Britney Scores Big For MTV: MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer December 2, 2008

Britney Spears documentary "Britney: For the Record" drew big ratings for MTV. The tell-all doc took in more than 3.7 million viewers in its debut, which is on par with MTV's biggest events like the "Video Music Awards."

The NAD, the self regulating body of the advertising industry, recommended that Verizon drop advertised claims regarding FiOS, which they deem to be false. Verizon claims that FiOS is faster, has a higher picture quality, better color and is much brighter than the competition. The NAD recommends that Verizon stop using false claims such as the "brightness", a feature controlled by the settings on your television not your cable provider.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is determined to push for a pornography free, free wireless Internet for the entire country. While Martin has backed the plan for a while, the current FCC plans on voting on the matter once again before their term is up in January. Insiders believe that the FCC will vote on the matter before Christmas.

Huffington Post secured $25 million in funding from Palo Alto based venture group Oak Investment Partners. The multi-million dollar infusion comes on the heels of the Newspaper Association of America reporting a record 18% decline in revenue, with online ad revenue falling for the second quarter in a row. In reaction, a partner at Oak noted that "the news media business needs to be reassembled online around an ad-supported model and the timetable for this has been accelerated, not slowed, by this economic down cycle."

Plus, today's consulting question, "Why is Time Warner asking shareholders to vote for a reverse stock split?" Shelly has the answer on today's MediaBytes.

Shelly Palmer is a consultant and the host of MediaBytes a daily show featuring news you can use about technology, media & entertainment. He is Managing Director of Advanced Media Ventures Group LLC and the author of Television Disrupted: The Transition from Network to Networked TV (2008, York House Press). Shelly is also President of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, NY (the organization that bestows the coveted Emmy® Awards). You can join the MediaBytes mailing list here. Shelly can be reached at [e-mail]