Discovery Channel plans to launch two very different shows with cars as a centerpiece, while a series joining two of the most popular entities in reality TV -- Mark Burnett and Alaska -- is also coming. Oprah Winfrey’s OWN network also has a series set in Alaska on tap. Discovery Channel’s “One Car Too Far” is in the vein of other survival series on the network as a British special forces veteran and American “car junkie” are let loose way off the beaten path. They have a small red car and have to work together to return to safety. Whether in the freezing cold or a muggy rainforest, they must “MacGyver-ize” the vehicle. “Fast And Loud” involves remote areas, but not dangerous ones. The series features two men prowling the country searching for “forgotten and derelict classic cars to restore” at their garage, which are then sold to the highest bidder. Burnett, who is behind “Survivor” and so many other unscripted ventures, will offer a documentary-style series, “Mark Burnett’s Alaska,” about the state’s people, history and geographic wonders. Discovery already has multiple shows involving the state, including “Flying Wild Alaska” and “Alaska: The Final Frontier.” Burnett had previously worked with Discovery sister channel TLC on “Sarah Palin’s Alaska.” Both networks are now run by Eileen O’Neill. At OWN, which is owned 50/50 by Discovery Communications and Winfrey’s production company, the network plans to launch “Married To The Army: Alaska,” focusing on military wives with deployed husbands, who “find themselves in a unique sisterhood that only they can understand,” while living in the difficult conditions of the last frontier. TLC is launching a pair of series in familiar genres: large families and little people. The “Bates Family Series” (working title) focuses on a family with 19 kids and how they manage in rural Tennessee with so many loads of laundry and other challenges. “Big Tiny: Life With the Jordans” features the “world’s smallest siblings,” with 22-year-old Bridgette weighing just 18 pounds and younger brother Brad weighing in at 35. The network also looks to offer some of the flavor of an Italian neighborhood in the Bronx and a traditionally Irish one in Boston. “Mama’s Boys of the Bronx” follows five men in their 30s in the Bronx's Little Italy who still live with their mothers. “Southie Pride” (working title) features “five South Boston women as they struggle to make a life for their families and protect the people they love the most.” Discovery Communications made a slew of announcements as it held its upfront event Thursday. Among the new series coming to Animal Planet is one that doesn’t appear to have a direct link to animals, although clearly with the outdoors. (With its “Surprisingly Human” tagline, the network has been focusing on shows about intriguing people who interact with animals.) “Treehouse Men” features a group near Seattle who build exotic treehouses for clientele ranging from 10-year-olds to billionaires. The network will also launch “Top Hooker” (working title), a competition series where 10 fishermen are split into two teams, pitting them "head-to-head in a series of insane, never-before-seen fishing challenges.” The growing Investigation Discovery, or ID, network will continue to offer up “guilty pleasure” series such as true crime “Pretty Bad Girls,” profiling “sexy criminals (who) know exactly what they want, and are willing to do anything to get it, no matter the cost. They will lie, cheat, steal, and even kill.” If murder and marriage become the focus of “Pretty Bad Girls” episodes, it is the focus of “’Til Death Do Us Part,” which “explores tumultuous, shocking, and high-stake divorces and the deadly murders linked to them.” A psychotherapist and relationship expert, and attorney and forensic psychologist, are hosts. In addition to “Married To The Army: Alaska,” other new OWN series include game show “Are You Normal, America?,” which on one level shows “we’re all pretty abnormal” and “Elura and Michelle Take Staten Island,” focusing on two ostensibly regular housewives who are former prosecutors who aren’t afraid of straight talk -- no matter who the recipient. --
Many of the complaints in a lawsuit filed by former Current TV host Keith Olbermann against Current TV on Thursday come down to marketing and promotion -- as well as technical -- issues. Among the major problems listed in his legal filing was that Current -- in what it said breached both the spirit and the letter of the contract with Olbermann -- used “broadcasting advertisements containing Olbermann's likeness without his consent.” The suit also claimed that the company could be found “linking Olbermann's name and goodwill with corporate endorsements without his consent,” adding the network was “disclosing the confidential terms of his contract” and “disparaging Olbermann publicly.” Olbermann was in the first year of a five-year deal with Current that paid him $10 million a year. “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” started June 2011, after a long run with the show of the same name on MSNBC. Shortly after the launch of “Countdown,” Olbermann’s manager Michael Price sent a list of necessary upgrades to co-Current CEO Joel Hyatt, according to the lawsuit. Olbermann requested better studio and production facilities -- a constant problem from the start -- but Price also asked for publicity and marketing improvements. Other issues included using “guest hosts for Olbermann's program without obtaining his approval, as well as “refusing to allow Olbermann to exercise his contractually granted editorial control over special election coverage.” The lawsuit also states that the network could be found “ignoring Olbermann's consultation rights” and “refusing to invest resources and hire appropriate personnel in order to professionally and competently produce the program.” Current TV co-CEOs Al Gore and Joel Hyatt fired Olbermann last week, detailing in a company blog that Olbermann did not abide by "values" the network was built around. A termination letter, according to the lawsuit, said this included major absences. Olbermann’s lawsuit says this isn’t true -- the absences were approved in advance, some for medical reasons. Olbermann is suing for the remainder of his $50 million contract and damages.
