TV stations' new retrans revenues will more than double in six years -- as their TV networks look to grab more of those monthly fees. Media research company SNL Kagan says total TV retrans dollars will rise to $3.61 billion in 2017 from a $1.14 billion total in 2010. This will occur in the midst of a slowdown of multichannel subscribers in the coming years at local cable systems, satellite and telco video companies. Looking more near-term, SNL Kagan says retrans fees will rise 28% by the end of 2011, to $1.46 billion from $1.14 billion. Cable operators will continue to pay the most to TV stations -- $824 million -- while satellite video distributors will shell out $484.2 million and telco TV companies will give $147.1 million. Although TV stations' monthly fees will continue to grow, existing cable networks will still command the lion's share of all monthly subscribers' fees from video operators. For example, SNL Kagan notes that in 2011, the biggest monthly fees were paid to ESPN/ESPN HD, getting $4.76 per average sub per month. Many other established and broad-base cable networks can receive $1.00 to $3.00 per subscriber per month, according to other estimates. Currently, network owned-and-operated stations are averaging around $0.75 a subscriber per month, according to SNL Kagan. Estimates are that TV networks want anywhere from a 33% to a 50% share of these TV station revenues in the coming years. Overall, SNL Kagan sees a slowdown of multichannel subscribers as U.S. TV consumers move to over-the-top TV, Internet and other digital video options in the coming years.
"The Oprah Winfrey Show" ended her syndicated show with her biggest ratings in almost two decades -- something movie companies in particular anticipated in buying lots of TV commercials. Heading into the big summer film season, movie companies rode the popular syndicated talk show to strong results, including Disney's "Cars 2," Dreamworks' "Kung Fu Panda 2," Warner Bros.'s "Crazy Stupid Love," Universal's "Bridesmaids," Paramount's "Super 8", Sony Entertainment's "Zookeeper" and 20th Century Fox's "Mr. Popper's Penguins." "The Oprah Winfrey Show" pulled in its best viewership in 17 years -- and about double its current regular-season average. Rough estimates are that Nielsen will reveal that the 25-year-old show pulled in around 18 million viewers for its last episode -- a figure that soars over the show's current seasonal average this year, around 7.4 million viewers. The "Oprah" finale was actually three shows -- the first two with celebrities in the United Center, and the last with Winfrey alone with her usual studio audience saying goodbye. On a Nielsen household rating, the last show pulled in a 13.3 rating, following up on a 10.7 number on Tuesday and a 10.2 rating on Monday. Her regular-season household ratings averaged about a 5.5. While many advertisers crowded in for Oprah's last show, Chet Fenster, managing partner and director of content creation for Group M's MEC Entertainment, was struck by the number of movie advertisers that appeared. He says virtually all films being marketed were female-skewing and/or family movies looking for major attention from Winfrey's appearance. "It was the Super Bowl for women," he says. For years, Oprah's program was where movie stars would appear to tout their films --- and where the show enjoyed some of its highest ratings and revenue gains. Fenster says movie marketers will now have to find another home. "I'm guessing someone like 'Ellen' will probably pick up the slack," he said. He says "Oprah" was a bigger marketing tool for film marketers than early-morning or late-night TV shows, where movies might only get a short five- or six-minute segment. By contrast, "Oprah" could devote nearly a full hour of content for a film's cast or a major movie star. "Oprah" was not the only show to close the TV season with a big bang. Later that Wednesday night, TV's biggest-rated show, Fox's "American Idol" -- which also pulled in many summer film commercials -- took in a big 29.3 million viewers and a high 9.2 rating/25 share among adult 18-49 viewers. This was good news for Fox, as the 10-year-old show was up versus last season's finale: a 12% gain in adults 18-49 and a 21% improvement. A year ago, the "Idol" finale grabbed an 8.2 adults 18-49 rating and 24.2 million average viewers.
