Next year, state legislatures will redraw congressional districts based on the 2010 census. Cutting out a wealthy suburb or looping in an ethnic neighborhood can turn a district from Republican to Democratic, or vice-versa. If done across the board, redistricting can tip a congressional delegation red or blue for a generation. The key national organizations seeking to influence state elections will spend about $200 million this year, double what they spent in 2006, the most recent comparable contest. The cash is allowing local candidates to adopt tactics more typically used by national politicians: time on cable TV, advanced polling …

New and sophomore shows boast a number of comedies whose snarky comic sensibility would seem to mock their more heartfelt moments - the Emmy-winning "Modern Family," NBC's "Community" and Fox's "Running Wilde" and upcoming "Mixed Signals." Fox's pop-culture phenomenon "Glee" also veers from cynicism to sentimentality, but it features a clear dividing line: Emmy-winner Jane Lynch's Sue Sylvester, whose withering one-liners seem like they're heckling the rest of the show from the sidelines. The shows often manage to interweave their disparate sensibilities fairly deftly, and within the challenging framework of 22-minute episodes. Greg Garcia, creator of "Raising Hope," says, …

Starz Media said Monday it has agreed to sell animation studio Film Roman to a group of investors led by former Film Roman president Scott Greenberg. Financial terms weren't disclosed. The deal was announced by Starz president and CEO Chris Albrecht and Greenberg. The sale is another move by Starz boss Albrecht to refocus the company after selling parts of Overture Films to Relativity Media this summer. This leaves Starz with home entertainment business Anchor Bay, which it is likely to keep, and the Starz Animation studio in Canada. Film Roman had produced such animation as Fox Television/Gracie Films' …

In a surprise move, Lions Gate Entertainment has made another merger proposal to MGM lenders, potentially upsetting a proposed prepackaged bankruptcy plan that would hand debt-holders about 95% of the studio. The development comes one day before Lions Gate is scheduled to square off in a Canadian court with dissident shareholder Carl Icahn. Lions Gate's proposal, which would give MGM lenders a 55% stake in the merged company, would combine Hollywood's leading independent movie and television studio with one of industry's oldest, but most financially crippled studios with an extensive film library. MGM's current bankruptcy plan calls for Spyglass …

Social games and social networking apps on Apple's operating system are now competing for eyeballs with popular television shows and sports broadcasts -- and winning. App-tracking firm Flurry's study found that 19 million American users spend an average of 22 minutes each day on iOS social gaming apps, says Biz Report. That audience tops NBC's "Sunday Night Football" and is on a par with hit shows such as ABC's "Dancing with the Stars." Even America's top-rated television show Fox's "American Idol" leads iOS users by only 4 million daily viewers. No single iOS social game attracts the audiences …

Fox Television Stations and Debmar-Mercury will co-produce a preview of "The Fran Drescher Show." Starting Friday, Nov. 26, the daily weekday program will be available on the Fox O&Os in New York (WNYW), Los Angeles (KTTV), Philadelphia (WTXF), Phoenix (KSAZ), Minneapolis (KMSP) and Orlando (WOFL). "The Fran Drescher Show" will be a daily, one-hour entertainment talk show. Broadcast live from Los Angeles, the program will feature Drescher's commentary on "captivating topics, current events, pop culture and interviews," according to FTS. Drescher starred in the 1990s CBS sitcom "The Nanny," which earned Emmy and Golden Globe Award nominations. After a …

Amid the disappointing performance of Martha Stewart on the Hallmark Channel, Laura Sillars, a key programming executive who had been hired just four months ago to work with Stewart, was let go. She wasnt' part of the team that decided to introduce Stewart to the channel in an effort to makeover programming. She had been tasked with developing a slate of other original lifestyle shows so that Hallmark could wean itself from its reliance on reruns of classic feel-good programs such as "Little House on the Prairie" and tear-jerker movies. So far, Stewart has proven a bad bet. …

CBS had never before won the first two weeks of a prime-time season in all the big ratings categories: viewers 18 to 49, viewers 25 to 54 and total viewers. Though some showed signs of dropping off in their third week, all five new CBS series have so far beaten every other new entry in terms of total viewers. Two new CBS shows, the comedy "Mike and Molly" and the revival drama "Hawaii Five-0," have done so well they are already shoo-ins to be ordered for a full season. CBS' schedule changes this fall-- an unusually high number of …

In what could be called a race to the bottom, some denim companies are breaking language taboos, not backing away from using crude language to describe the backside. Susan Credle, chief creative officer of Leo Burnett USA, said she can't recall such strong language ever being used in mainstream advertising not specifically targeted at adults. A current slogan for Levi Strauss & Co.'s Levi Curve ID women's jeans reads "All A-es Were Not Created Equal." The slogan, which doesn't bleep out the three-letter word for the behind, appears in store windows, on billboards and as part of a …

Meredith's syndicated daytime show "Better" is poised to become a player in the national advertising arena. In less than a month, the lifestyle show based on the iconic Meredith magazine brand will debut on KCAL, CBS O&O in Los Angeles. The growing roster of top market stations clearing the show could potentially change Better's advertising equation from its current 90% reliance on local advertising. Designed to address a scarce commodity in local TV, "Better" gives stations the ability to insert local content and offer advertisers product integration opportunities via two four-minute windows, along with 8.5 minutes of traditional breaks--more …