Many broadcast networks have shied away from overarching marketing themes in recent years -- and none are on the verge of starting one up. But ABC's video montage upfront presentation to advertisers ends with a message that might make the leap. It leaves marketers with the tagline: "Why just watch when you can feel?" Concerning the video presentation, Paul Lee, president of ABC Entertainment Group, told reporters at a press conference: "It's really an emotional piece. I thought that sort of sums up what this brand is about." Two other pressing advertising/marketing issues have come up in recent days at other networks' upfront events. 1) A push by NBC to change the advertising currency to C7 -- commercial ratings plus seven days of time-shifting from current C3 metric; and 2) Dish Network's new technology called AutoHop, which allows viewers to more easily skip commercials in prime time. Concerning AutoHop, Lee says: "Ads are key to our business; we are going to look into it." Regarding the change to C7 that NBC's Ted Harbert strongly suggested on Monday: "We led with pushing for C3. We would be pleased to see C7 as well." Unlike previous seasons, ABC is not totally revamping its fall prime-time lineup -- but it still has 10 new shows that hit the schedule throughout the broadcast year. "We don't have as many needs. We had a strong year," says Lee. Like NBC and Fox each announced the day before, ABC will try to bulk up its comedies -- which include “The Neighbors." That show gets a big lead-out position at 9:30 p.m. after ABC's high-rated "Modern Family" on Wednesdays. "We knew we wanted a family comedy," says ABC's Lee. "The neighbors are [actually] aliens." Country music-themed soap "Nashville" will be a new addition at 10 p.m. on Wednesday. There will be an all-star version of the "Dancing with the Stars" reality show this fall, bringing back big "Stars" winners from the past. In January, two comedies will replace the "Dancing with the Stars" results show on Tuesday at 8 p.m.: "How to Live with Your Parents (For the Rest of Your Life)," starring Sarah Chalke, formerly of "Scrubs," and “The Family Tools,” about a handyman, his relationship with his father and other family members. Thursday will see nuclear drama “Last Resort," at 8 p.m. and a shift at the end of the night with "Scandal," scheduled at 10 p.m., and "Private Practice" moving to Tuesday at 10 p.m. In November, after the comedy “Last Man Standing” at 8 p.m. comes another sitcom, "Malibu Country", starring Reba McEntire, at 8:30 p.m. That is followed by "Shark Tank" at 9 p.m. and “20/20” at 10 p.m. "I think Friday could become a night for broad family entertainment," says Lee. Sunday gets an uplift from the strong rookie show, "Once Upon A Time." "Revenge" will move to 9 p.m. The rookie urban supernatural drama "666 Park Ave" will start at 10 p.m. Other shows coming this season are “Mistresses,” about four women and their scandalous lives, crime-thriller-drama “Red Widow,” and “Zero Hour," about a paranormal junkie. Shows not returning are "Missing," "Cougar Town" (which goes to TBS) and "GCB." ABC's 2012-2013 Prime Time Schedule DAY TIME SERIES MONDAY: 8:00 p.m. “Dancing with the Stars” 10:00 p.m. “Castle” In January: 8:00 p.m. “The Bachelor” 10:00 p.m. “Castle” TUESDAY: 8:00 p.m. “Dancing with the Stars the Results Show” (new time period) 9:00 p.m. “Happy Endings” 9:30 p.m. “Don’t Trust the B---- in Apartment 23” 10:00 p.m. “Private Practice” (new time period) In January: 8:00 p.m. “How to Live with Your Parents (For the Rest of Your Life)” 8:30 p.m. “The Family Tools” WEDNESDAY: 8:00 p.m. “The Middle” 8:30 p.m. “Suburgatory” 9:00 p.m. “Modern Family” 9:30 p.m. “The Neighbors” 10:00 p.m. “Nashville” THURSDAY: 8:00 p.m. “Last Resort” 9:00 p.m. “Grey’s Anatomy” 10:00 p.m. “Scandal” (new time period) FRIDAY: 8:00 p.m. “Shark Tank” 9:00 p.m. “Primetime: What Would You Do?” 10:00 p.m. “20/20” In November: 8:00 p.m. “Last Man Standing” (new time period) 8:30 p.m. “Malibu Country” 9:00 p.m. “Shark Tank” 10:00 p.m. “20/20” SATURDAY: 8:00 p.m. “Saturday Night College Football” SUNDAY: 7:00 p.m. “America’s Funniest Home Videos” 8:00 p.m. “Once Upon a Time” 9:00 p.m. “Revenge” (new time period) 10:00 p.m. “666 Park Avenue”
