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TNS Aims to Take Bite Out of Nielsen (WSJ)
In the latest and most significant effort yet to challenge Nielsen's dominance in the TV measurement business, TNS Media Research will use set-top box data from 100,000 DirecTV households around the country to mine new information about television viewing patterns.

New York Times Co. December Revenue Down Sharply (AP)
New York Times Co. said Thursday that revenue from continuing operations slid 22.4 percent in December, hurt primarily by one less week in the period. Excluding the extra week in 2006, revenue from continuing operations fell 8.2 percent.

As Downturn Looms, Google Looks Recession-Proof (Wired)
As the U.S. economy edges toward a possible recession, one company looks particularly well-positioned to weather the downturn. According to some experts, Google's focus on highly targeted, measurable advertising makes it more recession-proof than many other businesses in tech.

Cop-Punching Philly Ex-Anchor Offered WWE Job? (HuffPo/Philly.com)
Earlier this month, Alycia Lane was fired from her position as an anchor at Philadelphia's CBS-3 TV station. Now, her boyfriend (Philadelphia DJ Chris Booker) reports that she has been offered a new job: an on-camera job with Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

Showtime, Brightcove to Take Emmy Awards Screening Online (B&C)
Showtime is ditching the boatloads of DVD screeners it usually sends out to Emmy Awards voters in favor of streamed episodes online. The network is pairing with Internet-TV company Brightcove to give members of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences access to 82 original episodes of series online, rather than sending out the some 20 DVDs it has in the past.

'Voice of Bart Simpson' Ponies Up $10 Million for Scientology (Pagesix.com)
Longtime Scientologist Nancy Cartwright — best known as the voice of Bart Simpson — last year gave the church $10 million to help spread the word of founder L. Ron Hubbard into other galaxies. It was all part of Scientology's Global Salvage effort, which aims to "de-aberrate" Earth — meaning to rid mankind of psychology ills and other "aberrant" behavior.

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