Things aren’t getting any better in the newspaper industry, judging by Gannett’s decision to implement a one-week unpaid furlough for employees of USA Today and Gannett Publishing Services, which prints and distributes USA Today and its community newspapers, as a cost-saving measure. The furlough is mandatory for all non-union staff in publishing services, USA Today and USA Weekend, the newspaper-distributed magazine, except for those USAT employees working in sports, travel, or direct sales, according to the memo from USA Today executive vice-president Susie Ellwood and Gannett Publishing Services president Evan Ray. The memo cited continuing economic uncertainty and weakness in national advertising demand, noting that “the bottom line is that business conditions continue to be mixed and the national advertising environment remains volatile.” Employees must take the furloughs before June 24, one week before the end of the second quarter. On a positive note, community publishing employees were spared from this latest round of furloughs in order to implement the company’s new subscription model at community newspapers nationwide. In February, Gannett community publishing president Bob Dickey revealed plans to create online paywalls for all its community newspapers, numbering 82 in all. Nine Gannett community papers are already charging for content. Also in February, Gannett’s community publishing division offered early retirement to 665 community publishing employees. While Dickey emphasized that the offer is entirely voluntary, he hinted that the company may be forced to implement more drastic cost-cutting strategies, implicitly including layoffs. Last year, Gannett’s publishing division (including USA Today) cut its workforce 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. Gannett Co.’s total revenues have declined from $8 billion in 2006 to $5.2 billion in 2011 -- a 35% loss in five years. This is due mostly to a steep decline in publishing advertising revenue, from $5.3 billion to $2.5 billion over the same period -- a 53.3% decline. Total newspaper circulation revenues declined 17% from nearly $1.3 billion in 2006 to $1 billion in 2011.
Virtually all U.S. portable device owners will use either their tablet or smartphones at least once during a 30-day period. Nielsen says a fourth-quarter 2011 survey showed that 88% of U.S. tablet owners will use a tablet device at least once during any particular month while watching TV; that number comes to 86% of U.S. smartphone usage and TV. U.S. owners use tablets or smartphone while watching TV more than other nations’ digital consumers. Nielsen says 26% of U.S. tablet owners user their devices “several times a day. By way of comparison, 24% of U.K. owners use their tablets “several times a day.” The numbers are 12% for those owners in Germany and 15% for those in Italy. The behaviors are much the same with smartphones when it comes to heavy usage in a particular day while watching TV: 27% for the U.S.; 24% for the U.K.; 13% for Italy and 9% for Germany. At the opposite end of simultaneous tablet-TV activity, 29% of users in Italy and Germany never use tablets while watching TV. The numbers are 20% for the U.K. and 12% for the U.S. Somewhat the same numbers for never using smartphones while watching TV: 35% for Germany; 34% for Italy; 22% for the U.K. and 14% for the U.S.
