In the Loop

Look for Sens. Joe Lieberman (pictured) and Sam Brownback to make news Wednesday at a Washington panel on the effects of media on children. The two, who have teamed before on legislation targeting the media's marketing of violence to children, are expected to announce legislation to set aside federal funds for a child-development study on the "consequences and use of a range of media." The forum's sponsor, Children's Digital Media Center, says it expects the pair to back bucks for research by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Neither Lieberman's nor Brownback's office would comment.

It is unclear whether Lieberman, who is a contender for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination, plans to make media's impact on children a campaign issue, but it has been a concern of his since well before his run in 2000.—J.E.

Warner Bros. and NBC sports have signed a cross-promotion deal that gives NBC rights to the TV debut of Warner Bros.' 21/2-minute trailer for Matrix Reloaded, the R-rated sequel to the Keanu Reeves hit film. The trailer for the action film will air in its entirety during the half-time break from the action of Arena Football League coverage April 13. It will air simultaneously in the three AFL stadiums hosting NBC games: Los Angeles, Indiana and Colorado. It's the kind of footage that the entertainment magazines drool over, and they'll get snippets this week. NBC's syndicated Access Hollywood is expected to get first dibs on the trailer snippets. But the network will be the first outlet to air the trailer in its entirety. The target demo (young men) is the same for the film and football. Both companies will promote the upcoming debut of the trailer on their Web sites, and NBC will promote it this week in prime time. Sources say no money is changing hands, just promo time.—S.M.

The Television Bureau of Advertising is expecting an SRO crowd of 1,000 for its second annual marketing conference at New York's Javits Center Tuesday, April 15—one of the preliminaries to the massive New York Auto Show at the convention center. The daylong conference focuses on the closely intertwined fortunes of the auto industry and the TV stations that make up TVB's membership.

With auto sales (hence, auto advertising) sagging, the two businesses should have much to talk about. Putting the national economy in the context of world events will keynote speaker Tim Russert (above) of NBC News. Several major station groups will hold management or sales meetings in conjunction with the TVB conference: Hearst-Argyle, LIN, Post-Newsweek, Raycom, Scripps and Tribune. Plus, the NBC affiliates will gather.—H.A.J.

NBC Enterprises is giving affiliates an extra 30 seconds of ad time to sell in Access Hollywood through April, NBC sources say. Stations are losing money because of the decline in ad sales due to the war in Iraq, so the syndicator added the 30 seconds to the barter time already included in the show to help the stations carrying the show. NBC isn't giving up any revenue because it is taking the time out of production, not from existing ad time. Thanks to the access in Access, some of those spots will be worth even a little more. Stations get more money for ads sold in access than in other dayparts—anywhere from $500 to $10,000 more, depending on the market. Access Hollywood (at right) airs in the pricier daypart in just under half the country.—S.M.