Just a few months after the science fiction series "Sanctuary" appeared on the Web in 2007, Sci Fi Channel snapped up the rights to add the series to its slate of fall 2008 television programming. "Sanctuary" made its TV debut last Friday, joining the growing ranks of Web-to-TV success stories, such as "Fat Boy Stuck in Internet" and "Venus Rises." "We created a show that credited the audience with great intelligence, and a rich mythology," says star and executive producer Amanda Tapping. How did they do it? In an era of low-budget Web hits, "Sanctuary" producers gambled …

Transit -- think planes, trains and buses -- is increasingly becoming a staging ground for advertisers seeking guaranteed exposure. Airlines are now looking at placing ads all over the cabin, beyond tray tables to window shades, overhead bins and bulkheads. Last month, Spirit Airlines, based in Miramar, Fla., began placing travel ads on seat-back trays, along the cabin walls and on overhead bins. The carrier is charging $5,000 to $2 million per ad. "We could also have ads on napkins, the drink cart, drinking cups and soap dispensers. Potentially even put advertising on barf bags -- you'll …

Cable network IFC and its new sibling Sundance Channel are dividing the indie-film audience into two pools -- short-attention-span men in their 20s and their art-house parents. IFC owner Cablevision Systems Co. closed its $496 million deal to buy Sundance three months ago, and observers wondered about redundancies. With IFC aiming at young men and Sundance serving older "thought leaders," the similar networks are trying to expand without stepping on the other's toes. Evan Shapiro, IFC network president says, "Both channels are 'independent,' but there's a difference between being edgy and being authentic." Sundance will have more …

Traffic at The Washington Post's Web site reached a record 323.3 million page views in September, a jump of 42% over the year before. The monthly Web traffic at washingtonpost.com was nearly 27% higher than its previous high. Not surprisingly, the record was driven by politics, where traffic was up 233% over last year. Business content was also hot, pushing page views up 141% over 2007. In even more good news, video and photo galleries on the site also saw a steep increase in use in September, says editor Jim Brady, with 162% more videos played compared …

Hollywood could get a little unexpected boost from the proposed $700-billion bailout wending its way through Congress. The bill would provide tax breaks worth more than $470 million over the next decade for TV and movie producers that shoot in the U.S. It's enough to keep some low-budget productions -- and jobs -- from going offshore. One provision gives TV producers the same tax deductions that General Motors, Boeing, Xerox and other American manufacturers receive for making their products in the U.S. Hollywood has long sought measures to curb "runaway production," as filmmakers have fled to foreign …

The pace of new media deals has slowed to a near stop this year as economic upheaval has held up transactions dependent on outside financing, says investment bank Jordan, Edmiston. Transactions announced for the first nine months of 2008 were down 70% compared to last year--to only $26.7 billion. However the pace of smaller and midsized deals involving online media, interactive marketing and database information companies kept up with 2007. The dollar value of M&A activity dropped in all sectors but newsletter publishing. Biggest declines have been in educational and professional publishing, down 98%; consumer magazines, down …

Advertising via public transit is taking a leap forward in Manhattan, in a trend likely to hit other regions. A shuttle on New York's heavily traveled 42nd Street line subway line has been covered from top to bottom in ads for the History Channel. Ads for the History Channel, the U.S. Navy and others will also start appearing on subway turnstiles, stairs and inside train tunnels. MTA Chief Elliot Sander says the ad onslaught is a good way to help fill the agency's budget gap. "We are aggressively pursuing every means at our disposal to generate …

The Economist will host "Off The Page" a three-day program of cultural events in New York featuring its own talent and high-profile guests. The event, launching Oct. 31, bears a striking resemblance to the New Yorker Festival, with erudite debates, lectures and discussions. The series is aimed at avid readers -- like The Economist's 42,000 Facebook friends "who crave more interaction with the minds behind the magazine," says Paul Rossi, Economist Group executive. "A lot of our readers enjoy seeing the faces of The Economist." Tickets will cost from $50 to $500; next year's series will introduce …