Olympic Ratings Auspicious, Ads Augur Mixed Results by David Goetzl

Comcast executives had to be celebrating Sunday morning. Or exhaling. There was some early validation that the company's massive investment to secure Olympic rights through 2020 may be worth it. Saturday prime-time household ratings and viewership came in way above the 2004 Beijing Games, according to NBC. ...Read the whole story

  • CBS Touts Strong Year, Scripted Lineup by Wayne Friedman

    Creatively and financially, CBS believes it has had a strong 2011-2012 season. Nina Tassler, president of CBS Entertainment, says the network was No. 1 in total viewers, Emmy awards, and upfront advertising revenue. ...Read the whole story

  • automotive New KBB.com Campaign Focuses On New Cars by Karl Greenberg

    Kelley Blue Book (KBB.com) is launching its first ever consumer marketing campaign, "Projections," to tell the world that it has a raft of tools to help consumers shop for new cars -- not just figure out what a pre-owned vehicle is worth. ...Read the whole story

  • travel Enterprise Debuts Spot During Olympics by Tanya Irwin

    The spot, which focuses more on patriotism and less on the sports aspect, will run on NBC over the duration of the event, including the Closing Ceremonies. The commercial will air on NBC, NBC Sports and MSNBC, and also online on nbcolympics.com. ...Read the whole story

  • electronics Celebrities Make Phone Cases Fashionable by Aaron Baar

    This September, Case-Mate, which makes covers for all sorts of electronic devices, will launch an advertising campaign highlighting how matching the right cover for the right occasion is essential in these digital times. ...Read the whole story

GPS Fails at Olympics, Twitter Blamed by Erik Sass

The [International Olympic Committee] says social media users helped cause problems for traditional broadcasters during the first big event of the London Olympics. Because of a glitch with GPS signals on Saturday during the men's cycling road race, broadcasters were unable to provide television viewers with much information about the location and timings of riders on the 155-mile course. -- Associated Press ...More

  • Second Screen Saves Opening Ceremony by Steve Smith

    As the nurses danced and the Voldemort blow-up doll ascended, I knew I needed some form of validation for my pain. These are the times when we need the second screen to give us on-demand access to an audience -- not media. ...More

  • Five Stories That Remind Us How Quickly Things Are Changing These Days by Ashkan Karbasfrooshan

    Dear social media gurus, I get it: if you ran NBC, you'd program the Olympics differently, everything would be live on television and online, but... you don't. So get over it, and keep saving up to one day buy NBC or pay billions of dollars for the rights to the games. Or you can, of course, stop watching the Games and get back to work and hope to rise to the top of the corporate latter to one day run NBC. ...More

  • With Online Video Series, No Appointments Necessary by Wayne Friedman

    What happened to appointment television? Some say your DVR, laptop, and tablet now make all the appointments. But Paul Lee, president of ABC Entertainment, says appointment television is still important at his network, especially with its soaps and its continuous weeks of original episodes of shows like "Revenge," "Once Upon A Time" and the still-big "Grey's Anatomy." ...More