Marketing Company Believes No Guts, No Glory by David Goetzl

Less than a month before broadcast networks present their fall lineups, executives are reviewing pilots and suggesting changes to producers en route to making their selections for new shows. But what's a small-time producer to do if she believes she's got a big-time hit, but can't get any attention from the tastemakers? Don't return to Starbucks to work on the next script so easily. Looking for inspiration? How about Ivie & Associates, a marketing outsourcing firm, trying to do the equivalent of getting a development executive to watch just a few clips as it makes a new business pitch to ...Read the whole story

  • restaurants Carl's/Hardee's Ad With Kate Upton Proves A Bonanza by Karlene Lukovitz

    Shooting for a campaign featuring model Kate Upton finished just two weeks before Upton and the world learned that she'd been chosen as the cover model for the 2012 "Sports Illustrated" Swimsuit Issue. ...Read the whole story

  • Local TV's Online Revs Up 25% by Wayne Friedman

    Borrell Associates says there will be a 25% increase to some $2.7 billion in 2012 over 2011. In 2011, a 41% growth rate was witnessed -- to $1.97 billion. At present, TV stations have a 12% share of the overall local online media market. Independent operators have the largest, with a 46.2% share. By contrast, newspapers are at a 24.7% share. ...Read the whole story

  • Forecast: 2012 Upfront To $19 Billion by Wayne Friedman

    Another strong upfront is on tap for TV networks -- but not as powerful as a year ago. Versus the hefty 10% to 15% percentage spikes of a year ago, Morgan Stanley media analyst Benjamin Swinburne estimates that networks -- broadcast and cable -- will be in the 5% to 10% range when it comes to CPMs, according to reports. ...Read the whole story

  • spirits Tequila Patron: Racers Promote Drinking Responsibly by Karlene Lukovitz

    If Le Mans race car drivers blocked your car to prevent you from driving after a night out on the town, odds are you'd listen up. That's the premise of a new 30-second TV spot featuring three Extreme Speed Motorsports drivers. ...Read the whole story

  • Google Finds Channel Attribution Useful, But Misunderstood by Laurie Sullivan

    More than half of marketers responding to a survey on the impact of attribution said that understanding the path to conversion allows them to more accurately disburse budgets, per a Google Analytics study. Fifty-two percent of client-side marketers report that attribution has led to an increase in spending on some digital channels, while 72% of marketers say that attribution leads to better ROI. ...Read the whole story

  • Apple TV Could Struggle With Content, Ads by David Goetzl

    A new Wall Street report suggests Apple could make headway in the TV hardware market with a coming Apple TV product, but not the $60 billion-plus advertising market with programming the devices may support. The Barclays research notes that content providers would be hesitant to cut deals with Apple, so as not to upset the current pay-TV landscape. ...Read the whole story

  • TV Viewers Use Social Media To Support Favorite Shows by Wayne Friedman

    According to a new study from TVGuide.com, 76% of people say the primary reason for their social media activity is to "keep my favorites on the air." ...Read the whole story

  • FX's 'Anger Management' Airs On Viasat For Euro Viewers by David Goetzl

    Charlie Sheen's "Anger Management" will be on cable in the U.S., but available to cord cutters in Scandinavia. Producer Lionsgate has inked a deal bringing the show to northern Europe on a Viasat Broadcasting free TV platform. ...Read the whole story

  • ABC Still Tops With 'Once," 'Desperate Housewives' by Wayne Friedman

    Big entertainment awards events can still produce for networks -- even at lower viewing levels. "The Academy of Country Music Awards" helped put CBS on top for Sunday, but ABC continues its Sunday successes with "Once Upon A Time" and the longtime "Desperate Housewives." ...Read the whole story

Digital Services Know What I Watch, But Do They Know What I Need? by Wayne Friedman

Do great TV minds think alike -- or can that be just some lack of original thought? For the second in the same week a major TV executive -- referring specifically to Pandora -- said TV will get more personal in the future. It comes down to this: Consumers will have their own TV entertainment playlists, generated by some service based on personal histories. ...More

  • Why Are There Still Upfronts When There Are So Many New Ways For Viewers To Access T/V? by John R. Osborn

    Year after year advertisers have been willing to lay down ever-increasing amounts of money at ever-increasing CPM pricing during cable and broadcast television's upfront buying season. Bottom line, the laws of supply and demand create this rush to buy every spring. But wait a minute. Aren't the number of total "T/V" hours watched by viewers (let's expand the term "television" here to multiplatform "T/V" or "television/video") increasing? Doesn't TV Everywhere (which allows cable system operators to justify their paid subscriptions and pre-empt Netflix, Hulu, Roku et al by offering programming on other platforms than the home TV set) produce more ...More

  • Play Ball by Gary Holmes

    These are the signs of spring: the first crocuses, the first robin and the first Internet-streamed game of the new baseball season. For me, the most enjoyable pleasure wrought by the Internet is that it lets me watch my beloved Red Sox throughout the season. I live behind enemy lines in the New York DMA, where regular telecasts of Sox games are prohibited by Major League Baseball broadcasting rules unless they are playing the Yankees and appearing on YES. ...More