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Americans Spend 8 1/2 Hours Per Day Consuming Media (NYT)
In the Census Bureau's 2007 Statistical Abstract of the United States, one statistic finds that Americans spent more of their lives than ever this year — about eight-and-a-half hours a day — watching television, using computers, listening to the radio, going to the movies or reading.

CBS Records Revived for TV-Music Venture (WSJ)
Reviving one of the most famous names in the music business — one that hasn't been seen in nearly 20 years — CBS Corp. said it is launching a division called CBS Records. But the new venture has more to do with saving money on television production than becoming a music giant. LAT: In contrast to the lavish excesses of the music business of the 1970s and 1980s, the new incarnation of CBS Records, to be unveiled today, will start out small.

Oprah Sells 2 Reality Shows to ABC (Variety)
The queen of daytime is headed for primetime. Oprah Winfrey has sold a pair of reality skeins to ABC via her Harpo Prods. banner. Despite her involvement in everything from magazine publishing to satellite radio, projects rep the first time Winfrey has attached her name to a weekly primetime series.

Tony Snow Apologizes to NBC Reporter Gregory for 'Partisan' Comment (NY Sun)
The White House press secretary apologized yesterday to the NBC News correspondent whom he faulted last week for posing "partisan" questions at a briefing for journalists. "I've thought a lot about that, and I was wrong," Snow told Gregory before answering one of the journalist's questions at yesterday's White House briefing.

Glam Media Gets $18.5 Million, a CNET Chairman, and a Deal With Hearst (TechCrunch)
Glam Media, a fashion and lifestyle Web site, had a trifecta of news yesterday. It has received $18 million in Series C funding, CNET chairman Jarl Mohn is joining the company as an investor and strategic adviser, and there is a new partnership with Hearst Magazines to bring articles from their popular magazines, starting with Marie Claire, to Glam.com.

French Tickled With NBC, Vivendi Holds Onto Stake (NYP)
French conglomerate Vivendi is hanging on to its 20 percent stake in NBC Universal for now, an apparent vote of confidence in NBC TV chief Jeff Zucker's ability to lift the Peacock network from the bottom of the ratings heap. Vivendi told NBC parent General Electric that it decided not to exercise its right next month to sell $3 billion worth of its NBC stake.

TV: Under the Spotlight, Losing Its Religion (LAT)
Are TV networks tuning out religion? A study released yesterday by the Parents Television Council, a frequent critic of the TV industry over such issues as broadcast indecency, found that prime-time shows in the last year dealt with religion half as much as the year before. When they did, the group said, religion was cast in negative light more than one-third of the time.

Primedia Ready to Sell Channel One? (AdAge)
The future of the in-school TV network that launched the career of CNN's Anderson Cooper is hanging in the balance. According to executives familiar with Primedia, the company has been quietly talking to prospective partners, including Walt Disney Co., about a possible sale.

Minority Journalists Group Not Satisfied With Rosie's Apology for Mocking Chinese (AP)
Rosie O'Donnell says she's sorry for mocking spoken Chinese, but a minority journalists group says it wasn't enough. O'Donnell recently joked about how a Danny DeVito appearance on The View had become international news. "You know, you can imagine in China it's like "ching chong, ching chong chong, Danny DeVito, ching chong chong chong, drunk, "The View," ching chong,'" she said.

Did MySpace Really Beat Yahoo in November? (BusinessWeek)
On the Web, the competition for most popular site can be as intense as the race for the pennant. So news that up-and-comer MySpace.com beat incumbent Yahoo! for most monthly page views for the first time in November understandably grabbed headlines. But while the News Corp.-owned site was #1 on comScore, Yahoo still led according to Nielsen//NetRatings.

China Getting a Handle on Media Ahead of '08 Olympics (WSJ)
China has signaled it will try some new approaches to controlling and disseminating information when it is in the Olympic spotlight. "If some really negative events happen at the Olympics that are reported by the foreign media ... we might follow," says an editor at a major Chinese newspaper. "We will have to watch the reaction from inside the country. If no ban comes out, we might follow."

TVNewser's Stelter is Online Journalist of the Year (Marketwatch)
Jon Friedman: Brian Stelter, the founder and leader of TVNewser.com, is a star in the blogosphere. In the television news industry, Stelter is often a first read for people who want to know what and how their colleagues and competitors are doing at that minute. Because TVNewser has had so much impact, Stelter is Media Web's Online Journalist of the Year.

Moguls Drawn to Newspapers 'Like Moths to a Flame' (BusinessWeek)
Jon Fine: You can't plausibly claim that newspapers don't need well-heeled outsiders or that their top managers have been doing just fine. But there is at least one key reason why outsiders should think twice about coming in to shake things up. The value of a newspaper won't increase as financial indicators tank. And the pool of greater fools is drying up.

Top Mistakes Made by New Online Publishers (OJR)
Robert Niles: In the spirit of holiday giving, we present the top mistakes made by people who are pessimistic about the Web. If you are worried about your future in the print or broadcast news industry, don't be afraid to envision a future publishing online. Just beware of the traps that have snared many who have gone before you.

Perez Hilton's Gay Witch Hunt (Salon)
Japhy Grant: Perez claims his blog is a public service, a check on Hollywood's excess and decadence, and not simply a vehicle to boost his own public image, career and bank account. This is what separates Perez from the rest of the tabloid pack. Spreading gossip is just your average pedestrian variety of immorality. Claiming that you're doing it to further civil rights is an outright sham.

What Happened to the Big Network Shows? (USAT)
Robert Bianco: You don't have to be prone to holiday nostalgia to find yourself wondering why there seems to be no modern substitute for the Cosby Show, M*A*S*H, Ed Sullivan, Roots, or Gunsmoke. Getting the TV industry to shift its production patterns isn't easy.

Why Food Writers Are Obsessed With Pigs (Slate)
Sara Dickerman: Over the past year or so, I have noticed the development of what I call the piggy confessional. Why does swine seem to carry more weight among food writers than cows or chickens? Why, for that matter, are there so many symbolic pigs in fiction, particularly message-heavy children's and young-adult literature?