Looking to add some new viewers beyond its core young women crowd, CW will launch four new series for the fall -- three dramas and a reality show. High on the list is "Ringer." It stars Sarah Michelle Gellar as a woman on the run who assumes her twin sister's identity, only to discover that her sister's life is just as complicated and dangerous. It goes at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, following "90210" at 8 p.m. Another familiar star to young female viewers is Rachel Bilson, starring in "Hart of Dixie" as Dr. Zoe Hart, a sophisticated New Yorker who finds herself practicing medicine in a small Southern town. It runs at 9 p.m. after "Gossip Girl" on Monday. New incoming CW president Mark Pedowitz stated: "Our priority this season was adding more original programming this upcoming year, and we've done that with shows that will appeal to our core audience of women, while also bringing in new viewers... We're being aggressive with smart, bold scheduling moves designed to improve key time periods and grow our audience." On Wednesday, "H8R," hosted by Mario Lopez, brings celebrities face to face with the people who love to hate them. It goes at 8 p.m., followed by the first-ever All-Star Edition of "America's Next Top Model" at 9 p.m. On Thursday, the CW's best-rated show, "The Vampire Diaries," gets a companion "The Secret Circle," from producer Kevin Williamson, about a coven of powerful witches. "Circle" starts at 9 p.m., after "Diaries" at 8 p.m. "Nikita" moves to Friday at 8 p.m., to pair with "Supernatural" at 9 p.m. The CW will have three mid-season shows, the returning "One Tree Hill" -- and two reality efforts. "Re-modeled" is where hundreds of small modeling agencies around the world come together in a new venture called The Network. In "The Frame," teams of people live in a stripped-down version of their home living space for up to 8 weeks, with each living in one 'frame,' Couples cannot physically see one another, but each "frame" is rigged with plasma screens and communication devices that allow for visual and verbal interaction. The CW's 2011-2012 Fall Prime-Time ScheduleMonday 8:00-9:00 p.m. Gossip Girl (New Time) 9:00-10:00 p.m. Hart of Dixie (New Series) Tuesday 8:00-9:00 p.m. 90210 (New Night) 9:00-10:00 p.m. Ringer (New Series) Wednesday 8:00-9:00 p.m. H8R (New Series) 9:00-10:00 p.m. America's Next Top Model Thursday 8:00-9:00 p.m. The Vampire Diaries 9:00-10:00 p.m. The Secret Circle (New Series) Friday 8:00-9:00 p.m. Nikita (New Night) 9:00-10:00 p.m. Supernatural
In another important step toward general advertising marketplace assimilation, the audiences of local Hispanic TV outlets will soon be measured via the same marketplace currency as the rest of the local U.S. TV marketplace. Nielsen Tuesday said that effective with its November local TV measurement cycle, all local ratings for Hispanic programming will be based on the Nielsen Station Index (NSI), which is the same sample used to measure all of the U.S. local English-language TV outlets. Concurrent with the change, Nielsen will officially retire its Nielsen Hispanic Station Index panels, which had been used to measure how Hispanic households watched local TV. "We believe using a single underlying currency sample that allows reporting of both general and Hispanic markets will afford additional convenience, ease of use and flexibility to all client constituencies, both buyers and sellers," Nielsen said in a notice sent to clients on Tuesday. Nielsen said it is able to make the transition to a single, integrated English- and Spanish-language sample now, because its general market panels are now representative enough of Hispanic households to measure their viewing behavior accurately. The move follows an earlier convergence that took place in Nielsen's national TV audience sample in 2006, when the major Spanish-language TV networks - Univision and Telemundo - began selling their advertising inventory on the basis of a single, unified general market sample, after years of maintaining a separate national Hispanic ratings service.
