In the last few months, I have often mentioned MediaPost’s plans to start a new how-to magazine about traditional media, and given the current economy, my excitement about the new venture has oftentimes been met with thinly veiled pity, followed by a gentle referral to this or that well-respected psychiatrist. More often than not, however, people asked, “Is that because you think there’s no hope for online media?” That question is almost understandable, I usually said, considering what happened to most of the online media magazines in the past year, but that’s definitely not the case. We have more …

When Americans are in the mood to buy, or just browsing, they turn to daily and Sunday newspapers for the advertising information that will help them decide what to buy and where to make their purchase, according to a recently released report by the Newspaper Association of America. The 2001 National Report shows that more than eight in 10 adults regularly or occasionally use inserts, seven in 10 use ROP advertising with the same frequency. Nearly two-thirds of consumers say newspapers are their primary source for advertising and shopping information in general. The study’s findings, culled from a national …

Show quality has improved and advertisers see a growing audience with buying power and strong brand loyalty. In the ever-expanding world of cable television and direct satellite systems, you can find such niche channels as the Game Show Network, Tech TV, Speedvision, SoapNet, and of course the Weather Channel. While zapping around the dial, you can watch five different Discovery Channels, eight unique HBO channels, 19 regional versions of Fox SportsNet, and 20 channels directed at Spanish-speaking people. However, except for the barely seen Triangle Television Network in the U.S. and PrideVision in Canada, there is no major channel aimed …

Two years after bringing its partners together under the same roof, the world’s largest media agency is hitting its stride. MindShare—a WPP Group company that is the world’s largest media agency, with annual billings in excess of $18.4 billion—is the result of the 1997 merger of two of the most prestigious media departments in the world: those of J. Walter Thompson and Ogilvy & Mather. The goal was to pool the media planning, buying, and research operations of both these agencies into a single client resource, and in the second year of being under the same roof, they are meeting …

MODERATOR, Michael Drexler, executive vice president, Mediasmith: The effects of the recession and the aftermath of September 11th have really put the advertising business in a state of great uncertainty for 2002. What do you think advertisers will expect from the various media this year, and what do you think buyers and sellers will be doing differently? Steve Greenberger, executive vice president, media convergence and print media, Initiative Media: From the print community, it looks like there might be more room for negotiating on an ongoing basis. As advertisers hedge their print budgets and roll out on an as-needed …

Smirnoff’s ads on NBC are testing the waters, but the other networks and distillers seem reluctant to wade in. Waiting for liquor advertising on network TV to take off? It’s probably going to take a while. Surrounded by controversy, NBC has aired more than 30 Smirnoff Vodka PSA commercials since December, and although the advertiser, Guinness-UDV, appears to be pleased with the results, the network has been unable to entice other liquor advertisers to come on board. Moreover, the first ad, on Saturday Night Live, generated so much negative publicity that all other networks continue to say they won’t …

Last year, Wilmington, Del. This year, Philadelphia. Is it ready for market yet? That’s what the media-buying community is asking about Arbitron’s Portable People Meter, a media measurement system that is still being tested, with an uncertain launch date. Arbitron has been working on the system for more than ten years and began testing it last year, with astounding but uncertain results: Astounding because it reports much higher media usage than the standard measurement devices; uncertain because the new data hasn’t been confirmed, since the preliminary sample size in Wilmington was too small. (continued on page 25) (cont. from …

The New York area battle pitting Cablevision against the YES Network and the mighty Yankees has stirred emotions among Yankees fans and Mets fans alike. Our editors each take a swing at this media controversy. As a lifelong Mets fan, I have watched with amusement the baseball battle that’s been brewing here in New York for most of the spring. Not Mets vs. Yankees — Cablevision vs. YES Network. For those who haven’t been following this headline-grabbing skirmish, Cablevision has blocked carriage of the YES Network, the new Yankees organization cable channel on which most of the team’s games …

In March, I wrote an article for MediaPost’s MediaDailyNews (see MediaDailyNews Archives at www.mediapost.com for 3/4/02) titled "A New Planning Organization." In it I discussed the concept of the new independent media (planning) agencies taking over the account planning function. In this article I will expand on the concept and talk about "The New Media Agency" from a global standpoint. A little history is in order here. Media planning and buying always used to coexist within the same organization as creative. Yes, kids, it’s true. They were called full-service agencies. In the late ’60s and through the late ’80s, …

Usually, MEDIA’s Behind the Numbers section features a report on timely data, with perspectives from additional sources describing the limitations or biases of the study. But a new advertising measurement model being released by the ARF (formerly the Advertising Research Foundation) lays important enough groundwork for how advertising and media should be measured that it’s worth writing about here — even though the report is more of an outline of what will constitute future numbers than a presentation of the numbers themselves. The new ARF monograph, entitled "Making Better Media Decisions," has been approved for publication by the ARF …