ABC is picking up the new reality competition show "Shaq Vs." with Shaquille O'Neal. The show follows O'Neal as he competes against star athletes such as Olympic champ Michael Phelps in swimming and Super Bowl-winning quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in football. Other athletes facing off with O'Neal include tennis champ Serena Williams and Olympic volleyball gold medalists Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor. "Shaq Vs." will follow O'Neal and his weekly competitor as they go through the training process, including a press conference before the big day. O'Neal will train for a week leading up to each challenge; to keep the …

NBC's is trying something new with "The Wanted," a news series that tracks down accused terrorists and war criminals. The show, which debuted last night, is a co-production with NBC News. It features journalist Adam Ciralsky, counter-terrorism expert Roger Carstens, former Navy Seal Scott Tyler and former international war crimes prosecutor David Crane on a self-appointed mission to expose terrorists who have evaded prosecution. The team spends little time examining the case's legal intricacies. Instead, the show focuses on action filmed with quick cutaways and jerky motion. Interview subjects are shot partly obscured, as if the camera were eavesdropping, …

It's the biggest step Si Newhouse has taken to fix floundering Condé Nast; he hired management consultant group McKinsey & Company to help "rethink" how the company does business. CEO Chuck Townsend says that the hiring of McKinsey, along with an internal review among Condé Nast executives and publishers, is necessary to "develop new perspectives" on how to generate money. "This is a considerable and complicated task, forcing us to rethink the way we do business in many instances and incorporate efficiencies in every step of our process," Townsend told employees in a memo. Every magazine in the …

Those in the TV and broadcasting industry may be jumping for joy when the political gloves come off next year. Kevin Shea, managing director at Loughlin Meghji & Co., thinks that the pending political battles in 2010 will feed ad revenue to cash-starved TV station operators. Shea and his firm advise lending groups in media bankruptcies, such as the Young Broadcasting and Pappas Telecasting cases. The sector may also soon see Sinclair Broadcast Group succumb to bankruptcy because of debt problems. Shea believes in the future of the TV and broadcasting industry, largely because of potentially greener pastures …

Mexican broadcast giant Televisa posted a 10.2% gain in net sales to $962.6 million in the second quarter. However, net income dropped by 0.7% in the face of financing costs, which rose to $62.9 million from $16.4 million -- nearly a 400% increase compared to the second quarter of 2008. Although reaching record numbers of subscribers, Televisa's cable and satellite sales growth slowed this quarter. Satcaster Sky grew 7.5% year to year, as opposed to 11% surges in the two preceding quarters. Part of this is attributed to "increased and aggressive competition" from the Dish Network, which began …

There is more interest, argument and passion surrounding the future of American business than there has been in several generations. And yet, in the space of three months, Portfolio was closed and BusinessWeek has been put up for sale. The problem: The category's core advertisers - financial services, automotive and business-to-consumer types - have borne the brunt of the recession. Plus, traditional business magazines have much bigger expenses than the websites that offer business journalism exclusively online - daily, even hourly. Economist Sylvia Nasar sees more demand for business news than ever, and more outlets providing it. …

Glossy magazine titles are fewer and slimmer -- except, ironically, in the fitness category. Weider Publications, a subsidiary of American Media, is one of the clearest beneficiaries. Weider's category leader Muscle & Fitness has charted seven consecutive quarters of year-over-year growth in both pages and revenue, per PIB. The magazine's success is the result of its association with protein powders, nutritional shakes and weight loss supplements. The aggressive marketing efforts of the companies behind sports drinks and dietary supplements, coupled with loyal customers willing to pay the $6.99 newsstand price, has strengthened the publication during a weak economy. While …

TV sports, including the once-invulnerable National Football League, have lost much of their instant draw. Sports media buyers say they are no longer blindly paying cost-per-thousand prices at the levels they have in the past. Buyers face pressure from their clients to get better deals and see opportunity in the softness of the financial and auto markets. "We are going to be more aggressive in bringing pricing back to more realistic levels," says one sports buyer. "If we can't do sports upfront deals, we'll take our chances in scatter, particularly with the NFL." The stalled upfront has hamstrung football-carrying …

The refocused efforts of IPG's Universal McCann seem to be finally paying off. The agency, which stumbled badly a few years back with a string of major client losses, has won four pitches in the last two months with combined ad spending of $550 million. Last week, the shop won the $100 million Charles Schwab account and successfully defended its $210 million buying account with Nationwide. Not counting Nationwide, the shop has won more net new business this year -- $340 million -- than it did in the previous five years, without any client losses so far. …

Univision has already sold about 65% of its inventory and other on-air elements for the 2010 World Cup. Among the companies already signed up for multiplatform sponsorships are FIFA sponsors T-Mobile, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Verizon Wireless and Budweiser, says Univision executive vp Peter Lazarus. Univision has also secured deals with a number of other advertisers and is ahead of its pace for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, despite the sluggish economy. The media company is proffering an array of World Cup assets across Univision, Telefutura and Galavision; Univision.com; and Univision Movil. "We also have a local component with the …