Shocking the TV sports programming world, longtime sports TV executive Dick Ebersol, chairman of the NBC Sports Group, has resigned. Running NBC Sports programming since 1989, Ebersol was known in recent years for focusing on the high-profile -- and until recently, profitable -- Olympics franchise. Veteran sports TV executive and currently president of the NBC Sports Group Mark Lazarus takes over as chairman. No reason was given for Ebersol's departure, but reports suggest he had a major contract dispute with current NBC Universal CEO/EVP of Comcast Corp. Steve Burke. Burke stated: "Dick Ebersol is an incredible talent whose contributions to the company over the last four decades in sports, news and entertainment are unsurpassed." Burke went on to note that Ebersol has produced everything from the Olympics and "Sunday Night Football" to the Triple Crown, NHL games and major golf and tennis events. In an earlier life as an NBC executive, Ebersol helped create "Saturday Night Live." Ebersol stated: "I have always said this business is about relationships, and I have been fortunate enough to have more deep and meaningful friendships than any man could imagine." The news of Ebersol's departure is a sudden one. Earlier this week at NBC's upfront presentation, Ebersol touted NBC Sports efforts -- and the Olympics' continued TV programming and marketing events. He also threw out the obligatory NFL footballs to advertising executives. Ebersol's association with the Olympics has been his biggest success for NBC over the last few decades. In recent years, Olympics broadcasts have given NBC sharp viewership gains over regular prime-time fare. This has been one the key positive stories for the network. But the Winter Olympics in Vancouver in 2010 was the first event to lose money -- around $220 million. Ebersol blamed a still-lingering recession for the weakened ad revenue results. Analysts say the Summer Olympics in London next year will also lose money for the network. All this comes as NBC is about to bid on the next round of Olympics Games -- the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia and the 2016 Summer games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Many expect bids to continue to rise past the $2.2 billion deal that NBC made for the last two Olympics packages -- Vancouver and London -- a deal that was much higher than other bids. This also comes just four months after Comcast took control of NBC Universal. After the Comcast takeover, Ebersol started up the NBC Sports Group, which includes Comcast-owned channels Versus and Golf Channel, as well as regional sports networks.
As usual for CBS over the last few years, the network didn't have much room on its fall schedule and will launch just five new shows next season -- as well as bringing back the high-profile "Two and a Half Men." Although network executives touted continued stability for its prime-time programming, Nina Tassler, president of CBS Entertainment, says: "We wanted to get more women [this year]". In that vein, CBS adds another female-targeted comedy "2 Broke Girls" at 8:30 p.m., about two young women waitressing at a greasy spoon. It replaces "S#*! My Dad Says." The much-in-the-news "Two and a Half Men" continues with Ashton Kutcher replacing Charlie Sheen. On Friday, a new medical drama about a neurosurgeon who receives moral guidance, "A Gifted Man," gets an 8 p.m. time period. "It has very strong female appeal," says Kelly Kahl, executive senior vice president, strategy for CBS Entertainment. With the change to Kutcher from Sheen, CBS had few concerns that "Two and a Half Men" would not be back: "We worked under the assumption that we would have a show. We did have backup plans, but we didn't have to go there," says Kahl. Thursday got a big revamped look with new shows -- comedy "How To Be a Gentleman," about an unusual friendship between a traditional, refined writer and an unrefined personal trainer, at 8:30 