• Big-Screen TV Depression? Not In These Economic Times
    The economy got you down? No money for gas or food? That could be because you just plunked down $2,000 for that flat screen. Auto makers like General Motors and Toyota Motor Sales are trimming back estimates for their big-ticket consumer products. And, of course, the housing business is still in the tank. But consumers are spending -- makers of digital TV have seen a jump in sales to some 18% this year.
  • There's No Business Like Pol Business
    TV viewers love competitions. Which is probably why TV producers love to televise them, and the TV trade press, of course, loves to write about them. So it shouldn't be surprising that hardly any time lapsed between the closing ceremonies of the Beijing Summer Olympic Games, and the television wind-up of the next big competition series. No, not the new season of Fox's "American Idol" -- the roadblock coverage of TV's "American President." It should surprise no one that the Democratic National Convention is the TV industry's next big story. But how journalists are writing it, surprised even me.
  • GM's Oscars Pullout May Be Tempered By Upfront-, Olympics-Fueled Optimism
    General Motors out of the Oscars? Don't worry ABC; just consider TV marketers' strong belief in the current state of big-event TV. As we have just seen with the Olympics this year -- and with the Super Bowl earlier this season. which garnered the second biggest TV viewership of all time for a single event -- network TV is still pretty healthy, especially with big events.
  • NBC Olympics Online: Big Viewership, Not Much Ad Sales
    What's the difference between traditional TV and Internet video these days? In one example -- NBC's Beijing Olympics -- it comes to $1,019,600,000. NBC says it took in $1.025 billion in advertising sales, with virtually that entire amount coming from traditional TV venues, such as network TV. What about the Internet? According to one researcher, NBC collected a massive $5.4 million!
  • Olympic Wrap: Ed McMahon, The Eagles, And The Trampoline
    Now that the torch has been extinguished on the Games of the XXIX Olympiad -- and you have to love the modesty of the International Olympic Committee -- I can once again think about the insight and brilliance of Ed McMahon. Specifically, concerning the past fortnight, you wouldn't think he'd have anything to teach us about sports and popular culture, much less television viewing habits and ratings, so stay with me. (And how about Donald Trump offering to buy McMahon's house? You didn't see Rosie do that, did you?)
  • Big Olympics Ratings: Will NBC's New Shows Get A Golden Halo?
    Those big Olympic-sized ratings took NBC by surprise. But what's next? The good news: TV advertisers got more than they paid for. The bad: NBC could have sold those TV advertisers at higher CPMs. The question mark: What will this do for NBC's new shows looking to get the network out of its fourth-place doldrums?
  • Spanish- Language Media Hits Choppy Waters
    These were supposed to be high times for Spanish-language broadcasters. The flow chart held: advertisers were going to fully recognize the potential in targeting their audience, and then dollars would be shifted their way en masse
  • The CW Holds On To '90210'; Will Critics And Viewers Let Go?
    In the TV marketing game, CW is doing the poker-playing equivalent of going "all in" when it comes to handling "90210." The CW, in a shrewd and perhaps daring marketing move, is withholding the premiere "screener" of the highly anticipated sequel to the famed Fox Network show, whose success or failure may take the troubled network along the same direction.
  • The Next Big TV Awards Shows For Your Media Plan Could Come With Chubby Ratings
    Your award shows with big ratings are finally here -- whether it's MTV's Video Music Awards next month or ABC's Academy Awards next spring. Big-time nominations will be the highlight of any marketing campaign that aligns themselves with these shows - especially now that Britney Spears last big-time performance, which was universally ridiculed, debased, and mocked, is up for a best performance award.
  • TV Brands Keep Coming Back -- On Every Platform
    When TV times are tough, the TV answer is to find brands that work, usually ones that have a historical brand equity value. And not just on network or even cable TV, but with new technologies.
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