• Supremes To Hear "Fleeting Expletive" TV Case
    The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to consider reviving a Federal Communications Commission rule that subjects broadcasters to fines for "fleeting expletives" that air on live television. That rule, issued in response to supposedly vulgar language used by celebs during awards shows aired in 2002 and 2003 was set aside by a federal appeals court last year. But the Bush administration says that ruling raises questions about the FCC's power to bar the repeated use of expletives on broadcast television and the "the FCC may find itself unable to fulfill a large portion of its broadcast indecency enforcement …
  • ING Has "Your Number"
    ING, a Netherlands-based financial-services company known in the United States largely for its orange logos and banking cafes, has come up with a new TV and print effort tagged "Your Number," a reference to the amount of money people will need to retire in comfort. Ads show professional, well-dressed baby boomers going about their lives, while carrying a bright orange number with a dollar sign. Some signs are five figures, while others are seven, but the people in the ads carry them everywhere. The idea is to reflect ING's "optimistic approach," says Tricia Conahan, senior vice president …
  • Disney-ABC's "Wizards" Makes Magic In Syndie
    "Wizards First Rule," a new live-action weekly series from Disney-ABC Domestic Television Distribution, has been cleared in 84% of markets -- including all the top 50. Apart from main launch partner Tribune Broadcasting, the show has been sold to stations from CBS Television Stations Group to Sinclair to Hearst-Argyle Television to Belo and others. The program "has generated tremendous response from the broadcast community, resulting in outstanding clearances across the country," says Jed Cohen, executive vice president and general sales manager of Disney-ABC Domestic Television. "To have reached 84% coverage in less than six weeks is a true …
  • Dish Looks For Appellate Review In Battle With TiVo
    Dish Network is asking a federal appeals court to rehear its patent dispute with TiVo, saying an earlier ruling in the latter's favor was based upon inaccurate testimony from a TiVo witness. Said ruling had overturned a lower court finding that Dish had infringed on the hardware elements of TiVo's patent -- and awarded $94 million in damages. But in a new petition, Dish claims an expert witness who testified for TiVo actually contradicted himself, meaning the verdict wasn't "supported by substantial evidence." If TiVo wins, it will boost the DVR firm's stance in negotiating power licensing deals …
  • Clear Channel TV Station Sale Complete
    Clear Channel Communications has completed the sale of its television assets to Newport Television LLC for $1.1 billion, ending months of stops and starts for a deal that sometimes looked doomed to fail. The radio behemoth first agreed to sell 56 television stations to Providence in April 2007 for $1.2 billion, but as the markets plunged, renegotiated a lower price. Last month, Clear Channel filed a lawsuit to force Newport parent Providence to complete the deal, but to settle that dispute, lowered its asking price by $100 million. A further complication arose when Wachovia, one of the …
  • "Duel" To Return To ABC
    Prime-time high-stakes game show "Duel" will return to ABC with 10 new episodes beginning April 4 at 9 p.m., with Mike Greenberg remaining as host. The format of the program mixes trivia challenges with strategic play in head-to-head matches. It premiered on ABC in December as a tournament-style six-night competition with one of 20 contestants guaranteed to win the top prize jackpot. But now the show will air weekly and each episode is to feature a new group of contestants dueling either the previous week's winner or a new opponent. The goal of each is to win a …
  • State Farm Takes A Cue From The Competition
    The final campaign overseen by late DDB, Chicago creative chief Paul Tilley is for State Farm as the insurance giant tries to hold share in the face big-spending competitors by using some of their same arguments. The new effort, called "Intersections," uses the company's "Like a good neighbor" approach in new ways and from multiple perspectives. One execution has a young consumer caught at the intersection of "an 8 percent mortgage and a 3 percent raise," but saving money on insurance -- a pricing message more common to Progressive or Nationwide. In every case, an agent says "I'm there" …
  • "Non-Uniform" Ads Break For Kenneth Cole
    Kenneth Cole, although keeping with its traditional approach to advertising, has a new ad that also sends out a different message. The effort, themed "Non-Uniform Thinking," spotlights real people with extraordinary experiences. They include model and athlete Aimee Millins, who was born with a condition that requires her to wear prosthetic limbs. The ads shows Millins in a short black skirt and heels with her prosthetic limbs exposed under the tag "We All Walk in Different Shoes." Other ads include a gay married couple and their daughter and one with the HIV-positive editor-in-chief of POZ magazine.
  • Utah Beaks New Tourism Campaign
  • "Retro" Approach In Pontiac Ads
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