p.m. and drama "Person of Interest," about a presumed dead former-CIA agent who teams up with a mysterious billionaire, at 9 p.m. "Person" replaces "CSI," at 9 p.m., which had been a top-rated show, but dropped in ratings in recent years. "CSI" now moves to Wednesday at 10 p.m. "We have stability at every hour," says Kahl. CBS takes on new drama "Unforgettable" at 10 p.m. on Tuesday, about a police detective who can remember every single detail of her life. The show replaces "The Good Wife," which heads to Sunday at 9 p.m. CBS made a rare move on Saturday -- in the hope of getting younger viewers -- and will air new episodes of "Rules of Engagement" at 8 p.m. This will be followed by a comedy block called "Comedy Time," where reruns of CBS comedies will play. It will be followed by two hours of "Crimetime Saturday" featuring reruns of CBS crime dramas. Two mid-season shows are on deck: "Undercover Boss" will return, as well as a new police drama, "The Two-Two" from Robert DeNiro and Jane Rosenthal. CBS says it is only debuting seven drama pilots, all of which were good enough to be added to the schedule. "We needed another night," jokes Tassler. "We needed a Schnrusday." CBS Television Network 2011-'12 Prime-Time Fall Schedule (N=New, NT=New Time, all times EST/PST) Monday 8:00-8:30 p.m. How I Met Your Mother 8:30-9:00 p.m. 2 Broke Girls (N) 9:00-9:30 p.m. Two and a Half Men 9:30-10:00 p.m. Mike & Molly 10:00-11:00 p.m. Hawaii Five-0 Tuesday 8:00-9:00 p.m. NCIS 9:00-10:00 p.m. NCIS: Los Angeles 10:00-11:00 p.m. Unforgettable (N) Wednesday 8:00-9:00 p.m. Survivor: South Pacific 9:00-10:00 p.m. Criminal Minds 10:00-11:00 p.m. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation(NT)Thursday 8:00-8:30 p.m. The Big Bang Theory 8:30-9:00 p.m. How to Be a Gentleman (N) 9:00-10:00 p.m. Person of Interest (N) 10:00-11:00 p.m. The Mentalist Friday 8:00-9:00 p.m. A Gifted Man (N) 9:00-10:00 p.m. CSI: NY 10:00-11:00 p.m. Blue Bloods Saturday 8:00-8:30 p.m. Rules of Engagement (NT) 8:30-9:00 p.m. ComedyTime Saturday 9:00-10:00 p.m. CrimeTime Saturday 10:00-11:00 p.m. 48 Hours Mystery Sunday 7:00-8:00 p.m. 60 Minutes 8:00-9:00 p.m. The Amazing Race 9:00-10:00 p.m. The Good Wife (NT) 10:00-11:00 p.m. CSI: Miami
Honda, which became sole provider of the Indy V-8 engines that power the cars in the IndyCar series starting in the 2006 season, has a big marketing push on deck for this year's keystone event of the series, the Indianapolis 500. In addition to sponsoring the pre-race show on ESPN, as well as on ESPN.com, Honda has a whole fleet of print, TV, and interactive ads during the coverage. Honda will also have a branded venue at the race. The Torrance, Calif. company has been running banners on ESPN.com all month, and will expand that to a Web site takeover on the day before the race (May 28). The company is also doing print ads and custom creative around Indy 500 editorial content in Road & Track and Sports Illustrated, plus a full-page USA Today ad in Indy editorial this week. The TV advertising program includes two new TV spots directed to regional spot buys -- one of which promotes the Fastest Seat in Sports sweepstakes and the other promoting the Civic Racing Style Sweepstakes, a cross-promoted event with Macy's and Izod. Honda dealers are also doing point-of-purchase elements to promote the sweepstakes. The efforts are via long-time AOR Santa Monica, Calif.-based RPA. The company ran two campaigns during last year's 94th Indianapolis 500 that touted Honda as the single engine supplier to IndyCar. The ads promote both Honda and its Honda Performance Development arm in Santa Clarita, Calif. In addition to being the engine supplier to IndyCar, HPD also develops the engine technology for sibling Acura engines in the 2009 American Le Mans Series. Next year Chevrolet comes back to Indy and Lotus enters the series as well. That means that in 2012, both Chevrolet and Honda will develop engines for the series.
