Just weeks before the big upfront advertising market is set to begin, the promising cable news channel Current TV and its high-profile news commentator Keith Olbermann have parted ways. The longtime former MSNBC on-air news anchor was supposed to have been the new face of a revamped cable news channel. He also had the title of chief news officer of the network. In a letter to viewers on the network’s Web site on Friday, March 30, Al Gore, co-founder and chairman of the board and Joel Hyatt, co-founder and chief executive officer, said: “We created Current to give voice to those Americans who refuse to rely on corporate-controlled media and are seeking an authentic progressive outlet... “Current was also founded on the values of respect, openness, collegiality and loyalty to our viewers. Unfortunately, these values are no longer reflected in our relationship with Keith Olbermann, and we have ended it.” Olbermann responded through Twitter: "I'd like to apologize to my viewers and my staff for the failure of Current TV. Editorially, 'Countdown' had never been better. But for more than a year, I have been imploring Al Gore and Joel Hyatt to resolve our issues internally, while I've been not publicizing my complaints, and keeping the show alive for the sake of its loyal viewers and even more loyal staff…" Olbermann added: “… joining them was a sincere and well-intentioned gesture on my part, but in retrospect a foolish one.” "Countdown" had been averaging anywhere from 200,000 to 300,000 viewers -- well below the numbers obtained when the show aired on MSNBC. Former CNN news commentator and former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer will host “Viewpoint with Eliot Spitzer,” at 8 pm -– beginning March 30. He will take the place of “Countdown with Keith Olbermann.” Olbermann, who has, for TV executives, been a longtime temperamental talent, ended his relationship with MSNBC in January 2011. He started up “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” in June 2011. Almost from the start, the relationship was a rocky one. Rumors surfaced back in January, after Olbermann declined to host special primary election coverage. This followed some frustration over technical difficulties that Current had concerning the show. The letter from Gore and Hyatt was focused on some recent changes the network recently announced, including the debut of two new shows: Bill Press in "Full Court Press” and Stephanie Miller's "Talking Liberally.”
The recession may be officially over, but marketers are under increasing pressure to find cost savings and reductions in their marketing and advertising budgets. Those efforts will impact ad shops, as many clients are asking their agencies to identify potential cost cuts that go beyond merely trimming ad-spending budgets. That’s the word from Bill Duggan, group executive vice president at the Association of National Advertisers. In a March 28 entry in his ANA blog, Duggan reported some of the findings from the ANA’s 2012 “Recession” survey that polled nearly 250 marketing executives from member ranks. The results showed that 84% of the respondents indicated they were currently challenged with identifying ways to trim costs related to marketing and advertising efforts at their companies. That’s up significantly from last year, when 77% said they were faced with that challenge. This year’s figure is even slightly higher than 2010, when the dust was just beginning to settle from the previous year’s recessionary turmoil. Nearly half of those who said they are looking for reductions cited media budgets as a target of opportunity. And 52% said they plan to ask their agencies to find additional ways to cut costs, such as reducing internal expenses that get passed on to the client. More than two-thirds of those polled said they would take a hard look at their own departmental travel and expense budgets, with an eye toward cutting them back. “The new reality is that marketers will continue to be conscientious of their spending, even as the economy recovers,” Duggan concluded. Other findings from the survey are reserved exclusively for ANA members.
