Networks Hope Team Coco And Other TV-Tablet Apps Are Hits by David Goetzl

TBS is launching a Team Coco "synch" app for iPad and Android tablets allowing viewers to interact in real time with exclusive content and features developed specifically for a co-viewing experience. If not from the start, it's a sure bet advertising will become a big part of the app soon. Interactive advertising took a hit with Canoe Ventures dissolving its role there this week, but the synched TV-tablet experience offers another opportunity (along with tagging technology from Shazam and other outfits). Will it take off? Good luck guessing, but Turner, Bravo, FX and other programmers are prepping if it d ...Read the whole story

  • Canoe Drops ITV Mission, Most Staff To Focus On VOD Ad Initiatives by Steve McClellan

    Canoe Ventures, the partnership of major cable companies created to make scaled addressable and interactive TV a reality, is redefining its mission and drastically scaling back its operation. The cable company venture is shutting down its New York office and laying off most of its staff based there -- and will move its base to Denver, where it currently has a technical center and a staff of about 30 engineers. ...Read the whole story

  • Google Moves Into Traditional TV, Files For Cable Franchise by Wayne Friedman

    Google will move into traditional TV waters next year after filing for a couple of cable TV franchises in the Midwest last Friday. Google filed state regulatory papers for cable TV licenses for its Google fiber service in Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri. Two Sanford C. Bernstein Internet analysts say this could mean the "broadband-only business model is not economically viable." ...Read the whole story

  • automotive Hyundai Hits Oscars With Wes Anderson by Karl Greenberg

    The strategy is par for the course for the automaker, which has adhered to what it calls a "Big Voices in Big Places" approach to TV advertising, in which it makes sizable commitments to big-audience events. ...Read the whole story

  • NBC Gains Steam, 'Loser' Gains by Wayne Friedman

    Broadcast programming on Tuesday night tightened up a bit -- leader CBS shrank slightly, while third-place NBC and fourth-place ABC picked up some viewers. ...Read the whole story

Future Of TV Check-Ins May Depend On The Amenities by Wayne Friedman

Checking In? Immediately, I think of making a phone call to one's family. But the newer definition addresses a bigger media world -- letting your friends (and family), perhaps some strangers, a TV network or so, and some marketers know what you are doing. ...More

  • Set-Top-Box Lexicon: Commercial Indices by Jane Clarke

    Recent columns have examined commercials from several aspects: avoidance, retention, engagement and measurement. Rounding out this discussion is this week's column on various commercial indices. In fact, the three metrics described below are from four different measurement companies and they highlight the challenge we have in standardizing terms and definitions for use in STB data measurement. Which should be the preferred metric for industry use - the Commercial Rating Index (from TRA), the Commercial Tuning Index (from Nielsen) or the Commercial Viewership index (from Kantar and TiVo)? ...More