Univision, which has been trying to increase its reality programming as a balance with its telenovelas, announced it will jump on the weight-loss trend, started by "The Biggest Loser" and about to be advanced with ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition." "Si Se Puede (It's Possible)" will include three to four Hispanic families looking to drop weight and top each other. "Biggest Loser" creator Dave Broome and Emilio Estefan are producers. It is expected to launch early next year, weekly, in prime time. The show, with a format that includes a panel of judges, trainers and nutritionists, offers ample opportunities for brand integration much like the NBC hit. Estefan stated that he is inspired by the opportunity to "produce television that will promote healthier and happier families, especially at a time when obesity amongst Latinos is at an all-time high." Word came as Univision held its upfront event Thursday and confirmed it has three new cable networks coming in 2012, one each focusing on news, sports and telenovelas. Also coming in the reality genre is the show "Protagonistas (Novela Stars)," which is sort of a cross between "American Idol" and "Big Brother." Aspiring novela stars live together in a house with their movements monitored 24/7 and compete to be the next luminary. There is also a competition series, "Pequeños Gigantes (Little Giants)," among 28 child entertainers (singers, actors, dancers, etc.), with seven judges. Univision announced four new novelas -- three from Mexican broadcasting partner Televisa -- and one for which Univision's studio is a co-producer. Randy Falco, executive VP and COO at Univision, stated that Univision's decades-long relationship with Hispanics "makes us one of the leading media brands in this country and the gateway to connect with this consumer." Also coming is a new annual awards show to honor individuals making an impact on Hispanic America, known as "Premios Univision (Univision Awards)." Among the offerings at sister network TeleFutura is series "MIA," about a brave female undercover cop in Miami Beach working in an auto-theft ring who finds herself in love with two men -- one good, one evil. Cable network Galavision will launch a cooking competition show where two chefs face off with a mix of ingredients.
Belo CFO Carey Hendrickson said the station group has experienced cancellations by auto advertisers related to the trouble in Japan, but not at an unanticipated level. That has "remained within our initial expectations" for the second quarter," he told investors Wednesday. Since some auto marketers have had to deal with issues affecting the manufacturing chain, Belo had previously adjusted its expectation. It said it expected spot dollars in the second quarter -- excluding political dollars -- to be in the flat to low-single-digit percentage range, compared to the same period a year ahead. Hendrickson did say that it is notable that "the disruption in automotive [spending] related to Japan is a temporary setback and a supply issue, not a demand issue." The company is optimistic that production for Toyota will return to a more normalized level in the third quarter. "Certainly, we believe when there are cars to be sold they will turn to television to do it," he said. Belo operates 20 stations in 15 markets, including the ABC station in Dallas, CBS stations in Houston and St. Louis and NBC stations in Seattle and Portland. On potential acquisitions, Hendrickson said Belo would consider them primarily if they could generate a duopoly in a particular market, notably a chance to add to the CBS affiliate in Houston. In general, the acquisition market, he said, has a "disconnect" in what sellers are seeking and buyers looking to pay. Sellers want to use prices based on performance this year and going forward. Buyers want to use costs based on performances during the past few rougher years.
CIMM is taking a proactive role in advancing new-media nomenclature and processes with both its Lexicon(terms and definitions associated with Set-Top Box data measurement) and recently released Asset Identification Primer (glossary of asset terms). These documents form the basis of the Word-A-Week column, which offers a common language for Set-Top Box nomenclature that can expedite the roll-out of the data for its many industry applications. Unique identifying code is vitally important in a variety of fields, whether to prevent theft or, in the case of media, for example, copyright infringement. The watermark that is embedded into content after its point of creation has to be permanent, imperceptible, standardize-able and constant -- capable of withstanding changes or modifications in that content over time. According to the Asset Identification Primer, current digital watermarking methods allow for images to be altered without losing the ability to extract and read the watermark. The definitions below offer insight into the basics of watermarking as a generic term for media. In the following weeks we will examine Ad Codes and Program Codes. Both are specific forms of Watermarking as it pertains to media and Set-Top-Box data measurement requirements. Digital WatermarkingSee also: Watermark CIMM DEFINITION : The process of embedding information into a digital signal in a way that is difficult to remove. The signal may be audio, pictures or video, for example. If the signal is copied, then the information is also carried in the copy, so it prevents copyright infringement. A signal may carry several different watermarks at the same time. WatermarkSee also:Ad-ID, Metadata, Program Code, Digital Watermarking CIMM DEFINITION : An element or a specific identifier that is added to content to prevent copyright infringement. This code is embedded in the signal. Note: According to the Asset ID Primer, there are two types of watermarking: 1. Audio Watermarking, which hides information in an audio file, with that information audible to the listener or affecting the audio quality of the original file; and 2. Video Watermarking, which is an indelible pattern embedded in video content that is imperceptible to the eye but can also be deliberately visible. Please refer to the CIMM Lexicon online at http://www.cimm-us.org/lexicon.htm for additional information on these and other terms.