Online radio service Pandora said it crossed the 1 billion mark in total listening hours in March -- up from 975 million in February, and nearly twice the 567 million it reached in the year-earlier period. The company reported that it hit the milestone as part of a new push to share key audience metrics on a monthly basis in lieu of accurate third-party data-tracking usage across platforms. Pandora also said it reached 51 million active users by the end of March -- up 2 million from February, and a 59% gain from 32 million a year ago. Its share of total U.S. radio listening was 5.79%, an increase from 3.04% a year earlier. In a research note, JP Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth said the latest figures are ahead of its estimates for Pandora’s first quarter ending in April. Still, he noted that the increase in users and listening hours do not necessarily translate into near-term gains in revenue and profitability. The company missed revenue and earnings forecasts in its fiscal fourth quarter, despite boasting double-digit usage gains from a year ago. The downside of that growth is that it drives up Pandora’s costs in music licensing fees to record labels, while pushing down ad rates because of increased inventory. “A reminder that incremental listener hours are currently a double-edged sword for Pandora -- great for building market share and long-term revenue capability, but expensive in the near-term as it relates to variable content costs,” stated Anmuth in a research note issued Thursday. During its first quarter ending in January, the company’s premium inventory sell-through rate hit a seasonal low point, as ad spending softened while usage grew steeply. The sent ad rates were lower than anticipated, and contributed to weaker-than-expected revenue. Pandora also lowered its first-quarter and full-year revenue outlook. During the fourth-quarter conference call, Pandora CEO Joseph Kennedy stressed the company’s efforts to improve monetization by expanding its regional sales force and increasing ad revenue from its growing mobile audience, which now accounts for the majority of usage. In that regard, the company also said 400 local advertising campaigns have been confirmed this year, which it said demonstrates “increased sales momentum in the top local radio markets. In particular, it pointed to a recent campaign for the Planet Honda dealership in New Jersey and an ongoing effort for Wayne State University in Detroit. Both targeted young-skewing audiences. Separately, Pandora announced that Nissan and Suzuki will be integrated its music service into vehicles, bringing its total of auto partnerships to 18. In his note, Anmuth suggested the auto market represents fertile ground for the company, since half of terrestrial radio listening happens in the car. But he also pointed to a cloud on the horizon in the form of a report that Procter & Gamble is limiting employees’ use of certain bandwidth-gobbling sites, including Pandora and Netflix. With about 18% of listening taking place in the workplace, “we would not want to see this become a trend, particularly as desktop hours are well-monetized,” he wrote.
New York, New Yorker Lead ASME Finalists The American Society of Magazine Editors has revealed the finalists for the 2012 National Magazine Awards, listing 52 titles across 20 categories, chosen from among 1,804 entries from 270 publications. As in previous years, The New Yorker and New York made a particularly strong showing, with six nominations each. Other magazines receiving multiple nominations include GQ, with five; Wired, with four; and The Atlantic, Esquire, Harper’s Magazine, Bloomberg Businessweek, National Geographic, Real Simple, Time, and the Virginia Quarterly Review, with three nominations each. A number of titles received two nominations. For general excellence in print, general-interest magazine finalists include Bloomberg Businessweek, GQ, New York, The New Yorker and Vice. For general excellence in women’s magazines, finalists include Glamour, More, O, The Oprah Magazine, Real Simple and W. The lifestyle general excellence finalists include Bon Appetit, Country Living, Garden & Gun, House Beautiful and Texas Monthly. In the design category, finalists include Bloomberg Businessweek, GQ, Interview, New York, and Wired. Photography finalists include GQ, Interview, National Geographic, Virginia Quarterly Review and Vogue. For reporting, finalists include The New Yorker, with two nominations, The Atlantic, Los Angeles and Vanity Fair. ASME also revealed the finalists for the “Magazine of the Year” category, honoring excellence in print and digital platforms. The finalists in this overall category are Esquire, New York, The New Yorker, Popular Mechanics and Time. The awards presentation, sponsored by ASME in association with the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, is scheduled for May 3. The full list of finalists in all categories is available on the ASME Web site here. Bonnier Taps Pulse for Mobile Distribution Bonnier Corp. is making 20 publications available on Pulse, a mobile app designed to make it easier to consume news on mobile phones and tablets. The move follows a test run with Popular Science beginning in July 2011; since the number of Pulse subscribers for Popular Science has risen from 60,000 to over 3 million. The expanded partnership will make 19 other Bonnier titles available on Pulse, including American Photo, Conceive, Field and Stream, Garden Design, Outdoor Life, Parenting, Popular Photography, Saveur, Scuba Diving, Ski, Skiing, Sound + Vision, TransWorld Surf and Working Mother.BHG’s Must-Have Recipes App Is Must-HaveBetter Homes & Gardens is making strides in the mobile arena, with over 1 million downloads for its revamped iOS Must-Have Recipes app after just four months, according to MIN Online. Drawing recipes from the Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook, the app also offers 75 how-to-videos, a personal notes section, and customizable recipes, MIN reports. It also includes a “favorite recipes” section and a shopping list function. Parenting Launches “The Moment” Bonnier Corp.’s Parenting Group and Hallmark have unveiled a new six-month-long campaign focused on helping parents capture and share the “moments” of family life. The campaign includes print, digital and social media elements, leveraging blogs, Facebook, Twitter, online video, contests, Pinterest, and mobile apps, among other channels. An online “Moment Mosaic” contest gives parents the opportunity to see their candid photos appear in Parenting and on Parenting.com, while a “Moment Video Maker” tool enables users to create interactive video montages of their favorite photos. Parenting.com is also launching “365 Moments Blog,” a new blog featuring the photography and insight of mom blogger Jennifer Johnson, who chronicled a year of her daughter’s life with a daily photo and blog post. Hallmark is also sponsoring a “Quote of the Day Mobile App,” available for the iPhone, which give users tips and daily quotes on celebrating everyday moments.
