CBS continues to find new comedy ideas on the Internet. The network has just bought a series concept from Ashton Kutcher's Katalyst Productions and the Schiff Co. based on the blog and Twitter feed "Dear Girls Above Me." Is the site about somebody recounting what they're overhearing on a daily basis? Yes. Dear Girls Above Me is written by a guy who's driven to distraction by the ditzy roommates living in the condo above him. Unlike "$#*! My Dad Says," or the recently sold "Shh ... Don't Tell Steve," however, the entries often derive humor from the unnamed …

A seven-time Emmy winner, Asner is returning to prime time television in CMT's first scripted sitcom, "Working Class." The "Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "Lou Grant" star is joining previously announced lead Melissa Peterman in the series about a blue-collar single mom who moves her family to a well-to-do suburb. Asner plays her misanthropic neighbor. CMT hopes it will hit the same ratings gold as TV Land did casting Betty White in "Hot in Cleveland." The move is Asner's first regular series commitment since NBC's "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" in 2006. He also was recently cast …

Walt Disney Co.'s ESPN will begin streaming its sports channels online to Time Warner Cable Inc. customers Oct. 25; it's all part of the pay-TV industry's strategy to fend off Internet competitors. Service on mobile devices is also planned. With the move, ESPN gives Time Warner Cable subscribers online access to its channels at no additional cost. ESPN is backing the cable industry's push to extend programs to the Web and combat the loss of viewers to companies such as Netflix Inc. As the network shifts to "TV Everywhere," ESPN.com will make fewer videos available to users of its …

Chevron Corp launched a new ad campaign on Monday to address negative perceptions of big oil companies, but a bogus release and Wb site by activist hoaxers and an environmental group quickly sought to turn the tables on the company. Chevron announced its "We Agree" print and video campaign, designed to highlight its efforts to develop renewable energy, create jobs and support local communities. But a hoax press release sent to media outlets by the Yes Men and the Rainforest Action Network hours ahead of the Chevron release, complete with fake quotes from Chevron executives and fake Chevron site, highlighted …

Comedian Jay Leno's audience among young viewers has shrunk in the seven months since NBC reinstalled him in his longtime perch on "The Tonight Show" and ended Conan O'Brien's brief stint as host, writes The Wall Street Journal. Leno will be jockeying for that audience as O'Brien is slated to launch his own late-night comedy show, dubbed "Conan," on TBS in just three weeks. O'Brien has already started taping comedy bits for the show, and will begin run-through performances in Burbank, Calif., next week. "Conan" is a lower-budget version of the comedy talk show he has hosted for years, …

Hidden in the higher reaches of the TV remote, prime-time cable series like "Drop Dead Diva," "Army Wives" and "Sons of Anarchy" are reinventing the way TV is made. For years, the few original scripted shows on basic cable were considered the industry's minor leagues. Now, as the media landscape changes and viewers flock to shows they like wherever they air, the basic cable universe keeps expanding, attracting better talent and growing in vibrancy. Once the province of reruns and sports, basic-cable networks will spend an estimated $23 billion on 1,462 original programs (including reality shows and specials), …

Google is finally touting display advertising as a significant revenue generator. Discussing an exceptional 3Q earnings report Google execs talked up the performance of display advertising, as well as mobile. According to CEO Eric Schmidt, both segments are showing "significant momentum." Overall, Google hauled in $7.29 billion in revenue during the third quarter, a surge of 23% vs. the same period last year. Of course, search still pulls in the lion's share of Google's dollars; Google-owned sites (which includes Google.com) accounted for 67$ of that revenue. Google's partner sites pulled in 30% of total revenue via the company's …

Questions about two $1 million political donations to groups with ties to the Republican Party took over a good portion of the News Corp. annual shareholder meeting here Friday. Faced with criticism that the donations had political motivations and no business benefits, chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch said "a fair amount of change" in Washington was "in the interest of the country and all the shareholders." Sir Rod Eddington, News Corp.'s audit committee head who came under pressure ahead of Friday's meeting due to the donations, also told shareholders that the donations decisions were made with shareholder interests …

The credit outlook for the U.S. newspaper sector is getting worse, Moody's says, as it revised its outlook for the industry from stable to negative. The bearish stance reflects "a waning of recent moderation in advertising revenue declines," the rating agency said in a statement. According to Moody's, newspaper revenues are likely to drop 5%-6% this year, with a mid-single-digit drop next year, following a 22% decline in 2009. "Despite this respite in the rate of decline for newspaper advertising, the industry's longer-term secular deterioration is returning to the forefront," Moody's VP John Puchalla stated. "Even in a slowly …

The incredible Hulk is planned for a return to television, while the Punisher and other heroes could also make their small screen debuts. The series ended in 1982; since then, live-action television has been noticeably Hulk-less. Disney's purchase of Marvel in 2009 may have sparked the return of Hulk to TV, with other superheroes also possibly in the cards. There is a "major push" to bring the Hulk back to television on Disney network ABC, reports Escapist Magazine. The big question is whether a new Hulk show would use CGI or a modern-day Lou Ferrigno to portray the main …