"Mad Men" was so successful at representing the Sixties, it's inspired NBC. The network is developing a 1960s-set drama that delves into the world of Playboy clubs, according to Variety. It centers on a group of women working as bunnies in a New York club and explores the country's shifting morals and the beginning of the sexual revolution. More than a million members paid a fee to become "keyholders" at the clubs, where women dressed in the iconic bunny outfits. There were 22 original locations around the world, the last of which closed in Lansing, Mich. in 1988. A …

CBS Corp's top outside shareholder has sold off most of its holdings in the broadcast television and radio company, according to a regulatory filing on Thursday Investment firm AllianceBernstein lowered its stake in CBS from about 37.4 million common shares, or about 6 percent, as of Sept. 30, 2010, to about 2.2 million shares, or less than 1 percent as of Nov. 30. CBS is controlled by media mogul Sumner Redstone who holds a majority voting stake in the company. CBS shares are up almost 28% year-to-date as the company, home to the most-watched U.S. broadcast network, has enjoyed …

OWN, Oprah Winfrey network, which Oprah's holding company Harpo will own jointly with Discovery, is not a sure bet. Some cable and satellite operators are resisting Discovery's demands for fees triple what they are paying for Discovery Health, the channel being converted to OWN. Advertisers coaxed aboard with a personal call from Oprah will want to see healthy ratings. "No one has ever created a whole channel with original programming [like this] from scratch," says Ron Schneier, chief operating officer of online advertising service MyVideoRights and a former executive at A&E Channel. "It has its share of risks." …

Just weeks after News Corp. and Cablevision agreed to terms after a bitter negotiation over program retrans fees that cut the cable company's subscribers off from the NFL, the World Series and other Fox network fare, News Corp. COO Chase Carey set the stage for significantly higher payments from cable operators in the future. While Cablevision accused the company of charging an "unfair price," even after agreeing to terms, Carey indicated in his remarks that News Corp. has so far intentionally pursued shorter-term deals with cable companies-compared to the 10-year agreement struck by CBS and Comcast-with an eye toward …

From the top 10 comebacks -- think Eliot Spitzer, who went from scandal-ridden ex-governor to CNN cohost -- to Paul Reubens and his alter ego Pee-wee Herman, who opened in a Broadway's "The Pee-wee Herman Show" this fall, Time has cataloged the year in an interesting way. The pub, in partnership with CNN, profiles the top 10 in numerous categories -- from pop culture to science, tech to art. In the top 10 magazine covers, Rolling Stone takes home the honors. Best of all, there are fun categories, like Top 10 American Political Prodigies, think Bill Clinton, and 25 …

Netflix is hoping to renew its deal with Starz Entertainment to offer streaming video of movies but "we can live without it if we have to," CEO Reed Hastings said at an investment conference. One year ago, Netflix said no single content provider represented more than 20% of Netflix's streaming-video viewing, Hastings said, and since then the company has expanded its content. Starz in October 2008 announced a three-year streaming deal with Netflix, which runs through 2011. The deal gave Netflix the ability to stream movies from Walt Disney Co. and Sony Pictures Entertainment, among other content. Netflix had …

Time Warner Cable is launching a $199 a month premium service with unusual perks for gadget-loving wealthy clients, as it begins to segment its customers according to how much money they are willing to pay and what level of service they demand. Titled SignatureHome, the service comes three weeks after Time Warner Cable began trials of a bare-bones $30-$50 package called TV Essentials, for "customers facing difficult choices during these tough economic times." The SignatureHome service includes broadband download speeds of up to 50Mbps and a digital video recorder connected to every screen, including PlayStations and iPads, in …

The country's biggest newspaper publishers say ad trends continue to improve in the fourth quarter -- even if they are still not ready to predict when or if traditional print revenue will start growing again. Gannett Co., publisher of USA Today and other dailies, and McClatchy Co., which owns The Miami Herald, said smaller print declines and cost cutting will help results in the last three months of 2010. Newspapers are struggling to arrest a nearly four-year slide in ad revenue as more advertisers turn to online destinations. Print circulation is dropping as well, as readers turn to the …

The rebuilding of Disney Television Animation, which started in 2008 with the hire of Nickelodeon veteran Eric Coleman as senior vice president, original series, continues. Coleman has assembled his new executive team, which includes Michael McGahey, Khaki Jones and Jonathan Schneider. Also, the division's project "Gravity Falls" has been picked to series at Disney Channel for a spring 2012 premiere, while freshman Disney Channel series "Fish Hooks" has been renewed. Since its September premiere, "Fish Hooks," which features 2D animation characters set against photo-real backgrounds, has unseated Disney TV Animation's other hit, "Phineas and Ferb," as TV's No.1 animated …

Joining News Corp.'s forthcoming tablet newspaper The Daily and Richard Branson's iPad-only magazine, Project, Sweden's Bonnier Corp. has created Roadtrip, a made-for-the-tablet publication. The new form shows how publishers are experimenting on the iPad as they try to figure out how to make money off the tablet. Bonnier, whose Popular Science was one of the first publications sold on the iPad when it hit stores in April, is now looking at creating products like Roadtrip that aren't enhanced versions of its magazines. With Roadtrip, Bonnier combined two subject areas-cars and travel-into one publication. The first issue is a …