Looking at the ratings that matter most to advertisers, CBS and Fox have had improving TV seasons this year. Through January 15, Nielsen’s C3 data -- commercial ratings plus three days of time-shifted viewing -- has CBS and Fox in a virtual dead heat when it comes to 18-49 viewers. CBS is pulling in 3.263 million viewers on average in prime time to Fox’s 3.241 million. A report from Santa Monica, Calif.-based media agency RPA indicates that CBS has gained 7% in 18-49 viewers, while Fox has climbed 12% over the same time a year ago. RPA says shows like “X Factor," while not pulling big numbers, still contribute to Fox’s efforts. NBC and ABC have witnessed declines -- NBC dropping 9% to 3.048 million among 18-49 viewers through C3 and ABC losing 5% to 2.652 million. Among the cable networks, ESPN still pulls in top viewing data among both total viewers and 18-49 viewers: 3.583 million overall viewers and 1.719 million 18-49 viewers. But according to the analysis, ESPN lost 7% in total average viewers and 10% in 18-49. Considering all networks, RPA says ESPN ranks in fifth place after Fox in total average viewership. While Nickelodeon has had its own troubles with losing kid viewers, per Nielsen, RPA says overall viewership is still pretty robust in C3 data -- grabbing nearly 2.5 million, which is down 6% versus a year ago, good for seventh place among all networks. Plus, it is up 1% to 597,000 viewers among 18-49 viewers. Among younger 18-34 viewers, the network has gained 9% to 331,000. USA Network made improvements in total viewership -- one of three networks to do so in the top 10. (CBS and Fox were the other two). USA gained 3% to 2.658 million, which was second to ESPN. USA lost 3% of its 18-49 viewers to land at 986,000. TBS has performed better than USA this season in 18-49, though down versus a year ago. It lost 1% to 1.042 million. USA is still tops over TBS when it comes to older 25-54 viewers, now at 1.019 million compared to TBS at 979,000). CW continues to suffer, although RPA notes it's still in the top 10 among all networks. It lost 19% in overall viewers to 1.4 million; down 29% among 18-34 viewers to 402,000; and 24% lower among 18-49 viewers to 744,000.
As Internet-based original video content platforms emerge, companies like YouTube and Machinima have already claimed seats at the table and are generating significant revenues. The veterans are taking notice and scrambling to find their place. Some will move quickly and get a prime seat, some will buy theirs (e.g. Alloy’s recent purchase of Smosh), and others will move cautiously running the risk of being relegated to the kids table.So what will it take for the big television players -- the programmers and producers -- to be the big players in IP-based video? What do the Viacoms, Scripps and Fremantles need to be doing to sit at the head of the table? Study the economics and invest anyway.It’s time to commit the resources.It’s hard to justify allocating significant money to a business that currently generates additional pennies when focusing on your core business still generates additional dollars. Or even worse, substitutes pennies for dollars. When the biz dev folks at NBC run the numbers, it’s hard to convince management that devoting resources to create original Web video content should come at the expense of creating the next "Real Housewives" franchise. It’s hard for MTV Networks to justify that watching "South Park" episodes on Comedycentral.com trumps watching them on the linear cable channel -- an episode on television has about 14 ad units, while the same episode streamed online currently has about six. Why would Mark Burnett want to develop and produce the next "Survivor" for Yahoo when the profit margins are miniscule? It wasn’t long ago that broadcast networks and television studios felt the same way about cable programming and the related economics. ABC and Carsey Werner probably thought "House Hunters" was quaint. A show about shopping for a home that costs under $50,000 per episode? That’s not quality programming, and there’s not big money in that -- we need to focus on creating a lead out for "Roseanne."Turns out, Scripps built a pretty good business with such lower-cost niche programming that viewers seem to enjoy—and now ABC does "Extreme Home Makeovers" in prime time. Today, Revision 3’s “Epic Meal Time” costs just a few thousand dollars per episode to make and each one averages 3 million views across YouTube and other platforms. They are making money, as are others -- the economics can work! While it’s true that revenue pales in comparison to a hit TV show, that is evolving. Inject the company with new DNA.It’s time to expand the culture.There’s a reason that Rolling Stone didn’t