Looking for something different in network television? Or just maybe more quality content? With apologies to time-shifting devices everywhere, it still comes down to finding more time periods for programming. New for next season, CBS wants to open the door a bit on the one night network programmers abandoned years ago: Saturday. CBS will run original episodes of its longtime comedy utility player, "Rules of Engagement," in the 8 p.m. time slot, followed by some assorted comedy reruns. The thinking here is that young men might tune in for a quick half-hour of yucks. This is a decent strategy. A couple of years ago ABC started up Saturday night college football, which has reaped sturdy results. Like ABC, CBS won't be spending much money on this programming. Original episodes of "Rules" has been a great off-the-bench comedy, giving other CBS shows a little downtime usually right before bigger and key TV periods for networks -- February and May. CBS would need this strategy for next season. CBS' Nina Tassler joked the network had so much good stuff in the works it needed to invent another night of the week, which she offered up as "Schnursday". Even ABC believes there is more to be gained from Friday, which offers up better ad revenues than Saturday, but has been definitely viewed as a lesser priority than Sunday through Thursday. New ABC Entertainment chief Paul Lee said Friday could be the place for the return of "family night" programming. A footnote here: Lee's previous post was running the cable network ABC Family. Detractors might say there are better ways to go about this -- looking long-term. Digitally, video-demand-services still are part of the traditional TV environment and could still command some level of traditional TV advertising dollars. Lesser avenues, of course, are straight-to-Internet shows, which have a much weaker business model at the moment. But networks won't see it this way anytime soon. And it's not just about advertising revenue. It's the current value of TV program marketing. TV still draws more viewers and more viewing time than anytime else -- dwarfing all new digital platforms combined. And that still means one big thing: It's where viewers still find out about new shows. For all that Facebook and Twitter does to help socially connect viewers with TV shows, watching on-air TV promos is still the dominant way viewers find out about what's new on TV. You want to know why NBC's "The Voice" opened so well, with an eye-popping 5.0 rating among 18-49 viewers? It was the wall to wall, on-air TV promos efforts on the NBC network and just about every single NBC and Comcast cable network and local cable spot affiliation known in the business. One competing TV marketing executive guessed the value of that launch promotion was akin to a theatrical movie opening-- some $35 million. So if TV executives continue to look under rocks and behind corners for any possible elusive place to traditionally park their programs --- even in light of major digital TV business changes coming down the road --- you'll know why. They are sticking to their own rules of engagement -- of viewers.
