Interaction with Radio Websites Growing

A recent survey of almost 35,000 MediaSpan Network site visitors finds that local radio station website visitors actively accessing their local sites to stream music and download podcasts. Fifty percent of all site visitors across all formats and demos go online at least monthly to stream their favorite station and 11 percent download podcasts.

Talk has the most active downloaders of podcasts. Twenty-four percent of visitors to “Sports Talk” stations go online at least weekly to download podcasts of their favorite programs while “News Talk” falls closely behind with 22 percent.

Jordan Scores Big for 60 Minutes

Michael Jordan’s rare interview on CBS’s 60 Minutes last night propelled the show to a 4.4 Nielsen overnight rating among viewers 18-49, its best showing of the season, MediaLife reports. It was up 42 percent over the show’s season-to-date overnights average.

World Series Ratings Off 30%

The first two games of the World Series on Fox are averaging a 10.3/17 rating, down 30 percent from last year’s first two games which produced a 14.7/25, Mediaweek reports. Still, the games were the highest rated programming in prime time on both nights.

Coke Interactive Account to AKQA

Following a global review, Coca-Cola Co. has awarded lead interactive agency duties to AKQA (which landed creative duties in June for the Coke Zero launch), reports AdAge (via MarketingVox). The agency will lead Coke’s global and local interactive agency roster “in developing long-term creative and technical efficiencies throughout our system,” according to Coke, and help “coordinate different projects on both a global and a local scale.” Among those thought to have bid for the reported $6 million assignment include Avenue A/Razorfish, Digitas’s Modem Media, IMC2, OgilvyOne and R/GA.

Time Warner, NBC Ready Startover Program

Time Warner Cable and NBC Universal Cable have rolled out a plan that will allow Time Warner Cable customers to restart TV shows already in progress, TheStreet.com reports.

Real Simple to Launch Syndicated Column, PBS Show

Time Inc.’s Real Simple will produce a syndicated column available to newspapers through United Feature Syndicate beginning Nov. 1, Mediaweek reports. The monthly will also launch its first television show in January on PBS.

Sex, Love and Secrets Canned

One of the lowest-rated shows on TV, Sex, Love and Secrets, has been cancelled, effective immediately, MediaLife reports. The UPN show featuring Denise Richards was averaging a 0.8 rating in 12-34s and a 0.6 in 18-49s, 45 percent below last year’s Tuesday 9 p.m. timeslot average. Production went on hiatus barely two weeks into its run.

Billboard Company Poisoned Palm Trees, Sworn Statement Claims

Regency Outdoor Advertising, the Southern California billboard company worth an estimated half a billion dollars, has been accused of using bribes to position and maintain certain billboards, the LA Times reports. While co-owners Brian and Drake Kennedy claim no wrongdoing, sworn statements in lawsuits by a former Regency executive and an attorney who represented the firm say that the brothers have paid off politicians and bribed the Caltrans billboard inspector for LA and Orange counties.

Postal Rate Commission: Periodicals Rate Overhaul Not Our Job

The Postal Rate Commission will not get involved in a dispute between the U.S. Postal Service and the five large publishing companies that have asked for a radical revamping of the rate structure for Periodicals, DM News reports.

Meredith Net Income Up 11 Percent in Fiscal Q1

Meredith Corp. announced today that its fiscal first-quarter net income rose 11 percent, BusinessWeek reports. While its broadcasting unit saw reduced political advertising, its magazine division, with its new acquisitions and increased advertising, helped offset those decreases. Acquisitions included Parents, Family Circle, Fitness, Child, and Ser Padres.