The American Legacy Foundation is locking in a five-week integration with MTV's unscripted series "Made." MTV will run a pair of two-minute "Truth Rider Challenge" interstitials in each of the next five episodes of "Made." Each summer, the anti-tobacco foundation taps seven young people to serve as a traveling street team for "Truth," which works to counter Big Tobacco advertising. The first ad clip introduces viewers to Natalie and Jeremy, two Made alumni who will compete for a seat on the Truth Rider tour bus. In the course of the integration, the two wannabe Truth Riders will …

It is the yet-to-emerge details that will determine just how ugly David Letterman's sexual liaisons and extortion situation will get. Letterman's humor-infused speech about the matter during his show was impressive -- turning his studio audience into unwitting shills, their every round of applause reinforcing a sense of support. But it's ultimately not in his control. TMZ and its ilk are leaving no bone untouched; and they have already turned up particulars of his affairs. If all of these relationships turn out to be consensual with women of appropriate ages who will not speak ill of the man, …

London's venerable Evening Standard newspaper will switch to free distribution Oct. 12 in a bid to face down competition from rivals. Circulation is expected to more than double from 250,000 to over 600,000 copies, says the paper. Company Chairman Alexander Lebedev expects other newspapers to follow suit. The Russian tycoon and former KGB spy bought the company, which also publishes The Times and The Sun newspapers, earlier this year. Although its history can be traced back to 1827 and it is a London institution, the Evening Standard has been stuck in a competitive battle with newer free …

Univision telenovela "Manana Es Para Siempre" ("Tomorrow Is Forever"), which concluded last night, is set to rank as the fourth-highest-rated drama in Univision history in both adults 18-49 and total viewers. Since the show launched, Univision has averaged the No. 2 ranking in the hour among all nets in the 18-34 and 12-34 demos, finishing behind only Fox. "Manana" has averaged 5 million viewers overall. As broadcast networks have mostly abandoned the kids and teens demos, Univision has also scored the No. 1 ranking among kids 2-11, beating out every other broadcast net, but lagging behind some …

Cable's attempt for a fall land grab from the broadcast networks has so far come up fruitless. Prime-time viewership of ad-supported cable networks as a whole declined year-over-year from 53.1 million viewers in 2008 to 49.9 million in 2009, per a Horizon Media ratings analysis. When you take into account the effect of last year's election and economic crash on ratings for cable news, cable this year is basically flat. Some cable networks fared better than others. Food Network was up 26%, A&E was up 14% and TLC was up 12%. In contrast, Lifetime was down 25%, TNT …

Of the 14 major media-buying and selling agencies, about two-thirds have installed new chiefs at the global or North America leadership levels in the past year and a half. All that change is creating a management flux that hasn't been seen since these firms were spun out a decade ago. Some agencies have looked to put more digital-savvy leaders in control. Others have used the recession to accelerate succession plans for old management. Still others have simply been looking to put some oomph into limp new-business operations. In all cases, there is less room for purely relationship-focused management arrangements …

In The New Yorker's largest single-issue ad buy since 2005, HSBC Bank USA is sponsoring the Oct. 12 money-themed issue. Six HSBC ads appear inside a cover flap, on the inside back cover and on the back cover. The deal is estimated at $1 million. The ad buy comes as Conde Nast faces massive budget cuts and considers dropping titles by the year-end. The New Yorker's ad pages in the first half of the year were down 21% compared to last year. Says Lisa Hughes, publisher of The New Yorker, "We had a strong September, and advertisers feel …

The Financial Times high-end supplement "How to Spend It" is celebrating its 15th anniversary this fall by increasing frequency from 26 issues last year to 29 in 2010. It is also unveiling a new Web site, which goes live Saturday. Though most of the Financial Times site is behind a paywall, the How to Spend It site is free. The online focus is all about "deconstructing and reinterpreting," the print magazine, say editors. For example, the site will allow users to move through different angles and zoom in and out at a fashion shoot. Launch sponsors are Krug, …

Print publishers are collaborating at an unprecedented level in discussions of new digital strategies, including an industry-wide storefront where users could buy digital issues or subscriptions without going through iTunes or the App Store. The publishers are concerned -- to put it mildly -- about Apple's anticipated tablet computer and other e-reader devices. If the Apple tablet that many expect early next year proves popular for flipping through tailored editions of magazines and newspapers, Apple's iTunes or App Store could become chokepoints between publishers and their readers. As proposed, an industry storefront would let publishers retain information about …

The downturn in ad expenditures around the world has slowed, with the Asia Pacific driving the beginnings of a rebound in the market, reports Nielsen's Global AdView Pulse. The research covered 27 international markets. Overall, adspend was down by 7.9% in the first quarter, compared to lat year, but that shrunk to a decline of 5.8% in the second quarter. In the Asia-Pacific region, there was 2.2% increase in advertising expenditures in the second quarter, as compared with a 15.9% decrease in North America and a 9.1% decline in Europe. "TV is always considered as the most …