Last week there was an important conference called the On Demand Summit 3.0. Now, I'm not a big fan of the use of the word "summit" -- unless there's a meeting between world leaders to sign treaties. I mean, this is still television. But there were big issues discussed, including the industry's view of the on-demand advertising opportunity. The opening keynote was given by Carl Fremont, EVP Global Media Director of Digitas, who delivered a strong, thought-provoking message on the challenges and the opportunity ahead for advertising in the free VOD space. He noted that we are in a transformative time, when a consumer-led market is becoming increasingly demand-driven -- and that part of our task in the (near) future will be to "test and champion new video formats, especially those that create consumer engagement." Digitas has coined this "Active Branding." Much of Fremont's address focused on the first public release of the Phase 1 report of the Advanced Advertising Media Project, or AAMP. (Disclosure: my company conducted this study and authored the report.) This three-phase, industry-wide initiative was designed to test and quantify the impact of advertising within free on-demand television. This first phase report provided the results of in-depth interviews with twenty key media decision-makers. Among the issues those decision-makers discussed: a concern with the pace of change in the on-demand space, and gaps in media analytics and consumer research. There was a call for dynamic ad insertion as a potential game changer. There were frustrations with past efforts and "frozen perceptions" that need to be addressed. Still, as Fremont noted, there was a continuing expectation of major growth for FVOD advertising, and the potential for a powerful new role for VOD as a platform that would act as a bridge between linear TV and online -- one that combines the characteristics and attributes of both. He reported that VOD is seen as "advanced television, with differences that permit viewer-directed, intentional engagement." Thoughtful ideas. There was a call for a greater priority on understanding the end user, and on more product-marketing-like thinking in promoting VOD. All of this led to a singular conclusion: that the industry must embrace a larger vision for VOD. Those words are important in many ways now. As we all deal with the day-to day tasks of mastering and creating value from new capabilities, let's not forget the "vision thing" (as a former president once said.) The final point was a call to action to join the AAMP initiative by emailing aamp@BlackArrow.tv. To download a free copy of the findings, access the website at http://aamp.BlackArrow.tv Vision and direct response. Well done.
As the broadcast networks head boldly into another season, they should reflect back on their big mistakes -- the ones that may be hard to recover from. Think about NBC's 10 p.m. Jay Leno move and, a decade ago, ABC's over-running of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" These risks may have deepened viewer erosion for those networks, a nasty trend that has continued for over two decades, hurting networks and advertisers. Instead of holding the line, NBC -- courtesy of now departed chief Jeff Zucker -- went all out a couple of years back in making the Leno move. Irwin Gotlieb, global chief executive officer of media agency giant GroupM, called the Leno move an unacceptable risk. Robert Greenblatt, the new chairman of NBC Entertainment, didn't mention the Leno move in his recent upfront address. However, he did admit to a problem with the 10 p.m. time period. That's an honest assessment. Now a couple of years removed from this major programming error, the situation has worsened for the 10 p.m. time period, where viewing of time-shifted programming has made big inroads. The question to ask now is, "Are other networks making risks of this type that will be hard to recover from?" Not really. In fact, things have gone the other way. Networks are so risk-averse now that they continue to cut costs -- even on sure things. Fox's "House" -- still a top-rated drama on network television -- is coming back for an eighth season. But Fox decided to cut salaries of three actors in the ensemble cast. Two accepted the lower salaries, and one, Lisa Edelstein, has decided to leave. Is it risky to schedule too many sitcoms, or too many "fairy-tale like" drama shows, or too many singing competitions or singing-themed scripted shows? Maybe a bit. Sure, "Lone Star" failed miserably. But it was only one show. It didn't take down what amounted to around 20% of NBC's prime-time schedule which is what the Leno 10 p.m. move did. And the move didn't just affect the 10 p.m. time period. Now back in his late-night time slot, Leno's ratings are not nearly as dominant as they were before the Conan O'Brien fiasco. That's a double-whammy for NBC. Few networks now have time to see if something really risky might work -- if a different kind of show can grow, if a new programming scheme can work out. These are unacceptable risks in today's TV environment. So networks give consumers sitcoms that look like sitcoms, dramas that look like dramas, reality shows that look like reality shows. Recently announced new shows from NBC, ABC and Fox haven't seemed all that unique to many media agency executives over the last several days. Networks have far fewer chips to play with these days. NBC's Greenblatt said honestly that it would take "years" for NBC to get back on top. That might indeed happen. But if it does, it will be at a much lower rating level. And advertisers may not want wait around until it happens.