Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

• Comcast denied the rumors yesterday, but it now appears the cable giant is involved in talks to take a controlling stake in NBC Universal. [NYT, NYT]
• It hasn't been smooth sailing for Jay Leno since his primetime show debuted—ratings have been slipping and the critical buzz has been lousy—but now it looks like NBC has another problem to worry about: CBS and ABC have both been actively discouraging their stars from appearing on the show. [LAT]
• Bravo reports it's developing solo series for three of its reality TV stars: Bethenny Frankel, Christian Siriano and Top Chef's Fabio Viviani. [Variety]
• Meanwhile, Logo is casting its gay version of the Real Housewives. [Gawker]
• Maybe the magazine industry isn't dead, after all: American Media plans to launch a new bridal title in early 2010 called Shapebride. [WWD] More

• Project Runway filmed its season finale under the tent in Bryant Park today. When—and if—you'll ever get to see it remains up in the air. [NYT]
• It's predicted the broadcast of the Academy Awards on Sunday will be among the lowest-rated Oscars on record. [AdAge]
• The Post has apologized for its chimp cartoon the other day. [E&P]
• The New York Times Co. has slashed its dividend to zero. [NYP]
• New York and AMI are joining Hachette Filipacchi and dropping out of the Magazine Publishers of America. [NYP]

• The broadcast of Super Bowl XLIII generated solid results for NBC, even though ratings were down 6% from last year. [THR]
• Super Bowl commercial hits and misses. [AdAge, NYT, AdWeek, AdAge]
• NBC reports its Super Bowl spots generated $206 million. [B&C]
• A last-minute deal will allow David Pecker to keep AMI out of bankruptcy and he'll get to keep his job. But he'll now have a new board to deal with. [NYP]
• Michael Boodro is out as editor of Martha Stewart Living. [NYP]
• Is Vibe in trouble? [Gawker]
• David Carr on the problems plaguing Condé Nast. [NYT]
• Fox's Taken was No. 1 at the box office this weekend. [THR]

• David Pecker's magazine empire may avoid bankruptcy after all. [NYP]
• The mood is expected to be bleak when Sundance kicks off next week. [WSJ]
• Discovery has signed Paula Zahn to create a weekly news show. [THR]
• An op-ed and podcast by Bono in the Times will debut on Sunday. [JR]
• Three more Politicker sites have been shuttered. [Jossip]
• The spring issue of Men's Vogue will be bound inside Vogue. [WWD]
• Katie Couric chats about feminism, Hillary, and the future of TV news. [CNP]

♦  Alan Colmes, the "liberal" who supposedly serves as co-host of Hannity & Colmes with Sean Hannity, is leaving the Fox News program at the end of the year. [HuffPo]
♦  A daily news program hosted by Christiane Amanpour is in the works at CNN. [NYT]
♦  Despite screwing up nearly everything he touches, NBC golden boy Ben Silverman may see his contract renewed in the next few weeks. [NYM]
♦  USA Today has announced plans to cut staff. [E&P]
♦  Twilight was No. 1 at the box office this weekend, raking in $70.5 mil. [LAT]
♦  Forbes is not being sold to a shady Russian billionaire. [SAI]More

♦  Election returns may set TV viewing records tonight, assuming there's some "suspense." [AP]
♦  What's been on cable news channels all day? Mindless talk and speculation, for the most part. [TV Decoder]
♦  It's possible the networks will call the election before the polls close. [THR]
♦  Some of the high-tech wizardry in store tonight: CNN plans to feature 3D "holographic images" of the network's remote correspondents in its New York studio. [WSJ]
♦  More trouble for tabloid kingpin David Pecker: John Miller, AMI's chief operating officer, has resigned. [NYP]More

• According to Nielsen, John McCain's acceptance speech at the RNC was watched by more people than Obama's speech last week. [TVWeek]
• Jeffrey Toobin on John McCain's speech last night: "The worst speech by a nominee that I've heard since Jimmy Carter in 1980." [HuffPo]
• Us Weekly's decision to take on Sarah Palin seems to have upset some subscribers. [MSNBC]
• Alessandra Stanley offers up her take on the O'Reilly-Obama match-up last night. [NYT]
• More trouble for magazine mogul David Pecker. [NYP]
• Jack Kliger will not be the chairman of Hachette after all. [Portfolio]
• One headline we never expected to see concerning Kathie Lee Gifford: "The Craziest (and Sexiest) Woman on TV." [Style.com]

• Temasek, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, has "great confidence" in Merrill CEO John Thain. [Bloomberg]
• Henry Kravis's KKR, Hellman & Friedman and Bain Capital are all in the running to acquire Neuberger Berman from an ailing Lehman Brothers. [Dealbook]
  
• Who is financing big real estate deals now that the banks are pulling back? Hedge funds, of course. [WSJ]
• Ricoh will buy Ikon for $1.6 billion. [Reuters]
• Mattel was awarded $100 mil. in a suit over the Bratz line of dolls. [NYP]
• Amazon is buying Shelfari, the social network for book lovers. [NYT]
• David Pecker is hoping a refinancing at AMI will allow him to keep the company under his control. [NYP]
• Some data suggests the U.S. housing market may be edging towards a rebound. [FT]