Official tallies of online traffic to Seattlepi.com in its first month as an online-only news source have sparked criticism of Nielsen and the accuracy of its information. Nielsen Online says web traffic dropped 23% at Seattlepi in March, while a rival Web site run by The Seattle Times had a 70% jump in traffic, compared to March 2008. Hearst-owned Seattlepi.com (formerly the Seattle Post-Intelligencer) says the Nielsen numbers are flawed and that internal company data from the Omniture tracking service show that Seattlepi.com traffic jumped nearly 10% compared to March 2008. A Hearst rep calls the Nielsen measure …

Time magazine felt the sting of hackers in this year's online poll of the top 100 most influential people. Taking advantage of an apparent lack of authentication or validation in the process, hackers used "autovoters" to inundate the poll with millions of fake votes. The bogus votes were cast for "moot," a pseudonym of Christopher Poole, operator of 4chan, an online message board. "We took many preventative measures to maintain the integrity of the Time 100 poll, and moot has a passionate community of users who worked to influence the poll," says a Time rep. In addition to …

Cable operators are sitting in the hot seat today as Congress reviews their plans to roll out targeted advertising amid fears that consumer privacy could be infringed. The House subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet is holding a hearing that is looking at the digital set-top boxes that cable TV companies plan to use to collect data and direct ads targeted to individual preferences. The Center for Digital Democracy, an activist group, is particularly concerned about Canoe Ventures, a cable company consortium, that is rolling out targeted and interactive ads nationally. Critics worry that Canoe will track …

NBC and Home Depot have crafted an intriguing ad break that offers a weekend weather forecast as a means of grabbing viewers' attention. The longer-than-usual commercial segments tell viewers Home Depot is sponsoring a weekend weather forecast. The segment then moves to the weather outlook, and, finally, suggests viewers consider home-improvement projects. The idea requires weather personnel to tape a forecast in the afternoon leading up to when the ads run. In some cases, a forecaster from the Weather Channel, which NBC Universal and two partners purchased in September, offers a regional weekend forecast. In others, a weather personality …

A Harris Poll released this week asked adults to pick their "two or three favorite television shows of all time." The top vote-getter in the survey was "CSI." No. 2 was "M*A*S*H," which has been off the air for decades. "CSI" won the most mentions from the survey's female respondents, while "M*A*S*H" led among the men. There was no divide along political party lines: "CSI" got the most mentions from Democrats, Republicans and independents. Ranked behind the top two were "House," "NCIS," "24," "Seinfeld," "Friends," "Two and a Half Men," "Lost" and "ER." Among the 15 shows getting the …

Fox TV Studios looking to Asia as fertile ground for international co-productions. The company has sealed a first-look deal with director Andrew Lau, former Flame Ventures president Zack Sherman and producer Andrew Loo. The trio plan to develop new English-language fare for Fox TV Studios that could be produced in Southeast Asia -- particularly Hong Kong -- and then sold to a U.S. network and throughout the world. "International markets are no longer an ancillary business," Sherman says. "Domestic networks need a cost solution for scripted series, while foreign buyers need quality scripted fare from Hollywood." The …

The financial picture for some radio and TV companies is so gloomy they may end up in bankruptcy this year or next, according to analysts at the NAB this week. Plummeting revenue will force 80% to 90% of radio and TV companies to renegotiate loans with their bankers this year as they default on their original loan agreements, predicts Mike Andres of BIA Capital Strategies. He expects that station groups that can't renegotiate loans will settle on debt-for-equity swaps before succumbing to "flat-out bankruptcies." About 5% of commercial TV stations are now in bankruptcy, says John Feore, communications attorney …

Publicis Groupe's Leo Burnett is launching a retail marketing practice in Western Europe under the Arc brand. Headquarters will be in Paris. Executives for the new office are presenting capabilities to Petit Navire, Kellogg and Procter & Gamble, but no clients have signed up yet. "Our shopper marketing experience continues to evolve alongside clients that pioneered the discipline, such as P&G, Kellogg, McDonald's and Coca-Cola," says Nina Monahan, retail managing director of the new practice. Monahan was recruited from Arc's North American operations, as was Lynda Olesen, retail strategic planning director. Jean-Paul Brunier, CEO of Leo Burnett …

It seems an NBA fan can't watch a game without a brand being thrust into the action. Is all this brand saturation making viewers weary? Could be. TNT's brand integrations throughout the NBA's 2009 season and this week's playoffs have prompted some criticism, particularly among bloggers. Fans and bloggers seemed most irate during TNT's NBA All-Star coverage in February, when three of the NBA's top players spelled out the brand G-E-I-C-O in a game of Horse. But David Campanelli, vice president for Geico's media agency, Horizon Media, says the stunt ultimately garnered positive feedback for the advertiser. …

The Food Network's focus on cooking competitions continues its new slate of eight new prime time shows unveiled this week. Beginning in July, "Chefs vs. City" is a foodie version of "The Amazing Race" in which chefs Chris Cosentino and Aaron Sanchez take on a pair of local chefs in a different city each week. Launching in the fall is "Extreme Cuisine With Jeff Corwin." Corwin's former series appeared on Food sister net Animal Planet. The new show will have him heading to foreign locales to taste native cuisines. "We don't want to overdo it with competition …