Fast Track

Warner Bros.' rookie sensation The Ellen DeGeneres Show leads all talk shows with 12 Daytime Emmy nominations, including nods for Outstanding Talk Show and Outstanding Talk Show Host. (If you're wondering, King World's Oprah Winfrey Show no longer enters these categories after dominating the Daytime Emmys for years.)

CBS led the nominations with 53, powered largely by its daytime dramas. Out of the five daytime dramas nominated for outstanding series, CBS had four: As the World Turns, The Bold and the Beautiful, Guiding Light, and The Young and the Restless. ABC was close behind with 50 nods. Only one ABC soap got a best-series tap: veteran General Hospital.

The embattled Martha Stewart got some good news from Emmy. King World's Martha Stewart Living was nominated as best service show and best host of a service show. Do you think she celebrated?

NBC kept a firm hold on adults 18-49, while CBS dominated in total viewers during the February sweeps, which ended last Wednesday. CBS came closer to NBC in adults 25-54, the demographic CBS says it targets, than it has in 11 years.

NBC fended off strong competition from Fox's American Idol and CBS's schedule to win adults 18-49, with a 4.8 rating/13 share, according to Nielsen. That makes NBC flat in the demographic, comparing this February sweeps to last, an accomplishment in an era of declining network performance.

CBS also was flat in adults 18-49, with a 4.2/11, and tied with Fox, down 26% year-to-year without a massive hit like Joe Millionaire on its schedule. (In the last February sweeps, Fox won its first 18-49 title ever.) ABC came in fourth in the key demo, with a 3.6/10, a 10% drop from last year, and that counts the Oscarcast this year. UPN edged out The WB for fifth, 1.7/4 to 1.6./4.

Appeasing Washington, radio giant Clear Channel wrote out a check for $755,000 to cover an FCC fine for indecent broadcasts by shock DJ Bubba the Love Sponge. The company did not challenge the fine. Bubba, whose real name is Todd Clem, was fired last month. The fine was levied for various routines in his program, including a parody with cartoon characters talking about sex and a breast-implant–surgery contest. The fine works out to the $27,500 maximum times 26 instances, plus an extra $40,000 for some reporting omissions.