Fox News always dominates in its competition against CNN and MSNBC, but last week the cable channel managed the unusual feat of beating all other cable networks in viewers, including juggernauts ESPN, USA and TBS.

In prime time, Fox News averaged almost 3.7 million viewers, according to Nielsen. That was almost a million more than ESPN averaged. Fox News also won the total day crown with an average of 1.66 million viewers, nipping kids channel Nickelodeon, which averaged 1.63 million viewers.

Fox News coverage of the Oct. 16 presidential debate was second only to ESPN's "Monday Night Football"...

After the coffee. Before making my World Series pick.

The Skinny: I was at a big event Monday night (see the Daily Dose) and got caught up between two power players talking about their winter homes. I resisted the urge to jump in and say, "Did I tell you my apartment building is being repainted?" Tuesday's headlines include a scandal at the BBC, Jane Fonda signing  up for a sitcom and Walt Disney Co. overhauling its website.

Daily Dose:Even though there was a baseball game, a football game and a presidential debate on TV Monday night, top media executives including Warner Bros. chief Barry...

Six-year-old Jericho Rodriguez sprinted into Toys R Us like a cheetah chasing its prey.

"Mommy, Skylanders! Skylanders!" he yelled as he ran through a crowd gathered around the biggest display in the store, larger even than ones for Legos and Marvel superheroes such as Iron Man.

Jericho and other young boys were gathered in Atwater Village early Sunday morning for the new video game "Skylanders: Giants" and dozens of action figures associated with it.

"Giants" is the hottest release of the fall for boys ages 6 to 12, as Jericho's father, Jess, can attest.

"He woke us up early to come here," the...

People who obsess about airline safety will doubtlessly be drawn to “Flight,” Nov. 2’s drama about the culpability of alcoholic pilot Whip Whitaker (Denzel Washington) in an aviation disaster.  But there’s one place you likely will never be able to see the movie: on an airplane.

The fees that airlines pay for movies are but a small slice of a film’s overall income, but in some cases can add up to several million dollars, which can benefit a risky drama like “Flight.” But Paramount Pictures, the film’s financier and distributor, concedes “...

NBCUniversal has tapped E. McRate "Mac" Budill as president of TV Networks Distribution. He succeeds Bridget Baker who resigned last week.

The post is a key one for NBCUniversal. Budill will be responsible for negotiating distribution agreements for the media company's array of cable networks including USA, Bravo, CNBC, MSNBC, NBC Sports Channel and the Golf Channel. Budill will also handle retransmission consent negotiations for the broadcast stations owned by NBC and its Spanish-language network Telemundo.

Budill most recently worked at Cablevision Systems Corp., where he was executive vice...

The most-watched TV drama is "NCIS" on CBS. The biggest comedy is "The Big Bang Theory," also on CBS.

So those shows should be the most expensive to advertise on, right?

Wrong!

Advertising Age has come out with its annual look at what commercials cost on broadcast TV shows. Even though CBS has some of the most popular shows on television, it is not getting the most money for commercials on its hot programs.

A 30-second spot on "NCIS" costs $166,649, according to Advertising Age. A commercial on NBC's "Sunday Night Football" runs $545,142. So far this season, "NCIS" is averaging 20.5 million...

After the coffee. Before figuring out where my mojo went.

The Skinny: My heart is still broken from the Redskins' loss to the Giants, so go easy on me today. Monday's headlines include a recap of the weekend box office, a look at what commercials are going for this TV season and NBC's surprising start.

Daily Dose: Last week, the season premiere of AMC's "The Walking Dead" had almost 11 million viewers. Now AMC is back on satellite broadcaster Dish, which is in 14 million homes. Don't be surprised if Sunday night's episode adds at least another million or so viewers.

"The Walking Dead" and other hit shows from cable channel AMC are coming back to Dish Network as the result of the satellite broadcaster settling a lawsuit with Cablevision Systems Corp.

On Sunday, Dish and Cablevision announced a settlement in their long-running legal battle over a now-defunct programming service called Voom HD. Dish has agreed to pay $700 million to Cablevision and AMC Networks, both of which are controlled by the Charles Dolan family. Dish also said it would resume carrying AMC, WE and other channels owned by AMC Networks, which it had dropped in July.

The settlement brings...

"Paranormal Activity 4" may have claimed No. 1 at the box office this weekend, but its opening may be frightening Paramount Pictures about the future of its horror franchise.

The fourth entry in the low-budget series -- which began playing at 9 p.m. Thursday in theaters nationwide -- debuted with $30.2 million, according to an estimate from the studio. While that's certainly a good start for a movie that cost only about $6 million to produce, the film came in well below industry projections, which had the movie starting off with roughly $50 million. The picture's opening was also far lower...

Believe it not, there was actually a time not so long ago when civilians outside the entertainment industry didn't have a clue what movie happened to top the box office on any given weekend. Now just about everybody in America knows the top grosser by Sunday night, and they can expound like industry veterans on what film has "underperformed" or which might have "legs."

By the same token, there was once a time when no civilian could tell you who was the highest-paid actor or actress or which ones had the greatest personal wealth. (For the record, Tom Cruise, according to Forbes, is worth $270...

With Tribune Co. expected to emerge from bankruptcy soon, News Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch is looking to acquire two of its trophy properties — the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune.

Tribune Co.'s debt holders — two investment firms and a bank — will become majority owners of the company after it exits bankruptcy, which could happen by year's end. News Corp. executives have had preliminary talks with these debt holders about acquiring the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune, according to two ranking News Corp. executives and others familiar with...