Bat Boy LLC is the newly formed company that is buying supermarket schlock publication Weekly World News from David Pecker's troubled American Media. The tabloid is famous for stories about "characters," such as the Lake Erie Monster, Baby Lion Tamer, and of course, Bat Boy. New CEO Neil McGinness, former vice president at IMG Media, says, "We look at this new company like Marvel before it got into movies." McGinness has already struck deals to splash the tabloid's characters on posters, greeting cards and calendars. Bat Boy is in the process of writing a memoir called "The …

A proposed TV series about the female mayor of a small town has jumped from the back burner to the front, thanks to Sarah Palin. The proposed show, tentatively titled "Cadillac Ranch," comes with big-name director Adam Shankman, who choreographed and directed the movie version of "Hairspray." (Shankman is also a guest judge on "So You Think You Can Dance" on Fox.) The series has been in development at Twentieth Century Fox Television for several months. "It's about a woman who's a mayor in this town with the crazy family and the kids and the stay-at-home dad …

As the credit crunch tightens, it's a safe bet consumers won't cut off their cable or satellite-TV service, counting on escapist fare from the comfort of their couch. But the amount of service they use may see some changes. While half of pay TV's health is aligned with the slumping housing market, the other half is aligned with consumer electronics, which remains strong. Last week, the Consumer Electronics Association reported home-entertainment sales maintained a mid-single-digit growth rate. Shawn DuBravac, CEA's economist, says consumer-electronics spending is "one thing that people hold on to, even though they may cut …

Barack Obama has purchased a half-hour of prime-time television on CBS and NBC for a nationwide pitch to voters that will air on Oct. 29 -- less than a week before the general election. "Obama's appealing to the whole nation rather than a handful of tossup states," says an organizer. "This is another indication that Barack Obama's got more money than [available] television time to buy," says Evan Tracey, executive at the Campaign Media Analysis Group. Whether John McCain's campaign will do the same remains to be seen, though its TV buying has been limited mostly to ads …

Credit-card companies finally put the brakes on advertising last month in the wake of the financial crisis, per Nielsen. After rising almost 27% in July and August, TV ad spending by card marketers declined 24% in the first three weeks of September, compared to last year. Capital One and other lenders say they have to set aside money to offset rising losses as more customers miss payments. The reversal by the credit-card companies follows cuts by other financial services. In July and August, spending by home-loan companies dropped 54% and mutual fund companies cut ads 23%.

Turner Broadcasting revealed new partners for its new TVinContext system, which will match advertisers' products with related scenes in movies shown on TNT and TBS. The partners include OnStar, DirecTV, Cadillac, and Victoria's Secret. TVinContext delivers ad content related to what just happened on screen. The first TVinContext ads will run on October 25, when the network runs Matt Damon's "The Bourne Supremacy." After a car chase and crash scene, the network will insert a spot for OnStar's automatic crash response service. As for the scenes that will put viewers in the mood for Victoria's Secret ads, …

Out of desperation, many newspapers are starting to skip print editions on days (usually Mondays) when ad sales are weak. Newspaper veteran and consultant Alan Mutter offers a potentially profitable alternative. Turn the Monday paper into a sports-themed edition aimed at young men who are typically not newspaper readers -- and tap the advertisers who desire them. Mutter also suggests papers add a fan Web site where visitors would be encouraged to voice their opinions. The site could include diaries from local players, blogs, fantasy leagues and viral video and music. To build buzz rapidly for the …

After months of testing, Clear Channel's radio stations are now accessible on Apple's iPhone or iPod Touch via the iHeartRadio application. They are available for free through Apple's iTunes and the iPhone application store. Users can stream over 760 of the company's stations. As part of the iPhone/iPod Touch experience, song lyrics will accompany the music, plus streaming ads will carry through and will be measured by CCR's third party metrics provider. CCR stations have been streaming to mobile phones via Sprint, U.S. Cellular and MetroPCS for the past year.