News Brief

Variety: The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) has picked journalist Sam Donaldson, ALL MY CHILDREN star Susan Lucci and singer Maureen McGovern to receive its 2008 Media and Entertainment Excellence awards.

Buzzworthy Radio: AUDIO: Interview with THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL star Daniel McVicar.

New York Observer: Today at 3 p.m. in New York: Striking television writers take part in a "Pencils" Press Conference at United Federation of Teachers headquarters.

Broadcast Newsroom: Hallmark Channel, the nation's leading family-friendly programmer, and Limbo, the world's largest mobile entertainment community, announced that they have teamed up to create and launch the cable network's first-ever mobile interactive initiative on January 17. The campaign will extend and enhance the viewer's experience for the premiere of the network's original movie "The Good Witch," on Saturday, January 19, starring Chris Potter (ex-Evan, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS and ex-David, QUEER AS FOLK).

Arabian Business: Live chat with THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL star Ron Moss!

Contact Music: THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL actress Natasha Alam ALAM was left stunned after discovering she was a real-life princess. The Uzbekistan-born star of B&B learned her ex-husband Amir Ebrahim Pahlavi Alam has a direct link to Persian royalty years after they wed in 1998. The actress reveals she was unaware that her grandfather-in-law was the Shah of Iran when she married. She has since rejected a life of aristocracy after divorcing Alam in 2004. She tells Maxim magazine, "My ex-husband's family members were royalty in Iran, and they fled during the revolution. They didn't speak about it much. "We got married, and I started getting all these party invitations from the royal family of Great Britain. And I found out that I am a princess. "I couldn't believe it. But I found the good life ridiculous, unless you use it to help other people."

Digital Spy: Some of the HOLLYOAKS female cast members will be hijacking the Big Brother house in the near future, it has been revealed. Other celebrities planning to have a turn at taking over the housemates' lives for a day include US comedienne Roseanne Barr, of ROSEANNE fame, and Jimmy Carr.

Theater Mania: "The 39 Steps" review: Ferrin -- a former Daytime Emmy nominee for her work on AS THE WORLD TURNS -- has been styled as an almost perfect reincarnation of Madeleine Carroll, who played Pamela. More importantly, she so deftly distinguishes all three of her characters, you might not realize they're being played by the same actress.

Entertainment Weekly: Brad Renfro, the former child actor who starred in movies like The Client, Sleepers, and Apt Pupil, was found dead at a Los Angeles apartment on Tuesday. No cause of death has been announced, but the 25-year-old Tennessee native had struggled with substance abuse problems in recent years, including an arrest for heroin possession in 2005. He recently finished filming the upcoming movie The Informers with Brandon Routh (ex-Seth, ONE LIFE TO LIVE).

Guardian Unlimited: In the second week of the battle between EMMERDALE and EASTENDERS, the ITV1 rural soap won overall with 7.4 million and a 33% share over an hour from 7pm compared with 7.1 million and a 31% share for the BBC1 show over 30 minutes from 7.30pm.