P&G To Cut TV Budgets? Hard To Believe by David Goetzl

The bet is more than a few TV executives spent Wednesday morning analyzing every word of a Wall Street Journal piece with the diligence of a losing lawyer parsing through a decision hoping to find grounds for appeal. This, after all, was a Q&A with the top marketer at the company that has long controlled much of the advertising market and the subtext wasn't exactly "tell us why you love TV so much." Procter & Gamble, which fills sportscasts with all kinds of Gillette ads and might fund a reality series if a brand can be a "character," has been ...Read the whole story

  • research Ads Starring CEOs: What Makes Winners, Losers? by Karlene Lukovitz

    Among the 13,000+ TV ads assessed by Ace through consumer surveys and proprietary scoring methods since January 2009, Ace's database showed just 76 CEO-starring ads, spanning 12 categories. ...Read the whole story

  • packaged goods Infectious Meow Mix Jingle Returns by Tanya Irwin

    Half of respondents recall most, if not all, of the lyrics to the catchy tune. In addition, 81% of respondents claimed to have heard the jingle in the last 18 months, when it stopped airing in 1996, 16 years ago. ...Read the whole story

  • Walmart Converts DVDs To Cloud Service by Wayne Friedman

    Looking to bridge the business of DVD movie ownership to digital movies, Walmart is starting up a disc-to-digital cloud service in a deal with the five major movie studios. ...Read the whole story

  • LIN Credits Auto With Fueling Ad Revs by David Goetzl

    While the ad market has moved at a modest pace for the LIN station group this year the company expressed optimism Wednesday that an accelerating auto category will help ignite revenues in the months ahead. The group, with 32 stations in markets, said ad dollars in the first quarter are running about 4% ahead of the same period last year. ...Read the whole story

  • 18 Shows Return For CBS 2012-'13 Season by Wayne Friedman

    CBS, the model of consistency for TV advertisers, says it will return 18 series for the 2012-2013 season. But one major show left hanging is "Two and a Half Men," the still high-rated Monday comedy that witnessed its own off-line drama with the ousting of actor Charlie Sheen. ...Read the whole story

  • TV, Internet Providers Slammed On Customer Service by Wayne Friedman

    When it comes to customer experience, TV and Internet providers and services rate almost last across some 18 industries -- only health-care companies generally rate lower. ...Read the whole story

Should Radio Shack And Best Buy Pay Retransmission Fees To Stations? by Wayne Friedman

It's been over a year since Charlie Sheen entered his real-life TV drama with CBS and Warner Bros. Good news: Former big-time TV executive and current Internet honcho Barry Diller has started a story arc of his own. ...More