Ninemsn on the Kezza/Mills connection: Difficult to imagine this appearing on Ninemsn under its previous, now deceased, ownership. And what does Ninemsn’s minority shareholder James Packer think about this appearing on the site? Let’s see how long it lasts shall we …

Meanwhile… We assume The Age‘s story is about Hetaher Mills’ horror at having relations with Curry Pecker…

Is American Idol on the way out? American Idol‘s ratings are down. Way down, among some viewers. Could it be that the singing smash, which has entirely reshaped television over the past seven seasons, is finally proving mortal? And if so, what will that mean for Fox, the rest of the TV industry and Ryan Seacrest’s career? … At first glance, the erosion doesn’t seem so bad. Idol has slipped 7% in average total viewers (to 29.2 million, as of last week) compared with last season, according to figures from Nielsen Media Research. “This show has defied the odds,” Fox scheduling chief Preston Beckman told me Friday. American Idol has held up better than any other show, scripted or unscripted, on television.” And yet … this season the show has shed nearly one-fifth of women viewers ages 18 to 34 – one of its most important constituencies – and is down a comparable amount among kids 2 to 11. That’s a bad sign, because children and young adults are generally the first to bail on a show that’s getting crow’s feet. — LA Times

WSJ managing ed quits: Marcus Brauchli is departing as managing editor of The Wall Street Journal after a little less than a year on the job, a person familiar with the matter said late Monday. Brauchli’s departure, which was first reported on the Web site of Time magazine, comes four months after the Journal’s parent company Dow Jones & Co. was acquired by Rupert Murdoch’s media conglomerate News Corp. The person familiar with the situation, who asked not to be named since the decision had not yet been made public, said Brauchli was expected to stay on with the company in a yet-to-be-determined role. — The Huffington Post

FT goes Chinese: The Financial Times Group is to launch a Chinese-language magazine aimed at China’s growing business class. The FT hopes to launch the monthly title, which will focus on lifestyle and wealth management, ahead of the Beijing Olympics in August. The magazine – which has a working title of Rui, the Chinese word for intelligence – is likely to feature content translated from other FT publications as well as its own original material. — The Guardian

Last night’s TV ratings
The Winners: Bondi Rescue again tops with 1.624 million viewers in the best example of a good reality TV show on Australian TV. Seven News was second with 1.485 million and Today Tonight a strong 1.453 million. The final of Seven’s It Takes Two ambled on for two hours from 7.30pm and averaged 1.452 million (next week Australia’s Got Talent, sigh!). Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares averaged 1.434 million and The Biggest Loser did well for an hour from 7pm for Ten with 1.373 million. NCIS (a new episode) averaged 1.328 million at 8.30 for Ten and 7th, and 8th was Nine News with 1.217 million. A Current Affair finished with 1.193 million and Home and Away was weaker than normal with 1.192 million at 7pm for Nine. All Saints for Seven at 9.30pm with 1.180 million and beat Ten’s NCIS repeat with 1.172 million. The 7pm ABC news averaged 1.125 million and the repeat of Two And A Half Men averaged 1.041 million for Nine. Ladette to Lady averaged 911,000 at 9.30pm and was third.

The Losers: Moment of Truth on Nine averaged 716,000. That’s almost as good as Ten’s Friends repeat did at 6pm with 686,000 viewers.

News & CA: Seven News again won nationally and in every market bar Adelaide where it drew with Nine. Today Tonight won everywhere. Ten News averaged 854,000. The late News/Sports Tonight averaged 520,000. The 7.30 Report averaged 835,000, Lateline, 156,000 and Lateline Business, 84,000. Nine’s Nightline, 228,000. World News Australia on SBS at 6.30pm, 186,000, at 9.30 pm, 94,000, Insight at 7.30pm, 327,000. 7am Sunrise 369,000, 7am Today, 285,000.

The Stats: Seven won 6pm to midnight with 31.8% (30.4% a week ago) from Ten with 27.6% (25.4%), Nine with 24.3% (24.7%), the ABC with 12.1% (14.7%) and SBS with 4.2% (5.4%). Seven won all five metro markets and leads the week 30.3% to 27.1% for Nine. In regional areas a win for Prime/7Qld with 34.8% from Southern Cross (Ten) with 27.2%, WIN/NBN for Nine with 21.7%, the ABC with 11% and SBS with 5.4%. In the 6pm to 10.30pm battle Fusion Strategy said Seven won with 27.07% (31.99% a year ago) from Ten with 23.83% (18.12%), Nine with 21.12% (19.47%), Pay TV with 13.63% (13.79%), the ABC with 10.98% (12.05%) and SBS with 3.40% (4.59%).

Glenn Dyer’s comments: Seven won with the final of It Takes Two doing solid numbers. But that’s all it won: in the 6pm to 10.30 battle. Ten did better winning 16 to 39, 18 to 49 25 to 54: Nine was second thanks to Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. Seven had a lot of over 50 viewers (which Nine did last year). But in contrast to last year when Nine was losing with a lot of over 50 viewers, Seven is winning. Tonight it’s Underbelly (everywhere bar Melbourne), Spicks and Specks, House and a James Bond movie on Seven after Animal Rescue. Don’t forget Newstopia on SBS at 10pm. Canal Road at 9.30 pm on Nine.

Source: OzTAM, TV Networks, Fusion Strategy reports.