From the personal stories relayed by Gulf Coast region natives like Ellen DeGeneres to the sudden loss of network affiliate stations in a top 50 television market, the havoc wreaked by Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama has been felt far and wide in the media and entertainment industries.

On Thursday, DeGeneres said that her Warner Bros.-produced syndicated daytime talk show, which begins its third season Monday, will launch a fundraising drive on her show as of Monday to encourage viewers to donate to the American Red Cross' hurricane relief effort. Warner Bros. has donated $500,000 to the campaign and will match the contributions made by DeGeneres' viewers up to $500,000.

Sources said that the producers of the upcoming Primetime Emmy Awards telecast are working on adding some kind of hurricane relief element to the Sept. 18 show on CBS, which DeGeneres is set to host. Reps for CBS and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences declined comment on the matter late Thursday.

Earlier this week, a shaken and emotional DeGeneres told the Associated Press that her 82-year-old aunt had to quickly evacuate her home in Pass Christian, Miss., as Hurricane Katrina headed toward the Gulf Coast.

"My aunt has lost everything; she has nothing," DeGeneres told AP Radio. "She grabbed four pictures out of her house. She's lost her entire life."

DeGeneres, who was born in Metairie, La., said her childhood was filled with weekends at her aunt Helen Currie's home, just over the state line from New Orleans. "Pass Christian ... is just gone. There's not one building left--no church, no nothing," she said.

Meanwhile,...