• College Papers Are Flush With Ads
    While mainstream newspapers face dwindling circulation and shrinking ad revenue, college papers have become hot commodities. Driven by research showing that about 76% of the 6 million full-time U.S. undergrads read their campus papers at least occasionally, big corporations and advertisers are latching on to the student-run publications. One notable example came in late summer, when a subsidiary of MTV bought College Publisher, a company that runs Web sites for about 450 college papers. Indeed, so good are the prospects for the student-run newspaper at Florida State University, FSView & Florida Flambeau, that it was acquired in August by a …
  • Mexican Drug Gang Launches Ad Campaign
    A drug gang known as "The Family" has taken out a half-page advertisement in newspapers in Michoacán, Mexico, in which they claim to actually be anti-crime vigilantes who want to stop kidnapping, robbery and the sale of methamphetamine in the state. The shadowy group, believed to be allied to Mexico's Gulf drug cartel, has claimed credit in the past for various carnage, including a September incident in which gunmen dumped five severed human heads into a bar in the city of Uruapán. Those and other heads discovered since then have been accompanied by hand-lettered notes, but this is the first …
  • NBC Goes After FCC 'Indecency' Powers
    NBC has taken aim at the Federal Communications Commission's "indecency" enforcement powers, arguing that the a combination of the V-chip and ratings system is a more narrowly tailored means of giving parents control over content than the FCC's current daytime ban. When the network broke with its long policy of not using TV ratings descriptors, it was viewed as a major step toward a challenge of FCC indecency enforcement regulation, with the networks able to make the argument that since they were all using the ratings system and all new TVs had to have a v-chip, the FCC's policy was …
  • Fox Could Still Top ABC
    That Fox even considered running the aborted O.J. Simpson special speaks to just how bad off the network is this fall, writes Toni Fitzgerald. Its new shows are all struggling, while several returning ones have fallen off--and its average in the 18-49 demo is 9% behind where it was at this time last year. But it might yet bounce back for its third straight season win in adults 18-49. Last year, after a dismal fall, Fox made up a deficit that seemed also nearly insurmountable, winning by 0.1 over ABC. And it has even more upside potential this time around: …
  • ABC Bails On Challenging Feds
    ABC has pulled out of its court challenge to four Federal Communications Commission decisions, pending the finality of the regulator's move to rescind an indecency finding against "NYPD Blue." In a letter to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, ABC says that since the FCC's order on remand from the court vacated the portions of its decision concerning the show, it would neither file a brief in the case nor make an oral argument. That remand decision upheld two profanity findings against Fox, but dismissed ones against CBS and ABC. Unlike ABC--owned by Disney--CBS is …
  • Branson Says ITV Under Murdoch's Sway
    Richard Branson has accused Britain's ITV of falling under the sway of Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB after the broadcaster rejected a £4.7bn ($8.9 billion) offer to buy the company and dismissed the rationale for a tie-up out of hand. "ITV has closed the door on NTL without even seeking to discuss the strategic merits of a combination with NTL. It appears that ITV now has an 800lb gorilla in its midst," says Branson, the largest shareholder in NTL. He adds that Sky's move into ITV represents "a threat to democracy". He goes on to claim that ITV …
  • Hearst Mags Push Multiplatform Ad Approach
    Hearst Magazines has repositioned its approach to advertisers, moving away from basic ad-page sales toward multiplatform marketing. The magazine company joins the growing list of media companies trying to deal more closely and comprehensively with their advertisers. A recent example came this last summer, when Meredith Corp. created a unit called Meredith 360°, designed to levergage the company's assets in a more integrated way. At Hearst, sales reps have just received training in digital sales--as the company moves to take its Web sites in-house from their previous home on iVillage. "We've always been doing custom marketing …
  • Al-Jazeera Puts On A Western Face
    One of the many peculiar things about Al-Jazeera, writes Brendan Bernhard, is that the Arabic-language news channel launched in 1996 has brought news and information to people who, for the most part, are unable to act on it. "It has been an oasis of free (or apparently free) expression in a desert of dictatorships," he says, with the ability to stir anger, but not the kind that is satisfied with voting someone out of office or changing governments. b In that sense, there has always been something artificial about it, as if it had taken up residence in …
  • Fox To Turn Lion In Winter?
    From almost every ratings standpoint, the Fox network is in the midst of a dreadful run--last in almost every audience category, including some areas of traditional strength: viewers 18 to 34. Overall, ratings are down 9% from 2005, and the net's newest fare has gone almost completely unnoticed by viewers. There's not a single new series among the top 55 shows on the tube. But if that news would cause panic at other networks, that's not happening with Fox; it is ready to storm to victory in the second half with "American Idol" coming on in January, along …
  • Ad-Free TV Future
    When signing up for cable TV, consumers can expect to choose form several packages, including deluxe networks such as HBO or Showtime that require an additional fare. Now, a new business model is emerging. It's no secret that many viewers are tuning out ads using TiVo or DVRs, forcing the networks to try all kinds of new distribution models. In some cases, these accompany ad-supported, on-demand full streaming of shows. And though the various models differ, they share some things in common. Almost all the networks are now letting people own ad-free programming forever by selling it over …
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