The stakes are high for "Comcast as it seeks to make a success of NBCU, and in the process validate [the] decision to merge the two companies into a content and distribution colossus. Such conglomerates are now seen as unmanageable at best -- and at worst, disastrous like the AOL/Time Warner merger of 2001," writes Douglas Alden Warshaw. "Bigtime, ratings-grabbing sports such as the Super Bowl and, yes, the Olympics" are key to the company's strategy, Warshaw adds in this analytical piece, which also provides behind-the-scenes anecdotes of such events as the resignation of longtime NBC sports chief Dick Ebersol.

Condé Nast had the most mags of any U.S. publisher on a list of top iPad apps ranked on "design, functionality and use of rich media" by McPheters app watcher iMonitor, writes Steve Smith. In fact, Condé's  mag leads the list (but we think it's an alphabetical one, anyway), which also includes Golf Digest, GQ, Self and Wired. Next most popular publisher was Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, with Everyday Food and Martha Stewart Living on the list.

People magazine is trying to increase reader engagement with its annual "World's Most Beautiful" double issue by, some would say, appealing to readers' vanity: they can nominate themselves or a worthy female candidate aged 20 to 59 to be featured in the late April issue along with more traditional beauty candidates -- celebrities.  The campaign wil bridges tablets, online and print editions. Crowdsourcing at its finest, perhaps -- but this post doesn't make very clear how the beautiful people will actually be selected, beyond noting that readers can "like" photos.

Print publications are jumping on the digital and social media bandwagons to attract readers eager for election coverage. First up, the New York Times is offering its most extensive bit of video coverage today, Super Tuesday. Starting at 7 p.m., the nytimes.com will feature live and preproduced videos starring "the big guns from its bench of political reporters, editors and columnists," writes Joe Pomeo. That includes op-ed columnist Gail Collins (whose columns are masterpieces of witty insight, we think), as well as Washington bureau chief David Leonhardt, White House correspondent Jackie Calmes, and New York Times Magazine political correspondent Matt …

Speaking of comedy, as we were in another item today, check out the funniest "Real Housewives parody we've ever seen -- "The Real Housewives of Disney," a sketch on the last "Saturday Night Live." From the gay Prince Charming ("Never marry a man who's into shoes," is Cinderella's helpful tip) to Jasmine's confession of sex with an unlikely being, the piece is really witty, even for those not familiar with the Housewives franchise. (It's even funnier if you can get all the nuances, of course, like Snow White's tough Jersey-girl talk.)

The half-hour sitcom should be coming back in full force this fall TV season, as a "recent record" number of comedy pilots -- 46 -- compete "for slots on the four major networks," writes Gary Levin. Why the trend toward the funny? "Though almost every returning drama has lost viewers this season, eight comedies have posted ratings gains," and the syndication market is reaping big bucks from this genre, according to Levin. Plus such new shows as CBS' "2 Broke Girls" and Fox's "New Girl" "are two of the season's top three newcomers among younger viewers."

Bloomberg Businessweek's new iPhone app, to roll out in the next few weeks, is similar to the mag's iPad app, which debuted last April, as well as its newly revamped website.

Taking a previous strategy from rival MSNBC, Current TV will move into morning programming for the first time by simulcasting two liberal radio talk shows over the TV airwaves: "The Bill Press Show” from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., and “The Stephanie Miller Show” from 9 a.m. to noon, both Eastern time. MSNBC simulcast the "Imus in the Morning" radio show for 11 years, until 2007.

"Nearly three years after Time Warner Inc. and Comcast Corp. kicked off a drive to make cable programming available online for cable subscribers, the idea of TV Everywhere remains mired in technical holdups, slow deal-making and disputes over who will control TV customers in the future," writes Sam Schechner and Shalini Ramachandran. Cable companies also face competiton from entities like Netflix -- meaning "a new content garden is growing up outside of cable TV's walls," according to Schechner and Ramachandran. They discuss other problems with implementing TV Everywhere -- "which is a concept, not a specific service"  -- in …

For magazine publishers, the events business is becoming a "gold rush" compared to their "core print operations," writes Nat Ives. Many -- such as Fortune, rolling out a new conference in May tied to the Fortune 500 -- are either expanding their longtime conference rosters, or else joining the field in the first place (circa O magazine's O You!) At one pub -- The Atlantic -- "events now account for 17% of... revenue, vs. 14% in 2009," writes Ives. "That is a higher share than at most magazines, but that may change as publishers expand their event businesses more quickly …