MTV is turning to cutting-edge art to build interest. In partnership with an arm of MoMA and non-profit Creative Time, the trio will launch 10 original pieces of video art from a series of budding artists. Tabbed “Art Breaks,” MoMA/PS1 and Creative Time commissioned the work, and MTV will distribute it globally on its flagship network, Web site and Facebook and Tumblr pages debuting April 2. It runs for the rest of the year. MTV has a history in newfangled video art, debuting video work from director Spike Jonze. "Creative expression and experimentation are at the core of MTV's DNA … we're thrilled to use the enormous power of television to introduce audiences around the world to this pioneering art work," stated MTV President Stephen Friedman. Looking to excite younger viewers about art, the first five videos come from artists such as Mickalene Thomas, who “explores notions of beauty from a contemporary perspective, influenced by popular culture and pop art,” and Tehran native Tala Madani, who “creates stop-motion animations that utilize the bizarre and surreal to address cultural and gender differences, exploring connections between power structures, law, and language.” "MoMA PS1 is a laboratory for contemporary practice," stated Klaus Biesenbach, the MoMa chief curator at large. He touted the collaboration as a chance to allow "a younger generation of artists to experiment beyond the walls of the museum and onto the screens of a broad, international audience."
The Council for Research Excellence, the Nielsen-funded group looking to advance industry research, said it has issued a request for proposal for a study on how the use of mobile digital devices is affecting TV viewing behavior. Devices include tablets, smartphones and laptops. The CRE is seeking insight into simultaneous usage of a mobile device while watching TV -- something NBCUniversal will look to measure with Olympic programming this summer. Other issues to study: Does mobile viewing cannibalize TV viewing or help increase it? What are the most popular ways for users to access video content on a mobile device, whether via an app or another entry point? The CRE also wants some broader figures, such as estimates of reach and time spent consuming mobile media and where and when consumers are doing it the most. It wants to compare its data-collecting methods with how other industry researchers are seeking answers to these difficult-to-grasp matters. “As usage of mobile devices expands, and the lines differentiating those platforms blur, it is incumbent upon the media industry to understand the trends and prepare for the future with respect to content development, advertising and measurement,” stated Joanne Burns, an executive vice president, 20th Television/Fox, who chairs the CRE’s Media Consumption and Engagement Committee. NBCU’s research on the Olympics this summer will focus heavily on iPad consumption. On Wednesday, Disney/ABC Television Group said it would jointly conduct a study about iPad use, covering many of the same things the CRE research is targeting. Earlier this week, the CRE, which is comprised of top-level research executives, said Jeffrey Graham, director of advertising research, Americas, at Google, Judy Vogel, managing director, insights and analytics at Media Storm and Tom Ziangas, senior vice president, research at AMC Networks, had joined.
While 2011 saw fewer announcements of layoffs and buyouts in the newspaper industry than previous years, attrition continued quietly and relentlessly, with the nation’s biggest newspaper publishers trimming their combined work forces by 7.2% over the course of the year. A survey of SEC filings from nine major publishers -- Gannett Co., McClatchy Co., New York Times Co., Washington Post Co., Lee Enterprises, A.H. Belo, E.W. Scripps, and Media General -- reveals the total newspaper headcount fell from 55,537 at the end of 2010 to 51,564 at the end of 2011. Not coincidentally, all these publishers also faced continuing ad revenue declines. Gannett’s publishing division cut its work force from 22,400 full and part-time employees at the end of 2010 to 20,900 at the end of 2011, for a 6.7% reduction. Total publishing revenues fell 5.7% from $4.03 billion in 2010 to $3.8 billion in 2010, with publishing ad revenue down 6.1% and circulation revenue down 5.1%. McClatchy’s work force shrank 11.5% from 7,773 full-time equivalent employees at the end of 2010 to 6,880 at the end of 2011. Over the same period, the company’s total revenues fell 7.4% from $1.38 billion to $1.27 billion. The New York Times Co. had the smallest workforce reduction, with the total headcount of full-time equivalent employees slipping 2% from 7,414 at the end of 2010 to 7,273 at the end of 2011. It also posted the smallest revenue decline, with total revenues down 2.9% from $2.39 billion in 2010 to $2.32 billion in 2011. The Washington Post Co. cut its newspaper staff 4.5% from 2,002 employees at the end of 2010 to 1,911 at the end of 2011. WaPo’s newspaper division revenue fell 5% from $680.4 million to $648 million; the company made even bigger cuts at its struggling education division, reducing the company’s total headcount from 20,000 to 18,000. At Lee Enterprises, the company’s headcount shrank 6.5% from 6,098 full-time equivalent employees at the end of 2010 to 5,700 at the end of 2011. Lee’s total operating revenues decreased 3.1% from $780.6 million to $756.1 million. A.H. Belo experienced some of the deepest cuts in proportional terms, with the workforce shrinking from 2,200 full-time employees at the end of 2010 to 1,900 at the end of 2011 -- a 13.6% reduction. The company’s revenues decreased 5.3% from $487.3 million to $461.5 million. E.W. Scripps trimmed its newspaper workforce 6.7% from 3,000 at the end of 2010 to 2,800 at the end of 2011. However, the company’s overall headcount actually increased thanks to expansion at its TV division, which added 400 employees for a total 1,800. On the publishing side, total revenues fell 4.8% from $435 million to $414.3 million. Media General’s workforce contracted 9.7% from 4,650 full-time equivalent employees at the end of 2010 to 4,200 at the end of 2011. Meanwhile, its total operating revenues fell 9.1% from $678 million to $616 million.