Kyocera, maker of high-end office copiers and printers, is going for substance over style when it comes to a celebrity endorsement in a new advertising campaign. "Our thinking was guided by Kyocera's president, who believes we're really in a new world where people really have to watch what they're doing in terms of controlling costs," Livingston Miller, president of Seiter & Miller, the agency behind the campaign, tells Marketing Daily. "What we tried to find was someone who was credible -- particularly an economist." For the effort, the Fairfield, N.J.-based company has enlisted economist Peter Morici to tout the financial benefits of owning a Kyocera copier over one of the other brands. "As an economist, I frequently speak with business leaders," Morici says at the onset of the spot. "And I'm shocked -- no -- outraged at how some companies manage their printing. No one tracking service costs. No idea how much they pay for supplies. No idea how much they can save." He then explains that by bringing in Kyocera, companies can manage their printing more efficiently and effectively. "It's really not that complicated," Morici concludes. In a second commercial, Morici explains that many companies buy inexpensive printers and then wind up paying more for services and supplies. "Bad fiscal policy," he chides. "The key [to the campaign] is the total cost of ownership," Miller says. "Look at the cost five or 10 years. [Buyers] can save dramatic money over a period of time. That seemed like a narrative that an economist would be able to explain." Although perhaps not as well known as Ron Howard (who is appearing in a campaign for Canon USA's cameras, as we reported), he does appear regularly on cable networks such as Fox News, CNN and MSNBC, speaking on economic issues. "People probably recognize him and his bowtie, but they wouldn't have come up with a name very well," Miller says. "How many famous economists are there? We thought it was a great thing that people would be familiar with the face and the authority, if not the name."
MyNetworkTV, operated by News Corp.'s Fox group, is dropping two game shows and going with an all-drama lineup next season. Gone are back-to-back episodes of "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" and "Don't Forget the Lyrics" on Tuesdays. They will be replaced by two straight hours of ex-CBS show "Cold Case." The network, formed when the CW and UPN merged, has gone through multiple iterations and now is essentially a syndication service running just on weeknights. It will settle in next season with back-to-back episodes of the same drama in the 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. block. In addition to dropping the game shows, the only other change this fall will be the swapping of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" on Mondays for two hours of "Law & Order: SVU," which continues to be part of NBC's lineup. USA's "Burn Notice" continues on Wednesdays, as does former CBS drama "Without A Trace" on Thursdays and former USA show "Monk," a drama with a comedy twist, on Fridays. MyNetworkTV says it reaches more than 97% of the country. News Corp. owns the stations in five of the top-10 markets; it launched the network in 2006. Sinclair Broadcast Group has 17 affiliates. The network said ratings are up in its key 18-to-49 demo and total viewers are up 13%.
DoubleTree by Hilton is launching a year-long, global rebranding initiative that includes operational, marketing, advertising, online, social media and internal/external communications channels. The multimillion=dollar awareness initiative is the largest brand campaign for the brand in nearly two decades. The McLean, Va.-based hotel chain is focusing on "bringing humanity back to hospitality." Since Hilton Worldwide acquired the brand 10 years ago, DoubleTree has transformed from a primarily U.S.-based group of hotels to a global hotel brand. The hotel is now in 17 countries across five continents, including more than 20 hotels in Europe, nearly 10 hotels in Asia, four hotels in Latin America and two hotels in Africa. Six more countries will be added to the portfolio during 2011. Marketing includes the themeline "Where the Little Things Mean Everything." TV earlier this month on major national lifestyle broadcast networks as Food Network, TNT and USA Network. TV has led to further integration through print and online ads, as well as social media, promotional and experiential events that will continue to be unveiled throughout 2011. In order to ensure the new DoubleTree by Hilton name and direction resonates with traveling customers, the brand also has invested in one of the most aggressive, rebranding strategies for its more than 250 global locations, says John Greenleaf, vice president -- brand marketing for DoubleTree by Hilton. In order to embrace and bring the "Where the Little Things Mean Everything" promise to life, "our fully integrated, multi-platform campaign approach this year will continue to convey that strong message by ensuring every brand touch point becomes strategically aligned, across all executions in both marketing communications, and in every hotel experience around the world," Greenleaf says in a release. The lead TV spot, "Anthem," shows a traveler being frustrated by a cancelled flight. When he arrives at the DoubleTree by Hilton location, he is greeted by a pleasant front desk employee who hands him a plate with the hotel chain's signature chocolate chip cookie. The spot includes a rendition of the upbeat Beatles' song "Good Day, Sunshine." The welcome of the legendary chocolate chip cookie celebrates its 25th anniversary this year and will continue to be shared not only at more than 250 hotels worldwide, but also through a variety of special events and community-based activities during 2011. More than 230 million of the sweet treats have surprised travelers since 1986. DoubleTree by Hilton anticipates presenting its 250 millionth cookie by the end of the cookie's silver anniversary celebration early next year.
