Sprint said in a release today that the HTV Evo 4G had broken all broken all previous first day sales records for any phone sold by the carrier. Its heavily promoted new smartphone launched last Friday surpassed the prior first-day sales of both the Samsung Instinct and Palm Pre. Sprint also said the total number of Evo phones sold Friday was three times the total of the Instinct and Pre devices sold combined in their first three days on the market. Strong demand led to temporary shortages at some of the 22,000 retail outlets offering the Evo including …

Yahoo plans to announce Monday changes to the Yahoo homepage, full product integration with Facebook, and Yahoo Pulse, formally Yahoo Profiles, to lets people manage content and privacy settings. Beginning Monday, people who use both Yahoo and Facebook can link their accounts and view and share updates with friends across both networks. People who connect their accounts can tap into their Facebook News Feed on the Yahoo's homepage and in Yahoo Mail and other Yahoo sites and services. Those who create and share content on Yahoo sites such as News, Sports, and Flickr, will have an option to share their …

When it comes to in-stream video ads, 15 or 30 second spots are the standard. But what's the optimum length for a branded video or in-banner video ad? Thirty seconds to 1:30, according to new data from video ad and analytics firm TubeMogul. The completion rate for standalone video ads of that length, at 32.2%, compared to 23.4% for ads longer than 1:30, and 17% for ads under 30 seconds. The assumption would be that the shortest ads would've had the highest completion rates. "But what people seem to be saying is: 'we don't like 15-second TV-style spots or …

The onslaught of marketing and demonstration of 3D technology by television manufacturers is beginning to show results as early adopters are showing interest in the technology. According to research company Interpret, 5% of U.S. heads of households are "definitely interested" in purchasing a 3D TV, and another 8% say they are "probably interested." The company also finds that those who have interest in the technology are willing to pay 8-10% more for a 3D TV over a comparably sized 2D television.

Following its successful introduction of user-generated content (UGC) initiatives and a "Ville"-themed advertising campaign last summer, Johnsonville Sausage is turning up the heat for this year's peak grilling season. For traditional media exposure, Cramer-Krasselt/Milwaukee created a new national TV spot for this season's "Ville" campaign, which is premised on inserting words in front of "ville" that tie into social moments in which people enjoy Johnsonville's sausage, brats and other products ("Summerville," "Vacationville," etc.).   Like the original spot, the latest commercial, airing on national broadcast and cable through September, focuses on showing families and friends sharing fun, "Ville" …

Jerry Buhlmann, the CEO of Aegis Group, and former head of Aegis Media, earns a base salary of approximately $1.088 million, and has been granted 1,918,150 conditional shares of Aegis stock under the company's Performance Share Plan. Based on the last closing price of Aegis' stock, and current currency conversation rates, Buhlmann's stock grant is worth $3,069,040. Aegis disclosed the Buhlmann's remuneration details in preparation for its annual meeting on June 16th. Following the new grant, Buhlmann holds share options of 1,004,824 ordinary shares, and 3,508,671 conditional shares, and holds a total of 265,053 ordinary shares of Aegis …

Patrón Tequila is on track to support besieged Gulf Coast residents via a new, national, epicurean-themed fundraising train tour. Organized by The Patrón Spirits Company in partnership with the St. Bernard Project, a community-based organization dedicated to helping New Orleans-area residents, the tour features the "Patrón Tequila Epicurean Express," a restored, vintage 1927 train car. The car will ride the rails from city to city throughout June, stopping in Chicago, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New Orleans, L.A. and points in between.   At each stop, top local chefs will create Patrón-inspired events at the train to benefit the …

Microsoft and Razorfish/Universal McCann took top honors for the Bing VCS campaign at the third annual Vibrant Awards held at the Top of the Rock in Manhattan Thursday night. IBM and Ogilvy Worldwide NY took the Silver Award for the U.S. Open Sponsorship Program campaign. Unilever and Mindshare took the Bronze Award for the Real Food Project campaign. Best Use of Technology Award went to Toyota and Saatchi + Saatchi L.A. for Recall. And Industry Choice Award went to Best Buy and Razorfish Seattle. Each entry was evaluated by a panel of experts and members of the advertising …

TV executives can sometimes forget what one TV series - – actually one episode of on TV series – can do for a cable or broadcast network. What was Wednesday night's top-rated cable network? USA, TNT, Fox News or ESPN, you say? No, not the usual suspects. It was Versus, the Comcast-owned sports cable channel, which aired game three of the NHL's Stanley Cup Finals. Versus posted 3.6 million viewers. Not only bettering all other cable networks in that metric, but also getting the best numbers among 18-49, 18-34, 25-54, and key male demographics. This was the …

Google's plan to purchase real-time budding company Invite Media has prompted two groups -- Consumer Watchdog and the Center for Digital Democracy -- to ask the Federal Trade Commission to investigate. The groups say the $70 million deal poses privacy and antitrust issues.