Subsidizing telephone service for poor and rural communities and finding more spectrum for wireless broadband services is part of the feds play to bring high-speed Net to the U.S. The FCC is also seeking ways to promote greater use of unlicensed frequencies, such as "white spaces" between TV stations, and development of new technologies that can make more efficient use of spectrum. The agency will deliver its recommentations to Congress in February.

Fox News will finish 2009 as the top-rated cable news network, a status it has held for eight years. But 2009 also marks the networks highest rated year in the channel's 13-year-history -- and the first year of the Obama presidency. FNC topped the competition in all dayparts: morning (1 million total viewers, 340,000 viewers in news' target demographic of 25-54-year-olds); total day (1.2 million viewers, 323,000 in the demo); prime time (2.2 million viewers, 551,000 in the demo). Those numbers mark year-to-year demo gains of 14% in the morning, 16% in total day and 10% in prime …

PepsiCo's beverages will sit out Super Bowl XLIV for the first time in 23 years and the biggest advertiser in last year's broadcast. Pepsi has used the game to launch splashy spots starring celebrities, such as Britney Spears, Cindy Crawford and Ozzy Osbourne. "In 2010, each of our beverage brands has a strategy and marketing platform that will be less about a singular event," says Frank Cooper, senior vice president of PepsiCo Americas Beverages. However, Doritos, a PepsiCo snack brand, will advertise during the game broadcast. The decision leaves the field open for rival Coca-Cola, while Pepsi will …

The CW network ended Ashton Kutcher's "The Beautiful Life" run in September after just two airings due to poor ratings, leaving Kutcher holding three additional episodes that had been produced but never shown. Now the actor turned content producer wants to put all five on YouTube.com. YouTube and Kutcher are banking on the TV-level quality to attract viewers in a crowded Web landscape that doesn't show a lot of high-end original content. Kutcher believes if he can increase the audience size on YouTube, then he might lure sponsors to finance more episodes solely for the Web. The show's …

Comcast could buy out General Electric Co.'s 49% interest in the NBC Universal joint venture for $17 billion in the next four years, according to Citigroup media analyst Jason Bazinet, who believes such a plan is not only sensible but affordable. According to the JV agreement, Comcast would have the right to buy out a portion of GE's stake in the joint venture after 3.5 years and the rest seven years after the deal closes. But Bazinet thinks it's smarter for Comcast to buy out GE early. NBCU should be debt free by 2014, which would let Comcast heap …

The CW's current executive Gaye Hirsch is switching to development. Hirsch has been named senior vice president drama development for the network, developing new hourlong series. Previously she was head of CW's current programming department, overseeing day-to-day production "Gossip Girl," "Melrose Place" and "Smallville." Before her CW tenure, Hirsch wokred as an exect at cruise/Wagner Prods and earlier, for HBO films.

The House on Tuesday voted to level off the abrupt spikes in volume felt by television viewers during commercial breaks. The bill - approved by a voice vote -- is aimed at stopping TV ads from playing noticeably louder than programs. The FCC had been inundated with complaints. Managing the transition between programs and ads may require TV broadcasters to purchase new equipment. To address the issue, an industry organization recently produced guidelines on how to process, measure and transmit audio in a uniform way. The bill requires the FCC to adopt those recommendations from the Advanced …

Where have all NBC's 10 p.m. viewers gone? Their broadcast rivals did not pick up the viewer spillage. New data suggests the prized 18-49-year-old viewers have fled to basic cable, helping create such fall hits as FX's "Sons of Anarchy" and TNT's "Men of a Certain Age." According to Nielsen numbers crunched by Turner Broadcasting, this season so far (through the week ending Dec. 6) the three broadcast networks are down 14% from last year among 18-49s in the 10 p.m. hour on weeknights. Nearly all that loss is attributable to the whopping 45% hit that NBC has taken …

Consumers are defecting from iconic CPG brands in order to save money. They are now buying less-expensive store and private-label brands. The trend has become more pronounced since the economic downturn started in December 2007, per eMarketer. In fact, 59& of U.S. consumers reported having switched to store brand food and household products over the past six months, according to a May 2009 study by ICOM. A study found that of 12 leading brands, nine had overall declines ranging from 2% to 9%.

WPP Group's MediaCom has added to the management duties of two executives, Matt Schwach and Adam Pincus. It also hired Paul Hindle to run its GlaxoSmithKline assignment and Gregg Pruitt to oversee new business development. Matt Schwach, who ran the GSK account, will now run the shop's Chicago office. Previously, the leaders on the accounts based there, including ConAgra and Discover Card, had reported to chief client officer Euan Jarvie. Now they'll report to Schwach, who reports to Jarvie. The shop also promoted Adam Pincus to managing partner.