Heinz's top North American executive said that a live commercial on the "Ellen" show last month for Ore-Ida produced record results. The integration backing the sweet potato fries line included a troupe of dancing fries and Ellen DeGeneres showing off the product. The brand posted its best week ever in terms of sales when the show aired, followed by a 22% lift the week after the stunt, according to Scott O'Hara. The integration, which lasted well over a minute, included Ellen giving audience members both fries and Flip cameras in order to make their own videos about the fries. "One thing I know about sweet potato fries is you can't just have one," DeGeneres said. Throughout an address to investors Thursday, O'Hara continued to speak about the need to use social media to build an array of brands -- Heinz generates $4.7 billion in sales in North America -- noting that Facebook seems almost a requirement for any campaign. The company, which has the huge ketchup brand as well as Classico pasta sauces, is increasing prices to keep up with rising commodity costs. Also in the U.S., Heinz is looking to do more business with the growing Hispanic population. "The purchasing power of this group of consumers is growing dramatically -- about six times greater in the past 20 years," O'Hara said. In Canada, notably Toronto and Vancouver, there are opportunities to attract more Asian customers, he said.
Revlon's Mitchum brand has a new global ad campaign called "Love Thy Pits" supporting Mitchum Advanced Control antiperspirant and deodorant combo. Rather than apotheosize masculinity, the campaign pokes fun at daily life with ads that show the stress incumbent upon one's daily struggles with things like job interviews and what happens when you actually get the job you are completely unqualified for -- but which you got because you lied on the application. The television, print, digital, social media, point-of-sale, out-of-home and radio effort centers on creative by ad agency Mother and production house Brand New School that makes the human torso something of a palimpsest for various pursuits, with animation representing various jobs, hobbies, escapes and disasters superimposed thereon. In the above-mentioned ad, a guy's day job hunting is reduced to iconography, with the application actually appearing on his torso. The armpit is where stress is expressed. He ends up getting a job as a translator in the Netherlands even though he doesn't speak Dutch (of course everyone speaks English there, but anyway.) Revlon's global CMO Julia Goldin calls "Love Thy Pits" Mitchum's new "manifesto." "'Love Thy Pits' captures the essence of our brand in a smart and simple way that will continue to set us apart from the category and help us launch new Mitchum Advanced Control anti-perspirant and deodorant in a bold way," she says, adding that "the colorful iconography that appears in the campaign will be used across all platforms -- TV, digital, print, out of home and point of sale -- to convey product benefits in an easy, playful manner." The effort debuted during game seven of the NBA semi-finals on ABC, and continued with an integrated effort on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" with the host doing his own interpretation of "Love Thy Pits." Mitchum also ran a 48-hour social media push (the company is touting the product's 48-hour protection.) The social effort on Facebook and Twitter has Mitchum's right and left armpits offering their take on world events and various less weighty topics. Each tweet will end with the hashtag #lovethypits. The Mitchum media plan includes national cable in the U.S. and Canada for the second and third spots -- including one that is Mitchum's first female-centric TV spot in more than 20 years. The second and third TV spots break May 30 and June 20 in the U.S. The online component of the program includes sites like ABC.com, MTVNetworks.com and MLB.com. The media placement flanks a digital version of the TV spot with banner ads featuring the "Love Thy Pits" tagline with the heart icon. In June Mitchum will have its second live commercial integration with Comedy Central's Tosh.0. And in the third quarter, Mitchum will also sponsor ESPN's "Top Plays" on SportsCenter. Goldin says that the campaign's is partly meant to build up the Mitchum brand. "We see 'Love Thy Pits' as an opportunity to strengthen our position as a