When Richard Parsons takes the reins as chief executive officer of AOL Time Warner Inc. on Thursday, he will usher in a new and more down-to-earth era at the 17-month-old media giant.

The online auctioneer takes advantage of declining media prices to restructure its multi-million dollar agreement with AOL Time Warner.

Prolonged slump puts media in the mood to pander to buyers.

On-line entertainment sites stand to benefit most as broadband diffuses, but increased usage won't save their ailing ad-based business models. For on-line entertainment—indeed, for the Internet media sector as a whole—the implications are clear: forget about supporting your sites with advertising.

Television viewers just getting hooked on "The Education of Max Bickford" or growing weary of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" will soon know whether to cheer or groan.

High viewer involvement translates into a higher attentiveness to a show's commercials, and it doesn't matter whether it's wrestling or high-toned drama.

Spirits giant Diageo Plc, shut out of U.S network television advertising in March when NBC back-tracked on an earlier decision to accept liquor ads, is creating a network of sorts on its own.

After years of hype, major advertisers are finally starting to invest in interactive TV, which lets viewers shop, email and play games but has yet to take hold commercially, experts said on Tuesday.

Although it was not surprising that War Emblem, a 20-1 long shot, did not merit a feature, there was no reason to ignore him, as NBC did.

ABC, CBS and NBC showed a 22 percent drop in prime time revenue to $1.16 billion for the first quarter, according to data compiled by Ernst & Young and released by the Broadcast Cable Financial Management Association.