Jumping up on some big digital numbers, YouTube had 52 million views for Felix Baumgartner's big 24-mile parachute jump -- a record drop. More importantly, YouTube had 8 million "concurrent" live views. That blows away the number of some 500,000 live YouTube viewers for this past summer's London Olympic games or -- also from the U.K. -- Kate Middleton's marriage to British royalty.» 6 Comments
Big double-digit rating declines at MTV? I've heard that story before -- about a decade ago. Should be we worried that viewers aged 12-24 will have nothing to watch on TV -- in a lean-back position?» 1 Comments
What better way to address the good, the bad and the ugly of this politically heavy TV season than with trickle-down entertainment? That means full support via social media for shows you love. Talk up your mediocre 1.5-rated drama show among 18-49 viewers; or the lackluster reality program you can't do without that scores a ho-hum 1.2 rating.» 4 Comments
Cable television, look over your shoulder. YouTube is gunning for you. Robert Kyncl, YouTube's global head of content, said YouTube does well with advertisers even though it allows consumers to "skip" commercials. How well? "When we looked at our skippable ads in the U.S., we are now making as much revenue per hour as ads on cable TV."» 2 Comments
Some associations between social media and TV are fleeting -- or worse. They could exist just to solve "business" problems while not attending to real consumer needs. Do we really need frequent flyer/incentive points for watching or talking about TV shows? That doesn't sounds like a way to connect with TV, but a way to get other stuff. Maybe that's what marketers want.» 1 Comments
Facebook's first-ever TV commercial doesn't mention the social media platform's big scale. Perhaps it should. If you want to tout your service as the glue that holds us together, there's a number to consider: 1 billion, which is how many worldwide users Facebook recently hit. Still, with 1 billion users there isn't much you can tell consumers about what Facebook essentially does. So what's your message? Furniture.» 4 Comments
Let's face it. Today's cable TV and satellite companies aren't really focused on advertising sales. The vast majority of their business revenues continues to come from monthly subscribers' fees.» 1 Comments
Nearing the end of 2012, we are hearing and seeing more about the blurring of fact and fiction in the media,. First, there was the supposed 90-minute TV drama of the presidential debate. Yes, in this TV show we look to separate fact from fiction from reality from history -- and everything else in between. But maybe we are looking for something else. Style, perhaps.» 2 Comments
We were watching a time-shifted episode of TNT's "Major Crimes" the other night. A commercial break popped up and my wife quickly hit the fast-forward button because -- what can I say -- that is our "consumer behavior." Adjust accordingly.» 0 Comments
Wayne Friedman is West Coast Editor of MediaPost.