entertainment - "television"

American Idol 7's top 10 performed last night and Dancing with the Stars 6 eliminated two celebrities, but viewers were more uninterested than ever before.Compared to the top 12 performance episode, which was watched by 29.9 million, American Idol's performance episode was watched by 24.4 million viewers. That loss of five and a half million viewers represents 'a season-low,' according to The Hollywood Reporter. Of course, it still won the night.Dancing with the Stars 6, which had its first half-hour overlapped by Idol, had 'the series' lowest return since 2006, excluding specials,' according to the paper. Overall, 17.2 million watched. That's a loss of almost four million viewers from the first episode, which was watched by 20.9 million.The Hollywood Reporter calls this 'a rough night' for the two series, which remain television's number one and number two shows, even if their viewership is declining.'American Idol' wins night, but declines [Hollywood Reporter]>> read the latest

THE war between free-to-air and subscription television is heating up on several fronts, particularly sport and multichannelling.

SPORTING groups claim the cost of participating in grassroots sport will rise if proposed laws to limit alcohol advertising on television and radio are passed.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Ellen DeGeneres has topped rival Oprah Winfrey in a popularity poll of television hosts -- while veteran Larry King was labeled the least sexy.

THE LOCAL CHAPTER of the American Federation of television and Radio Artists is trying to get Alycia Lane her CBS 3 anchoring job back. AFTRA filed a grievance over her January firing, charging that she had not been terminated properly by the station, says AFTRA counsel Jonathan Walters.

TV News: French network buys 400 eps from Telepool -- Munich-based licensing company Telepool has sold 400 episodes of the RTL television hit soap 'What Really Matters' to French broadcasting group M6 in the run-up to this year's Mip TV programming mart in Cannes.

TV News: 'Sopranos' creator wins Laurel Award -- 'The Sopranos' creator David Chase will receive the Writers Guild of America West's Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for television, honoring lifetime achievement for outstanding writing.

An Indian couple is trying to prove that a boy they saw on television in London is their kidnapped son, who they have not seen in three years,...

CBS News, which lags well behind its competitors in most areas of television news, wants a debate between Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton in the worst way.