More than 111 million people donated their eyeballs to Super Bowl XLV on Sunday night making it the most-watched program in TV history, says the Hollywood Reporter. What would be interesting would be to cross reference that number with the Ruffles people and see how many bags of chips that translates to. THERE'S a statistic. According to Nielsen Media Research FOX became the first network ever to exceed 100 million viewers for a night in prime time, and it's the fourth consecutive Super Bowl to set a viewership record. more ›

Per today's earlier announcement, the 83rd Annual Academy Awards promises to be a borefest with Anne Hathaway and James Franco as co-hosts. Were all the comedians on the planet already booked for that night? We're boycotting Barbara Walters' "The 10 Most Fascinating People" for the horrible collection of people she's lined up for the show. With the exception of Betty White, this is a criminally uninteresting pack that includes Sarah Palin for the third consecutive year. more ›

The contract between Disney-owned TV networks ABC and ESPN and cable provider Time Warner Cable is set to expire in some markets, including Los Angeles, on September 2nd. What that means is that negotiations are underway, but with the public pulled in. more ›

As suspected last month, Nielsen has sold eight brands, including the Hollywood Reporter, Billboard, Adweek, Brandweek, Mediaweek and Backstage magazines, to a new company formed by James Finkelstein, owner of the “Who’s Who” publications and Washington, D.C.-based trade, The Hill, according to The Wrap. Not included in the deal are Editor & Publisher and Kirkus Reviews, which Nielsen will fold. more ›

Did you make the mistake, like us, of watching the original "V: The Final Battle" on Syfy last weekend? We can't believe that series was such a big deal when we were kids but here's good news, the remake of the series that airs tonight at 8pm on ABC takes the premise and completely owns it in a very slick and well done (at least for the part of the pilot that we've seen) rendition. We'll be watching and not remotely comparing. more ›

Last night late night rehash: Larry David on Conan was great - why don't we see more of him doing this?! Michelle Pfeiffer seemed a little uptight on Letterman - she should feel a little more secure about her undeniable beauty. Was Gavin Rossdale about to do the slip and slide on Conan lat night? He looked completely lost without a guitar, it was painful. more ›

If you watched, you are one of the 33.5 million U.S. viewers that did so last night. The infomercial was simulcasted on CBS, FOX, NBC, Univision, BET, MSNBC, and TV One and drew 3 million more viewers to the tubes than on an average Wednesday night at the 8:00 p.m. hour, according to Nielsen who noted that "in comparison, the final debate between the two presidential candidates drew 56.5 million U.S. viewers on October 15. The candidates’ first debate on September 26 drew 52.4 million viewers; their second debate, on October 7, drew 63.2 million viewers." more ›

Did you watch last night's debates? If you did, you were one of the minority. Kevin Roderick at LA Observed reports: "Nielsen says that last night's Biden-Palin debate drew a much larger television audience — 45% of households in the 55 biggest metered metro areas — than the earlier McCain-Obama debate. But the ratings in Los Angeles were dead last at 34%." more ›

Looks like big media service companies aren't immune to the temptation of outsourcing their workforce - the most recent case is the media metrics leader, Nielsen Co. After taking millions of dollars in tax breaks for promising jobs at a Florida data center, Nielsen has outsourced the positions to an Indian-based offshore provider - makes one respect the numbers Nielsen spews out even less. more ›

We're coming down to a bit over 3 weeks to go before a SAG strike as the guild resumes talks with producers today. The guild has yet to vote for a strike and sources say that even though fellow actors' guild AFTRA signed a contract last month, SAG is unlikely to rubberstamp a copy of that contract for their members. more ›

It's been going on all day as it is: election coverage. Obviously you have your choice to get this news all night: CBS, ABC, PBS, CNN, MSNBC, and probably the best news source, Comedy Central. For all other decent viewing options see below. more ›