• CNN Closes In On Fox
    After being the dominant cable news channel for nearly a decade, Fox is watching both CNN and MSNBC add viewers at dramatic rates. In the first half of 2004, during the last presidential election, Fox's prime-time audience of 25-to-54-year olds was more than double that of CNN. The first half of this election year, CNN has nearly as many viewers as Fox in that demo. CNN has added 170,000 viewers a night, on average, compared with the last presidential year, while Fox has shed about 90,000, per Nielsen. Fox hasn't slipped, says Republican strategist Scott Reed. "I just …
  • Average Age Of TV Viewers Hits 50
    For the first time, the broadcasts network's median age is outside of the vaunted 18-49 demo. According to a study released by Magna Global, the average viewer of the five broadcast nets' last season, not including delayed DVR viewers, was 50. ABC, NBC and Fox continue to grow older, while CBS--the oldest-skewing network--has remained fairly steady. "With traditional television no longer necessarily the first screen for the younger set, the ages of the broadcast networks keep rising," says Magna researcher Steve Sternberg. When DVR viewing is factored in, the nets (except CW and Univision) drop by only a …
  • Are Variety Shows Next? Ask the Osbournes
    Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne--who pioneered the comedy-reality format with their MTV series--are betting the next retro TV trend will be weekly variety shows. "American Idol" producer FremantleMedia landed the rights to do the Osbourne's new variety program, which will also include appearances by Osbourne offspring Kelly and Jack. Rather than trying to re-create the amateur comedy sketches and elaborate production numbers of the variety hours of the 1960s and '70s, the Osbourne show is expected to mimic today's international variety shows, with comedy, musical performance and competition-style games. Many reality industry observers have been predicting a resurgence of …
  • A Gay Media Empire Takes Shape
    Paul Colichman and a business partner are building a media conglomerate around Here, television's only premium gay cable network. They recently paid $6.5 million to buy the Advocate, a news magazine, Out, a fashion monthly, and other sister publications. Colichman already owns gay entertainment portal GayWired.com and plans to expand the online presence of his new print publications. "Our point of view is that everything in media is cross-platformed now. We are in the content business, and to generate profit you need to be everywhere," he says. Colichman and his heterosexual business partner Stephen P. Jarchow also …
  • 'Bazaar' Gives Advertiser A Cover, 40 Pages
    Showing how much clout advertisers now have with glossy magazines, the July issue of Bazaar devotes the cover and 40 of its editorial pages to the famous faces in the ad campaign for Estée Lauder's Sensuous perfume. The celebrities, including Gwyneth Paltrow and Elizabeth Hurley, star in Sensuous ads, but the issue carries none of those ads, planning to run them in future issues. For now, the magazine's Web site offers a promotional video that Lauder plans to show at its cosmetics counters. Insiders say other advertisers are likely to use the Estée Lauder example to push …
  • Florida Groups Fight Proposed Ad Tax
  • OMD West Coast Grabs Pair From Initiative
  • Court Opens Door For More Cable Franchises
  • Time Preps Netflix-like Plan For Print Mags
    In a burst of innovation, Time Inc. plans to unveil Maghound.com this September. It is a Netflix-like service in which readers can order individual issues of print magazines for a flat monthly fee. Maghound.com allows consumers to choose titles from a variety of publishers via mix-and-match "subscriptions," where they pay one monthly fee and have the ability to switch titles at any time. Members can also cancel whenever they wish. The plan is to have 300 titles participating by the launch. "There has been a paradigm shift in the way consumers shop, pay for and manage the …
  • ABC Inserts Ads Into On-Demand TV
    Disney has taken a leadership position in scoping out new venues where people can watch TV shows and advertising can be part of the experience. The company has been testing if viewers will watch ABC shows on-demand through cable providers that disable the ability to zip through ads. It is now watching the results of adding more commercials to its Web-video viewer. "We want to test all forms of advertising as we see our content migrate to additional platforms. We want to be in those new places and we want there to be advertising," says Mike Shaw, ABC's …
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