It won’t happen this upfront, but Ted Harbert, the chairman of NBC Broadcasting, moved the ball down field Monday on what could become a major battle on Madison Avenue: whether to shift to C7 ratings. Harbert suggested a rise in time-shifted viewing means networks are undercompensated with the current ratings system that drives the national marketplace. The industry standard uses a C3 number, which rolls up commercial viewing over a three-day period after broadcast. “It’s time to consider a move to a C7 metric,” Harbert said at the NBC upfront presentation. It was a surprising venue to launch the charge. Upfront presentations are usually reserved for some plugs about network progress and a focus on programming, rather than hinting about contentious negotiations. Then again, Radio City Music Hall was filled with media buyers, and it was a way to reach masses of them at once. SMGX, the large media buying entity, didn’t seem ready to shake hands, tweeting: “While that is great for NBC, is it good for our clients?” Buyers are likely to resist since it would give a network higher ratings, which would raise ad prices. A C7 move could become a negotiating point over the next year, earning increasing prominence much like the shift to C3 from live program ratings was several years ago. Continuing a business conversation -- though this time with a more cooperative theme -- Harbert suggested that buyers and sellers fight Dish Network’s new DVR function allowing viewers to zap all ads in broadcast shows a day after their debut. “This is an insult to our joint investment in programming, and I’m against it,” he said, reiterating opposition first expressed Sunday. Harbert also said adopting a sturdy cross-platform measurement system is critical, now that so much viewing is taking place on mobile devices and laptops. “If we’re going to spend all this money on content, it still needs to be measured and monetized,” he said. Until now, consumption off the TV screen has been minuscule enough that it hasn’t been much of an issue to buyers and sellers, he said. Now, the inflection point has arrived -- and he urged industry cooperation on putting a multiplatform measurement system in place, saying it would drive ROI for buyers. “We just can’t wait and wait some more for Nielsen to do it,” he said. After Harbert left the stage, a focus on programming emerged. The chief of NBC entertainment Bob Greenblatt spoke about moving “The Voice” to the fall, adding a second version to the midseason run. “We have no illusions that it will take down every musical show out there,” he said. He also announced that “30 Rock” would end its run with 13 episodes this fall and a two-hour finale. On Sunday, NBC announced its fall schedule that is heavy on comedies, with at least an hour on four nights a week. A J.J. Abrams sci-fi drama, “Revolution” will follow “The Voice” on Mondays. News magazine “Rock Center with Brian Williams” takes over the former NBC drama stronghold of 10 p.m. on Thursdays. “Chicago Fire,” about a Windy City fire squad, will air Wednesdays at 10 p.m. with a cameo by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. “Celebrity Apprentice” is set for midseason, and some former stars of the show may return. “The Biggest Loser” is on the bench, giving NBC something to fill hours with after some programming inevitably is cancelled. Three new comedies are being held for midseason, including “1600 Penn,” about the rebellious son of the president. A promising midseason reality series from producers Mark Burnett and Dick Wolf, “Stars Earn Stripes,” seems inspired by the Navy SEALs assassination of Osama Bin Laden. Celebrities will take on the challenge of doing what the military does in training.
With upfront season in full swing -- and many TV watchers predicting record commitments to new programming from ad buyers -- VideoNuze’s Will Richmond says that now is the perfect time to remind everyone in the media ecosystem about live television’s inexorable decline. DVR penetration is approaching 50% of U.S. households, which he says means “the days of forcing viewers to tolerate almost a minute of advertising for every two minutes of TV programming they viewed are fading.” Thankfully, online video advertising is maturing at precisely the right time, he says. So why should content providers and advertisers alike be optimistic about online video? Richmond provides four main reasons: 1. Most online video ads cannot be skipped. Viewers also tend to be more tolerant of the ads they see in videos because online streams come with fewer ads. 2. With online distribution, the TV network or content provider is able to set the ad policy, whereas with cable TV, the pay TV provider sets the ad policy. 3. The movement towards enhanced targeting and analytics will increase the value of video advertising. Competition will also lead to greater transparency, which ultimately means better metrics for advertisers. 4. Because clicking on a video is a lean-forward rather than lean-back action, video advertising can move into the realm of interaction, or engagement. If done right, Richmond says this should lead to better ROI and a better user experience. Richmond acknowledges that video advertising still has measurement and structural issues (particularly on the agency side) that prohibit marketers from being able to reach key objectives (like buying a quality audience at TV-like scale). Nevertheless, as live television viewing continues its slow march toward becoming completely on-demand, and as these issues are sorted out, he says online video advertising will become more and more attractive to both buyers and sellers.
