The best Ted Turner can offer us on why to watch television these days comes from his interviews.The celebrated cable TV creator, in a recent question and answer session with Bloomberg TV, says if he were in charge of CNN, he would focus less on opinions and "fluff" and more on news. Well, we all know what that would result in: better-informed Americans, but not better-entertained, news-following Americans.» 0 Comments
Washington D.C. Fox affiliate WTTG wants its news anchors to do electronic scrolling of their own news stories -- stories they "read" electronically when looking directly into the camera. Traditionally, this is done by a technician who manually follows the reading pace of a TV news anchor.» 0 Comments
In TV land, it's always a matter of protecting your turf. Why wouldn't every possible media company be interested in NBC -- if not to drive up the price for another competitor?» 0 Comments
For any TV station in these hard times, the focus on automotive advertising has become an obsession. For some, it may have taken a wrong turn. In Las Vegas there are accusations that as part of a media buy made by an auto dealership, interviews were placed in local newscasts without letting viewers know that those interviews were paid placements.» 0 Comments
With critical darling "Southland" out the door, and Jay Leno firmly in, NBC might be penny-pinching these days, but also has has other worries to consider. We are not talking about declining ratings or a still-weakened ad market. The real worry is the future medical care of NBC employees -- and the typefaces NBC used for its fall marketing materials.» 0 Comments
Adult topical material is the stuff of late-night television. In that regard, we can't see TV pressure groups protesting that advertisers like Universal Pictures' "Couples Retreat," AT&T U-Verse, or "Only Vegas" take their commercials off "Late Show with David Letterman." That's just part of the reason TV advertisers probably won't be moving off the Letterman show. The other is how the host himself handled the explosive issue of blackmail and his own indiscretions. He owned the story, his own story -- not TMZ, "Access Hollywood" or Deadline.com.» 0 Comments
News flash: The upfront just ended. (Wait, it's mid-October!) Actually just the Spanish-language network upfront ended -- according to one headline, which said the English-language TV networks still haven't closed some advertisers. I'm buying pumpkins right now, and assembling my fall multi-colored leaf scrapbook. What's going on?» 0 Comments
For some time now, savvy TV marketers/programmers have been jolting viewers to lunge for the remote after the room-temperature sound volume of a programming segment ends and before the high noise of a TV commercial starts. But that's about to end; Congress is getting involved. And it's about time. The House Energy & Commerce Committee is readying the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act . Otherwise know as CALM. Nice.» 0 Comments
Two years from now, Comcast could get the benefit of the Summer Olympic games -- should it complete its joint venture with General Electric for NBC Universal. That'll come with the London games. What hasn't been decided is whether Comcast will get the advantage of the Olympic events in 2014 (Winter Games in Sochi, Russia) and 2016, which was given to Rio de Janeiro on Friday.» 0 Comments
Wayne Friedman is West Coast Editor of MediaPost.