Late-night queen Chelsea Handler is making a move in prime time with a comedy project at NBC based on her books. The pilot project titled after one of Handler's books, "Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea," is described as an autobiographical multi-camera comedy based on Handler's life in her twenties. "Dharma & Greg" co-creator Dottie Zicklin and Julie Larson, both with UTA, will write the adaptation. They will executive produce the project with CAA-repped Handler, who won't be starring. The comedy will be centered on a 20something woman named Chelsea who won't have the same profession as comedian/author …

NBCU wants advertisers to know that when it comes to consumer spending based on what they see in television ads, the 55-64 demo is the new 18-34-or it's just as important as that younger demo. NBCU on Tuesday (Nov. 2) gave the media a sneak peak at a major presentation it will make on Thursday to its advertisers, their media agencies and Nielsen officials. The presentation will offer data showing that the adult 55-64 demo is as vibrant as younger demos in ad spending, and should be targeted (and not ignored) when television marketing plans are created. Allen Wurtzel, …

Time Warner raised its full year outlook after quarterly revenue rose on strength at its network division, though it was unclear if the advertising recovery will sustain its momentum next year. The company, whose shares were down 1% in pre-market trading, reported on Wednesday third-quarter revenue of $6.38 billion slightly below analysts average revenue forecast of $6.41 billion, according to Thomson Reuters. "Advertising looks extremely strong right now," said Alan Gould, an analyst with Evercore Partners. "In terms of what happens next is going to be a function of the economy." Time Warner expects its profit excluding one …

In a night dominated by reruns and midterm election returns, ABC got an easy victory, while most networks sank to their lowest Tuesday numbers of the season. ABC averaged a 2.4 adults 18-49 rating and 7 share, according to Nielsen's fast affiliate ratings, buoyed by a 90-minute "Dancing with the Stars," easily the night's top show with a 3.1 rating from 8 to 9:30 p.m. CBS and Fox both aired repeats before their one hour of election coverage, while NBC and ABC both had more than an hour of low-rated election results. That led to depressed results for the …

Attempts by broadcasters to seek payment for allowing their online video to be viewed through Google Inc.'s new Web-connected TV platform represents a "misunderstanding" of what it is, a Google executive said Tuesday, reports AP. Broadcasters ABC, NBC and CBS have blocked full episodes of their shows from being accessed through Google TV's Web browser since the product became available last month. Google TV is a software platform that allows users to access Web sites and online videos through their televisions. Rishi Chandra, Google TV's lead product manager, likened the broadcasters' payment requests to a network demanding fees from …

JWT has filled the top account management position on its Microsoft business with Megan Kent, an entrepreneurial strategic planner who has launched an agency and two consultancies. Kent succeeds Beth Waxman-Orteta, who last week became co-president of client services along with John Baker. Waxman-Orteta had been a global business director; Kent reports to North American CEO David Eastman, is president on the Microsoft account. The b-to-b assignment revenue hit was about $10 million, according to sources, leaving about $40 million in global Microsoft revenue at JWT. Kent most recently ran Brand Synchronicity, a strategic consultancy in New York that …

News Corp. has obtained a minority stake in The Rubicon Project, a Web advertising firm, in exchange for its online ad group Fox Audience Network. Rubicon also announced an $18 million round of funding, putting the total raised by the company at $60 million. Besides News Corp., the latest investors include Peacock Equity, the venture arm of media giant NBC Universal. It had previously provided funding. Rubicon, which helps online publishers maximize their ad revenue, also announced it became profitable last month, sooner than expected. It added that without any impacts from the Fox Audience Network deal, revenue this …

Though ad spending on this election is expected to surpass 2008, TV ratings are not. More than 71 million people tuned in two years ago to see Barack Obama become the first African-American presidential election winner. But midterm elections traditionally do not draw as big of audiences as presidential years. And with this year's election carrying much less historical value, it's doubtful that anywhere near that many viewers will tune in, despite the combative races for control of the Senate and House of Representatives and all the hoopla stirred up by Tea Partiers. Plus, the broadcast networks are not …

"The success or failure of a rally is judged by only two criteria," Jon Stewart said on Saturday, opening his much-anticipated "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear" in Washington. "The intellectual coherence of the content and its correlation to the engagement ... I'm just kidding. It's color and size, we all know it's color and size." It was certainly colorful. And big. Stewart and Stephen Colbert's rally drew approximately 215,000 people to the National Mall -- or roughly 125,000 more than Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally did at the same spot in August -- according to CBS News. The …

Pres. Obama and his wife' twin appearances on "Piolín por la Mañana," heard across the country on Univision Radio, are a testament to the ballooning political power of the Spanish language news media, and in particular to the power of Univision, which owns the biggest Spanish-language television and radio outlets in the United States. Univision says it does not favor any political party. Regardless, analysts say that the company is exerting significant influence both on local elections and on the national debate about immigration - in part by encouraging Hispanics to cast a ballot. Underscoring just how …