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NBC Eyes Fallon to Replace Conan O'Brien (B&C)
According to multiple sources, Fallon is close to a new overall developmental deal with NBC. And one possibility under consideration as part of the agreement could see the network developing Fallon as a 12:30 a.m. replacement if and when incumbent Conan O'Brien replaces Jay Leno on The Tonight Show in 2009.

CBS Reaches Deals With 9 Cable Operators (NYT)
In a move that could have implications for both the broadcast and cable television industries, the CBS Corporation has concluded a series of agreements with cable system operators that would generate a new stream of revenue for the network. NYP: Sources familiar with the matter said CBS will receive as much as 50 cents a subscriber per month, which would add up to $6 million a year.

Local TV Creates First Open Electronic Trading System (Ad Age)
The Television Bureau of Advertising, an industry advocate for local TV, is set to build a multimillion-dollar electronic system to enable media agencies to buy airtime without the need for smudgy faxes and file cabinets full of paper invoices.

Wife of Anna Nicole Judge: He Should Have His Own TV Show (ABC News)
For more than a week, Florida circuit court Judge Larry Seidlin has run the Anna Nicole Smith court hearing with a jarring combination of comic wisecracks, stunningly personal commentary and naked emotion. "People who know him, and people who meet him on the street all say the same thing: 'You should have your own television show,'" Seidlin's wife, Belinda, said. WaPo: You think it's all about Anna Nicole? Tell that to the judge.

Fox Interactive Acquires Technology Ad Company (NYT)
Fox Interactive Media, the unit of News Corporation that operates the Web site MySpace, has acquired the Strategic Data Corporation, an advertising technology company based in Santa Monica, to help increase revenue from the popular social networking site. LAT: The technology will allow MySpace to charge more because its ads will reach a more appropriate audience and users will be more likely to act on the ads they see, said Peter Levinsohn, president of Fox Interactive Media.

Getty to Buy WireImage, in Talks With Jupitermedia (PDN Online)
The top photo agency has sealed a deal to acquire the parent company of WireImage and is in talks to buy a major rival stock agency, Jupiterimages. The two acquisitions — a confirmed $202 million deal to buy MediaVast and a possible $400 million-plus deal to buy Jupitermedia — would consolidate thousands of employees and dozens of brands under one corporate umbrella.

GQ Hopes to Make the 'G' Stand for Generosity (NYT)
The term "very GQ" entered the vernacular long ago, evoking sartorial splendor or stylish behavior. Now, the magazine that inspired the phrase is hoping to redefine it by declaring that you are never fully dressed without a social conscience.

Libby Leak Trial Reveals Flaws in Note-Taking (AP via Guardian)
Your notes aren't as reliable as you think. That's true whether they're scrawled in the margins of a business meeting agenda, scribbled on a patient's chart or carefully recorded from a lecture hall blackboard. And, as the monthlong trial of former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby has shown, they're no more reliable if the notes belong to FBI agents, journalists or White House aides.

Ex-MTVi CEO Launches Snowboarding Video Site (FishbowlNY)
Nicholas Butterworth, former CEO of MTVi who launched a Travel Channel meets YouTube broadband video site last October, has carved out another Web video niche: snowboarding. His NYC-based Diversion Media just announced their second launch, Snowvision, you know, for all those tech-savvy snowboarders.

New Member For NYT Co. Board As Sulzberger's Sister Steps Down (E&P)
The New York Times Co. said late Thursday its board of directors nominated fourth-generation Sulzberger family member Daniel H. Cohen, a former reality TV producer, to the board, replacing Cathy J. Sulzberger, who has chosen not to stand for re-election at the April 24 annual meeting.

Why NBC's Engel Still Wants to Be in Baghdad (Marketwatch)
"This is like no other war I've had to cover," Engel said, the frustration evident in his voice. Reporting in Iraq "requires a whole other skill set. It's much harder because you have to know how to find and confirm information." By contrast, he noted, when a building collapsed in Lebanon, "you could go to see it."

Lewis Lapham's Second Act (NY Sun)
F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote that there are no second acts in American lives, but he never met Lewis Lapham. In September, the silver-haired septuagenarian former editor of Harper's magazine is set to launch Lapham's Quarterly, a journal of history.

Broadcasters Will Thrive on Early Campaign '07 Ads, But It's a Mixed Blessing (BusinessWeek)
Tom Lowry: Bear, Stearns & Co. media analyst Victor Miller figures that by the time the votes are tallied from the presidential and congressional elections 20 months from now, candidates will have poured a record $2.5 billion into TV spots. Great for local broadcasters, right? Yes and no.

BBC News Vows to Air Wider Range of Views (Guardian)
The BBC head of TV news, Peter Horrocks, has pledged to represent a wider range of opinion on air and to "get closer to the audience." Speaking during a debate with Robin Aitken, a former reporter who wrote a book detailing an alleged institutional left-wing liberal bias, Horrocks accepted that in the past a full spectrum of views had not made it to air.

Spanish Anchorman Makes an Ass of Himself ... No, Really (ABC News)
Fernando Sanchez Drago, an anchor with the Madrid-based Telemadrid, donned donkey ears during his nightly news broadcast and apologized for comments made in a newspaper interview. Sanchez Drago was asked about his feelings about Madrid. He responded by saying, "Spaniards are among the dirtiest people on earth and as for Madrid's citizens, there's no need to say any more."