Arts and entertainment reports from The Times, national and international news services and the nation’s press. : TELEVISION

Titanic Discovery: The Discovery Channel’s much-promoted deep-sea expedition to the site of the Titanic wreckage has yielded a mighty big souvenir: a 23-by-14-foot section of the ship’s outer hull that was resting approximately 10 miles from the remainder of the wreckage. The cable channel said Tuesday that its team of experts had recovered the 20-ton remnant, dubbed “The Big Piece,” from 2 1/2 miles below the ocean’s surface, and brought it aboard their ship Abeille, where conservation efforts are already underway. The hull portion was first discovered in 1996, when it was raised to within 200 feet of the ocean’s surface, but was lost during stormy weather. “The Big Piece” will eventually be placed on public view along with RMS Titanic Inc.’s collection of Titanic artifacts, currently on display at Boston’s World Trade Center. Naval architect and Titanic expert David Livingstone said Tuesday that the recovered hull portion “will be very helpful in increasing our understanding about how Titanic broke up after she sank.” Discovery Channel and “Dateline NBC” are collaborating on TV coverage of the Titanic expedition, beginning with a “Dateline” special tonight at 10.

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Late-Night Shuffles: As expected, cable’s Comedy Central announced Tuesday that comedian Jon Stewart will take over as host, writer and co-executive producer of “The Daily Show” in January. That will presumably free current host Craig Kilborn to replace Tom Snyder on CBS’ “Late Late Show.” Kilborn signed the CBS deal in April but was bound by his Comedy Central contract. “The Daily Show” airs weeknights at 11. Meanwhile, another cable network, E! Entertainment Television, will shuffle its “Howard Stern” schedule, airing the TV version of Stern’s popular radio program on Sundays through Fridays beginning Aug. 23. The show, which will continue to air at 11 and 11:30 p.m., had previously been seen Monday through Saturday nights. However, Stern’s new Saturday night series, “The Howard Stern Radio Show,” begins airing Aug. 22 at 11:30 p.m. on many CBS stations.

POP/ROCK

Serving Concurrent Sentences: Motley Crue rocker Tommy Lee was sentenced in Phoenix Tuesday to 30 days in jail and fined $800 for assaulting a security guard during the band’s concert at Phoenix’s America West Arena last December. Under a plea agreement with prosecutors, however, he will avoid additional prison time by receiving credit for time he’s currently serving in Los Angeles in conjunction with an unrelated attack on his estranged wife, Pamela Anderson Lee. Tommy Lee is completing a six-month term for that offense in the L.A. County Jail. Lee and fellow Motley Crue member Nikki Sixx were charged in Phoenix with assaulting security guard Kenneth Lee Chambers, who prosecutors said had been trying to hold back 75 to 150 fans who rushed the stage after band members told them to leave their seats. Sixx has pleaded innocent.

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Which Songs Will Survive?: Miramax Films will partner with cable’s MTV in a countdown of the “Top 54 Songs of the Disco Era,” timed to coincide with the Aug. 28 release of Miramax’s movie “54,” about New York’s infamous Studio 54 dance club. The list will be culled from votes by industry insiders and others; non-industry types can cast their ballots via e-mail (54dance@mtvmail.com). The results will air in an Aug. 26 MTV special emanating from the movie’s premiere that night at Mann’s Chinese Theater.

MOVIES

Hollywood Film Fest Winners: “The Sugar Factory,” a tale of a teenage nonconformist’s rite of passage, written and directed by Australian Robert Carter, was named the best feature film with a budget of more than $1 million at the second annual Hollywood Film Festival that concluded Monday night. “Paradise Falls,” directed by Nick Searcy and set in the Appalachian Mountains during the Depression, was named best feature under $1 million. Meanwhile, “Goreville U.S.A.” was named best documentary, “Holiday Romance” was voted best short film, and “Return of the Sun Devil” was picked as best animated film. In addition, “Next Time,” by writer-director L. Alan Fraser, received the Hollywood Independent Filmmaker Award, and 24-year-old Steven Ayromlooi won the Hollywood Young Filmmaker Award for his short film “Nathan Grimm.”

RADIO

Hall of Famers: The late Bing Crosby, whose first radio program premiered in 1931, will be among those inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame during ceremonies Oct. 11 at the Chicago Cultural Center. Additional 1998 inductees include Chicago disc jockey Dick Biondi, who is also a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland; Tom and Ray Magliozzi, hosts of National Public Radio’s “Car Talk”; sports broadcaster Ernie Harwell, known as the “voice of the Detroit Tigers”; and syndicated morning show host Tom Joyner, heard locally on KACE-RM (103.9). Inductees were selected by more than 5,000 radio executives, broadcast historians and existing Radio Hall of Fame members.

QUICK TAKES

KCRW-FM (89.9) will air a live, preelection debate between L.A. County Sheriff Sherman Block and his challenger, Lee Baca, today at 1 p.m. on “Which Way, L.A.?” Warren Olney moderates the debate, which will be rebroadcast at 7 p.m. . . . KCET-TV Channel 28 will join with Newsweek Productions to make the PBS documentary “John Glenn, American Hero.” The hourlong prime-time special will air on KCET Oct. 28, the eve of Glenn’s scheduled return to space aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery. . . . Actor Roddy McDowall has been elected president of the Academy Foundation, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ educational and cultural arm. . . . The four-hour 50th annual Emmy Awards on Sept. 13 will be broadcast in a record 92 countries, according to the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.