Conan O'Brien's new cable show, Conan, doesn't debut until Nov. 8, but TBS is reporting that some of America's biggest companies are already onboard as major supporters, including Coca-Cola, Microsoft, AT&T, GM and News Corp. Some are getting more bang for the buck by also opting for related social media and mobile device marketing tactics and on-air product tie-ins that adhere to Conan's off-beat style. During the show's premiere week, News Corp. and AT&T will showcase TV ads, and throughout the coming weeks, other companies, including AT&T and Microsoft, will have their products integrated into specific episodes. General Motors …

Preschoolers aged 2 to 5 spend an average of more than 32 hours in front of a TV screen each week, according to Nielsen. The big media companies chasing this audience, armed with studies and statistics, are gearing up for the next major battle. One of the top-rated shows among preschoolers on Nick Jr. is "Ni Hao, Kai-Lan," in which a cartoon Kai-lan Chow, a 6-year-old with big round eyes and black pigtails, teaches kids Mandarin Chinese. The series draws about 828,000 viewers aged 2 to 5, compared with 753,000 for "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse," Disney's top-rated preschool series. At stake …

Barry Diller, the media mogul who helped orchestrate the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster, has sold almost all his shares in the combined entity to Liberty Media Corp. Diller sold about 2.5 million shares, or about 1.4 percent, of Live Nation Entertainment Inc. The price was not disclosed. John Malone, who controls Liberty, replaced Diller temporarily as chairman last month after a boardroom power struggle. Liberty had held about a 14 percent stake.

Dish Network Corp, the second-biggest U.S. satellite television operator, posted higher-than-expected quarterly profit and revenue on Friday, as existing customers spent more on its services. Net profit in the quarter was $245 million, or 55 cents per share, up from $81 million, or 18 cents per share, a year earlier. While Dish lost about 29,000 subscribers in the third quarter, the company generated more revenue from those it retained. Average monthly revenue per subscriber rose 7%, which the company said was because of price increases in February and June 2010 and "changes in the sales mix toward more advanced …

Hollywood's actors' unions and the major studios reached an early agreement on a new film and TV contract, capping nearly six weeks of talks aimed at averting a protracted labor dispute. As expected, the the deal announced Sunday morning between the Screen Actors Guild, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers provided some modest pay raises and a significant increase in contributions to the unions' health and pension plans, a top priority for the unions. The tentative three-year contract takes effect July 1, 2011, and must still be approved …

The Associated Press said today that it's investing $30 million in its video operations so the news cooperative can deliver its reports in high definition to more than 1,000 broadcasters and Web sites beginning next year. The financial commitment reflects the growing demand for high-definition video as high-speed Internet connections and new gadgets such as smart phones and Apple Inc.'s iPad have created new ways for people to watch clips. The not-for-profit AP has been boosting its video offerings to help offset a decline in the revenue that it gets from newspapers, once the cooperative's financial backbone. Prompted by …

News Corp. is benefiting from political ad spending and a hard-nosed bargaining strategy with pay-TV operators, as gains in its TV and cable segments helped net income grow in the latest quarter. The New York-based media giant controlled by Rupert Murdoch said Wednesday that net income in the fiscal first quarter, which ended Sept. 30, rose 36 percent to $775 million, or 30 cents per share, from $571 million, or 22 per share, a year ago. Excluding a one-time tax benefit of 3 cents per share, the adjusted 27 cents per share of earnings still topped the 24 cents …

Time Warner Inc., owner of the Warner Bros. film studio, is near agreements with television distributors to make movies available on-demand for viewing at home soon after they run in theaters. Time Warner expects to start the so-called premium service in the second quarter, per Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bewkes. The company is close to agreements on the pricing and timing after theatrical release. Studios including Warner Bros. and Walt Disney Co. are in talks for the VOD service with In Demand, a partnership of Cox Communications Inc., Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Cable Inc., Bob Benya, head of …

Matthew Harrigan at Wunderlich Securites figures that if Howard Stern stays on at his current salary of $100 million annually at Sirius XM, or if he leaves and takes 1 million subscribers with him, it's a wash, financially speaking. Sirius XM won't disclose how many of its 19.9 million subscribers listen Stern, but Harrigan estimates it's about 3 million. And he said that if Stern and Sirius XM drag out negotiations, it's a good thing. "We actually regard an extended face-off as a form of free marketing for both Stern and Sirius," Harrigan wrote in his reasearch note Of …

"Newer businesses are much more oriented toward new media," said Matt Booth, BIA/Kelsey's SVP, interactive local media, at an industry gathering. "What you're really seeing here is a demographic shift of sorts." About 44% of new local businesses intend to build pages on social networking sites, like Facebook, further exemplifying their interest in new advertising platforms, he said. While traditional media sales are slated to grow ever so slightly in the coming year, "robust growth" -- 17.4% -- in interactive advertising is predicted, meaning legacy media companies better get a piece of the $145.2 billion expected to be spent …