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News Hotline

• NASCAR, Advertisers Start Their Engines
  by Karl Greenberg Yesterday, 8:18 AM

  For some time, the trend for NASCAR racers has been convergence of technology and appearance. This season, the cars will start looking more like what NASCAR used to be about -- stock production cars. The 54th running of NASCAR's biggest event has a near-record level of sponsor advertising, ...

• Ram Truck Boosts Country Music Efforts
  by Karl Greenberg Yesterday, 8:12 AM

  Ram Truck is making a big commitment to country music this year by expanding its relationship with Yahoo around its Ram Country on Yahoo Music channel and launching a separate campaign called "Ram Trucks Road to the Ram Jam." ...

• 'Los Angeles Times' To Charge For Online Content
  by Erik Sass Yesterday, 6:16 PM

  The list of newspapers with online paywalls is growing. The latest addition is the "Los Angeles Times,", which announced plans to begin charging readers for online content beginning March 5. Like other "metered" paywalls, visitors to the LAT Web site will be able to view a certain number ...

• Digitas' Chen: Engaging Brands In Mobile Marketing
  by Mark Walsh Yesterday, 6:05 PM

  As head of mobile, Chia Chen consults across the Digitas network of clients that includes Delta Air Lines, General Motors, P&G, Kraft and TIAA-CREF. OMD talked to Chen about his group at Digitas and what's happening in mobile marketing at the start of 2012. ...

• Fields To EVP At Horizon, Eyes DR Unit's Growth
  by Steve McClellan Yesterday, 5:31 PM

  When Stan Fields starts his new job as executive vice president and managing partner at Horizon Media on March 1, a key initiative will be a soup-to-nuts assessment of the agency's direct response group, which currently bills an estimated $300 million. ...

• Clear Channel Crafts New Brand Image
  by Erik Sass Yesterday, 5:24 PM

  The nation's largest broadcast radio group is looking to fine-tune its brand image and is assembling the personnel to make it happen. Clear Channel Entertainment and Media announced 15 executive appointments for "image coordinators" who will support the company's national programming initiatives, led by the big push to ...

• Court Rejects EPIC's Attempt To Halt Google Privacy Changes
  by Wendy Davis Yesterday, 5:10 PM

  The advocacy group Electronic Privacy Information Center can't force the Federal Trade Commission to sue Google over its planned privacy policy changes, a federal judge ruled. ...

• UrbanDaddy's Broumand On Positioning Luxury Readers, Digital Growth
  by Gavin O'Malley Yesterday, 3:40 PM

  Between the recession and Occupy Wall Street, you'd think a brand catering to the whims of the wannabe rich would be hurting. Fortunately for the luxury lifestyle specialists at UrbanDaddy, you'd be wrong. We recently sat down with CEO Lance Broumand to find out why. ...

• WaPo Dives 10%, Hits Across Divisions
  by Erik Sass Yesterday, 3:11 PM

  The Washington Post Company announcing another round of revenue declines in the newspaper and broadcast divisions. The cable TV unit saw flat revs, while the Kaplan higher education, usually a money spinner, fell 14% for 2011. A lack of political and Olympic ads cost the broadcast unit, while ...

• 'NYTimes' Highlights Oscars As Spectator Sport
  by Phyllis Fine Yesterday, 2:48 PM

  If you think of handicapping/watching the Academy Awards this Sunday as a spectator sport, the New York Times -- especially its Carpetbagger blog -- is the place to catch up on a compendium of behind-the-scenes features. Topics range from scene-stealing dogs like "The Artist"'s Uggie to ...

• Has The 'National Enquirer' Finally Gone Too Far?

  It featured a front-page photo of Whitney Houston in her open casket -- allegedly, that is. There's no photographer's name, so some media folks are calling it "unverified." Rene Lynch reports growing "public outrage" over the photo's publication. Footnote: For more on the monetary value of the infamous ...

• TiVo Exec: Canoe May Be Dead, But ITV Lives On

  "As we bid adieu to Canoe, let's not declare Interactive TV dead in its wake," writes TiVo's Mark Risis. "Interactive TV is in fact very much alive, thanks in large part to the efforts of Canoe ITV." Risis argues that Canoe put a spotlight on the idea of ...

