• CBS Optimistic Even In "Challenging" Environment
  • Record Ad Spend In Clinton-Obama Battle
    The battle for the Democratic presidential nomination between Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton is turning out to be the costliest ever, according to one ad-tracking service. The pair has spent a combined $110 million on TV ads up to now in a race that has gone for almost a year, says Evan Tracey of TNS Media Intelligence/Campaign Media Analysis Group. "We're beyond what has been record spending in previous presidential nomination campaigns," he says, noting that John Kerry spent close to $20 million to get the nomination four years ago, while Obama has already shelled out almost …
  • Gay Kiss Lands P&G In Hot Water
    Procter & Gamble Co., after taking heat for not allowing a gay couple on "As the World Turns" to kiss on camera, finally allowed them to do so April 23 -- only to be attacked by the American Family Association's founder and chairman Donald Wildmon. He sent out an email message titled "Procter & Gamble promotes explicit open-mouth homosexual kissing" that asks his followers to complain to the company. Two gay characters on the soap opera first kissed last September on air, but it had been about seven months since they had last done so, generating persistent online …
  • As Broadcast Wanes, Cable Nets Rise
    With the broadcast networks still suffering from the after-effects of the writers' strike, cable programmers are looking to take advantage. Broadcast ratings were down by double-digits even before the strike, helping cable to collectively pull more than one-half of the total prime-time audience, with many posting their best numbers ever this quarter. And big players in the category are feeling bullish. Turner, which operates TNBT, TBS and truTV is again championing the "one TV world" concept under which broadcast and cable networks should be treated an equal terms when it comes to CPMs. Meanwhile, the networks that have …
  • Dem. Ad Blasts McCain On War
  • Wal-Mart Exclusive Sponsor Of New Hearst Mag
  • GSD&M Sued Over Southwest Spot
    GSD&M Idea City, has been named in a lawsuit that alleges the agency used a song similar to the theme for "The Price Is Right" in a spot for Southwest Airlines. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, names Southwest Airlines as a co-defendant and asserts the advertising "is likely to cause confusion, deception and mistake" for its viewing audience. The ad in question, called "Spin & Win," shows a passenger coming to the counter to ask about his flight and attendants launch into game show mode, asking him to spin a …
  • Optimedia Snags Payless, Stride Rite Accounts
    Optimedia U.S. has snared media buying and planning duties for Collective Brands' Payless Shoe Source and Stride Rite, units. The Publicis unit will get the company's $90 million U.S. media business and be responsible for both the general and Hispanic markets, along with the Canadian market for Payless. It will also handle Stride Rite brands like Keds, Saucony and Sperry Top-Sider. Optimedia beat Omnicom Group's PHD and a division of Publicis sibling Starcom MediaVest Group to get the work. Incumbent Mediaedge:cia, resigned the account because the WPP-owned shop was "unable to reach acceptable financial terms" with the client, …
  • "Criminal Minds" Syndie To ION
    ION has bought broadcast syndication rights to "Criminal Minds" in a deal that will bring the CBS Television Distribution show to a prime-time launch in 2009. "This high-caliber TV series strengthens and broadens ION Television with target audiences and advertisers long term," says Brandon Burgess, chief executive of ION. "The series has compelling first-run ratings on CBS and is showing strength going into its fourth original season." The drama follows a team of FBI profilers and joins other recent additions to ION that include "Boston Legal" and "Quantum Leap." The pick-ups are part an ION strategy to …
  • Goodell: NFL Network In For The Long Haul
    NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is reaffirming the league's commitment to the NFL Network after a tough run on the distribution side that has had the net battling cable companies for carriage. "We will make the NFL Network a success," Goodell says. While the channel launched to great fanfare in 2003 and offers a late-season prime-time package designed to boost distribution among holdouts like Time Warner Cable, Charter and Cablevision, it has fallen from 42 million homes to about 32 million after legal battles with Comcast and EchoStar. Network execs note the distribution challenge, but say that …
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