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• restaurants Subway Takes On Grease In Product Launch Spots by Karlene Lukovitz

  The sub's white-meat chicken, tossed in seasoned breading and baked, is being billed as offering "breakthrough" flavor and a crispy texture "without the calories and fat of a traditional fried chicken sandwich" -- and the sub chain clearly has high expectations for it. ...Read the whole story

• The Mediation Is The Message: WPP's Kantar, TRA To Enter Arbitration by Steve McClellan

  WPP's Kantar Media and TRA will sit down for their first mediation session next month to see if they can iron out differences related to a patent infringement dispute over similarities between TRA's 3-year-old TRAnalytics service and Kantar's RapidView offering which launched earlier this year. The dispute landed in court two months ago. ...Read the whole story

• Fox Grabs UFC Rights, Confident Advertisers Will Buy by David Goetzl

  Fox Sports chairman David Hill took a swing at boxing more than once Thursday, indicating it has limits on TV while the Ultimate Fighting Championship offers a more immersive experience. ...Read the whole story

• Endemol To Develop Prime-Time Dramas by David Goetzl

  Endemol, the studio behind reality series such as "Big Brother" and "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," is looking to grow its scripted business in the U.S. with a focus on developing prime-time dramas for cable. The company is launching Los Angeles-based Endemol Studios to be headed by CEO Philippe Maigret. ...Read the whole story

• General Sentiment Matches Viewers To Fave TV Brands by Wayne Friedman

  Media research company General Sentiment is offering analysis to TV marketers which match viewers with TV brands they talk about. "Understanding the size or demographics of a television audience is only half the battle," says CEO Greg Artzt. "The other half is understanding what these viewers actually care about." ...Read the whole story

• food New FiberPlus Variety Goes Up Against ... Cupcakes? by Karlene Lukovitz

  To humorously drive home the taste appeal of its new FiberPlus Caramel Pecan Crunch cereal variety, a new TV spot from Kellogg's has women engaging in a taste test pitting the cereal against luscious cupcakes. ...Read the whole story

• 'American Idol' Judges Return In 2012 by David Goetzl

  "American Idol" will again feature Jennifer Lopez, Steven Tyler and Randy Jackson and premiere Sunday, Jan. 22 on Fox after the NFC championship game. ...Read the whole story

• 'GMA' Closes Morning Ratings Race, 'Today' Still Ahead With Key Viewers by Wayne Friedman

  Early morning network shows are seeing an overall tighter ratings race than in the last few years -- although "Today" is still far ahead among key viewers. ...Read the whole story

Understanding The Video Consumer by Jack Loechner

According to the Nielsen Cross Media Report, Americans are spending more time watching video content on traditional TVs, mobile devices and via the Internet than ever. Overall TV viewership increased 22 minutes per month per person over last year, demonstrating moderate growth and remaining the dominant source of video content for all demographics. Even the lowest fifth quintile of TV viewers still averages an hour of TV consumption per day, with the highest quintile tuning in for nearly ten hours per day. ...More

• Set-Top-Box Lexicon: Augmentation by Jane Clarke

  The word "augmentation" generally conjures up... ahem... physical enhancement. While we are not talking biceps or chests in this column, we are talking about more than just an average and expected program, commercial or viewing experience. In the STB world, augmentation -- whether real or virtual -- is made possible through the use of Advanced Advertising capabilities. It provides the viewer and content user unique and enhanced experiences. More, in this case, is certainly better. ...More

• Has 'Glee' Waded Into Uncharted Waters --- Too Deep And A Bit Off-Key? by Wayne Friedman

  "Glee: The 3D Concert Movie" hasn't conquered movie theaters --- unlike what the franchise accomplished with television, iTune downloads, and live concert tours. Seems "Glee" took one entertainment step too many. Fox Filmed Entertainment looked to do what any modern media company with a big valuable asset would do -- eke out a few more shekels, not the least of which would come from a premium 3D ticket price.The movie -- with a pretty nice wide release on over 2,000 screens -- earned a humble $6 million this past weekend, coming in 11th place among all movies. ...More

• How Google Might Capitalize On Internet TV From Motorola Mobility by Laurie Sullivan

  When Jason Cieslak, Siegel+Gale's managing director based in Los Angeles, first heard the news that Google would acquire Motorola Mobility, he assumed the move became a "knee-jerk reaction" in response to losing the Nortel patents bid by a consortium of heavyweights such as Microsoft. There's actually more to the buyout found in set-top boxes and Internet TV. ...More

• Take My Right-Wing Comedy Show -- Please! by Gary Holmes

  Earlier this summer, MediaPost's David Goetzl made the interesting suggestion that Comedy Central should establish a conservative counterweight to offset its liberal-leaning programming (i.e. "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report"). The reader response to this column was swift and heated, with readers claiming: 1) that Stewart doesn't lean left, he just exposes hypocrisy; and 2) that conservatives can't be funny because they are so mean to the disadvantaged. ...More

• Fox First To Get Viewers Involved In Newest Network-Operator Tussle by Wayne Friedman

  Another TV threat has started -- this one from the broadcast networks, now saying: "Tell your cable, satellite or telco operator to get on board with 'TV Everywhere' plans -- otherwise we'll hold your favorite show hostage." ...More

• Where's My Google-Rola TV? by Steve Smith

  Now that the initial dust has settled over the audacious Google acquisition of Motorola, analyst eyes are turning deeper into the deal and beyond the obvious. More than just mobile phone patents, the Motorola acquisition puts Google squarely where it has wanted to be for a while - on the set top box. As IMS Research points out in a brief yesterday, Motorola has long been one of the top manufacturers of set-top boxes for many MSOs. They also have longstanding relationships with the very companies that otherwise see something like a Google TV as an intrusive layer on their ...More