ART
New Rembrandt Record: A 17th century portrait by Rembrandt set a new record price for the Dutch master Wednesday, selling for $28.69 million at a London Christie's auction. "Portrait of a Lady" was part of the collection of the late Baroness Batsheva de Rothschild that was being offered in a two-day sale. The price was more than three times the $8.7 million fetched by Rembrandt's "Portrait of a Girl" in 1986, the previous record for the artist's work.
ENTERTAINMENT
Fox Moves: Another of TV's new high-profile star vehicles has hit a red light, with Fox canceling John Goodman's "Normal, Ohio." Meanwhile, the network will premiere two new series on Jan. 10. "Grounded for Life," a family comedy from Carsey-Werner Productions ("Roseanne," "That '70s Show"), will air in Goodman's Wednesday 8:30 p.m. time slot, followed at 9 p.m. (replacing the canceled "The $treet") by the reality program "Temptation Island." The latter six-episode series will follow four couples whose commitment is challenged when they are matched up with others on a Caribbean island. Also starting Jan. 10, a second weekly edition of "That '70s Show" will run Wednesdays at 8 p.m.
*
Post-Election Boost: The drawn-out Florida election battles may not have been good for the country, but they have paid off for the network newscasts. "NBC Nightly News," ABC's "World News Tonight" and "CBS Evening News" have seen their combined viewership climb by an average of 4 million more nightly viewers since the October election. That's good news for respective anchors Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings and Dan Rather, whose shows have been in a longtime ratings decline due to lifestyle changes and the proliferation of cable news.