TELEVISION

OSCARS RATINGS SHOW DROP IN VIEWERSHIP FROM LAST YEAR ABC is in for a “Crash” landing in the Oscar ratings. An estimated 38.8 million people watched the show on Sunday on ABC, down 8% from last year, said Nielsen Media Research. It was the second-worst showing for the Oscars in nearly two decades.

– Associated Press

WALL STREET

MERRILL TO LET RETIREES COLLECT REVENUE FROM FORMER ACCOUNTS Big brokerage houses aren’t only dangling lucrative pay packages to bring top financial advisers into their firms, they’re also designing plans to smooth their way out when the brokers are ready to retire. Merrill Lynch is rolling out a program that will let retired advisers receive as much as 50% of the commissions generated from their former clients for as long as four years after they retire.

– Dow Jones Newswires

INTERNET

NBC TO ACQUIRE IVILLAGE General Electric Co.’s NBC Universal agreed to acquire iVillage, which runs Web sites geared to women, for about $600 million, the latest in a string of deals by traditional companies looking for more online-ad growth.

– Dow Jones Newswires

REAL ESTATE

REITS GAIN ON NEWS OF CARRAMERICA SALE Real estate investment trusts were among the biggest gainers in trading yesterday after another REIT announced plans to be taken private at a healthy premium to its recent trading price and rumors of more takeouts loomed. The rally came after CarrAmerica Realty announced it has reached a $5.6 billion deal to sell itself to closely held Blackstone Group for $44.75 a share in cash.

– Dow Jones Newswires

IN BRIEF

Pfizer won a tax deduction for a $1.8 billion break-up fee paid in the acquisition of Warner-Lambert Co. five years ago, overcoming the IRS’s long-standing opposition to such write-offs … Sun Microsystems CEO Scott McNealy could leave the company, a report says … UPS says it is shortening the amount of time it takes to deliver ground packages to major cities across America.

– Bloomberg News, Dow Jones Newswires, and Associated Press