In a feud that is grabbing loads of free publicity for both Comedy Central and CNBC, CNBC's stock picker Jim Cramer has agreed to step into the ring with Comedy Central's Jon Stewart tonight on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart." He will be meeting face-to-face with the man who has spent the last week pillorying him over his flawed stock picks. The duel between the two media personalities started last week after Stewart savaged "Mad Money" host Cramer along with the rest of the CNBC crew for their coverage of the financial crisis. Shortly after, Stewart issued a …

The second-quarter TV advertising market appears to be frozen--due to marketers that are unwilling to part with their dollars until the very last minute, say media buyers. Already, advertisers are pulling back between 12% and 14% of their "holds"--the second-quarter ad time they earmarked last May during the upfront sales session. Buyers are worrying about how many of those ad dollars will come trickling back in the scatter market, where ad time is purchased on an as-needed basis near air time. Marci Ryvicker, Wachovia media analyst, says that "the scatter market has really pulled back. Advertisers want to see …

HBO is defending its plans to depict a sacred Mormon endowment ceremony in an upcoming episode of "Big Love," its drama about a Utah polygamous family. HBO said it did not intend to be disrespectful of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and apologized--but notes that the ceremony is an important part of the "Big Love" story line. News of the episode has sparked an online campaign by individual Latter-day Saints, who are calling for a boycott of "Big Love" and cancellation of subscriptions to HBO, AOL and other Time Warner Inc.-owned entities. The church itself is …

Martin Nisenholtz, New York Times Co. digital chief, says that newspaper competitors working together on a cooperative news outlet is a real possibility as the industry struggles. In the paper's "Talk to the Newsroom" series, a reader asks whether newspapers have considered forming a cooperative news site where people would have to pay a monthly subscription fee to access the papers' articles. Nisenholtz says such a plan is possible--"particularly as more publishers question the advertising-only model. I can easily imagine such a venture taking shape among many newspapers." As for charging money for content on the NYT's site, that …

Sirius XM Radio Inc.'s fourth-quarter loss widened on costs related to the merger of Sirius and XM Radio. The company's net loss for the quarter widened to $245.845 million from $166.223 million in the corresponding quarter last year. The satellite-radio company, which faces a mountain of debt, was perilously close to bankruptcy last month before media titan John Malone's Liberty Media Corp. lent it $530 million for a 40% stake.

For many newly frugal households, subscriptions to TiVo, cable or satellite television are starting to look more like a luxury than a necessity. Such a trend could have a serious impact on traditional TV ads. Only one in four people age 18 to 29 says cable or satellite TV is a necessity, per the Pew Research Center. They have discovered plenty of places to get free or super-cheap TV shows and movies that they already watch. Among the inexpensive options: a new digital converter box, Netflix, DVD kiosks at stores, free DVDs at the public library and Web sites like …

In promotional spots for its own shows, Fox is using some of the tricks it has learned from its advertisers. In recent weeks, the network has started sprinkling its commercial breaks with what it's calling "TiVo-busters"--spots designed to be effective even when viewers use a DVR to fast-forward through advertising. The first campaign is a 10-second tune-in spot for new drama "Lie to Me." A viewer watching Fox in real time would see actor Tim Roth leaning in toward the camera in slow motion and hear intense music and Roth saying, "I know when you're lying." People who hold …

Eli Broad, a wealthy philanthropist who once looked at buying the Los Angeles Times, is still interested in the newspaper business. Real estate magnate Sam Zell took Tribune Co.--owner of the L.A. Times--private in an $8.2 billion deal that loaded the company with debt. Tribune filed for bankruptcy protection last year, and the L.A. Times is expected to be put up for sale again. "I would like to see our foundation and others join together to own the Times," says Broad. He acknowledges that the paper would have to change. "I am not sure it can be a …

A 31-year-old independent newspaper, The Brooklyn Paper, has been purchased by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. The new owners "don't want the product to change," says the paper's longtime editor Gersh Kuntzman. A sale price was not disclosed. In 2006, Murdoch purchased a rival group of papers, The Courier-Life chain, which publishes 12 papers in Brooklyn. At the time, some industry pundits said the chain might help the sales staff at News Corp's New York Post upsell ads from the local papers to the Post and offer Post advertisers more reach via the small papers. Last year, when the …

In the next few weeks, Ricoh will launch a Times Square digital billboard powered by 16 wind turbines and 64 solar panels. The sign's technology, by WePOWER, is supposed to save $12,000 to $15,000 a month in electricity and 18 tons of carbon per year. Ricoh, the Japanese copy and photo manufacturer, joins Coca-Cola, which on New Year's Eve launched a wind-powered digital sign at 47th and Broadway. WePOWER expects to work directly with advertisers on about 25 custom applications of its technology this year and is also talking to outdoor media companies about ways they can …