go-to niche product in the category," she says, adding that Mitchum users are more loyal than the category average, and that the new effort is meant both to bring in new generation while remaining relevant to loyal users of the product. The campaign is also rolling out in South Africa in the fall, then U.K., Australia and Latin America with a focus on print and outdoor using the "Love Thy Pits" tagline with the heart icon. Additionally Mitchum's website -- and a new campaign-specific site, LoveThyPits.com -- and Facebook page were redesigned by Mother, with the armpit as profile picture on the Mitchum Facebook page, per the company. Goldin concedes that the AP/Deodorant category is mature but that the over-the-top approaches other brands have been taking makes room for a practical approach. "We learned from our research that consumers are simply looking for a product that works. We conducted research across the U.S. and U.K. and know that consumers are tired of the over the top advertising that pervades the category. Some are so fed up, they've grown mistrustful of AP/DEO brands altogether," she says. "We decided to take an honest approach using a tongue-in-cheek tone and dry humor that pokes fun at the absurd realities of everyday life and why you might need deodorant to begin with. We wanted the campaign to be smart and simple and yes, entertaining."
"Who did that?" my wife wonders when she see the TV channel change even as the remote control sits abandoned on the coffee table. I am being puckish and have been fiddling with the various mobile app extensions of the set-top boxes we have here in the family test lab: Google TV, Apple TV, Harmony Universal Remote and a Comcast Xfinity app that ties into the cable box. Add to these units the game machines, and we now resort to a small wicker basket to contain the remote controls. "This is grossly unfair," she protests. "You are the only one who even knows how to turn the TV on anymore." Hee, hee. In modern American families, Dads have to leverage power wherever they can find it. Pop culture has spent the last three decades reminding us what dunderheads fathers are. The remote control is the last pathetic shard left of paternal dominance. And in my new family, believe me, it is a small vestigial sliver of control. "You can load the Xfinity app on your iPhone and control the box, too," I say by way of conciliation. I expect this is an empty gesture on my part towards power-sharing. She won't do it. She'll never do it. "Really?" She arches an eyebrow and hunts for her phone. Drat, she did it. Just as quickly I realize my error. Doh! -- to quote another brain-dead husband. I just armed her in what could be the opening salvoes in the next generation of living room wars: dueling remotes. When I got her the iPhone 4 for Christmas ("Look, honey, we can do Face Time together") I didn't see that curve coming. This could be serious, so I deflect and distract. "You should try the HBO Go app first. It has the entire 'Game of Thrones' series we were missing before the wedding." HBO Go apps on both iPhone and iPad are pretty remarkable in that they give you access to the deep catalog of HBO series and some movies in an on-demand format. I can drill into the full series of "Deadwood," or all six and a half seasons of "The Sopranos" now without having to queue up the discs in Netflix and wait for delivery. We are so beyond appointment television in our house that I am now watching more TV series from PBS and HBO on their respective apps than I am on live TV. TV Everywhere is real, but now the serious wars begin. As a longtime Comcast customer, I am habituated to hating the brand, but I have to admit that Xfinity's apps are about to pose a genuine challenge to Netflix. The app that serves as a cable box remote control also houses "Play Now" series and films that number 60,000, according to the company. The app even recognizes which premium channels I am and am not subscribed to and allows access to their respective on-demand catalogs. If they can give me app access to content on my DVR, then Xfinity is starting to lock down my loyalty and reverse a decade of resentment over its overpricing. In my head I am starting to add up the premium media subs I am carrying now (Xfinity HD, HBO, Netflix, Amazon Prime), plus I am renting one-offs from Apple TV. The range of apps that access all of this content is now