News Round-up

Digital TV switch still set for Feb. 17
The House has defeated a bill to postpone the upcoming transition from analog to digital television broadcasting by four months to June 12.

House Republicans succeeded in scuttling a bill to delay the transition, which is scheduled for Feb. 17, less than two days after the Senate unanimously passed the plan.

Drugs Are Bad, MMMkay?
Sara A. Bibel blogs: "New soap rule: no more storylines involving teen drug use. ONE LIFE TO LIVE's exploration of Llanview High’s stoner scene is already embarrassing."

Rogers: TV ad biz faces meltdown
The TV advertising marketplace is facing a meltdown in the next few years that will be far more destructive than the wallop the biz is enduring in the present financial crisis and recession. That was the bold wakeup call that TiVo prexy Tom Rogers delivered to a half-empty ballroom on Wednesday morning during the keynote sesh at the NATPE confab.

Stephanie Beacham pens autobiography
Stephanie Beacham, who starred on THE COLBYS in the 1980s, is writing her autobiography, which no doubt will include some behind-the-scenes gossip from her short stint on CORONATION STREET.

Jossip: Nielsen's Latest Screw Up Hurts the Little Guys
Since October 2007, Nielsen has been inflating the ad spends at about 20 local TV stations. That's because they've been understating household coverage estimates, and overstating the coverage area of those stations, illegitimately awarding them more viewers than they actually had.

The error-plagued ratings company won't say which networks were affected – we wouldn't want angry advertisers to know exactly who to call – but they're blaming it on "the methods it has used to calculate their coverage on satellite TV operators DirecTV and EchoStar, and that the problem was limited to the 26% of U.S. TV households that receive TV via the DBS provide."

Trouble at NBC?
Nikki Finke reports: "I'm told about angst between Angela Bromstad, the new president of primetime for NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios, and her boss Ben Silverman. 'Angela and Ben are barely talking already. They're respectful, but barely speaking.'"

Kate Linder's December break
During her December break, Kate Linder (Esther, Y&R) took advantage of her other job — she’s a flight attendant for United Airlines — and agreed to work on a plane bound for Melbourne, Australia. "I've never been to Melbourne before, so I thought it would be fun to go," she explained to Soap Opera Digest. "But it was for only two days!" My husband, Ron, thought I was crazy.

INTERVIEW: GENERAL HOSPITAL's Jason Thompson
Thompson appeared on Tuesday's episode of "ManTalk with Bill & Brent" on Blogtalk Radio. Former Y&R actress Deanna Russo also guested on the episode.

Win tickets for the "Rock the Soap" cruise
BonnieHunt.com has a contest which starts today.