For about a year now, Wayne Dykes and his team have been prepping for legislation that ensures the average sound on commercials doesn’t exceed the programming. As CEO of SpotGenie, which digitally delivers ads to stations and networks, Dykes feels his company is ready. As for the industry? That may take some time. SpotGenie has found that up to 30% of the ads it deals with would violate what’s known as the CALM Act, scheduled to go into effect in December. One reason: ad delivery operations such as SpotGenie may be using different software algorithms to gauge sound levels than stations, networks or cable operators, Dykes said. While he does expect it to be corrected with updates and efforts at coordination, he said: “Not all the equipment measures it the same way. It really is kind of a mess right now.” SpotGenie is adding a quality-control measure for its SpotCheck system, which will automatically gauge loudness to guarantee that an ad meets FCC standards. The system already runs quality-control checks on about 25 specifications for ads it places. When CALM is implemented, ads that don’t meet the standards will be “kicked back” to agencies for remixing. Dykes suggested that agencies might want to work on awareness with their partners. “I’m not sure that the mixers are even aware of this standard,” Dykes said. “They don’t deal with the broadcast world directly.” Atlanta-based SpotGenie works with over 100 agencies, as well as hundreds of stations and cable operators and about 10 national networks.
Elisabeth Murdoch, the founder of the Shine TV studio and daughter of Rupert Murdoch, suggested that News Corp. has landed in its U.K. turmoil by straying from a value system that needs to be recaptured going forward. As a phone-hacking scandal emerged last year, the company shuttered one of its U.K. papers and continues to deal with the fallout.Elisabeth Murdoch said News Corp. is “currently asking itself some very significant and difficult questions about how some behaviors fell so far short of its values. Personally, I believe one of the biggest lessons of the past year has been the need for any organization to discuss, affirm and institutionalize a rigorous set of values based on an explicit statement of purpose.”She also took issue with comments her brother James made a few years back about the pursuit of profit. She said that “profit without purpose is a recipe for disaster” and it “must be our servant, not our master.”“We need to learn how to be comfortable with articulating purpose and reject the idea that money is the only effective measure of all things or that the free market is the only sorting mechanism,” she said, according to a transcript of a lecture delivered Thursday at an Edinburgh TV festival. Elisabeth Murdoch sold Shine, which produces shows such as “The Biggest Loser,” to News Corp. last year for close to $700 million. It’s a move she said made sense, but wasn’t necessarily her first choice. With her father as News Corp. CEO, she said “in many ways it was the very last place I wanted to go. But ... News is first and foremost a content company, and it believes in taking long-term investments (and) creative risks.” She indicated that News Corp. also allows Shine to operate independently, but gives it help via financial underpinning. “Our strategic independence from a legacy studio system, combined with significant financial muscle to invest in our talent and our programs allows Shine to follow our creative instinct with security, and provide new commercial models that challenge the structural design of Hollywood,” she said. Speaking about the roots of “creative excellence” at Shine, she said “it's a place that demands personal accountability, collective responsibility and true self-determination.” Murdoch also said she supports the system where British taxpayers pay a fee to support the BBC.
Failing to persuade the Commission on Presidential Debates to add a fourth meet-up between President Obama and Gov. Romney to focus on issues relevant to Hispanic voters, Univision has secured two events -- one with each candidate. No dates were released. The “Meet the Candidate” events will be held in English and Spanish before live audiences. The three presidential debates are scheduled for October. Univision CEO Randy Falco wrote a letter to the debate commission seeking an additional debate, noting the importance of Hispanic voters. Hispanics can hold sway in states such as Colorado and Florida. Facebook will work with Univision to spark interactivity with prospective voters prior to the events, which will be moderated by Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas. Falco had wanted them to moderate an Obama-Romney standoff. Univision News President Isaac Lee stated: “In our role of informing and empowering our audience … these conversations are critically important to the community we serve. This important discussion is increasingly taking place on Facebook and we are excited to utilize the world’s largest social network to get people involved with issues that matter most to them.” Univision will also cover the election via a partnership with YouTube leading up until Election Day.
Cox Communications, the country’s third-largest cable operator, is looking to football to score a brand-building touchdown this fall. The company is debuting a “Cox is Football” multiplatform campaign in 26 markets.The Cox footprint includes homes in the football hotbeds of Cleveland, New Orleans and Oklahoma City. Cox says its three TV spots are scheduled to air about 6,500 times, while the effort will also include 100-plus print, outdoor and online platforms. The cable operator is also using a “tailgate” promotion at its retail stores on Fridays.Cox is throwing deep with football programming, carrying the new Pac-12 suite of networks in six states, including Arkansas and Kansas. Both areas are far outside the conference’s footprint.In a similar move, it’s added the Big Ten Network in California, which is a long way from schools such as Nebraska and Iowa, located on the conference’s Western edge. It also offers the network in out-of-region areas, such as Nevada and Virginia.Both moves could be aimed at grabbing subscribers away from competing satellite and telco TV operators.Cox football programming will also be available live streamed on iPads inside homes and via ESPN3. The cable operator will also offer NFL and college games in HD on at least eight networks.
