For the second year in a row, Sony and DirecTV are offering cord-cutters the chance to watch NFL football games on Sony’s PS3 game console through DirecTV’s “Sunday Ticket” package for $300 -- $40 less than last year, according to Peter Kafka.   "In theory, you’re not supposed to be able to order Sunday Ticket this way unless you’re physically unable to get DirecTV, presumably because of geographical restrictions," he adds. "But I’m pretty sure that, just like last year, DirecTV won’t really vet this... Of course, if there are lots of people taking advantage of this loophole, you’d …

One up, one down: the Orange County [Calif.] Register is adding 23 new positions in its "Content group," while the Las Vegas Review-Journal announced it's eliminating several newsroom management jobs.

There are now .4% (472,620) fewer U.S. households with TV this year as opposed to last year, according to Nielsen figures just released. And "with a growing general population, now nearing 315,000,000, any retreat is troubling news for networks and stations that depend on the delivery television provides, and the advertising revenue that goes along with it," writes Chris Ariens.

"MSNBC has pumped up its ratings by recasting itself as a left-leaning riposte to Fox News" -- a fact that's doubly obvious this week, when its anchors "shout that Republican claims [during the convention] are 'lies,'" writes Alessandra Stanley.  In the ratings race, Fox "is still well ahead, especially during a Republican convention, but on Tuesday, there were times when MSNBC drew significantly more convention viewers than CNN." Still, "all that arch sarcasm and partisan brio may rev up the cable channel’s fans, but it constrains — and stains — NBC News, its corporate sibling, which is still …

Broadcast’s CW and cable’s Showtime have the most LBGT-inclusive programming, according to GLAAD’s sixth annual Network Responsibility Index. Conversely, of the 15 networks evaluated, CBS and History Channel have the lowest percentages of such programming. ABC Family also scored high and TBS low. Storylines on ABC’s “Modern Family” and ABC Family’s “Pretty Little Liars” were singled out.

"And Now A Word From Our Sponsors: Please Don't Pick Up Your iPhone!" is the headline of this story, which reports on a Tremor Video study showing that TV viewers tend to tune out during prime-time commercials, turning to their mobile phones -- presumably to surf the Web. "And yes, Tremor’s takeaway here — people are tuning out TV ads in favor of the Web — is a self-serving one for a Web ad network to tout," writes Peter Kafka. "But it certainly seems plausible."

The upcoming season six of MTV's "The Jersey Shore" -- the network's highest-rated series ever -- will be its last, "ending frequent speculation that the network would maintain the franchise with a new cast," writes Michael O'Connell. First episode will air Oct. 4, but a good-bye special, "Gym, Tan, Look Back," will run before the Sept. 6 MTV Video Music Awards.

The Republican convention may be racking up lower TV ratings than the summer Olympics, but as another event on the national stage, it's also bringing more lessons about how media coverage has changed. Take the speedy firing of Yahoo News Washington bureau chief David Chalian for making what he thought was an off-camera comment about the Romneys. "With new media moving into legacy media realms, and so-called old media adopting the tools of the insurgency, the possibility for pratfalls multiply," writes David Carr. "Mr. Chalian said something really dumb and tasteless that suggested significant personal bias, so it …

MTV has retooled its digital offerings supporting its Video Music Awards, set for Sept. 6. For one, its All Access Live, which offers viewers "access to nine cameras feeds online," has been tweaked to be consistent across multiple computer and mobile devices, writes George Winslow. And the Facebook Timeline Tracker, newly sponsored by Cover Girl, "will be producing web vignettes in the run up to the show that will have CoverGirl integrated into the content," and "will also serve as hub for trending VMA content."

Sally Singer, the editor in chief of T: The New York Times Style Magazine, is leaving the pub at the end of the week, after a two-year stint marked by changes to "a more downtown vibe" with "hyper-intellectual" content -- as well as "complaints from the publishing side," and "clashes with Hugo Lindgren, editor of The New York Times Magazine," writes Amy Wicks. And "while some sources said Singer was asked to step down, others claim she chose to leave."