as confusing and vast as the basket of remotes. Consolidation has to happen sometime. I am not convinced that haggling over content exclusives will be the deciding factor for these warring providers, either. Integration of all the pieces and to some degree smooth functionality will help me decide with whom to consolidate. Netflix still excels in its selection but also its queuing, recommendation and film resume features. But what is most striking to me as I play across these apps and experiment with different use cases is how powerful mobile has become so quickly in the living room wars. My HBO subscription is worthwhile to me only insofar as it gives me access to the current series on-demand on my iPad anytime. Mobile is now a deciding factor in retaining some TV services. This is a very different game and dynamic, much as the prospect of multiple app-based remotes controlling the same devices in my living room could spell marital trouble. "Xfinity wants the password on our account. What is it?" my wife asks as she loads up the app. "Did I show you the wedding pictures my niece just sent?" I counter. "They really capture the beading of your dress." OK, OK. I am not proud of myself, either. But the stakes are pretty high here. <
CIMM is taking a pro-active 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. Continuing with last week's column on Watermarks (Set-Top-Box Lexicon: Watermarking) we now focus on other forms of content identification - Fingerprinting and Signatures. According to the CIMM Asset Identification Primer, Fingerprinting differs from a watermark in that fingerprinting does not add any new information to the content. It merely uses the asset's current features and characterisitcs to create a prototype identification that can then be compared to other content fingerprints on file in a reference database to see if there is a match. Here are the terms associated with content identification in its many forms: FingerprintingSee also: Signature CIMM DEFINITION : The technique in which the software identifies, extracts and then compresses characteristic components of a video, enabling that video to be uniquely identified by its resultant "fingerprint". SignatureSee also:Fingerprinting, Watermark CIMM DEFINITION : Another term for fingerprinting IdentifierSee also: Fingerprinting, Signature, Watermark. CIMM DEFINITION : A more generic term for in-coding of unique information. A unique expression in a written format either by a code, by numbers or by a combination of both to distinguish variations from one to another among a class of substances, items or objects. Please refer to the CIMM Lexicon online at http://www.cimm-us.org/lexicon.htm for additional information on these and other terms.
Traditional television -- broadcast and cable -- is a growth business, an area where media companies can add existing programming and channels. Univision, for example, wants to start three new cable networks, one for sports, one for telenovelas, and one for news/information. For many existing media companies, launching even one new network would be a massive undertaking -- especially in this TV environment. It has been a while since any media company made such a big shelf-space announcement about new traditionally distributed TV channels. ESPN and Discovery Communications were perhaps the last big groups to announce a slew of new cable channels. But for Univision, with its Spanish-language niche, the move seems to make sense. One estimate says that some 60% of all U.S. citizens will be of Latin American descent some decades from now. For a long time, TV's big business hurdle was pulling in more advertisers. Right now 16% of the U.S. population is Latin-American, but only 4% of advertising dollars goes into Latin-American-targeted media. That's an ongoing gap that Univision and its main competitor Telemundo have looked to close for some time. Traditional cable system analog spectrum has been at capacity for years, but the cable digital spectrum could possibly squeeze in some niche networks, which is where Univision would like to head. Univision grew almost 10% in prime-time ratings this year, and, at times, was the fourth place network, just ahead of NBC. Univision group is composed of two broadcast networks, Univision and TeleFutura; a popular cable channel, Galavision; and TV and radio stations. Now, it wants more. Eso está claro.