Big post-season tickets sales efforts for the New York Knicks and New York Rangers -- as well as higher advertising and affiliate revenue -- helped Madison Square Garden Co. gain strong fiscal fourth-quarter results. And it helped shoot up its stock by over 6% during midday Friday trading.Fiscal fourth quarter-revenue jumped 42% to $332.9 million with profits that more than tripled to $28.6 million, which were 50% higher than analysts' estimates.Higher advertising and affiliate fees at its MSG Media unit, which contains its cable networks, grew 20% to $167 million. Affiliate fee revenue increased $19.5 million; advertising revenue climbed $3.7 million.Just looking at its sports properties, MSG revenue rocketed 74% to $131 million as a result of more home post-season Knicks and Rangers games. The Rangers, in particular, made it deep into the playoffs.MSG also witnessed stronger results from its entertainment division -- a 41% increase to $50.8 million in sales from events and renting luxury suites.Hank Ratner, president and CEO of MSG, stated: "Our company had an impressive year as the ongoing strength of our fully integrated media, entertainment and sports business drove record AOCF [Adjusted Operating Cash Flow] for fiscal 2012."Midday Friday trading saw MSG stock up 5.4% to $42.44 a share. MSG was spun off from cable operator Cablevision Systems Corp. in 2010.
Summertime ratings have an easy winner so far -- an Olympics-heavy NBC. But looking deeper -- sans the high-rated Olympics programming -- all broadcast networks and most cable networks have shown slippage.Looking at the live-plus-seven-day DVR playback through August 19, NBC has averaged 3.1 rating among 18-49 viewers when looking at all its summer programming -- but a 1.5 rating without the Olympics.This number is down 8% from a year ago -- not bad considering that other networks have hit lower levels, percentage-wise. Fox is at a 1.6 rating now, down 11%; ABC at a 1.5 rating, off 15%; and CBS down 17% to a 1.1 rating. These results come from research compiled by Nielsen.The top 10 cable networks -- which have used the summer to push much of their original programming -- are up 2% to a collective 6.3 rating among 18-49 viewers for live plus seven days of DVR playback. Looking at all viewers 2 years and older, ratings are up 4%. But looking at all of ad-supported cable, some 70-odd networks, ratings among 18-49 viewers are down 4% to a collective 17.5 rating. Total viewer ratings are also down 4%.TV proponents note that all TV viewing continues to climb in the summer, however -- up to 33.3 hours a week, from 33.0 a year ago. In 2009 and 2010, the numbers were 32.9 hours each year.Live viewing has ticked up a bit -- versus declines in the last few years -- now at 30.7 hours a week, possibly due to the Olympics. A year ago, it was 30.5. In 2010, it was 30.8; in 2009 it hit 31.4.Time-shifted viewing continues to grow -- now at an average of 2.6 hours a week, up from 2.4 hours a year ago. In 2010, it was at 2.1 hours, and in 2009, it was 1.4 hours.
Politically opposed campaign advisors/political commentators/spouses James Carville and Mary Matalin are making the most of the national elections by endorsing … brands. The pair, who recently signed to star in videos/TV ads for Maker’s Mark Bourbon, are now also appearing in a new TV ad for Mitsubishi Electric Cooling & Heating systems. (Carville’s other commercial appearances have included TV ads for Kraft’s Miracle Whip.) In the Mitsubishi ad, the two argue over the thermostat setting in their home. (Carville: “The issue in this house is my comfort.” Matalin: “It’s the energy bill, stupid.”) For Maker’s Mark, the pair is starring in videos and TV ads supporting the brand’s “Cocktail Party” campaign, which advocates putting aside political differences to get together over Maker’s Mark cocktails. In one ad, they manage to agree that “it isn’t about” the Tea Party, Green Party, Independent Party, Libertarian Party or Republican or Democratic parties … “It’s about the Cocktail Party.” The brand’s site, YouTube channel and social media have been featuring videos with the political pair and Maker’s Mark chairman emeritus/brand ambassador Bill Samuels, Jr. Now, four 30-second spots are set to air on Comedy Central (starting with “The Colbert Report” on Aug. 27 and running through Nov. 29), according to a brand spokesperson. Fans are being encouraged to formally join “the Cocktail Party” by liking the brand on Facebook.com/MakersMark; they can also opt to share and tag their friends in the Maker’s Mark “Cocktail Cabinet.” The site also offers campaign-related items like free desktop and mobile wallpaper loads, and information about a series of Cocktail Party events. Three of the events were held in Austin, New York and San Francisco; the last will take place on Nov. 3 at the brand’s distillery in Loretto, Ky. Earlier in the campaign, fans voted through social media to elect the “official cocktail” of the Cocktail Party. (Winner: “the Conservative” -- a Presbyterian made with Maker’s Mark, club soda, ginger ale and a lemon twist.)
