Billy Bush and Kit Hoover have been named co-hosts of NBC Universal's new entertainment news talk show "Access Hollywood Live" set to premiere on Sept. 13. Bush, currently the anchor for "Access Hollywood," joined the program as East Coast correspondent in December 2001, and was promoted to co-anchor in June 2004. This month Bush will co-host NBC's Red Carpet to the "Primetime Emmy Awards" pre-show special. In 2003 Hoover went on to host ESPN2's "Cold Pizza." She served as a correspondent for TV Guide Channel in 2006-08 and has appeared as a guest host on :The View." In 2008-2009 …

ShortTail Media, a company that helps publishers deliver video ads to text-based portions of their Web sites, has signed a deal with Web video network and technology firm TidalTV. As part of the pact, publishers in TidalTV's network, including 30 newspaper sites owned by McClatchy, have begun selling advertisers ShortTail's signature D30 ad unit -- a video interstitial that appears as users click between Web pages. ShortTail touts the D30 as a way for sites to better monetize text content, which still makes up the majority of publishers' content outside of the YouTubes and Hulus of the world. The …

If Wall Street is lukewarm on Hulu's rumored IPO, "Modern Family" boss Steve Levitan is fuming. He took his fury to Twitter, condensing his frustration into 140 characters: "Some estimate Hulu IPO could bring in $2Bil. What will the content providers get? Zero. What is Hulu without content? An empty jukebox." During a coffee break at the Television Critics Association tour, Levitan told reporters that he has requested his network bosses pull the various online versions of his hit show off the Web. His argument: some 2 million viewers were tuning in on platforms that were not being fully …

Top cable networks are riding a rebound in ad sales, thanks in large part, to the return of big-spending automotive and financial advertisers. Several networks are nearly sold out of airtime in the third quarter, according to ad sales executives. One executive said several channels have sold between 93% and 99% of their available inventory. Among them are Turner Broadcasting, which owns TNT and TBS, NBC Universal's USA and Discovery Communications. David Levy, chief of Turner Broadcasting's ad sales, confirmed that TNT, TBS and TruTV are approaching sell-out levels, adding that there has been huge demand for Conan O'Brien's …

Friday night television -- long regarded as a lame duck slot for dying shows -- is making a comeback this fall, with U.S. networks investing in new scripted dramas with big stars, and advertisers looking for stay-at-home audiences. Be it the poor economy, the rebound in the ad spending, or the quest for even small audiences in a fragmented TV market, three of the five leading networks are launching new primetime series in September on Friday nights. ABC has medical/crime drama "Body of Proof," Tom Selleck stars in the CBS police family drama "Blue Bloods," while NBC is putting …

Steven Tyler is signed, sealed, and Idol'd. While Fox officially says "no comment," a very-inside music source confirms the flamboyant Aerosmith singer finalized negotiations late last week and is officially signed on to be a judge on the 10th season of "American Idol." "Idol"-wise, Jennifer Lopez's diva demands haven't totally put her out of the running for the gig. But supposedly asking for pay north of $20 million-plus her own hair, makeup, styling team and "dressing room compound"-isn't in tune with what Fox had in mind. Especially since they are still in talks with other big celeb names.

Murdoch's News Corp. has made a $1 million donation to the Republican Governors Association, triggering swift criticism from Democrats that a contribution of that magnitude casts a shadow on his media properties, particularly Fox News. Nathan Daschle, executive director of the Democratic Governors Association, said "It's a jaw-dropping violation of the boundary between the media and corporate realm." News Corp., which also owns the New York Post, Wall Street Journal and Times of London, said in a statement that the company "believes in the power of free markets, and the RGA's pro-business agenda supports our priorities at this most …

More than a dozen of the photo agencies that supply celebrity snapshots from the paparazzi are banding together to withhold their prized product unless it can get additional compensation from People, resulting in the postponement of its iPad app. While the standoff centers on one publication for now, just about any other brand that makes photos of the rich and famous their stock in trade is watching nervously from the sidelines. Whatever deal they strike could set the terms of trade for the industry going forward. Time has been one of the more aggressive publishing companies looking to make …

Google revolutionized the way people access information. Now it wants to transform how people get entertainment. The search giant is touting an ambitious new technology, called Google TV, that would marry the Internet with traditional television, enabling viewers to watch TV shows and movies unshackled from the broadcast networks or cable channels on which they air. Users would need to buy a TV or set-top box with Google software that could connect to the Internet, along with a keyboard to type commands. Users could also use their iPhone or Android phone to operate Google TV, explains the Los Angeles …

Matchmaking site eHarmony has kicked off a media review, according to sources. The client spends close to $90 million annually on ads, per Nielsen. Ad spending through the first half of this year is $44 million. But those figure excludes digital, a significant component of the company's outlay. Client officials are meeting with media executives from WPP, Publicis Groupe, Omnicom and Interpublic in the next few weeks, per sources. The incumbent media shop is independent Ocean Media. One source said the review was in the early stages and described the upcoming discussions as meetings that would focus on …