Telemundo, the Comcast-owned Spanish-language media company, is boosting its original program production output by 40% to more than 800 hours for the 2012-13 season. It will add six new novellas as part of its programming mix. Several new daytime and reality shows are being readied for the new season, along with a record amount -- 170 hours -- of original Olympics-related content for the upcoming London games. Company executives also said they are repositioning the brand next fall around new research that defines the so-called “duality” of the U.S. Hispanic market. While Hispanics like the U.S. and enjoy residing here, they are also mindful and proud of their country of origin, per the new research. The repositioning will include a new logo and tagline to be unveiled at a later date. A video clip at a Monday press conference highlighting the research showed a number of Latinos proclaiming “I am Latin, I am here,” to convey the sentiment behind the duality. Executives stressed that the line was not the network's new promotional tagline. The new telenovelas, focused mainly on the themes of love, hate and revenge, include "The Face of Revenge," "The Patron," "The Lord of the Heavens," "Forbidden Passion," "An Idol is Born" and Fine Pedigree." New daytime programs include a talk show "Cuauhtemoc" with host Carlos Cuauhtemoc Sanchez, motivational speaker and bestselling author. The show will feature couples and families discussing personal issues and struggles. A dramatic daytime series "Virgin Morena" will examine supposed miracles that have occurred in connection with Mexico’s famed Our Lady of Guadalupe. Also being readied is a new reality competition program "My Name Is," in which talented amateurs compete for prizes by performing as their favorite singing idol. Telemundo Media President Emilio Romano said the company’s goal is to become both the top U.S. Spanish-language network and the world’s leading producer of popular Hispanic programs. Neither is likely to happen in the next couple of years -- Univision has a 70%-plus of the U.S. Spanish-language audience -- but Comcast and NBC Universal are “the right partners” to make it happen someday, said Romano. Jacqueline Hernandez, Telemundo Media COO, said the company’s “core focus” is its commitment to its audience and its redoubled efforts to provide as much programming as possible “everywhere.” She said the company was introducing a new entertainment app that would enable access to Telemundo’s full programming schedule, as well as programs from Mun2, Telemundo’s younger-skewing sibling network. The app also allows users to plug reminders into their phones about dates and times of shows. Hernandez also said the company would test a new technique, via social media, where consumers could have a say in story lines of an upcoming new program. The audience, she said, “will be co-producing with us.” On the sales front, the network didn’t have any deals to report -- competitor Univision last week made the first major deal of this year’s upfront with Starcom, the Publicis Groupe-owned media shop. “We’ll do business when our clients want to do business,” said Dan Lovinger, Telemundo's executive vice president of integrated sales and marketing. Commenting on the Univision-Starcom deal, Lovinger said: “It’s an endorsement of the Hispanic marketplace.” He added that Telemundo and Mun2 combined added more than 50 new advertisers in the past year.
Worldwide video usage on computers is now as common as watching it on traditional television among online consumers. The growth is helped by the rise of video usage of mobile devices. Looking at 56 countries, Nielsen says 84% of viewers watch video on computers at least once a month. This is actually a bit higher than television, where the survey says 83% of worldwide consumers watch TV at least once a month. This has changed from two years ago where -- on a monthly basis -- 90% of consumers watched video content on TV at least once a month versus 86% on a computer. What's changed? Over half of global online consumers (56%) say they watch video on a mobile phone at least once a month -- and 28% at least once a day. Overall, 74% of global video consumers watch video via the Internet, on any device. Mobile video is strong in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East/African regions of the world, where over 70% of online consumers watch video on mobile phones at least once a month. About 40% watch at least once a day. But in North America, Nielsen says mobile video is currently less of a big deal -- only 38% of consumers say they watch mobile video once a month. Dounia Turrill, senior vice president of client insights of Nielsen, stated: “With the growth of smartphones, mobile video consumption is on the rise for entertainment content, particularly in emerging markets where many consumers leapfrog home Internet altogether in favor of the all-in-one smartphone.”
