Interim NCAA President Jim Isch is expected to reveal his decisions on whether the NCAA should opt out of the last three years of its 11-year, $6 billion media contract with CBS on April 29. Several NCAA and media executives expect Isch to recommend opting out and expand the tournament from 65 to 96 teams. That would likely mean that either CBS will partner with Turner Sports to carry the games, or ESPN would pick up the tournament on its own. Because of the heavy escalators in the contract, the deal's final three years are worth $2.13 billion, which …

Dick Wolf is looking to expand his "Law & Order" empire to four NBC has picked up "Law & Order: Los Angeles," with a 13-episode order for fall. Also, "Law & Order: SVU" is cleared for a 12th season pending some minor budgetary matters. The cast led by Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni have already been clearing their schedule to shoot new episodes. Plus, chances are pretty good for a record-breaking 21st season of the mothership "Law & Order" series. Elsewhere, after a cast overhaul, "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" just kicked in its 9th season on USA …

Nearly 25% of all young adults are viewing more television content online, according to a new study by electronics shopping and review/research company Retrevo. Some 23% of people under the age of 25 watch most of their television content online compared with just 8% of people over the age of 25 watching most of their TV shows via the Web. Men are more likely to view TV on the web than women: 17% of men watch all of their TV content online, while just 9% of women sit in front of their PC's to watch TV shows. More than …

U.S. television executive Ben Silverman, who left the helm of NBC in July, has unveiled a slate of programs for his new TV and digital media company, Electus, including a telenovela that will air on MTV. The "interactive" telenovela called "Pedro & Maria" is for youth-oriented MTV. It's billed as a bilingual, modern-day "Romeo & Juliet" in which audience members can suggest plot twists and story direction using websites like Facebook or Twitter. Silverman, who helped develop "The Office," aims to merge old-style TV shows with new media technology in a way that draws younger viewers to programs and …

Twitter is ready to monetize. The advertising program, called Promoted Tweets, will show up when Twitter users search for keywords that the advertisers have bought to link to their ads. Later, Twitter plans to show promoted posts in the stream of Twitter posts, based on how relevant they might be to a particular user. Best Buy, Virgin America, Starbucks and Bravo are all running ads. "The idea behind Promoted Tweets is that we want to enhance the communications that companies are already having with customers on Twitter," said Dick Costolo, Twitter's COO. When a Twitter user searches for …

Celebrity biographer Kitty Kelley says talk show host Oprah Winfrey spends so much energy on her career that the world's most powerful woman in media and business has nothing leftover for her personal life. "Oprah has immense drive, a really insatiable drive. She never stops working and her career and her empire is the first priority in her life," she said. Kelley's new book, "Oprah: A Biography," just hit U.S. book stores and disappointed some media watchers who hoped it might end years of speculation that Winfrey may be gay and answer questions about her relationships with fiancee Stedman …

Netflix and Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. expanded their agreement for physical and digital distribution of Fox movies and television programs. It includes a first-time streaming license for Fox TV shows that includes complete prior seasons of some television series. Among the first DVD/Blu-ray releases under this arrangement will be "Avatar," available via Netflix customers 28 days after its April 22 street date. The streaming agreement with Fox includes instant availability of all prior seasons of "Lie to Me," "Bones," "24," and "King of the Hill," as well as complete seasons of "Prison Break," "Arrested Development" and "Buffy the …

CNN anchor Anderson Cooper is having ratings problems, but he's still up for a possible live studio audience show. The network is testing a potential new prime-time talk format for the seasoned anchor, something Cooper's producers do regularly. CNN is calling the trial episodes "specials" in case the project doesn't make it to the series stage. Cooper's producers reportedly try about a dozen test shows a year searching for new format tweaks for the host. The specials will be taped April 15 and 22, but no air date has been set.

Clear Channel, the nation's largest radio station owner -- hasn't successfully renegotiated its debt with some lenders. Bain and THL bought Clear Channel in a $24 billion leveraged buyout in 2008. It may take about four years, but if the company can't manage to change its capital structure, it will ultimately default on its $18.4 billion debt, sources said. Clear Channel large creditors -- Centerbridge Partners and OakTree Capital Management -- are not passive LBO lenders. Centerbridge co-founder Mark Gallogly is formerly a Blackstone Group managing director, and OakTree last week repossessed radio company Regent Communications. Both want to …

Can standard network fare really reach as many viewers as a broadcast of the Oscars or the Super Bowl? No, but that hasn't stopped networks from trying. Fox is seeking up to $650,000 for a 30-second spot in the series finale of '24.' The current show draws an average audience of 11.4 million. (The series finale of "Seinfeld" got 76.3 million viewers.) What's changed viewer-wise, is the rise of DVRs As audiences get smaller, the definition of what qualifies as an "event" gets broader. "Every single network is trying to make an event out of all of their programming," …