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Super Bowl XLIV: Most Watched TV Program Ever (TVNewser)
The 2010 NFL Super Bowl was the most watched television program in American history. Roughly 106.5 million people watched the New Orleans Saints beat the Indianapolis Colts in South Florida Sunday. CBS had the broadcast and aired plenty of promos for CBS programming, including an ad for CBS News that ran during the big game. HuffPo: What are the other top TV telecasts of all time?

No Hope For Newsstand Sales? (FishbowlNY)
According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, newsstand sales for magazines dropped 9.1 percent last year, with overall subscriptions down 2.23 percent. Popular individual titles fell anywhere from 41 percent (W magazine) to 30 percent (Good Housekeeping). Folio: Of ABC's 25 best-selling newsstand magazines, only six saw an increase during the second half of 2009. NYP: While both Time and Newsweek each recorded sharp declines, it was the latter that suffered the most, booking a 41.3 percent plunge in newsstand sales to slightly more than 62,000.

Google Prepares Facebook Assault (FT)
Google is set to make a fresh attempt to gain a stronger foothold in the booming social networking business today. The search company is preparing to announce new features for Gmail that would extend the capabilities of the internet-based email service to mirror some aspects of Facebook.

Figuring Out The New York Times' 'Most Emailed' List (NYT)
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have intensively studied the New York Times list of most-e-mailed articles, checking it every 15 minutes for more than six months, analyzing the content of thousands of articles and controlling for factors like the placement in the paper or on the Web home page. The results are surprising.

New Instances of Plagiarism by Daily Beast's Posner Found (Slate)
Jack Shafer: Last week, Daily Beast reporter Gerald Posner admitted he plagiarized from the Miami Herald. We have uncovered additional examples of plagiarism by Posner in the Daily Beast from the Texas Lawyer, a Miami Herald blog, a Miami Herald editorial, a Miami Herald article, and a health care journalism blog.

Do-It-Yourself Super Ads (NYT)
Among those Super Bowl commercials consistently deemed most effective, memorable and talked-about, many were created or suggested by consumers -- or produced internally by the sponsors -- rather than the work of agency professionals. That should give the modern-day "Mad Men" pause. Bloomberg BusinessWeek: Why do consumer companies spend millions on Super Bowl ads that ignore or insult the over-50 audience that buys the most products? PRNewser: Super Bowl PR winners and losers.

Publishers Win a Bout in E-Book Price Fight (NYT)
Could book publishers suddenly be in the position of telling Google what to do? With the impending arrival of digital books on the Apple iPad and feverish negotiations with Amazon.com over e-book prices, publishers have managed to take some control -- at least temporarily -- of how much consumers pay for their content.

Toyota Dealers Pull ABC TV Ads; Anger Over 'Excessive Stories' (ABC News)
Toyota dealers in five southeast states have pulled their commercials off ABC TV local affiliates, complaining about the coverage of Toyota safety problems by ABC News and its chief investigative correspondent Brian Ross. NYTPicker: NYT regularly repeating Toyota scoops first published in LAT and elsewhere without credit?

Hugh Hefner Sued By Playboy Shareholder (TMZ)
A class action lawsuit filed by a Playboy shareholder claims the company is falling apart and Hugh has intentionally sabotaged two potential deals in the last 6 months to sell the company at a decent price. The suit laments, "Today, the price of a Playboy magazine is far higher than the price of Playboy common stock."

How Demand Media Is Infiltrating Major Publishers (Silicon Alley Insider)
Steven Kydd, the executive vice president in charge of Demand Studios, said there are several major publishers experimenting with Demand Media. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's travel section and Yahoo! use some of Demand's content. And Hearst has experimented with offering Demand Media content on RealBeauty.com.

Leno Exits 10pm Slot Tonight -- With Little Fanfare (Variety)
NBC is keeping tonight's The Jay Leno Show finale extra low-key. The host is also expected to mention his Tonight Show return on March 1. But beyond that, the pomp and circumstance will be nil. That's intentional, as NBC is trying to rehab the images of both Leno and The Tonight Show.

Brian Williams: NBC News Thrives Despite Network's Troubles (CP)
Forget Jay Leno. Maybe NBC should have considered Brian Williams for a prime-time job. The week before last, Williams' Nightly News was seen by an average of 10.1 million viewers each evening. Not only was that more than Leno, it beat every other program NBC showed in prime time all week.

MTV No Longer About 'Music' (The Wrap)
MTV changed its logo for the first time in roughly 30 years on Monday. It was a minor change with major symbolism. The network -- known more for its scripted reality show programming these days than music videos -- dropped the "Music Television" tagline from the Frank Olinsky-designed original.

Online Video One Step Closer to TV-Sized Ad Loads (AdAge)
Shows that run online have thus far had significantly fewer ads than shows that run on the boob tube. But that could soon change. Starting this fall, Nielsen intends to start making available data that take into account viewing of commercials that run in a particular show, no matter whether they are seen online or on TV.

Survey: Clutter Causing TV Ads to Lack Effectiveness (Mediaweek)
According to a joint Association of National Advertisers and Forrester Research survey of more than 100 national advertisers, 62 percent of respondents think TV ads have become less effective in the past two years. The main culprit cited by respondents was clutter, with 69 percent saying they would like fewer commercials per pod.