Last Friday, China Dailyreported that Taiwanese manufacturing giant Foxconn -- which makes Apple’s iPad, iPhone and other consumer electronics devices from various companies -- said it would begin working on “iTV, Apple Inc’s rumored upcoming high-definition television.” The story claimed that Foxconn CEO Terry Gou had said the company was preparing to build the TV, but that “development or manufacturing has yet to begin.” On Monday, Foxconn refuted these claims. "At no time did (Gou) confirm that Foxconn was in development or manufacturing stages for any product for any of its customers. He did say that Foxconn is always prepared to meet the manufacturing needs of customers should they determine that they wish to work with Foxconn in the production of any of their products," the company said in a prepared statement. For years, analysts and industry watchers have said that Apple is planning to launch a smart television. In his biography, Steve Jobs tells Walter Isaacson, his biographer: “I’d like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use. It would be seamlessly linked with all of your devices and with iCloud. It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it.” Apple, meanwhile, has refused to comment on speculation that it is working on a smart TV.
Unilever will use some unusual input from consumers and NBCUniversal for a series of on-air and online advertising to start up a new campaign for Clear Scalp & Hair Therapy. The campaign "Best Night Ever" uses technology called Interlude to enable users to decide what happens next in the story of two characters, Chloe and Logan, whose great-looking hair helps them move past the velvet ropes into hot nightclubs. For example, choices include everything from whether to follow Chloe or Logan through the club to where to go once inside -- the bar, lounge, or DJ booth -- and deciding whether the DJ should “heat it up” or “slow it down” on the music front. Each week, story choices from users will be tracked and will determine how the story unfolds in on-air vignettes and online videos. NBCUniversal's integrated marketing group and Mindshare Entertainment put together the deal. A 15-second on-air teaser starts May 14 on "America's Got Talent" and continues through sweeps week. Beginning May 21, one celebrity each week will make their on-air debut in a series of spots, including Jane Krakowski of NBC's “30 Rock," Andy Cohen of Bravo's “Watch What Happens Live,” Giuliana Rancic of “E! News,” Style’s “Giuliana and Bill” and “Saturday Night Live” alum Tim Meadows. The series ends the week of June 11. The campaign will run across NBCUniversal networks including: NBC, Style, Oxygen, E!, and Bravo, as well as Web site NBC.com, MyStyle.com, Oxygen.com, Eonline.com, Bravotv.com and DailyCandy. John Shea, executive vice president and chief marketing officer of integrated media at NBCUniversal, stated: “In today’s crowded marketplace, it is more important than ever to rise above the clutter with breakthrough creative that engages audiences in new and unexpected ways."
Summer is, among other things, prime moving season. Taking advantage of the planning many consumers may be putting into packing up a house or dorm room for new adventures, Mobile Mini touts its new long-distance moving and storage services for consumers in a television advertising campaign, a first for the brand. The effort, which will begin appearing in seven markets before rolling out to other areas, shows a couple packing their belongings into a Mobile Mini storage unit. The commercial tracks their battle over a life-size Wayne Gretzky cardboard cut-out (he wants to keep it, as he has since college; she will go to great lengths to ensure it doesn’t make the move), moving it in and out of a mobile storage unit. “It’s our first foray into television, and we want to create a memorable and distinctive brand identity in the market place,” Pete Buchner, Mini Mobile’s vice president of marketing, tells Marketing Daily. (San Francisco agency Venables Bell and Partners created the commercial.) “I think our competitive point of difference is the convenience factor.” The company, which has long relied on corporate moving and storage as its main revenue source, recently moved into consumer services after conducting research that revealed consumers were “increasingly frustrated” with the lack of service they’d received from long-distance movers and self-storage companies, according to Buchner. “Strategically, we feel it’s a great complement to our current business,” he says. “The brand position we’ve got supports both our commercial business as well as the consumer offerings.” The commercial will begin airing in Mini Mobile’s corporate home of Phoenix, before moving into markets such as Denver, Jacksonville, Fla., Atlanta, Minneapolis, San Diego and Austin, Texas. The company will air the spots in new markets as it provides climate-controlled storage (a key component of its consumer business) in those markets, Buchner says.
