Elizabeth Werner seemed to wow morning news people in towns like Detroit, Atlanta and Phoenix as she assessed various toys. What viewrs didn't know is that Werner is a spokeswoman for hire, not an independent consumer advocate. She touted only products from companies that forked over $11,000 to be part of her back-to-school television "tour." And local TV stations, now a hotbed for pay-to-play promotions, failed to mention the connection. DWJ Television, the company that hires Werner, says they notify TV stations of the arrangement. Several TV stations Werner visited claimed they were told nothing about Werner's paid status. …

With "Jersey Shore" averaging around 6 million viewers per week and Sunday's Video Music Awards watched by an audience of 11.4 million (the award show's highest ratings since 2002), MTV appears to be regaining its pop-culture clout. "MTV is back," declared Richard Greenfield, an analyst with BTIG who has been notoriously negative on the network and its parent, Viacom, for the past few years. But the VMAs are a one-off and "Jersey Shore" stars, not unlike the other breakout hits to come before it, will eventually fade. Before that happens, MTV needs to develop a slate of shows …

Apple is expected to announce soon a new subscription plan for newspapers, which hope tablets like the iPad will eventually provide a new source of profit as media companies struggle with declining print circulation and advertising revenue. While a handful of national papers already offer app subscriptions to iPad users, major metropolitan papers across the country are getting ready to roll out their own publication apps and have been in discussions with Apple. Industry leaders hope tablet devices and subscription-based digital editions can help newspapers stem, if not reverse, losses incurred after they began offering content online for …

The ability to tune in over-the-air TV on mobile devices is getting high marks from consumers that have been testing new mobile digital TV devices. So far, mobile DTV viewers have watched 2,600 different TV programs, with news being the most popular program choice. Since May, about 350 consumers in the Washington, D.C. area have been testing mobile DTV on specially equipped mobile devices from Samsung and LG Electronics as part of the Open Mobile Video Coalition's Consumer Showcase. As expected, mobile DTV viewing is heaviest during the workweek and spiked during emergencies. Participants in the showcase said they …

Tectonic changes have gripped the video-rental business over the past year, giving Netflix a clear victory over its brick-and-mortar competitors. As Blockbuster and Movie Gallery are waylaid by money problems, Netflix -- by firmly embracing instant streaming -- is charting the industry's future. It could also create headaches for the cable and DVD retail business. Netflix has become the biggest player in the rentals game. For as low as $8.99 a month, customers have access not only to the company's storehouse of DVDs, but to 20,000 movies and TV shows that can be streamed live. The service is a …

Time Warner Cable and privately-held Cox Communications have held early talks to swap cable systems in California and also broached the idea of a broader alliance, according to sources. The cable systems were valued around $2 billion. The early-stage talks between Time Warner Cable and Cox, the second- and third-largest U.S. cable operators, were aimed at competing better against larger rival Comcast Corp., which is buying NBC Universal from General Electric, the sources said. Cable companies typically seek to expand to reduce the impact of programming costs on their bottom line. The more customers a cable or satellite operator …

That photo of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. riding one of the first desegregated buses in Montgomery, Ala.? He took it. But now an unsettling asterisk must be added to the legacy of Ernest C. Withers, one of the most celebrated photographers of the civil rights era: He was a paid F.B.I. informer. The Commercial Appeal in Memphis just published the results of a two-year investigation that showed Withers, who died in 2007 at age 85, had collaborated closely with two F.B.I. agents in the 1960s to keep tabs on the civil rights movement. It was an …

Washington Post readers in the D.C.-metro area probably noticed a Capital One-sponsored advertisement wrapped around Sunday's paper. The removable wrap, which covered half the front page and all of the back page, was an advertising first for the newspaper. But there's another first coming this Sunday: The Post will run a display ad on the bottom of the actual front page. The practice is not new to the newspaper industry; it is new to WaPo. Given the economic climate, several major newspapers now run front-page display ads, including The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times and The New York …

After eight consecutive quarters of growth in its online video streams, magazine Web sites saw the first signs of contraction in the second quarter of the year, according to trending stats from Brightcove and TubeMogul. Magazine sites sampled from video technology platform Brightcove streamed 174 million videos in the second quarter, down 7% from the first quarter. Nevertheless, Brightcove says that these publishers still were up 45% in video streamed from the same Q2 period in 2009. Videos streamed from magazine publishers have high rates of completion per video view (38.69%). Magazine and newspapers post more videos online than …

Sirius XM Radio may keep adding listeners, fueling a stock rally that has lifted the satellite radio provider by 74% this year, even if it lost famed shock jock Howard Stern. Stern, credited by Standard & Poor for attracting as many as 2 million subscribers when he moved to Sirius in January 2006, suggested last week that he may leave satellite radio when his contract expires.While S&P says 200,000 to 300,000 fans may drop the service if he departs, customer growth overall will continue and Sirius can build sales with the money it saves on Stern. Sirius shares have …