Rainbow Media Holdings, home to AMC and IFC, has appointed Robert Broussard president of Rainbow Network sales. He will be responsible for the affiliate sales and marketing division for the company's programming brands. Broussard has been with Rainbow for 16 years, most recently as executive vice president of business affairs.

Fox Cable Networks has promoted Robert Adelman to vice president of affiliate sales of the Central region. Adelman will be based in St. Louis and oversee regional sales and marketing for the network's 27 channels in the region.

Roger Bart, the late wacko druggist on Desperate Housewives, has joined the cast of the Sci Fi Channel's new miniseries "The Lost Room" to play the villain. The series stars Peter Krause as a detective who finds a portal to another universe.

WRKO Boston has suspended morning talk host John DePetro for calling Matt Amorello a sissy boy on Monday. Amorello, chairman of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, has recently come under scrutiny after part of the Big Dig tunnel ceiling collapsed and killed a woman. DePetro claimed on air that he didn't mean that Amorello is gay despite the way the comment came off.

Liz Vaccariello has joined Prevention magazine as editor in chief, where she will manage all editorial operations for the print publication as well as oversee editorial content of Prevention.com. Vaccariello joins Prevention from a six-year stint as executive editor at Fitness magazine.

An item in yesterdays People section of Media Life had a name spelled incorrectly. Cara Schlanger has returned to Readers Digest as vice president of consumer marketing. Media Life regrets the error.

Camryn Manheim has signed to join CBS's "Ghost Whisperer" as a series regular, in the role of Jennifer Love Hewitt's friend. Manheim is best known for her role as Ellenor Frutt on "The Practice."

CBS's "Close to Home" has added two new members to its cast: John Seda, who has appeared in a number of films and television shows such as "Third Watch," "Law & Order," and "Twelve Monkeys," and Cress Williams, who has made appearances on shows such as "Grey's Anatomy" and "Veronica Mars." Both will be portraying detectives.

NBC Universal Television Studio has signed Spike Lee for a one-year development deal. Lee recently directed a pilot for CBS as well as the 2005 miniseries "Miracle Boys," and will now be working with NBC to create new dramas for the network.

Former MTV Networks executive Mark Rosenthal, who joined Interpublic Group last year, is taking a leave of absence. Rosenthal, who was hired to work on the group's media operations, is expected to be gone for two months while he undergoes treatment for cancer.

"Barney" and "Bob the Builder" producer HIT Entertainment has promoted Dana Laufer to the position of vice president of promotions. Laufer will oversee the development and implementation of national promotions for the company's brands, reporting to senior vice president of consumer products Jamie Cygielman.

Former ER star George Clooney is returning to the realm of television through the new production company he has formed with Grant Heslov. Smoke House, as the production company is called, will produce film and television projects with a first-look deal with Warner Bros.

Former Homicide star Daniel Baldwin wound up in the hospital yesterday after he crashed into two parked cars while driving at an estimated 80 miles per hour. Though Baldwin reportedly complained of back and neck pain, he did not seem to be seriously injured, and the female passenger, whose name was not released, was also unhurt. Baldwin was driving with a suspended license, and officers observed him weaving in and out of traffic and running a red light before the crash.