Disney and ABC. Now the company is selling commercial time during the programming. It figures advertisers for toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwash, travel and stress-relief products will be willing to pay higher rates to reach people eager for distractions during dental sessions. So far about 400 dentists nationwide have bought the $500 video goggle …

Japanese broadcaster Tokyo Broadcasting System has filed a lawsuit against ABC, charging that the summer hit "Wipeout" is "a blatant copycat" of its copyrighted obstacle course shows. Reality series tend to draw lawsuits, but it's rare for a broadcast network to sue another broadcaster over a reality show. TBS owns the competition series "Takeshi's Castle," and co-owns the right to Spike TV's "MXC," which uses footage from "Castle." Among the charges are that ABC bought search terms such as "MXC" on Google to help drive traffic to the official "Wipeout" page, and that specific obstacles in "Wipeout" were …

The "citizen journalist" who recently posted an erroneous story on a CNN site that said Apple CEO Steve Jobs had a heart attack could face criminal charges and possibly prison. "People generally do this kind of thing because they have a position in the stock and they want to see it go one way or the other," says Scott Vernick, a Philadelphia attorney. The erroneous story that appeared for 12 minutes on CNN's iReport -- a citizen journalism site pitched as "unedited" -- prompted a sell-off of Apple shares before Apple denied the report and the stock recovered. …

Analysts worry the $700 billion bailout package might not provide the immediate reprieve consumers hope for. Not to fear. Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine is launching a yearlong road trip for its branded "Your Money Bus," which carries financial advisors who give free advice to consumers. The idea is to promote the magazine and "to show Americans that they can take control of their finances and their future despite an uncertain economy," according to the publisher. Bus tour partners include a financial advisors education group and TD Ameritrade Institutional. It starts this week in Philadelphia with stops planned …

In November, Comcast will kick off a six-month trial of a targeted-ad system with 70,000 digital-cable households in the Baltimore area. Comcast will run addressable ads on eight cable networks in the available local pods. The ads in the test will represent 2% of the total ad airtime. Comcast plans to deliver the targeted ads based on demographics and advertiser segments, but not on personally identifiable information or viewing behavior. The cable operator is notifying chosen customers on Wednesday and will allow any subscribers to opt out by mail, telephone or the Web. Starcom MediaVest Group is …

Telemundo and Ford are trying to teach U.S. Hispanics about the importance of voting, using an ambitious multiplatform marketing program. Ford sponsors the presidential debates on the network and runs ads during post-debate analysis. Ford also has a presence on political content on telemundoyahoo.com, the joint online partnership between Telemundo and Yahoo, and on the Web site for mun2, Telemundo's sister cable network. The auto company is also is sponsoring political news on Telemundo's mobile media in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago and Dallas. Ford's TV ads on Telemundo and mun2 push viewers to the voting …

The average cost for a 30-second prime-time commercial dipped 4.1% to $130,089 during the 2007-2008 season, per TargetCast TCM. The drop represents a noticeable widening over last season's 0.7% drop. An analysis showed prime-time ratings for the four major broadcast networks fell 13% last season. When ratings go down, so do prices for the ads. Audiences are smaller "because of [media] fragmentation, fewer scripted shows and cable networks in the summertime have ratings that shoot up because they run their good programs," says Gary Carr, TargetCast director. Factor in the writers strike and ratings that fell short …

Sarah Palin is the best thing that happened to "Saturday Night Live" this decade. Last Saturday's show marked the third appearance this season by Tina Fey as Palin, along with surprise guest Queen Latifah sitting in as vice presidential debate moderator Gwen Ifill. The 11-minute opening number drew rave reviews in the ratings and in the blogosphere, where a clip of Fey-as-Palin saying the GOP ticket would be all "mavericky," gained wide traction overnight. The episode averaged a 7.4 household rating, per Nielsen. That's within a tenth of a point of its Sept. 13 premiere (also with …