About 159 million homes will have smart TVs by the end of this year, but gaming consoles and set-top boxes are more likely to win the long-term connected TV battle than smart TVs themselves. That’s the finding of a new report from The Diffusion Group predicting that TV set makers who eagerly showcased their new connected capabilities at the CES show won’t be the ones to benefit from the money that’s expected to flow through broadband connections to the TV. Smart TVs won’t be able to support new services and apps as easily as other products, like Rokus and Apple TVs, said TDG. The firm said that net-enabled game consoles, Blu-ray players and interactive set-top boxes are poised to benefit more than TV sets. "Consumers in search of the latest OTT features are much less likely to replace their $2,000 big-screen HD smart TVs -- platforms with an 8- to-10-year life cycle -- than they are to spend $100 on a new sidecar device with a 2- to-3-year life cycle and add it to their TV system,” said TDG’s Colin Dixon, who authored the report. Consumers will likely buy smart TVs as they replace aging sets, but they may not connect them to the Web, opting instead to use over-the-top services with their quicker pace to integrate new apps. The upshot is that smart TV makers may not realize the additional transactional revenue from connected services, such as app sales, on-demand buys and ad dollars. This potential fragmentation could prove frustrating for advertisers as they begin to include connected TVs in their media buys, especially on the heels of studies like the one YuMe conducted, which found that connected TV users are a highly engaged audience for ads. Revenue from over-the-top delivery of content could hit $1.8 billion this year and $5.9 billion in 2012, said IMS Research.
The Carly Rae Jepsen music video "Call Me Maybe" gets seen 212 million times on the Internet. What is that worth in TV terms? When 100 million viewers watch a three-hour event called the Super Bowl, it can bring a network $210 million to $225 million in national advertising dollars. But the Jepsen music video runs just under three minutes. One can't squeeze in some 60-odd 30-second commercials -- or 30 minutes of total commercial time. We are left to wonder what a screen is worth in 2012 versus, say, 2000. If a screen is a screen, maybe certain big music videos would seem to be worth perhaps $7 million – or two 30-second commercials attached to the video. What about unique visitors? Justin Bieber has some 15 million Twitter followers. Is that worth $200 million? $20 million? $2 million? Increasingly the value of the screen seems to follow that of where flowing water ends up: It seeks its own level. Press reports point to big Internet video consumption, especially for key original, out-of-the-box videos. Jepsen's video has some big, big numbers. But the value is again up in the air. We are left to wonder what real marketers would pay to access this. Now think about this: YouTube versus radio. The New York Times says that when “Call Me Maybe” was getting tens of millions of views on YouTube during March and April, it still had relatively low radio play -- fewer than 5,000 spins a week on Top 40 stations in the U.S., according to Nielsen. Is that a missed opportunity on real monetization -- or are we left to wonder if all this continues to be a marketing tool for what remains the real dollars in the music world -- the concert tour? If we look forward, perhaps we can focus on traditional TV programs also becoming a true marketing tool. Look for the mall-stage version of "Modern Family" coming to a town near you.
We here at TV Watch take a lot of pride in our tagline: "full-frontal televison." Who doesn't want to expose and tell all? Yes, “expose” is the key word for this column. A report from one pressure group says one major trend has been going on in television that most people may not be aware of: full-frontal nudity. (What, you missed it?) The report says full-frontal nudity is up 6,300%! That’s sixty-four incidents versus one a year ago. (I can hear the tumult of people tripping over themselves racing to their TV sets now). Sounds like a big deal and sounds like you would have heard about it in this 24/7 digital media world. I guess big media miss this -- even TV Watch. Turns out, of course, that there hasn’t been any nudity on broadcast TV -- except for a quick nipple from Janet Jackson some eight years ago in that big-rated football game. Why? Because there are severe fines for that stuff that the Federal Communications Commission can levy. The report said recent on-screen naughty stuff has been "pixelated," the technical term for bluring specific parts of any video -- including parts of the human body. So it was actually suggestive of nudity – but typically, during those scenes actors wear underwear and other coverups while being pixelated. Whatever you do in television , you want to be "full-frontal." It's always about getting in someone's face -- in a good way, in a bad way, in a funny way, or in a though-provoking way. It's a good time to issue a press release -- kind of like putting the word "parents" in the title of your organization. It also gets attention and respect. But better than that -- everyone wants to be up 6300%! Good to tell your friends, family, superiors, and reporters. TV business people and those who follow the industry, who like big numbers -- and the naked facts.
