• Nielsen-Backed Group Bids For Set-Top Based TV Ratings by Joe Mandese

    A group backed by millions of dollars in funding from TV ratings giant Nielsen Media Research Friday invited other research companies to propose new methods for measuring television audiences based on viewing data from digital set-top boxes, an approach that would compete with Nielsen's core methods for TV audience measurement. The move comes as many in the industry, especially advertisers and agencies, are beginning to look past traditional survey-based methods of TV audience measurement, to see if data based on actually TV tuning behavior might not be a better way of determining TV advertising effectiveness. ...Read the whole story

  • Tribune Co. Edges Closer to Default by Erik Sass

    Sam Zell is finding less room to maneuver when it comes to servicing the $8.4 billion debt incurred by Tribune Co. in the employee-owned deal he engineered. Although the company has met all of its debt obligations to date, the possibility of default sometime in 2009 looms ever larger with each new negative earnings release. ...Read the whole story

  • Red Ink: Gannett Cuts 1,000 Staffers by Erik Sass

    In a further sign of the newspaper industry's woes, Gannett said it is planning to cut 1,000 jobs--representing about 3% of its workforce--in a memo to employees last week. The company will eliminate positions through a combination of attrition (leaving empty posts unfilled) and about 600 layoffs. All the layoffs will be complete by the end of this month, the company said. ...Read the whole story

  • Zucker: Reports Of Net TV's Death Greatly Exaggerated by David Goetzl

    While its future may be cloudy, NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker reaffirmed his company's belief that the ratings success of the Olympics is evidence that reports of network television's demise may be premature. ...Read the whole story

  • WB.com Gives New Life To WB Shows by David Goetzl

    With the CW struggling, Warner Bros. isn't sure it wants to let its WB brand drift away. Later this month, it will move beyond beta to an official launch of TheWB.com, a site featuring a VOD library of shows--some of which were on the eponymous network that was in circulation from 1995 to 2006. ...Read the whole story

  • CW Owner Acme May Delist From Nasdaq by David Goetzl

    Acme Communications, the owner of five CW-affiliated stations, is considering pulling itself off the Nasdaq and expects to make a decision over the next six weeks. The company has been aggressively looking for ways to cut costs. And a delisting could save some $300,000 a year. ...Read the whole story

  • '60s Comeback: Banana Splits Return To TV by Fern Siegel

    Everything old is new again. The Banana Splits, a 1960 TV favorite, is back on Cartoon Network beginning Sept. 2. ...Read the whole story

  • Phelps' Eighth Gold Gives NBC Its Best Saturday In 18 Years by Wayne Friedman

    NBC's Beijing Olympics' highly touted swimming event arrived as promised--with a big wave of viewers. Swimmer Michael Phelps winning a historic eight gold medals gave the network a massive Nielsen Media Research 31.1 million viewers--the best Saturday night numbers for NBC in almost two decades. ...Read the whole story

  • Kodak Goes Live At Olympics by Laurie Sullivan

    Tom Hoehn, who spearheads Kodak's brand communications and new media efforts from Beijing, says other sites concentrate on countries and medal tallies, but Kodak focuses on the human experience at the 2008 Olympics -- while adding a marketing twist for the company. ...Read the whole story

Follow MediaPost