create MTV, and MTV hasn’t give birth to a YouTube. On the production side, Aaron Spelling didn’t build an Endemol, and Endemol hasn’t launched a Machinima. It’s not in their cultural DNA.The same people that think about programming, producing and monetizing “television” aren’t going to be the out-of-the-box thinkers for original video content creation, marketing and monetizing on new platforms. They are great executives and managers, but not great entrepreneurs and inventors. They are celebrated internally and each department head of the core business has a seat at the table -- digital usually has only one. Most of these executives manage functional specialists to create content and manage brands and have sizable infrastructure. Cross-functional, entrepreneurial roles that nurture the new and keep costs down are not the norm.Leverage your competitive advantages.It’s time to utilize your assets.The big players have advantages that upstarts don’t. They have the resources -- financial and personal -- and don’t have to worry about raising the next round of funding. They can “pivot” easier as they experiment and fail. Networks have promotional loudspeakers in their existing cable/Web properties that these new companies would kill for. Production companies have access to talent and production resources that the new entities are trying to build. The brand names, infrastructure and resources of these companies can attract the great talent that exists in the new world. The dinner bell is ringing. It’s time to take a seat. -
Our neighbors to the north announced the other day that the Royal Canadian Mint will stop distributing pennies -- joining others like Britain, Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands, in dumping the local equivalent of one-cent coins. Cash transactions will now be rounded to the nearest nickel. What an intelligent and progressive idea, especially since it generally costs most governments more than a cent to produce the dammed things -- and nothing in the world costs a penny anymore. What is more annoying than watching your purchase ring up to some odd six cents as the clueless cashier starts to count out four pennies as part of your change? For years I have dropped them just outside the door of stores, hoping that it might be something of a hint that I don't want pennies. But I’m sure all I have done is make some five-year-old's day. Alternatively, I tell the cashier to keep the extra few cents, hoping that they might one day return the favor. But they never do. To kick-start some common cents (ROFLMAO), perhaps we should declare an international day to "Get Rid Of Stupid Stuff We Don't Really Need." Here are some other things on my list: Anonymous comment sections. If you don't have the cojones to own it, then don't write it. The occasional nugget is buried under a mountain of smart-assed failed efforts at humor and unbridled retribution. It degrades our society. Dubstep. There is nothing melodical about it, but simply crushing drops, brain-rattling drums and electronically generated riffs designed to mug audiences whose sensibilities are already compromised by gin and ecstasy. Instead, drop a spaghetti pot over each head and give it a few rhythmic smacks with a ball-peen hammer. Repeat as needed. The.9 added to the price of each gallon of gas. Really? Do you think it still fools people after all this time? Especially since what precedes it is now getting up in the $5 range. At least donate it to help repave some roads. Keith Olbermann. Shoulda shut up and stayed at ESPN. Been straight downhill ever since. Algorithms. If the math majors want to huddle and trade funny algorithms, then god bless. But if your business model is dependent on some vague concept involving data and algebraic equations that promise to radically transform the world of advertising, take a deep breath and rethink. Corner bugs. You can show me your channel logo from now until the End of Time, and it will NEVER become a brand in my mind. It will remain an annoying bit of crap trashing up a corner of my screen -- along with all the other digital crap you now insert across the bottom of my TV trying to monetize every second of my viewing. It is like walking across the casino floor in Atlantic City: makes you want to shower quickly. "All-natural" labels. Who gives a shit? You know it is BS, I know it is BS, and I stopped buying based on it years ago. Yeah, it worked for about 20 minutes, but it doesn't any more. BTW, neither does "organic" or "eco-" or "green." Especially if it costs 25% more. Fox News. Never was, never will be. Why bother? Empty comment boxes. I am certain you have your own short list of "Stupid Stuff We Don't Really Need." Share it. Bonus points for funny.