TLC’s latest reality offering -- “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo,” a spin-off from the network’s “Toddlers & Tiaras” centered on one of that show’s more memorable pageant princesses -- has, since it appeared out of the heat and humidity two weeks ago, become one of the most talked-about series on television. No surprise there; it’s a perfect train-wreck diversion at the end of a punishing summer of record-breaking heat, roaring wildfires and increasingly nasty political confrontations. What’s more, even with its pig-pooping, mud-flopping and armpit-farting, it may be one of the most culturally significant entertainment programs of our tumultuous times, if only because it’s about how certain people get by without mounds of money. I may be exaggerating a bit, but there are things about “Boo Boo” that are worth calling attention to. It’s just too easy to dismiss this series because it showcases a lifestyle that makes millions of people uneasy or to accuse it of advancing certain regional stereotypes. Unless one happens to live that lifestyle, which many people might locate under the general heading of “redneck,” the everyday antics of six-year-old Southern beauty pageant fixture Alana Thompson and her family and friends in McIntyre, Ga. (population approximately 700) can appear utterly foreign. But there is something of value beyond that first blush: Alana’s mother, June Shannon, and her father, Mike “Sugar Bear” Thompson, an unmarried couple, are clearly devoted to Alana and her three half-sisters (from other fathers) and are doing the best they are equipped to do (within the limited parameters of their own life experiences) to provide them with a loving home life and to teach them right from wrong. They may eat too much junk food and use atrocious grammar, but the four girls are not spoiled, they are made to take responsibility for their actions, and they are constantly engaged in family activities, whether it’s a day at the local spa for mom and the girls or an afternoon at the local Redneck Games, happily described by June as “similar to the Olympics, but with a lot of missing teeth and a lot of butt cracks showin’.” “Boo Boo” ostensibly revolves around the perilously precocious Alana, but whether by design or default, Mama June steals the show, and while many viewers will likely recoil at her outlandish quirks, it’s worth noting that she seems to sincerely like herself exactly as she is. Yes, she ought to drop some weight for health reasons, but it is nevertheless somewhat refreshing to watch someone so perfectly at peace with herself go about her business. June is plainly a plus-sized woman, topping the scale in one episode at 309 pounds, but whenever the subject is raised she very pleasantly explains that she has “embraced” her “fatness.” That said, she’s happy to help one of her daughters lose a few pounds and to shed a few of her own in support. And she’s not afraid to comment on other large women who appear at public events in attire she deems inappropriate. “Please, women of a voluptuous size, put some clothes on!” June says to the camera after witnessing several big women parade around in very little at the Redneck Games. “All that vajiggle jaggle is not beautimous!” If this were a scripted show, fashioned as a modern-day “Beverly Hillbillies” or “Green Acres,” high-falutin’ critics and other noisy groups would likely raise a ferocious fuss about it. But “Boo Boo” is reality, at least as it is processed and packaged for contemporary media consumption, and it feels very authentic, so the outraged and off-put are instead directing their disgust toward TLC for putting it on and toward June and her family for being the people they are. This situation calls for some perspective: Is the involvement of children here any worse than on “Wife Swap” or “Supernanny”? Indeed, the latter is a show that spotlights adults who have ceded all control to their children and are suffering as a result. June and Mike may be colorful and come off as “unedumacated,” but they aren’t afraid to parent and they don’t need outside help to discipline their children, probably because they make spending time with the kids a priority, even above making money. They also seem to sincerely love each other. I’m not saying they’re role models, but I have seen worse parents on television. In a perfect world, children would not appear in reality programs until they were old enough to give legal consent. But if such a world ever existed it has been forever demolished by the media. Indeed, some of the most popular viral videos, like “David After Dentist” and “Funny Reaction to Drugs for a Broken Arm,” are the happy result of parents exploiting their own kids at a time when those kids have no self-control. So let’s put the children aside, which is something June and Mike never do. In every other way and as a look into a sometimes-discomfiting world that many of us never see, is “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” really any more offensive than the “The Real Housewives” franchise or “Jersey Shore”?