Last year, AAA famously determined that the average cost of yearly auto ownership has reached $8,776 per year. BMW is promoting its owner service policy, Ultimate Service, with two 30-second spots that feature consumers amazed at how little it costs to maintain a BMW with the automaker’s no-cost maintenance program. The coverage on all new BMWs is for the first 50,000 miles or four years of ownership, and includes the BMW Assist Safety Plan, roadside assistance and warranty. The campaign is from New York-based Kirshenbaum, Bond, Senecal and Partners (KBS+), which won the account last summer, replacing Austin, Texas-based GSD&M. The campaign shows fictive customers in humorous ads where they do not believe a service advisor when told their maintenance is no cost, and mistakenly think they are being given special treatment. The first ad shows a woman being told the work on her car is free of charge. She thinks the guy is just flirting with her. So as she tries to explain that she's married, the representative clarifies that no-cost maintenance is standard for all new BMW owners. The second ad has a customer assuming he is being given special treatment and trying to repay the representative by casually slipping tickets to a sports event into his shirt pocket -- which isn’t there -- leading to an awkward moment. Said Dan Creed, VP marketing, BMW of North America, the ads “give us the opportunity to tell that story in a fun and memorable way.” The Woodcliff Lake, N.J.-based arm of BMW is extending the effort with a series of online videos, similar to a series of digital shorts the automaker used to support the new 3 Series. The automaker says those proved popular enough to get picked up by dealer groups for their television ad buys during Super Bowl XLVI. The company will start running the Ultimate Service digital shorts next month with a second group of videos to launch in July via social media channels. The video ads are similar in setup to the TV spots, with an incredulous customer and a service person continuing to elaborate features of the coverage plan. Each of the shorts has consumers asking: "What are you going to tell me next?" In one, a customer says: “What are you going to tell me next, that we’re in a commercial?” at which point, an unseen director yells “cut,” enters the scene and begins to critique the customer’s performance. In another, the customer replies: “What are you going to tell me next, that my father-in-law likes me?” a moment before his father-in-law appears, compliments him and gives him an encouraging slap on the backside. A BMW spokesperson tells Marketing Daily that the campaign is about setting the automaker apart in the after-market service and care department. She says the spots were designed for a national media placement, but while it will definitely run in dealer group regional buys, the company hasn't determined whether to drop the ads into the national media cycle. When it comes to how much service a vehicle might actually need, J.D. Power and Associates' 2012 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study put Lexus number one among all brands, luxury or otherwise in the number of problems per vehicle over three years of ownership. Porsche was second and Cadillac came in third. Mercedes-Benz came in at number six; Lincoln was seventh; Audi was 15th and BMW was in 20th place. Only Jaguar and Infiniti lagged BMW among luxury brands in the study, which measures 2009 model-year vehicles. Tom Libby, lead analyst on forecasting with Polk, says the luxury market has become so competitive it is no surprise that automakers in the segment are finding points of differentiation. "BMW is in a very competitive situation with Mercedes and Lexus, where they are almost one-to-one in sales. They are likely looking for a leg up," he says. BMW had a strong April (as did almost everyone.) Sales of BMW vehicles were up 12% in April for a total of 21,062 compared to 18,801 last year. Year-to-date, the BMW brand is up 15.7% to 82,611 compared to 71,417 sold in the first four months of 2011. Lexus said it sold 9,441 vehicles, up 25.6% percent over April 2011. Jesse Toprak, VP of industry analysis at TrueCar.com, says that BMW has first-mover status in the luxury maintenance and warranty area, but that nowadays it is in the middle of the pack when it comes to the breadth of its offering. "Ten years ago, they were clearly sort of the front of the pack in terms of vehicle maintenance, but [in TrueCar's warranty ranking] they are in the middle in terms of basic warranty and powertrain," he says, adding that Hyundai leads overall. Toprak tells Marketing Daily that the goal of a campaign like this is brand enhancement aimed principally at entry buyers considering the 3-Series who are a lot more focused on value than, say, a person buying a 7-Series premium car. "They are talking to consumers who think they perhaps can't afford a 3-Series."