In an earlier article, I talked about why the nomenclature for GoogleTV and AppleTV is ill-conceived, and why Google and Apple are doing the marketing of these products a disservice. At the same time, the opportunity to bring Internet and digital media to the largest screen in the home is immense (as I wrote in a recent report I co-authored for the Yankee Group). The nomenclature, the product development and marketing approaches demonstrate that neither company has qualified this opportunity sufficiently. For the most part, GoogleTV is a bit of a joke in the industry given its lackluster success and Google's mishandling of its launch at CES 2011. Similarly, Steve Jobs has admitted that, till recently, AppleTV was a hobby, and I believe he is being sincere in saying so. Actually, I think both GoogleTV and Apple TV are still hobbies (read science projects) for these companies, and it is not entirely surprising. The market for these products is not realized yet. What market does exist is marginally attractive in the larger scheme of things and is already full of scrappy price competitive players like Roku, NetGear, and others. Today, perhaps the most appealing Internet video experience is from NetFlix, who reportedly accounts for 20% of Internet bandwidth consumption during peak hours and 61% of all full length movie streams. In large part, this experience is successful because it started as an extension of an existing online service, a not insignificant amount of content is available on Netflix, and it is ridiculously inexpensive, both in the equipment required and the subscription service. (There is an interesting analysis to be done on to what extent this last part is sustainable and what the implications are for network service providers, and therefore consumers, when adoption grows further. Will consumers expect ever better streaming quality and more rapid content refresh and what does that mean for Netflix?) In any event, Internet video today is, by definition, a disruptive video experience -- i.e., lower quality and choice at a lower price -- compared to what is available on pay TV programming. For those that want to argue about the infinite content choices that come with the Internet, let's just say that with Netflix and Hulu as the fastest growing streaming sites it seems pretty clear what's going on with consumer demand. For now, consumers don't know what they're missing because they haven't seen it before. Today, by connecting the biggest screen in the house to the Internet consumers are getting the typical television-like experience for most part. Changing that is the big opportunity for either or both Google and Apple, redefining the category similar to what Apple did for music. I would like to think that if the opportunity was ripe for the picking for Google and Apple they would have more well-conceived offerings. Today, there are a lot of low hanging fruit and there are lots of companies having a fine time picking at it. It will not be much longer before the shakeout and consolidation happens, just as, about a decade ago, the home networking market surged in numbers of vendors and quickly settled within a matter of two or three years. That's Moore's law at work among other things. That is when the real opportunity will emerge for big plays more suited to the Googles and Apples of the world. Sure, a few different things could happen including some existing players getting well ahead of the pack and changing the game. For example, NetFlix could conceivably set the mold for the next generation of a media company and television experience. In that case, "Netflix TV" might become the one to beat. Or it may not. Another set of interesting developments are the permutations around what I call "tethered experiences," particularly with the iPAD. Such solutions may well preempt quantum leap solutions like Google TV is intended to be, benefiting incumbent PayTV operators the most if they are quick enough to capitalize on the opportunity. Solutions from companies like IntoNow, which Yahoo recently acquired, and other things going on with auto content recognition (using watermarking and fingerprinting solutions to synchronize IP data with broadcast programming) may well create a more seamless and desirable adoption path for the mass market where traditional television programming is augmented with tethered wireless devices. In the scheme of things, the Smart TV and Internet TV phenomenon seems a safe harbor to a lot of companies (and even industries) who are getting upended by the forces of change. These include television set and Blu-ray manufacturers, and even NetFlix with its traditional physical-media business. It is not surprising to see the surge of products and services getting launched, not a few of which are ill conceived. Neither Google nor Apple need this safe harbor as a matter of survival, nor is the market ready for them. If anything, the market for portable and mobile devices and applications of both these companies far exceeds the near term prospects for either Google TV or Apple TV. I'll discuss this further in an upcoming article. It would, however, be ironic if their respective tablet and mobile device formats end up as the next definitive evolution of television viewing despite their own TV initiatives, wouldn't it?