• Longer Ads An Upcoming Trend?

  "Does TV Have Time For Two-Minute Ads?" Brian Steinberg asks in this piece that offers arguments both pro and con the longer commercial, which has recently appeared "in two prime pieces of broadcast-TV real estate," the Super Bowl and The Grammys. While such ads "cost a fortune," and ...

• Reader's Digest Axes 40 Workers

  Reader's Digest Association is laying off 40 staffers in its recently sold Weekly Reader group. It's possible, however, that Scholastic, which takes over from RDA after June, may rehire least some of those employees, according to a spokesperson quoted by Keith J. Kelly. ...

• Univision Discusses Cable Partnerships, TV Biz Up

  A month after Univision landed its first distribution deal with Dish for its three forthcoming cable networks, the company said it is in discussions with other potential operators and expects to conclude arrangements. Overall, Univision reported that its television business, which includes several networks and local stations, posted ...

• Pew: More People 'Unfriend,' Tighten Privacy Controls

  A new Pew study finds people are increasingly pruning their online social networks and restricting access to their profiles in the wake of heightened privacy concerns. Nearly two-thirds (63%) have deleted people from friend lists, up from 56% in 2009. A majority (58%) also limit access to their ...

• Betaworks Bought Mobile Messager Vibe

  Late last year, Betaworks quietly acquired mobile messaging service Vibe. “Betaworks never announced the deal, but I’ve been able to confirm it,” TechCrunch editor Erick Schonfeld writes. “The deal was likely in the low six figures, with betaworks now owning a majority of Vibe.” Popular among members of ...

• Sean Parker Likes Social-Voting Site Votizen

  Social-voting site Votizen has secured $750,000 in new funding from some high-wattage investors, including Sean Parker. Famous for founding Napster, Parker tells AllThingsD that "politics is one of the few remaining large-scale consumer-facing opportunities on the Internet." For the past two years or so, Votizen has been busy digitizing 200 ...

• Apple Still Thinking Big

  In other Apple news, the company proved this week that it’s still ready to wow consumers -- even without the leadership of Steve Jobs. Plying some of the salesmanship for which Jobs was known, CEO Tim Cook boasted that Apple has a pipeline of products that will blow ...

• How To Keep SEO Strategies Alive

  Corporations tend to have unique hurdles when it comes to delivering successful SEO strategies. So Jeremy Lopatin lays out four top "SEO Killers," such as competing priorities that constantly challenge corporate process, or fiscal year budgets that are fixed. Then he tells us how to keep them al ...

• Apple Acquires Search App Chomp

  With Apple's App Store less than perfect when it comes to search, Apple has acquired Chomp, an app search platform. The platform wlll likely help users find the lesser-known apps. Chomp has a deal with Verizon to run all its Android-based app searches, which could make the partnership ...

• How To Title The Tag

  Kristine Schachinger gets back to basics and explains how to write title tags to optimize content. She tell us there's nothing more basic when it comes to optimizing a site than properly written title tags -- the ones that appear in the little blue bars in browsers. She ...

• Crown's Hallmark Channels Tune Into 13% Gains

  Strong holiday season viewership for Hallmark channels -- a typical big time period for the independent cable network group -- help boost incomes and revenue results. Crown Media Holdings, the parent of Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movie Channel gained 10% in revenue to $90.7 million and almost doubled ...

• Google Divests Clearwire Investment

  Google sold off its $47 million stake in Clearwire. Don Reisinger tells us the Mountain View, Calif. tech company informed both Comcast and Sprint of its decision in a letter sent earlier this month. The sum comes from 29.4 million shares at $1.60 per piece, a discount on ...

• IPG Boasts 8% Rev Growth

  The Interpublic Group of Companies reported nearly 8% revenue growth for full-year 2011 to just over $7 billion, while nearly doubling its net income to almost $552 million. IPG CEO Michael Roth characterized the agencies' 2011 performance as "strong," and sustainable. But as of now, the company does ...

• Miracle Whip Campaign, By Arthur Miller!

  A new ad for Kraft's Miracle Whip evokes Miller's "The Crucible," and its take on suspicion and mob hysteria. Instead of witches, however, the ad has a Colonial-era crowd looking to burn a jar of Miracle Whip. They approach a house and a girl opens the door to ...