With around eight weeks left of the 2011-2012 television season, Fox is still leading the pack -- but in a much narrower race than a year ago. Through March 25, 27 weeks of the season, Fox is at a Nielsen average 3.3 live-plus-same-day rating among 18- to-49-year-old viewers, down 7% from the same time frame a year ago. This is partly the result of lower “American Idol” ratings versus its 2011 edition. On the positive side, Fox has had good success with new comedy “New Girl.” Gaining on Fox is CBS -- now at a 3.1 average rating, up 4% versus a year ago. CBS has seen strong improving results from new shows “Person of Interest” and “2 Broke Girls." Though NBC continues to have trouble in many areas of the prime-time schedule, it has had major highlights and viewer improvements from “The Voice” and “Sunday Night Football." All this helped lift its fortunes by 8% so far this season to a 2.6 rating -- good for third place, currently. ABC also improved, but not as much as NBC, rising 2%. Rookie hit “Once Upon A Time” and other good new performers, such as “Revenge,” are some of the big news here. One the downside, “Dancing with the Stars” and other older scripted shows continue to underperform versus a year ago. Apart from “Vampire Diaries," CW also might look for better answers. Right now among the broader viewing pool of 18-49 viewers, it is down nearly 20% to a 0.8 rating number. In terms of pure popularity -- total average viewers -- CBS continues to be ahead with 12.01 million viewers; Fox, 9.04 million; ABC, 8.27 million; NBC, 7.72 million; Univision, 3.56 million; and CW, 1.62 million.
For many consumers the companies they do business with must demonstrate a high level of corporate social responsibility. A new study from Havas’ Euro RSCG World released at the American Association of Advertisers earlier this week found that 76% of Americans believe "business bears as much responsibility as government for driving positive social change." Given that consumer viewpoint, many agencies have adopted favorite causes or organizations as a way to drive change. For example, Interpublic and UM, both Interpublic agencies, have partnered with Free The Children. Publicis Groupe's Zenith Media has hooked up with Autism Speaks and is gearing up for a series of events in April to help drive awareness of the organization. The agency has already raised $30 million in media time and space for the group, which is being used for broadcast, print and out-of-home PSAs promoting the Autism Speaks cause. In prime time, for example, spots have aired in "American Idol" and the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Men’s Basketball Tournament. On Monday, which is World Autism Awareness Day, the agency will be sponsoring local “Walk for Autism Now” events across the country, including New York and Chicago. In addition, agency-wide offices will be conducting autism-themed awareness activities. Autism Speaks was founded in February 2005 by media power couple Bob and Suzanne Wright, grandparents of a child with autism. Bob Wright is the former longtime chairman and CEO of NBC Universal. Their friend Bernie Marcus donated $25 million to help financially launch the nonprofit group. It has since grown into the nation’s largest autism advocacy organization.