The Riff is wearing black today. And it's not just because the Man in Black - country legend Johnny Cash - has passed on, but also because it comes on the same day as news of the sudden death of another endearing personality, TV and film actor John Ritter.

As intelligence agencies try to determine whether he was live or Memorex, the numbers suggest Sept. 11 terrorist-in-chief Osama Bin Laden may be more of a fading memory.

The Riff isn't exactly what ZZ Top might consider a "sharp-dressed man." Indeed, we've come out in favor of a constitutional amendment banning the tucking-in of shirts.

We See Dead Magazines. Well, dying ones, anyway. That's what one would have to conclude after learning of TV Guide's new reader proposition and cover logo: "We see everything."

What is it about TV/publishing synergies that makes one magazine spin-off of a TV property succeed, while others fail miserably? That's what the folks at Hearst, ABC and NBC surely are pondering these days as they pull their aborted Biography magazine off the newsstands and relegate it to fan club 'zine status. While the fact that A&E's "Biography" franchise has a fan club is in itself noteworthy, we're left wondering how those TV powerhouses failed to leverage a title with so-much built-in cross-promotional power.

It appears it may be time to short any positions you might have in the music industry. And it's not because the major music companies are still wrestling with ways to control online piracy.

With apologies to Howard Stern, the National Football League is truly the King of All Media, a fact that will again become readily apparent when the league lifts the curtain on its 2003 season tonight. Unless you've been hiding in a cave - or, alternately, hunkering down for your fantasy football draft - you probably haven't missed the league's promo blitz for the NFL Kickoff Live 2003 festivities that begin at 8 p.

What's Next, Following The Bouncing Ball? In a bid to expand its audience base beyond its core Spanish-speaking audience, NBC-owned Telemundo will begin broadcasting its new primetime shows with English subtitles when it's fall season kicks off on Sept. 8.

Are predictions of a rebound in consumer magazine ad spending premature? That appears to be the case, judging by Stuart Elliott's round-up on the September issues of the nation's leading consumer magazines in today's New York Times. We know this how? Not because the September issue of Vogue magazine is coming in at "four pounds, eight ounces," according to proud poppa and publisher Tom Florio.