We all think we know what television is. After all, we talk about it all the time. But my concept of what television currently is has been changing. Three recent events confirmed to me that television is evolving in a direction that requires a change in definition. The first indicator was Nielsen, which recently announced that for the second year in a row, its estimated TV Universe for the United States will decline. It is a small decline, they say, but in an industry that has seen Universe growth every year for the past 60+ years, two consecutive years of decline indicates a seismic shift. (The Television Universe is the number (or percentage) of all homes in the U.S. with at least one TV set capable of receiving at least one TV signal. It is a hardware-based definition.) The second indicator was last week, when I was asked to lecture at CCNY as part of a corporate communications class. I spoke about media, changing technologies, return-path data and media research to the students. Then I asked them what the word “television” meant to them. Some said it was the set itself. Some said it was programming. But after further discussion, many decided that television was video content wherever they viewed it, whether on a tablet, a mobile device, a computer or on an actual television set. In fact, almost all the students in a class of 50 said that they view content on several devices at some point in an average week. Viewing in front of the set was a different viewing experience -- one that was often shared with family members -- but a considerable amount of their viewing time was multiplatform. The third indicator that television is shifting was at Multichannel News’ TV in a Multi-Platform World Conference on May 3. It was there that some of the best technological minds in the media business talked about the concept of television in an increasingly multiplatform environment. Whether it was the advancement of HBOGo (an app for HBO subscribers that gives them access to all episodes to all series on demand) as a way to increase subscriber satisfaction, or whether it was a discussion of the impact of social media on driving overall viewership, the endpoint was the same. Television is no longer discussed as hardware. It has become a generic term relating to content, wherever that content resides. But has the measurement of television kept pace with the technology? Should the definition of the Nielsen TV Universe be expanded to include second and third (or more) screens so it can more effectively capture all forms of “television” viewing? Some have already formed a way to compare social media to Nielsen measurement. Marc Debevoise of CBS Interactive said that a 9% increase in social buzz is said to equal a 1% increase in a Nielsen rating. It’s a start, anyway. But maybe its time to reassess the role of television in the media marketplace. I think we have moved beyond defining television as a piece of stationary hardware that sits in a room in a home or a dorm. The reality is that television has expanded, whether we are talking about second-plus screens or video content. If that’s true, then the television universe is not eroding; it’s instead expanding rapidly and perhaps uncontrollably. Revising our terms and definitions is the first step. The next step is how to best measure television across all possible platforms. But that's another column….
This is a tough week for online video to get any attention. It’s TV upfront time, and the broadcast networks are touting their new fall lineups to Madison Avenue. Sure, digital extensions and online video add-ons will be part of many shows’ marketing efforts during the season, but the reality is online video won’t get much play at the TV upfront. The dollars TV brings in are just too big. Barclays Capital analyst Anthony DiClemente predicted that broadcast upfront revenue would rise 4.3 percent over last year, with cable money to grow 6.3 percent. That will bring primetime ad sales for the broadcast networks to $9.49 billion and cable’s haul to $9.88 billion. That’s nearly $20 billion for TV just counting upfront money. How does online video compare? MagnaGlobal’s most recent forecast said online video will grow 24% this year to hit $2.2 billion, while eMarketer has said online video ad spend would rise 40% this year to top $3.1 billion. Depending on which numbers you use, the TV upfront take will be six to nearly nine times the yearly haul of online video. Am I just trying to make online video publishers and ad networks feel bad? No, because online video has a big advantage as industry analyst Will Richmond at VideoNuze points out. “Online video advertising offers networks and advertisers the advantage of no ad-skipping by the viewer. True, some viewers flip over to other apps when an online video ad break occurs, but at least, they can't simply skip entirely, as they can with DVRs,” he said. In fact, DVRs are now in about half of TV homes and the amount of time-shifted TV viewers watch continues to grow each year, Nielsen noted in its most recent cross-platform report. That’s why networks like Univision plug their live viewership numbers. Univision’s prime-time programming is watched live 94% of the time, the network has said. Plus, online viewing alternatives are gaining traction. Research firm Solutions Research Group reported this week that premium movie channels, such as Starz and Cinemax, are being “Netflixed, cord-shaved or both,” as consumers rely more on streaming options. Take heart, online video business. It’s not your week, but it might be your decade.
