Critics feeling that Michelle Obama has been overexposed lately, from presenting at the Oscars to mom-dancing with Jimmy Fallon, will have a hard time critiquing her latest move. The First Lady is expanding Let's Move, her three-year-old initiative to get kids moving and combat childhood obesity, and she's tapping one of the world's leading brands in the "get moving" space—Nike. 

NIKE, Inc. President & CEO Mark Parker joined First Lady Michelle Obama and U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan in Chicago to announce Nike’s $50 million, five-year commitment to help launch a new Let's Move program for schools, an extension of the brand's involvement in the organization's Designed to Move study that found that only one in three American kids are active daily.Continue reading...

Arnold Palmer re-brands for a generation who never knew the golfing legend.

Audiovox rebrands to Voxx International.

BlackBerry-maker RIM warns about profit outlook.

BMW and Mercedes-Benz race to the wire for 2011 luxury-sales crown in U.S.

Boeing takes its Dreamliner on a "world tour."

Chick-fil-A spat with t-shirt maker hits the New York Times.

Corona brings beach experience to London.Continue reading...

BMW, Audi, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche hit Frankfurt Auto Show with luxury cars retooled for younger generation, while Maserati brings Jeep-based SUV to Frankfurt.

ConAgra sets deadline for Ralcorp.

Cracker Barrel's new CEO outlines her plan amidst shareholder battle.

Dr. Oz shakes apple juice industry to the core.

eBay hit by criminal probe over use of Craigslist information.

Heineken-sponsored private concert in Brooklyn by Kanye West released by Vevo.

Ikea dispels death of Billy (bookcase) rumors.

KFC Australia pulls campaign claiming free range chickens.

Lady Gaga releases second in series of "fashion films" on YouTube.Continue reading...

She may be on her OWN soon, but Oprah Winfrey's world is about to get a lot bigger.

Launching her 24/7 OWN: the Oprah Winfrey Network in a 50/50 partnership  between her Harpo Productions and Discovery Communications on January 1, the Winfrey-"curated" (as CEO Christina Norman told CNN) channel will debut in 80 million U.S. homes via cable and satellite, where it's replacing the Discovery Health Channel.

Initial bumps in development caused Discovery to increase funding to $189 million and Winfrey to increase her on-air appearances, including starring in Oprah's Next Chapter.Continue reading...

Oprah Winfrey's favorite medic, Dr. Mehmet Oz, is not only a practicing physician affiliated with New York's Columbia University, but a powerhouse brand in his own right. The popular author and media personality is taking his show on the road — only he's not going with it.

The Dr. Oz Show, which is co-owned by Sony Pictures Television with Winfrey's production company, has been licensing its format internationally, tapping local doctors as the stars. In the Russian version, Dr. Sergei Agapkin is the host; in China, it's Dr. Liang Dong, described by Oz as "jovial" but more reserved than Mehmet himself.

The spinoff series vary in other ways. In China, the show title translates to Health Is Most Important, and displays less “attitude and playfulness [because] in places like China and Russia, people have very different expectations of what a doctor will tell you,” explains Oz to the New York Times.Continue reading...

Who is that wizard behind the curtain? Why, it’s Dr. Mehmet Oz, acclaimed cardiothoracic surgeon and crossover TV star. His acumen as a doctor requires extraordinary skill and focus – a millimeter off and a patient will die. His growing on-air presence requires similar precision.

As a New York Times magazine profile shows, the rising star of Mehmet Oz is no accident.

“The Dr. Oz Show” debuted last September with impressive buy-in at launch. The progeny of “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” expectations were high – and so were ratings. Oz appeared over 55 times at Oprah’s side, making bodily function and the human condition acceptable afternoon, coffee-table conversation.

“When he made it O.K. to talk about the shape of a good poop, I knew he could talk about anything,” Winfrey told the New York Times. “He always found ways to make the human body endlessly fascinating.”Continue reading...

Oprah Winfrey may be retiring, but her domination of daytime television will live on via a cadre of handpicked minions.

Nate Berkus, the latest addition to Oprah's empire, is a decorator and design expert who is a familiar face to her regular viewers. Though his name isn't as familiar as the others that Ms. Winfrey has shot to stardom -- Rachael Ray, Dr. Phil McGraw, and Dr. Mehmet Oz, for example -- just wait.

Harpo Productions, Oprah's production company, will collaborate with Sony Pictures Television and introduce the new daytime talk show, hosted by Nate Berkus, in the fall.

The power vacuum left by Ms. Winfrey's exit from daytime television has the industry worried, and for good reason. The cultural juggernaut has been a reliable mainstay and television icon for years, often causing phenomenal surges in consumer spending in industries from books to cakes with her personal recommendations. Now Ms. Winfrey is moving on, and setting up her friends and personal favorites in the wake of her exit. However, choosing Mr. Berkus wasn't solely an emotional decision based on relationships, but one based on business.Continue reading...