• Biggest TV Stars Of '05 (So Far): Hispanic, Cable, And Everlast Boxing Equipment
    U.S. advertising grew almost 6 percent in the first half of 2005 from the usual suspects--cable TV, Spanish-language TV, and of course, the Internet, according to yesterday's report released from Nielsen Monitor Plus.
  • NHL and CBS News: Looking For Better, Hard-Hitting Hockey And News
    The NHL and CBS News need better company images--and yesterday both took steps to improve that look to fans and viewers. The NHL is hiring Conductor, a West Coast entertainment boutique that works on TV commercials and one-sheets for theatrical movies. CBS hired Vaughn Ververs of "The Hotline" to report and write "Public Eye," a blog that will go behind the scenes at CBS News, acting as an ombudsman for viewers and news junkies.
  • Marketing New TV Shows Requires Sacrifice
    It wasn't too long ago broadcast networks talked about off-line marketing. They realized shrinking broadcast network ratings points were getting them nowhere in marketing new TV shows. Now the word among network marketing executives is sacrifice. Launch seven new shows for a network in the fall season, but only promote two or three of them. The other four? Sink or swim. New TV network marketing is using your very limited resources in the best way. It gives you "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost" on ABC. Mike Benson, senior vice president of marketing, advertising, and promotion for ABC Entertainment told …
  • Scripps Doesn't Play Like That
    Reality shows with no branded entertainment? That's impossible. Isn't that the whole point of having products inserted into content to make shows more financially viable? Apparently, Scripps Networks doesn't see it that way. Scripps Networks - which includes HGTV, Food Network, DIY, and Fine Living - doesn't allow branded entertainment in its shows, believing that it can sour the trust the viewers have with its informational programming where hosts and experts can honestly talk about products without being tied to companies. That's especially unusual in shows about home and food that seemingly are the best and easiest places to insert …
  • Pat Robertson Outburst Screams Trouble for ABC Family
    It's time for broadcaster/religious personality Pat Robertson to unplug his electronic soapbox - especially now that he is screaming fire in a crowded theater. An angry Robertson on ABC Family's "The 700 Club" (that's right, it's a show airing on ABC Family and produced by a Robertson company) demanded that the United States assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, saying we should "take him out." Robertson amended his thoughts later saying his words could have meant "kidnapping."
  • The TV Name Game Coming Soon to a City Near You
    Echostar is seeking the ultimate in off-line marketing: Looking for a town to change its name to "Dish" after its Dish Network. This follows recent themes in marketing lore that roll with capitalistic marketing tendencies. That includes having your wedding sponsored by a company. Say a long-distance phone company, for example. Or people imprinting perhaps an automotive logo on their forehead (in the hopes of getting free cars for life). News reports also had consumers naming their children after popular consumer products.
  • Gambling With the New Fall Season
    Who can you believe these days -- the TV media buyers or the Internet buzz -- when it comes to new network TV shows? It's a confusing time for the average TV advertiser when media buyers are panning one show and the Internet gives it a thumbs-up. Although if you had listened to the Internet buzz from last year, you would have bought the under-priced ABC and would have been buzzing with lots of smiles.
  • TV Advocacy Ad Clash
    Advocacy TV advertising generally is a no-no for TV networks and stations. If someone hates the war in Iraq, thinks that President Bush tells too many bad jokes, or that he shouldn't be riding mountain bikes with Lance Armstrong, you generally can't just run it in a TV commercial. Advocacy commercials are precarious, because they only tell one side of the story. It could be inaccurate. Networks don't like to be put in this position because, as with any political position, you have to give time to the opposing side. However, networks and TV stations have no problem …
  • DVR Research Doesn't Terrify, It Pacifies
    Maybe there's a DVR research conspiracy plaguing the TV public these days. First throwing us into a fear frenzy, more recently patting us on the back until we regain a calmer state. New research suggests viewers using DVR technology will actually stop fast-forwarding to look at commercials at normal speeds -- when they are interesting, entertaining, or appetizing when users are deciding what to eat for dinner.
  • Age and Money Drive Entertainment Divorces
    It's a sad day for entertainment business marriages: ESPN won't be airing NHL hockey and Pierce Brosnan won't be acting as James Bond anymore. The James Bond producers/rights holders relieved Brosnan of his duties -- just as ESPN stopped bidding with Comcast for its $200-million, three-year offer it made to have the NHL run on its now budding sports cable network, OLN.
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