News Corp.'s Fox Broadcasting is wrapping up advertising sales for the network's coverage of the National League Championship Series and the World Series. With the postseason just days away, Fox is 90% sold out, and prices for both series are up in high single -digit percentages compared with last year. A 30-second spot in the NLCS is going for about $225,000, while an ad in the World Series costs about $450,000. Among the big spenders are -- of course -- Chevrolet and Budweiser. Under the terms of its TV deal with Major League Baseball, Fox gets the NLCS and …

In a broad attempt by the online advertising industry to ward off federal privacy legislation, a coalition of industry groups announced a wide-reaching program that allows internet users to opt out of being tracked for the purposes of online marketing. The program has also enlisted with the Better Business Bureau to police marketers that are not in compliance. While some major digital advertisers, such as AT&T, have already offered a program that allows people to opt-out of being tracked, the Federal Trade Commission had expressed concern that there is not a comprehensive, single mechanism for people to unsubscribe …

Time on Monday unveiled a redesigned version of "The Page," the political hub spear-headed by Mark Halperin. Seeking to distinguish itself in a crowded political news environment, Time said the Web site would increase the number of videos and interviews it posted. The redesign also highlights "Halperin's Take," short assessments of politics by Halperin, the magazines senior political analyst. He sees The Page now as a hybrid of a TV channel and a Web site, given the increase in video. "The Page" stood out during the 2008 election for aggregating political news around the clock and for attracting …

Walt Disney Coappointed two digital veterans to lead its loss-making stable of Internet properties, underscoring a renewed focus on developing digital businesses. James Pitaro, an experienced Internet executive who just left Yahoo, will oversee Disney Online, the home of Disney branded Web and social media sites. As co-president of Disney Interactive Media Group, John Pleasants, the CEO of Playdom, the online game company, will continue to run it. In an interview, Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger said he believed the structural change at the top of the division was needed to "create a real business in this space." The …

Content companies started touting their participation in the Internet giant's new Google TV service, expected to be formally unveiled on Wednesday. Google TV tries to combine the best of the TV and Web worlds. While reports have said that Hollywood companies have taken a careful approach to working with Google TV to avoid cutting into established revenue streams, Google has emphasized it would not start creating its own content. Time Warner's HBO will offer HBO GO, its online video destination for authenticated HBO subscribers, on Google TV. NBC Universal's CNBC will bring a real-time financial news and data application …

Journalist Michael Wolff has been named editorial director of AdweekMedia, the umbrella brand of Adweek, Mediaweek and Brandweek. Said Wolff of his appointment: "This is the opportunity we have -- to not only be great for the media business, [but also] put ourselves in the sweet spot of what we're covering," he said. "But most of all I want to have a lot of fun covering it. I want to make some trouble." Wolff brings a long history of making waves in media, as a columnist for New York and Vanity Fair, founder of news aggregator Newser and author …

British fans of "Mad Men" will have to pay to watch the series next year, with satellite broadcaster BSkyB understood to have offered significantly more than the BBC currently pays in an audacious swoop to snatch the show. Currently, the fictional exploits of Don Draper and his colleagues in the New York advertising world of the 1960s are available on free-to-air digital channel BBC4. But Sky is looking to add "Mad Men" to its stable of US imports, which will soon include HBO shows such as Martin Scorsese's critically lauded prohibition era drama "Boardwalk Empire." BBC4 is currently …

Paramount is laying off 53 workers and consolidating its licensing/consumer products and film-promotion divisions. Paramount is also restructuring its direct-to-DVD productions and folding them into its digital division, while moving digital distribution of theatrical titles under its TV distribution operations. Studio officials say the consolidations will save Paramount about $10 million annually. The moves reflect the retrenchment of Paramount following its divorce from DreamWorks, with the studio now producing and distributing fewer films. Under the restructuring, Paramount's licensing and consumer products unit will be merged with the motion picture promotions department overseen by LeeAnne Stables, EVP of worldwide marketing …

Marketers such as Unilever, which is now using iAd to promote Skippy peanut butter, Ragu pasta sauce, and other brands, have helped give Apple CEO Steve Jobs' first foray into advertising a good start. By the end of this year, iAd will pull even with Google and account for 21% the U.S. mobile advertising market, according to a forecast by IDC. The market research firm says that Google, the current market leader, will see its share drop from 27% to 21%. Yahoo! and Microsoft will sink into the single digits, according to IDC's projections. None of the mobile ad …

Fox pulled a number of cable channels and regional sports networks from Dish Network Oct. 1 as the deadline passed without a carriage agreement, possibly setting the tone for a much nastier retransmission consent fight for Fox broadcasting stations next month. As expected, Fox pulled FX, National Geographic Channel and 19 regional sports networks from Dish subscribers. The main impasse, per usual carriage fights, appears to be over rates. Dish claims that Fox is asking for a more than 50% increase in carriage fees for the networks (which Fox disputes), a boost that the satellite carrier believes is unwarranted. …