YouNewsTV Web tool now live in 52 markets
YouNewsTV, a social networking and user-generated video application for local TV and radio station Web sites from Broadcast Interactive Media, is now being used in 52 markets, including San Francisco, Detroit and Seattle. TVNEWSDAY (free registration)

TV networks launch multimedia games to keep viewers buzzing
CBS used a mixed-media puzzle involving online clues and outdoor billboards to stimulate interest in its cerebral detective show “Numb3rs.” The puzzle is just one example of how online and offline marketing combinations are being used in a bid to promote TV shows, capture new audiences and hold current viewers’ interest. Shows like ABC’s “Lost” and “Jericho” on CBS have used similar strategies. The Wall Street Journal

Community Broadcasters complain about DTV-converter program
The Community Broadcasters Association is requesting that the FCC ban any digital-TV converter boxes that don’t have a “pass through” feature to permit reception of analog signals. Many of the low power TV stations represented by the CBA will continue to broadcast analog signals after the switch to all-digital broadcasting in 2009. TVNEWSDAY (free registration)

GM hands keys to $500M in agency billings back to local dealers
Nearly $500 million in creative and media shop billings for General Motors’ regional ad groups could be in play, following the automaker’s decision to allow local dealers to select their own agencies — a system similar to one GM has employed in the past. “It’s a back-to-the-future scenario,” said Brent Dewar, VP-field sales, service and parts for GM in North America. Advertising Age

Study: Most of the public lacks faith in campaign coverage
More than 60% of Americans lack faith in media reports about the 2008 presidential election, according to a study from Harvard University’s Center for Public Leadership at the John F. Kennedy School of Government. The report also found 88% of Americans believe coverage is too focused on minor issues; 84% view news media as being too influential on voters’ picks; and 83% say big business wields too much power over campaign news reports. Broadcast Engineering

Other News

• Conspiracy theorists say NFL Network stands to benefit from Patriots record run
  Bloomberg