ABC NEWS, NOW? - It's been more than two decades since it first took a shot at the 24-hour cable news business, but ABC apparently hasn't given up on the idea. Twenty-one years after it scrapped its ill-fated Satellite News Channel venture with Westinghouse's Group W unit (now ironically part of CBS), ABC is quietly rolling out a 24-hour cable news service, according to BusinessWeek.

ALL THE NEWS FIT TO DISCOUNT - Of all the media planning issues circulating around print departments these days, none seem to loom so large as, well, circulation. It's not that there hasn't always been a great deal of discussion, debate, finger-pointing, interpretation, and obfuscation surrounding print circulation reports.

EXTRA, EXTRA, TERRESTRIALS, READ ALL ABOUT IT - We were scrolling through the pages of NewScientist.com when it dawned on us that the rapid growth of cable and satellite TV isn't simply an issue for advertisers, agencies and consumers on this planet, but could very well be a big deal for those residing in other parts of the universe too.

POWER TO THE 'PEOPLE' (SOME PEOPLE, ANYWAY) -- Okay, we get it. People come first. That's the theme of MediaCom's new marketing pitch: "People First, Better Results." But it seems some people come in more first than others.

RIGHT BACK WHERE THE RIFF WANTS TO BE -- Phew! When the Riff was away on an uncharacteristic vacation last week, we worried that we'd miss a lot of important news and some industry-altering developments. But as it turns out, not much appears to have changed.

NORTHERN DISCLOSURE--Canada's decision to begin using portable people meters as the official TV and radio currency for two of its largest markets - Quebec and Montreal - this fall has been lauded by a number of important people South of it's borders, including a couple of U.S.