LENO AGAINST CRIME

Not only did Jay Leno acknowledge that he'll be up against killer shows when he debuts with his nightly variety hour in the fall, but he predicted that people, weary of all the murders in the 10:00 p.m. hour will gravitate towards his show to escape all the crime dramas on the other networks. In a lengthy video promo prepared for a screening at NBC's upfront presentations in New York Monday (and now posted online), Leno assures his viewers that while his competitors are up to committing more mayhem, he'll be up to the same schtick he has been crafting on the Tonightshow for 17 years. After showing the Leno video, NBC sales chief Mike Pilot went on to assure advertisers that Leno is "advertiser friendly" and that "he's not afraid to experiment with live commercials." The network also announced that returning shows next season will include:Heroes, Law & Order: SVU, Parks & Recreation, Southland, 30 Rock, The Office, The Biggest Loser, Friday Night Lights and a series of half-hour "Weekend Updates" fromSaturday Night Live. Among new shows, NBC unveiled Parenthood,based on the 1989 Ron Howard movie, Jerry Seinfeld's The Marriage Ref,hospital dramas Mercyand Trauma,and Community, starring Joel McHale and Chevy Chase. Conspicuous by their omission from the line-up were Medium, Chuck, My Name Is Earl,and Law and Order: SVU. Any one of those shows could receive a reprieve, network executives said Monday, when the complete lineup is announced on May 19. The network indicated that it would like to have input from advertisers about shows that are "on the bubble."

MORE TV BEING CAUGHT IN THE WEB

Yet another study has indicated that television will rapidly converge with the Internet. The latest, from In-Stat, indicates that within five years 24 million households will be watching broadband video over their television sets and that revenue from Web-to-TV streaming will reach $2.9 billion. "Once Web-to-TV video becomes simple and convenient, mass consumer adoption will follow quite rapidly," In-Stat analyst Keith Nissen said in a statement. The report comes just one week after the Consumer Electronics Association predicted that about 3.5 million U.S. consumers will likely buy a television set that can be connected directly to the Internet within the next year,

JONAS BROTHERS BIG -- BUT ...

The Jonas Brothers have once again proved that they are big draws -- but not so big as Hannah Montanaor even Cory in the House.The debut of their new show, Jonas, on the Disney Channel attracted 4 million viewers -- more than twice as many the previous occupants of their time slot -- but, as theLos Angeles Times pointed out, that figure represented the lowest number of viewers for a live-action series debut since 2005's Life With Derek. Disney pointed out, however, that the show debuted on a Saturday, when fewer viewers are at their TVs.

SCOTUS OVERTURNS JANET JACKSON RULING

The legal debate over Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" during the halftime show at the 2004 Super Bowl will resume again following the decision of the Supreme Court on Monday to set aside a ruling by a federal appellate court overturning the FCC's $550,000 fine imposed on CBS for permitting the incident to be aired. The order follows last week's ruling by the high court that the FCC has the power to hold broadcasters accountable for the use of "fleeting expletives" on the air. Following the decision, the network said that it is confident the courts "will again recognize that the Super Bowl incident, while inappropriate and regrettable, was not and could not have been anticipated by CBS." In its report about the court's decision, the New York Timesobserved, "The exposure of Ms. Jackson's breast lasted nine-sixteenths of one second, the Third Circuit said. That is barely enough time for the speediest wide receiver to cover five yards on a dry field, but plenty of time to generate litigation that has lasted half a decade, with accompanying lawyers' fees." In a related manner, a bill has been introduced in the House that would bar ads for erectile dysfunction or "male enhancement" between 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. on broadcast television.

NO RATINGS

NOTE: Nielsen said today (Tuesday) that unspecified problems have resulted in its being unable to post ratings for Sunday or Monday and may also delay the release of Wednesday's weekly ratings report.