Sources say A&E Networks and Discovery Communications want to acquire the Mark Burnett/Sarah Palin's project, which focuses on the ex-governor giving a tour of her native Alaska -- visiting fishing boats, taking a trip to a gold mine, to cite a couple examples. The working title is "Sarah Palin's Alaska." A&E hasn't made an actual bid, but it's said the company sees it as a good fit with its other reality shows, like "Dog the Bounty Hunter." Despite her lack of TV experience, Palin, who has repeatedly lambasted the media and mocked Barak Obama's "celebrity," is asking for between …

Heart Magazines President Cathie Black is said to have quietly begun a search to replace Pamela Fiori, the longtime editor-in-chief of Town & Country, which has, like all pubs, been reeling from ad losses. Fiori is one of the longest-serving chief editors at Hearst. When she took the job in 1993, it was the first time a woman had edited the magazine. She's tried to gear it to a younger readership of upwardly mobile professionals. Last year, ad pages tumbled 45.6%, according to the Publishers Information Bureau. While Town & Country's ad page erosion has slowed this year, its …

Apple Inc. is still trying to secure media content for the iPad with just weeks to go before the tablet's April 3 release. Since the iPad became available for pre-order last Friday, Apple has seen strong demand and sold hundreds of thousands of units. But the tech giant is racing to secure content for the tablet. But lining up TV programming, digital newspapers and other content ahead of the iPad's release has proven difficult for Apple. Some potential collaborators weigh the advantages of working with the company against the potential threats to their current sources of revenue. Apple …

Broadcast TV's fortunes began to turn around in the fourth quarter of 2009 and evidence is mounting that the first quarter of 2010 will show positive growth, according to the Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB) in conjunction with its release of 2009 estimates supplied by Kantar Media. Among local broadcast's top ten individual advertisers, No. 1 Chrysler Group LLC was up 28.0% in the fourth quarter, No. 2 AT&T was up 20.6%, No. 3 Toyota Motor Dealers Association was up 16.1%, No. 4 Ford Motor Co Dealers Association was up 33.4%, No. 5 Verizon Communications was down 14.2%, …

The Holy Grail for many marketers is having their big-budget TV spot become a viral hit online, providing millions in free exposure and publicity from consumer pass-along. The bad news is the chancesare slim, and even if it does happen, there's a good chance the spot won't do much to persuade viewers. That's according to a Millward Brown study of TV commercials posted online. The researcher found that less than 15% of 102 ads studied were viral hits. (Millward Brown defines a viral hit as a spot that generates more than 1,000 views per week in the United Kingdom market …

Mesa Global, an investment banking firm co-founded by former Creative Artists Agency executive Mark Patricof, is a potential bidder for Walt Disney's Miramax film unit. No official comment, but various industry sources think the asking price -- more than $650 million -- is too high. Bids for MGM are also due Friday; Liberty Media dropped out of the bidding. Platinum Equity Partners, a Beverly Hills investment firm headed by Tom Gores, is also expected to bid for Miramax, the independent company behind such art-house fare as "Pulp Fiction" and "No Country for Old Men." Weinstein Co, headed by …

Cable news sites are big deals news-wise on the Web. CNN closed in on MSNBC in the month of February, as the two cable news destinations vie for the top of the 10 most visited current events and global news destination Web sites, according to Nielsen Online. MSNBC had 45.1 million unique visitors, up 9.9% year-over-year and 22% compared to the previous month of January. CNN Digital Network had 44.1 million uniques in February up 22.8% in year-ago comparisons and 8.7% from January. A new journalism study showed that people who read the top 20 news and information sites defined …

ABC News is close to completing a deal making the longtime CNN foreign correspondent Christiane Amanpour as the new host of its Sunday political discussion show "This Week." Amanpour has been discussing the possible move with news colleagues over the last month. One concern is that she's not primarily known for reporting on Washington or American politics, more at home on the global political front. Amanpour, however, is convinced she can make the switch from international to political reporting.

Cable channel Epix and studio Media Rights Capital are working on a satirical TV show about Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs. Called "iCon," the show is being penned by Newsweek contributor Dan Lyons. Lyons is the guy who wrote about Jobs on "The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs" blog and in his novel "Options: The Secret Life of Steve Jobs - A Parody." There are big names behind the effort. "Borat" director Larry Charles, who wrote and produced for both "Seinfeld" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm," is in charge of the pilot. The show is billed as "a savage satire …

Conservative commentator Erick Erickson, editor of RedState.com, will join CNN as a political contributor, appearing weeknights on "John King, USA," which launches on Monday, and other programs across the network. Sam Feist, CNN political director and vice president of Washington-based programming, calls Erickson "a perfect fit for 'John King, USA' because not only is he an agenda-setter whose words are closely watched in Washington, but as a person who still lives in small-town America, Erick is in touch with the very people John hopes to reach," said Feist. "He will add an important voice to CNN's ideologically diverse group …