When Oprah Winfrey's cable channel OWN makes its debut in January, she will still be the host of her syndicated talk show on local broadcast stations. Since she can't appear on something similar on OWN until syndication ends September 2011, she's bowing a new series. OWN will offer "Behind the Scenes: Oprah's 25th Season," a weekly reality show about the production of Winfrey's final syndicated season. The new show will begin in January 2011, the same month that the Discovery Health Channel becomes OWN and begins showing new programming. Winfrey is no stranger to cable, hosting "Oprah After …

The Open Mobile Video Coalition, a group of some 800 stations that has been driving mobile digital TV development, tapped two companies to measure mobile DTV viewing for an upcoming consumer trial of the technology in Washington, D.C. Market research firm Harris Interactive and media measurement company Rentrak will work together to study consumer-usage habits during OMVC's "Mobile DTV Consumer Showcase" in D.C. The spring trial will transmit up to 20 channels of free and premium programming using signals from eight mobile DTV stations. Also, about 300 Sprint subscribers will be given Samsung "Moment" smartphones that are integrated with …

The National Basketball Association is enhancing digital coverage of its All-Star weekend in Dallas, with plans to stream 12 hours of live original footage on the Web. On Friday, NBA.com will feature video coverage of six NBA All-Stars as they conduct sessions with the media. In addition, fans will get a chance to ask players questions via Twitter. The site will also present a live episode of its weekly interactive series "The Jump," featuring coverage of the NBA All-Star Jam Session. On the mobile front, sports fans can watch the All-Star weekend live on their smartphones. Plus, the …

In an aggressive commercial that broke during the Grammys, the Dish Network alleges DirecTV subscribers pay more for service, due to the long list of celebrity spokespeople it uses in ad campaigns. The 30-second spot, created in-house by Denver-based Dish, catalogs the stars featured in DirecTV spots then concludes: "Maybe that's why on average DirecTV customers spend over $175 a year more than Dish Network customers." The latest strategy comes from Dish's chief marketer Ira Bahr, who took over the post in February 2009. This latest spot is a move that seems to have launched an all-out war between …

First "America's Newsroom." Then "America's Election Headquarters." And on Monday, Rising star Megyn Kelly will begin anchoring a third all-about-America newscast, "America Live." Kelly, who will be the solo anchor for an afternoon program starting Monday, is a centerpiece of the news side of Fox News. Kelly, a 39-year-old lawyer, appears weekly on Bill O'Reilly's opinion program, often putting her legal background to use. Inside the News Corp., the owner of Fox, Kelly has been mentioned as a leading candidate for a prime-time anchor job. Fox's contract with Greta Van Susteren, the longtime 10 p.m. anchor, is up at …

Is Microsoft finally ready to a launch its long-delayed advertising exchange? Just barely. The company is set to roll out AdECN, the "real-time" ad exchange it bought in 2007, within the next two weeks. Microsoft is moving slowly; it will open up AdECN to a handful of ad buyers, but only allow them to purchase a "select, limited amount of Microsoft inventory." Which means that even as Google's AdX exchange, relaunched last fall, continues to gather momentum, Microsoft will still be dabbling. The promise of the exchanges is that they allow ad sellers and buyers to negotiate specific pieces …

Some 55.2% of TheStreet readers who took the company's survey say Sirius XM can continue successfully without shock jock Howard Stern, though it might take a small hit at the beginning. However, 44.8% of the poll takers say that Stern is the face of Sirius XM, and helped make Sirius XM what it is today -- and that the company should keep him around. Separately, Sirius XM said that it is set to broadcast Super Bowl XLIV in 10 different languages and 14 different live broadcasts. During Super Bowl Sunday on Feb. 7, Sirius XM will air an expanded …

An improved television ad sales marketplace is driving Fox's NASCAR sales this season. The network has sold 80% of the inventory for the Daytona 500 and is expecting a full sellout before the race. Ad sales for the rest of the network's 13-race schedule are pacing 8% to 10% ahead of last year's levels. Fox expects to double the amount of auto sponsors that buy into the regular season. Unlike other sports, NASCAR team sponsors are not required to purchase a network schedule. According to the Image Impact data, provided by Fox, a sample of nine NASCAR team sponsors …

CBS News employees are upset by news of a significant round of layoffs that will hit next week. Every newscast, including "60 Minutes," will be hit. Sources say as many as 100 or 7% of the 1,400-person staff will be affected. A news executive disputed that, saying the final figure would be considerably lower. Abroad, the Moscow bureau was effectively shuttered after its three staffers were let go. And three part-time employees in Tel Aviv were laid off this week, leaving just one producer. Only London and Tokyo now have full bureaus. Also, a dozen staffers are expected to …