Have social media and television together become too much of a good thing? Seemingly everyone wants to get a foothold in social media, believing it is the next entertainment or marketing platform for all things television. Now comes warning of a collapse, or at least a consolidation of players. If there is a paring down, you would have to believe TV networks may want to control some of the better-funded social media operations, so that they’ll work more seamlessly with their traditional TV operations and media-selling platforms. This fits in with their current refrain in the growing digital entertainment world: We control the content. And if we are looking to extend that content and are willing to take more risks, we want the spoils for those endeavors. The reverse also rings true -- social media platforms want to extend themselves into TV. But Does Facebook want to get into the original TV game -- to look for a TV network, develop 10 shows and perhaps come up with one real one. All types of entertainment are tough to produce. “It is hard making great television — it may be harder to make compelling, synchronous experiences for viewers,” Miguel Monteverde, vice president of digital at Discovery Communications, said at a recent industry event. “There’s a lot of noise in the social TV space. A lot,” Randy Shiozaki, co-founder of social technology company TVPlus, toldMashable. “Many of these companies will disappear over the next year as leaders emerge in the space and capital dries up for these guys.” Viewers need clear locations to get their social TV media fix – not just separate “silos” of TV program information. Say hello to another Hulu-like problem. Social media platforms are like any other mass entertainment business – they need scale. All this comes from the main instigators of TV content – big media companies who also need scale, as do TV marketers. Much credit has been given to social media for lots of increased buzz and viewership of traditional TV content. TV networks are more than happy to extend storylines, plots and characters. But resources are unlimited. Right now, plenty of high-profile TV show content is fighting to grab social media share of rabid TV consumers’ opinions, suggestions and recommendations. To survive, the strong social media platforms will need to help muffle some of that “noise.” To succeed, they’ll need to lift the volume for other efforts.
What a disappointment the previous season of “The Office” turned out to be. A show that was once a glory of television comedy has now become merely “pretty good.” Last year at this time, I pondered whether any sitcom could retain its creative energy for more than seven seasons, especially after the departure of its main star, and now I think we have the answer. Unlike other great comedies that decided to go out on top (“The Dick Van Dyke Show,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “Cheers” and “Seinfeld”), “The Office” clearly lingered past its natural end point. It’s not that “The Office” was terrible this year. If you’d never seen the first seven seasons and came to the show fresh last September, you’d still think it was ground-breaking. It remains unique among television comedies in depicting life in these United States as it is actually experienced. Instead of jokes and wisecracks that no one but a comedy writer would say, the humor still grows organically out of the absurdity of the modern workplace and from psychological insights into how people actually behave. And the pacing is unique – no one has ever done a better job depicting the deleterious impact of sheer boredom on contemporary life. Yet it’s impossible not to wish “The Office” had made a smoother transition into the post-Michael Scott world. There were many problems this year, including the exhaustion of the Pam/Jim story arc, which had given the series much of its emotional weight, and its inability to develop the inner lives of the other characters. But its retreat from a realistic depiction of office life, which had made the show so compelling in the first place, also dragged the series down. The show sealed its fate in the first five minutes of the season when it revealed that Ed Helms’ Andy Bernard had been named the new office manager. What a crashing downer! Our hopes for something more compelling had been raised by the “beauty contest” at the end of the previous season in which multiple candidates had interviewed for the manager’s job. Certainly, we hoped, someone with the outsize personality of a Michael Scott would emerge from that process. As we learned at the start of this season, James Spader’s Robert California, a Zen-like mind-game champion, had initially been chosen as regional manager, but the CEO, played by Kathy Bates, had decided over the summer to star in “Harry’s Law,” -- um, make that, “had decided to take some time off.” She then selected Robert as her successor, who put Andy in change. As “Office fans know, Michael Scott might have been narcissistic and wildly inappropriate, but he was a good salesman. Andy Bernard, by contrast, is incompetent all the way around. Making him the boss was a betrayal of the compact that the show had made with its viewers. Andy’s hiring wasn’t the worst of it. In previous seasons, the Dunder Mifflin Scranton branch had occupied a recognizable place within the corporate world. It was only one of several branches that competed