• Google Glasses, By George Orwell!

  Pay between $250 and $600 for Google Android-based glasses and say goodbye to privacy, reality, and a clear view of the mailbox in front of you. The specs, due out at the end of they year, are designed to overlay your field of vision with maps and data, ...

• P&G To Make Big Cuts

  Consumer products maker Procter & Gamble Inc. said Thursday it plans to cut 5,700 jobs over the next year and a half as part of a cost-cutting plan. Procter & Gamble says it plans to save $10 billion by the end of the fiscal year ending in June ...

• Battery Blog Hurts Tesla

  It seems that story yesterday about Tesla cars turning into bricks when the battery runs dry has done damage, briefly driving down the stock value of the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company. ...

• Scripps Reports TV Gains, Newspapers Slide

  Like many TV station groups, the E.W. Scripps Company had some good news/bad news results from 2011. Looking over a two-year period -- due big political and Olympic advertising revenues every other year -- Scripps said it had a witnessed double-digit revenue gains from nonpolitical revenues for its ...

• Survey: Americans Want To Save Tax Refund

  The survey, conducted for NRF by BIGinsight, reports that 66.2% expect a check from the government, the same as last year. The Internal Revenue Service says the average 2010 refund was $2,902. ...

• Top Story: Wall Street's Wieser: Content 'Passes Crown,' Picks 3 Platform Players - Google, Facebook, Yahoo

  Asserting that content has "passed the crown" from traditional media to online, Wall Street equity researcher Pivotal Research Group initiated coverage of three ad-supported jewels -- Google, Facebook and Yahoo -- with strong ratings. "The adage 'content is a king' was always somewhat subjective,'" writes Pivotal's Brian Wieser, ...

• Top Story: U.S. Ad Exec Confidence Remains Near Recent High, Digital Still Dominates

  In another strong indication that the advertising recovery is sustainable, U.S. advertisers and agencies continue to be near their most confident levels of future ad-spending plans, according to the latest installment of the Advertiser Optimism Index from ad industry B-to-B researcher Advertiser Perceptions. The findings, which reflect the ...

• Shell Brings Back WINsdays Promo

  Shell is offering consumers a chance to save money on their fuel purchases every time the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Dodge takes the checkered flag in a points race during the 2012 race season. Shell Saver cardholders will receive a savings of 22 cents per gallon the Wednesday (or ...

• NCM Expects Modest Growth For 3D Ads, Holds Upfront

  National CineMedia, which operates an ad network in close to 19,000 screens, expects to continue running more ads in 3D, though growth doesn't look to keep pace with the number of films released in the emerging format. ...

• Swoop Dives In With Local Offers

  Cambridge, MA-based start-up Swoop is launching a new service that lets Web publishers and advertisers show relevant local offers to consumers at the right time. Formerly Shopximity, Swoop is kicking off the service with a focus on local food offers. ...

• Legal Settlements Rocketed TiVo's Revs

  TiVo, the maker of DVRs and advanced television platforms for pay-TV operators posted net income of nearly $102.2 million versus an $84.5 million loss for the prior-year period, on a 9% net revenue gain to $238.2 million. Total subscriptions were up about 11% for the year, to 2.3 ...

• Gannett Plans Paywalls For Community Papers

  The country's largest newspaper publisher plans to create online paywalls for scores of local community newspapers nationwide. As with other newspaper's online paywalls, Dickey said that visitors to Gannett's 82 community newspaper Web sites will be able to see a certain amount of content for free -- probably ...

• Media General Considers Divesting Some Newspapers

  Media General, which publishes 23 daily newspapers including the Richmond Times-Dispatch and The Tampa Tribune, disclosed it has received expressions of interest from potential buyers for some of its newspaper properties. The company didn't say which properties might be for sale. ...

• Krispy Kreme Hits Road To 'Glaze The Nation'

  Over the next year, brand ambassadors will make stops from coast to coast in a restored, branded, 1960-vintage Flxible Starliner bus - a vehicle deemed to have "just the right balance of nostalgia, retro and cool." ...

• 'The Daily' Has 100,000 Subs - Is That A Ceiling Or Just A Start?

