Social TV Firms Come Up With Different Hits by David Goetzl

Analytics firms working in the social TV space continue to market their methods, each with a secret sauce. That proprietary mix can vary in terms of sources mined; breadth of terms picked up; length of time used in searching; and other factors. The results between research conducted by the likes of Bluefin Labs, General Sentiment and Trendrr can vary dramatically. Perhaps the only commonality among their methods is each not surprisingly relies on Twitter and Facebook. ...Read the whole story

  • GM Takes Stand At Upfront, Puts Brakes On Ad Pricing by Wayne Friedman

    TV's upfront ad market is winding its way to a mostly predictable conclusion for the broadcasters, but one major car manufacturer -- General Motors -- continues to make a dramatic stand. It has directed Carat USA, its new media agency, to ask for big rollbacks and some double-digit decreases on pricing. ...Read the whole story

  • Broadcast Nets: Higher Ratings Should Merit Higher Retrans Fees by Wayne Friedman

    Although retransmission fees continue to climb, broadcasters say they are still nowhere near the carriage fee levels paid to cable networks. Retrans fees paid to stations are just 7.1% of the total carriage fees paid to cable networks -- according to media researcher SNL Kagan. ...Read the whole story

  • Rovi Launches Tool To Measure TV Ad Buys by Wayne Friedman

    Electronic program guide company Rovi Corp. is kick-starting a media research tool for media agencies and advertisers to measure TV advertising buys on its ad network. Rovi Analytics will provide measurements such as unique viewers, impressions, and time spent watching connected TVs and via video devices. ...Read the whole story

  • Rentrak On Roll, Reports 59% Rise In Sales by David Goetzl

    Rentrak, which is looking to offer a Nielsen alternative or supplement, says it expects to double sales annually in its TV measurement business over the next four to five years. The bullishness comes after a 59% bump to $9.2 million in the recently completed fiscal year. It uses set-top-box data as the core of its TV measurement. ...Read the whole story

  • Network TV Draws Substantial Social Media Chatter by Wayne Friedman

    Social media activity for all broadcast networks increased substantially in May, the last month of the TV season, versus that of a year ago. ABC earned the greatest gain for any broadcast network. Overall, broadcast TV shows garnered the most social media activity, with 71 million social media interactions in May; cable TV shows were at 40 million. ...Read the whole story

  • Pac-12 Sports Favors TV Everywhere Approach by David Goetzl

    The Pac-12 networks will have a TV Everywhere-style offering starting when the venture kicks off this August. Through authentication technology, subscribers will be able to access the content, including live games, on devices from iPads to connected TVs. ...Read the whole story

  • spirits Jack Daniels Revamps Site, Preps New Ad Campaign by Karlene Lukovitz

    "... consumer habits have changed," Carmen D'Ascendis, director of global marketing for Jack Daniels, tells "Marketing Daily." "Just 11% of our site viewers were coming from mobile and tablets, and we wanted to address that." ...Read the whole story

  • sports Ethanol Takes The Podium At NASCAR by Karl Greenberg

    At NASCAR.COM and at selected races starting this month the campaign includes activation on American Ethanol's Facebook page, and a big presence at races and other events across the country. Also on tap is a 60-second American Ethanol ad. ...Read the whole story

  • Media Heads Vent TV Everywhere Frustrations in Public by Ross Fadner

    Increasingly, C-level media execs are publicly expressing their frustration with the slow rollout of TV Everywhere services by multichannel pay-TV operators. ...Read the whole story

When TV Dies, How Will We Know What We Want To Watch? by Wayne Friedman

It may soon be the end of TV as we know it. But how will we know when it happens? We'll need a commercial or reality show to tell us. ...More

  • CMT Continues To Produce One Of The Best Awards Telecasts On Television by Ed Martin

    Maybe it's time for someone to revive "Nashville Star," the country singing competition series that ran on USA Network for five successful seasons before it was snatched up by NBC, where it endured grievous creative mishandling during a summer run and suffered a desultory demise. I say this because "Nashville Star" was often referred to as a country version of "American Idol," and to judge from the crush of former "Idol" contestants on the CMT Music Awards earlier this week, it would seem that the country music audience can't get enough of aspiring young hopeful ...More