FTC presses stop button on prerecorded sales calls The do-not-call registry has been hugely popular with consumers, allowing them to enjoy their evenings uninterrupted, and soon consumers won't be pestered by recorded sales messages when they pick up a ringing phone, either. The Federal Trade Commission has formally adopted new rules that forbid marketers from using prerecorded messages unless the consumer agrees to receive them. Come December, telemarketers will be required to include an opt-out feature allowing consumers to block future calls, and next September the rules tighten further, restricting all prerecorded calls unless the consumer has given written consent to receive them.   Rupert M. got a pay raise to $27.1 million last year These may be tough times for media, but Rupert Murdoch isn't feeling the pinch in his pay envelope, according to filings with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission. The News Corp. boss made $27.1 million in the year ended June 30. That's up 9 percent from the prior year. His base salary was $8.1 million, the same as the prior year, but he got a fatter bonus, $17.5 million versus $15.8 million in 2006, reflecting News Corp.'s increased earnings. Stocks and perks added another $1.9 million. But Murdoch took a hit, at least on paper, in his pension plan, as the result of an accounting change that reduced his entire compensation package by 14 percent. News Corp. President Peter Chernin made just under $30 million for the year between his salary of $8.1 million, $11.3 million in bonuses, and stock valued at $10.2 million.   ESPN's Bodenheimer: We're eyeing Games rights The 2008 Olympics aren’t yet done, and already there’s speculation over who will win the rights to broadcast the 2014 and 2016 Games. Yesterday ESPN president George Bodenheimer said his network will likely participate in the bidding process, expected to take place sometime between now and October 2009, when the host cities are named, and reports quickly followed that Fox is also showing interest. All this comes, of course, on the heels of the strong ratings for NBC’s Beijing Games, which are on pace to draw the biggest cumulative audience ever for the Olympics and are easily outdrawing the 2004 Games. NBC won the rights to the 2010 and 2012 Games a few years ago. Fox, ABC/ESPN and NBC all bid on those Games, which the latter paid $2.2 billion for.   Italians protest poor medical advice on doctor shows News flash – Patrick Dempsey is not a real doctor. That is a real problem for Annalisa Silvestro, the president of the National Federation of Medical Colleges in Italy, which is calling for her country’s broadcasters to dump such hospital shows because they get so much of the medical stuff wrong. Along with “Grey’s Anatomy,” other offenders include “ER,” “House” and a host of Italian-based productions slated to premiere on RAI, the state broadcaster, or Mediaset, owned by Silvio Berlusconi, this fall. The NFMC, which has been joined by Rome’s Order of Medical Professionals, claims such shows spread disinformation about medicine.   Programming notes: MSNBC boots Abrams' 'Verdict' The verdict on MSNBC’s Dan Abrams is that his last primetime show on the network is tomorrow. “Verdict with Dan Abrams” will end its run on Thursday, and for the next couple weeks the news network will focus on coverage of the Democratic and Republican national conventions. Then, on Sept. 8, Abrams’ 9 p.m. timeslot will be taken over by political commentator Rachel Maddow, although Abrams will remain with MSNBC and NBC News as a commentator, according to The New York Times. He also served as MSNBC’s general manager for a brief time last year. Meanwhile, in other programming, Biography Channel has two new series: “Why I Ran,” premiering Sept. 1 at 10 p.m., about high-speed chases from the driver’s perspective; and “Watching the Detectives,” launching Sept. 7 at 9 p.m., following NYC detectives. Two days later, on Sept. 9, BET will premiere its first scripted series, “Somebodies,” at 10:30 p.m., about a student at the University of Georgia. On Aug. 31 Versus will air the first of eight Sunday games of SlamBall, which sounds like basketball with trampolines, with CBS airing a championship game on Nov. 2. And ABC will air a pilot of a “Supernanny” spinoff in the fall, this one featuring child therapist Mike Ruggles as “Supermanny.”