Is This the Best Super Bowl Ad We'll See?

Ad Age's Ken Wheaton goes so far as to say that this print ad is the best Super Bowl ad ever.

Do you agree?

(The company that makes this product, McIlhenny Company, is based in Louisiana.)

OMG: Fox Reportedly Wants Howard Stern as 'Idol' Judge When Simon Leaves

Producers of the most popular series on TV, Fox's "American Idol," have been interested in having controversial shock-jock Howard Stern replace the ascerbic Simon Cowell, according to the New York Post's Page Six.

Cowell leaves the show after this season. He is reportedly making $40 million to $50 million a year.

According to the Page Six story,  a source that was somehow connected to 'Idol' said, "It's one of the few shows that could compete with Stern's $100 million-a-year Sirius contract, and 'Idol' bosses think he'd be even nastier than Simon. They know he would be great TV and would clash with the other judges such as Ellen DeGeneres and the contestants. 'Idol' will do what it takes to sign him."

The article then quotes a second source who said the talks about Stern possibly joining 'Idol' were intended as a ploy to pressure Sirius XM Radio to re-up with Stern. Stern's current contract expires next January.

Finally, the article quotes Stern as recently saying on his radio show, ""I was approached by a major TV network to take over a TV show and leave here and do that next year -- and I did turn it down . . . I'm not even sure if I want to be working. I'm waiting to see what happens."

The article said Fox declined to comment about the story when asked to by a Page Six reporter.

--Chuck Ross

Sparks Fly as Sen. Al Franken Grills Comcast, NBCU Execs

Former NBC star Al Franken, now a Democratic Senator from Minnesota, put Comcast Chairman Brian Roberts and NBC Universal President Jeff Zucker through a grilling during a Senate hearing on Comcast’s proposed takeover of NBCU, B&C reports.

With his aggressive questioning, Franken—a former writer and performer on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live”--made it clear he didn’t think the merger was a good idea, suggesting that any promises the companies made about serving the public interest couldn’t be trusted.

For example, according to the report, "Franken argued that while NBC said back in the early 1990's that allowing networks to own a financial stake in prime time would not edge out independent programmers, that had been the result. Zucker countered that of 18 new pilots, seven, or 39% were not affiliated with NBC, which he said was a large percentage. Which means 60% are, Franken countered."

And Franken intimated Roberts might have misled him in a meeting they had to discuss the merger; Roberts replied that it had been a misunderstanding.

C-SPAN covered the hearing, and if you click here you can watch it. It's about two hours long. If you're interested in the fireworks between Franken, Roberts and Zucker, that starts at about the 1:20 mark.

At an earlier House subcommittee hearing, Roberts and Zucker talked up the deal’s benefits, arguing that a larger company could be more innovative, and would continue to protect its competitors’ access to programming and distribution. Roberts also reiterated that there are no plans to move NBC and Telemundo off broadcast to cable.

--Elizabeth Jensen and Chuck Ross

Sinclair Adding Digital Music Network

Sinclair Television Group is picking up TheCoolTV, a music network, to air on its digital multicast channels in 34 markets reaching 24 million homes, B&C reports.

The new network, which airs live concerts and videos, incorporates a local element in its content with local partnerships. No start date was given.

--Elizabeth Jensen

Report: Tiger Woods Might Return to Golf in a Few Weeks; If So It Could Be Windfall for NBC, Golf Channel

An Australian newspaper, the Herald Sun, is reporting that Tiger Woods' return to golf may be as soon as later this month to play in the Accenture Match Play Championship in Tucson, Ariz. The paper only quotes as its sources of this information "strengthening whispers."

Reacting to the story, the Arizona Daily Star quotes Wade Dunagan, executive director of the Match Play event, as saying: "We don't know anything officially yet, but wouldn't that be nice? It would mean we'd get Tiger on his return two years in a row. Very cool."

Dunagan is referring to the fact that Woods chose the Match Play event last year as his first golf tournament after he had been out for a number of months due to surgery.

If Woods does indeed make his return in the tournament, it would most likely be a ratings windfall for both Comcast's Golf Channel and NBC. The Golf Channel has exclusive coverage of  the tournament on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, Feb. 17-19, and then splits coverage of the event on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 20 and 21, with NBC.

