News Round-up

Katie Cassidy joins new MELROSE cast
Katie Cassidy, the daughter of David Cassidy, is the first female resident moving into the CW's new MELROSE PLACE. Cassidy will play the sexy and stylish Ella Flynn, an up-and-coming publicist with a big career ahead of her. She joins Michael Rady, who was cast as aspiring filmmaker Jonah Miller.

INTERVIEW: Y&R's Nia Peeples (Karen)
Peeples was a guest on "Brandon's Buzz" earlier today.

Univision cuts 300 staffers
The faltering economy has taken its toll at Univision, which has cut approximately 300 employees. The reduction represents about 7% or so of the company's 4,000-members staff, with the pink slips being issued to workers across its various holdings.

Second season of MOVING WALLPAPER is here
The second season of MOVING WALLPAPER (ITV1, Fridays) is again set in the production office of a soap opera – one that has just flopped. This is no imagined flop; in the first season, MOVING WALLPAPER was followed by the said soap opera (ECHO BEACH) “written” by its scriptwriting team, and really too limp to continue. Now Jonathan Pope, the producer, needs a new series or else his ruthless boss, an implacable enemy, will fire him. Ripping a treatment from a writer who has died of a heart attack in his toilet, he saves his job – at the cost of making a soap based on zombies.

Report: Ratings Picture Not Pretty
Viewers may be consuming more content overall, but live ratings and the commercial ratings that form the currency of the business continue to fall at the broadcast networks. Live viewing at CBS, Fox, NBC, My Network TV and The CW was down 7-10% through mid-January, while C3 numbers were down 5-8%, according to a report from Los Angeles based ad agency RPA.

Rock the Soap: Karaoke Challenge
SOAPnet.com has suggestions for what the actors on the Rock the Soap Cruise can sing during the karaoke event. Suggestions include Stevie Nicks' "Leather and Lace" for Van Hansis and Jake Silbermann, and MC Hammer's "U Can't Touch This" for Kimberly McCullough.