Hot Topics:

Few latenight laughs over Obama

Study sees TV punchline gap

Edinburgh examines ITV's outlook

Cine Latino taps McNamara for post

Stations cast vote for tight race

Barclay readies for 'Treatment'

'New Moon' shines at box office(7900 views)

'New Moon' takes opening day record(1366 views)

Vivendi holds up NBC Universal deal(590 views)

ABC adopts 'Find My Family' show(581 views)

Animated short films get on short list(501 views)

John McCain and Hillary Rodham Clinton continue to be the butts of choice for latenight TV jokes, according to a new study.

Barack Obama has drawn a mere 169 punchlines from Jay Leno, David Letterman and Conan O'Brien since the beginning of this year, compared to McCain's 322 and Clinton's 382, effectively creating a punchline gap, the Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason U. has found.

Data shows that Obama's the least popular among the broadcast comedians, but he leads on cable -- mainly Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" -- with 207 jokes vs. 201 for McCain and 179 for Clinton, according to the study.

The George Mason researchers speculate that Obama's lead on cable is attributable to the fact that those two shows closely follow the day's headlines.