Bill Harvey, Co-Founder, Vice Chairman and CRO of TRA, has helped that company create a new type of buying measurement using STB data and custom databases. Bill has had an illustrious career in some of the biggest ad agencies in the industry and has written extensively about advertising, privacy and research policy. In my interview with him, Bill talks about his background, the ad agency world and TRA and how it uses Set Top Box data. TRA has recently published a sector evaluation on Set Top Box data companies. Below is a short excerpt of the interview. Click here for the full version. CW: Bill, you have an extensive background in agency work. How can agencies best use all of this new Set Top Box based data in a standardize-able way to help with posting and tracking? BH: Well standardize-ability is crucially important. The objective, if I were still wearing an agency hat, would be the new business model for agencies where agencies can get off the ground of making money off of a one percent solution. I am talking about media agencies. Also I would want to put full service agencies back together again - both media and creative. Currently the business model is broken for agencies, and the way to fix it is to get paid by performance -- measurable performance, ROI specifically. Being able to have trust in an ROI measurement, whether it is marketing mix -- TRA's, or some other single source or some combination -- to be able to say if the ROI goes up according to the objective third party that we have both agreed upon (the advertiser and the agency), then the agency will get this much more. That can turn the agency business around and make it hugely successful again, mutually profitable, and the business will attract the cream of talent that it once had. CW: Nielsen has just reported that the number of TV households has declined. This is not the first time this has happened, but it seems to have struck a chord this time. Some say it is due to economics. Some say it is generational. What do you think? BH: Well if you think in terms of TV Everywhere and screens, those homes that have given up the big TV screen are probably watching video on mobile devices or iPads or computers. I would be surprised if they totally kicked the habit. It is interesting, though, because if you think about people giving up the big TV screen, it conjures up images. Does it really mean that they are changing the basic 20th century lifestyle of being couch potatoes at night? Does it mean that they are more in a lean-forward mode, spending more of their night doing things that are more social or involved in work? It would be very interesting to find out more about those people who gave up the big TV screen. But I don't think that it is going to mean that television will become less important as a medium. I think we will have to use the word "video" more often or "screen media." I think that screen media will still be the most dominant medium.
TV is increasingly a business of specialization. Yet you might scratch your head wondering why ABC has decided to let someone other than Disney-ABC program its Saturday morning network kids block. In a continuing effort to focus on its bigger cable networks and programming areas, ABC struck a deal with Litton Entertainment to program its Saturday morning block, now called "ABC Weekend Adventure." Previously, the network had used different variations for the time period, mostly from Walt Disney, under the umbrella names "ABC Kids" and "Disney One Saturday Morning." But ABC Kids had lately been airing mostly leftover Disney Channel stuff -- "That's So Raven" and "Hannah Montana." Many stations wound up pre-empting this programming, or moving it to earlier morning Saturday hours, so they could run other kids programming, or, more importantly, FCC-required educational kids fare. That's where ABC's deal with Litton comes in. It will appease stations by programming six half-hours -- which meets the FCC-required three-our minimum for educational kids programming. NBC and CBS are already in the FCC-educational programming game. NBC's Qubo kids programming block, started some five years ago, is also part of the ION network. Before that, NBC had a similar FCC-educational programming deal with Discovery Kids. CBS has a deal with Cookie Jar Entertainment for its FCC-friendly educational programming. For years, the big money to be made with kids has been on cable. Viacom's Nickelodeon now controls about half of this advertising marketplace, with Time Warner's Cartoon Network the next biggest advertising player. Disney-ABC Television, of course, has its own roster of cable networks, including the high-rated The Disney Channel, which doesn't sell regular TV commercials, and Disney XD, its mostly boy-focused network which does. Give the ABC broadcast network credit for figuring out this is not something it does well -- or that there aren't big profits for it to gain in this area. Specialization will probably continue to grow among the big TV companies as profits get harder to uncover. ABC, for example, has already cut loose some big daytime soaps. What's next? Correction: Yesterday's TV Watch, "No Surprise: Facebook Wants TV's Ad Money Right Now" incorrectly noted that, CBS's aggregated monthly time from its TV viewers is 210 million minutes. The right number is 210 billion minutes.