with each other. It reported into a New York headquarters, which both tempered Michael Scott’s most outlandish tendencies, and gave us insight into the corporate mindset. After imploding as an independent company in Season Six, Dunder Mifflin was bought by Sabre, an office equipment maker that expected to derive cross-selling synergies by pairing a copy machine business with a paper business. This was all too realistic because it’s exactly the kind of deal that makes perfect sense to investment bankers and financial analysts, and is always doomed to failure on the ground. Still, the Sabre subplot initially breathed new life into “The Office” as the Scranton crew adapted to a different, more modern corporate culture. Unfortunately, as the Sabre story wore on, the show withdrew into itself and rarely seemed to be part of a wider world or bigger company (except during the four Florida-based episodes.) Why was Robert California, the CEO of a major multidivision corporation, always working out of the Scranton branch? What happened to the other branches? And why wasn’t Andy reporting to a vice president, like Michael had reported to Jan Levinson Gould in the early seasons? Realism was important to the early success of “The Office” because the characters were depicted as mere cogs in a larger, more dangerous universe. But when it regressed into its own self-contained sitcom world, where outside forces played little role, it became more like a traditional TV comedy where the stakes are lower and the emotional payoffs less compelling. It looks like we’ll have a reboot for next year. Dunder Mifflin has been bought back by its former CFO, and the character of Robert California has been cut loose. Behind the scenes, co-executive producer and frequent writer Mindy Kaling, who also plays Kelly, and showrunner Paul Lieberstein, who plays Toby, are headed to other shows, as may be the case with Rainn Wilson, who plays Dwight Shrute. I’ll be happy if NBC decides that “The Office” will wrap up at the end of Season Nine and its writers put all their energies into a story arc worthy of the this great series. Unfortunately, it’s bad sign that Andy is coming back again as manager. Much better to focus again on Jim, who is the most important figure on the show now that Michael Scott has gone. He was always at the emotional core of the show, but he was shunted aside for other stories this year. How great would it be if he emerged as the leader we know him to be and finally fulfilled his potential?
That’s what Jeff Mirman, vice president-marketing of Turner Sports just said during his opening keynote at OMMA Social during Internet Week in New York this morning. Well, Mirman didn’t actually say that, but he said that the reason why a TV network-based company like Turner Sports is so focused on digital, especially social media right now. He said it’s all a way of extending Turner Sport’s reach, and especially its “engagement” with consumers via their “second screens.” He used the term “elongating” the TV experience to explain that. First time I’ve heard that term used that way, but it works. “That’s very important from a TV standpoint,” Mirman said. Actually, it seems like it’s pretty important from any media or marketing standpoint, if you ask me.
Version:1.0 StartHTML:0000000172 EndHTML:0000006927 StartFragment:0000002981 EndFragment:0000006891 SourceURL:file://localhost/Users/lesluchter/Downloads/tvMay14.doc To party or not to party? Everyone likes a good schmooze -- especially when it’s connected to big-time television, and you can hang with Zooey Deschanel. Upfront presentations this week are looking to bring back some of the glamour -- NBC returns to Radio City Music Hall; USA Network joins the partyfest at the end of the week. Still, some like ABC don’t offer big parties for media buyers and sellers (though we know that small private dinners with key clients are still in vogue). Broadcast networks, and increasingly cable networks, are always tinkering with how best to entice senior media and marketing executives into believing their networks do a great job – whether through key research presentations or by serving a memorable dish or two. Back after the throes of the 2009 deep recession, broadcast networks toned down their flamboyant parties. Programmers and content owners didn't want to flaunt opulence in the face of many of their viewers’ miseries -- and media executives also disdained the belief that organic sushi and French-style Twinkies would directly translate to media budget increases. Some opulence may be returning -- and that may not be so bad. To some degree, the glamour-fun element t is a key part of broadcast networks’ identities -- even with declining ratings and perhaps a weakening of overall traditional TV advertising spending. Nero fiddled; Rome burned; but the city survived in the end anyway. The question is, when the smoke clears, will advertisers continue to pay more for broadcast TV shows? Yes, a bit. But overall volume has definitely slowed down, with many predicting at best 2% gains in overall yearly volume, to perhaps $9.3 to $9.7 billion. Future dollar growth looks to be had in other places -- through Netflix program fee deals, continued domestic and international syndication, and retransmission revenues. Perhaps they can spread their big party spectacles to those areas as well. Until then, happy shrimp and ceviche hunting.