  On its one-year anniversary earlier this month, 'The Daily' announced the publication had amassed 100,000 paid subscribers to date, making it the third top-grossing iPad app in the iTunes Store last year. It's now the top-grossing app. Still, the paid subscribers level to date is well below the ...

• Mobile Platforms To Require Privacy Policies For Apps

  Google, Apple, Research in Motion and other companies with app marketplaces have promised California Attorney General Kamala Harris that they will require developers to post privacy policies if their apps collect personal data from users. ...

• Initiative Raises $1.5M For Children's Charity

  Initiative, with help from sibling shop McCann-Erickson and numerous vendors worldwide, created a pro bono multimedia campaign designed to drive viewers to the charity's Facebook page to click the "Like" button. The effort raised $1.5 million in January for Free the Children. ...

• Industry Stands To Gain Via Social Media

  Nearly a quarter of social media users say they "always or almost always" refer to their networks before purchasing a CE device, while 38% say reviews or comments by someone they know influenced their purchase decision. ...

• Gyro Names Postaer ECD, San Francisco

  Ad agency Gyro has tapped Steffan Postaer as executive creative director for its San Francisco office, the full-service agency has confirmed. He will jointly run the San Francisco operation with Robert Ray, the office's president. Previously, Postaer was chairman and CEO of Euro RSCG Chicago, a unit of ...

• February Auto Sales Portend Good Year

  Consumer auto shopping and research site Kelley Blue Book/kbb.com projects new-vehicle sales to surpass 1.05 million units and reach a 13.8 million SAAR for February, which would be a 6.4% improvement over February last year. ...

• Mag Bag: Hearst, Style Coalition Expand Partnership

  Hearst Digital Media is expanding its partnership with the Style Coalition, a network bringing together online beauty and fashion publishers, in a deal that gives Hearst responsibility for Style Coalition's display advertising sales. Hearst and Style Coalition will also work together to develop custom marketing programs, including tailored ...

• Study: Newspapers Most Trusted News Source

  Newspapers were the most trusted source of news for most respondents to a survey commissioned by Craigslist founder Craig Newmark. Still, only 22% overall called newspapers “very credible” sources of info on politics and elections. Cable and network news were a close second, cited as "very credible" by ...

• Gannett Will Switch Papers To Pay Model -- Except 'USA Today'

  Gannett is rolling out a metered paywall similar to that of the New York Times for all its publications except USA Today (half of whose circulation comes from papers distributed free at such locations as hotels and airports). By the end of the year, Gannett's 80 community newspapers ...

• Jeremy Lin Seeks Patent For "Linsanity"

  New Knicks superstar Jeremy Lin has filed for a patent of the term "Linsanity" to brand "goods such as bags, cups, clothing, toys and beverages," according to Mason Levinson and Scott Soshnick. Lin is competing with others who have likewise made patent filings -- but of course he ...

• All Quiet On The Oscars Newsfront

  All's relatively quiet on the Oscar newsfront -- at least quieter than last year, when the media was eagerly anticipating (and just as quick to crucify) new hosting duo Franco-Hathaway. We've also heard that, unlike the usual promotionalooza, the producers are keeping "mum" on show details,  The ...

• Twitter Taps Former Google Execs To Propel International Expansion

  Twitter's international focus grew Thursday with the appointment of two former Google execs. Shailesh Rao will serve as Twitter's vice president of international revenue, while Stephen McIntyre will support international expansion of Twitter's self-serve ad platform, which it plans to roll out in the U.S. next month. ...

• Key 18-34 Demo Major Mobile, Online Video Users

  It's no secret that 18- to-34-year-olds continue to redefine media consumption; new Nielsen research explains why. Along with NM Incite, Nielsen found this demo -- christened "Generation C" -- is taking their personal connections to new levels, devices, and experiences. ...

• Liberty QVC Enjoys 6% Bounce, Starz Dips In 2011

  Home shopping via television still remains a steady business for Liberty Interactive's QVC Network, up 6% for the year. So was Liberty's eCommerce, though cablers Starz and Encore network dropped slightly. ...

• Which Celebrity Spokespeople Do Ladies Love?

  A new analysis from Women at NBCU's Brand Power Index reports that the less likely the matchup, the more apt it is to get women's attention, and to be seen as a positive for the brand. ...