One of the ironies of Woods' picking the Accenture sponsored tournament as his first one since the Woods sex scandal broke would be that Accenture is one of the companies that dropped Woods as an endorser.

Woods has a long history with the Match Play tourney. It was Woods' idea to move the tournament to the Jack Nicklaus-designed course at the Ritz Carlton Dove Mountain Golf Club in Tucson after a few years of bad weather during the tourney at its old home at the La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif., according to the official website of the tournament.

--Chuck Ross

Comcast Turns to Ex-NBCU Executive for Merger Advice

Comcast has met several times with a former top NBC Universal executive for advice on which executives to keep when its takeover of NBCU is completed, the New York Post reports.

Randy Falco, who spent 31 years at NBC before becoming CEO of AOL, has been helping Comcast in an unpaid capacity so the company will be able to move quickly once the merger gets regulatory approval.

The Post’s sources said Falco’s role could possibly evolve into an executive position once the deal is done. Neither side commented.

--Elizabeth Jensen

Disney/ABC’s Pedowitz Leaving After Nearly Two Decades

Mark Pedowitz, a veteran executive at ABC and parent Disney, is leaving the company after 19 years, reports The Hollywood Reporter.

Pedowitz started at ABC in 1991 as senior VP of business affairs, rising through the ranks to head up ABC Studios. For the last year he has been a senior adviser to Anne Sweeney, who is co-chair of Disney-Media Networks.

He’ll set up a first-look deal at Warner Bros. TV.

--Elizabeth Jensen

Sports Could Hang Up Comcast-NBCU Approval

Sports programing could end up being the the major bone of contention between Comcast, NBC Universal and critics of the merged companies as regulators assess the joint venture's impact on consumers, Reuters reports.

The news service quoted American Cable Association President Matthew Polka as saying smaller cable companies fear that Comcast, the country's largest cable operator, will raise fees for its sports channels.

The ACA does not oppose the deal, but is seeking to protect its members, which include cable companies operating in small and rural markets -- and wants them pay the same carriage fees for Comcast-owned channels as Comcast would.

Comcast, which declined to comment for the Reuters story, owns the sports channel Versus and the Golf Channel. NBC has NBC Sports and a number of sports properties, from professional football to the Olympics.

--Tom Gilbert

In the Last Decade Steve Jobs and Apple Have Produced Some of the Most Popular Consumer Products on the Planet: Here's Jobs' Latest Assessment of Apple TV

There's no question that some of the most popular consumer electronic products in the last decade have been introduced by Apple. Three years ago Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the Apple TV set-top box. Ars Technica reports Jobs' latest thoughts about Apple TV:

"In 2007, Jobs told the company that he hoped the Apple TV would be as big as the Mac, iPod, and iPhone, but that it was still in experimental stages. That remains to be the case, it seems, despite numerous efforts by Apple to make it attractive to both users and content providers."

According to the article, in a Town Hall meeting with Apple employees last week "an employee asked during the meeting if Apple's stance on the device had changed. Jobs confirmed what most of those who own Apple TVs had feared: no, it's still a hobby."

Says Ars Technica, "The overall movie selection on iTunes continues to float somewhere between "mediocre" and "decent," and there's still an obnoxious release window between the time when you can buy a new movie and rent it. Sure, this is a downfall of the iTunes Store itself, but the Apple TV is the living room extension of the iTunes Store. If the iTunes Store isn't compelling, neither is the Apple TV. "

--Chuck Ross

NBC Affiliates Want Conditions on Comcast-NBCU Merger

NBC affiliates are asking that a combined Comcast-NBC Universal be prohibited from forcing its affiliates to "accept unfavorable affiliation agreement provisions to obtain market-based retransmission consent payments,” B&C reports.

The language was taken from prepared testimony of NBC affiliate board chair Michael Fiorile being readied for Thursday’s House hearing on the deal.

His testimony doesn’t suggest that the NBC affiliates think that the combined company has plans to influence retransmission consent negotiations, just that they want safeguards to make sure it won’t.

Furthermore, according to Reuters, "Affiliates' concerns focus on whether Comcast will have the incentive to invest in and offer the best shows -- such as '30 Rock' -- to NBC affiliates and whether they would be offered to cable stations or streaming video sites."



--Elizabeth Jensen and Chuck Ross