by Wayne Friedman on Mar 31, 10:00 AM
More live TV on iPads and tablets? Everyone wants a piece of this growing business. But who owns this space -- content providers, or traditional and expanding cable operators? More importantly, can you count the audience -- especially when watching TV on their iPad in the bathtub? We are sure Nielsen will offer up a clean answer to this -- someday.
by Wayne Friedman on Mar 30, 12:30 PM
"Mad Men"'s financial tussle is way less mad than you may think. The easy question concerning AMC's delays and changes concerning the show is this: How can you run a big-budget cable TV drama that has far less advertising revenues than many other cable dramas? Answer is: You can't.
by Wayne Friedman on Mar 29, 4:15 PM
In the men's locker room in my gym, a TV set high near the ceiling was playing an infomercial. But I was pretty sure this wasn't the audience the advertiser had in mind. More typical programming for this venue -- say ESPN or CNN -- wasn't on the screen. There was no college basketball action, stock market results, "SportsCenter" highlights, global conflict, or "World Series of Poker" event.
by Wayne Friedman on Mar 28, 5:01 PM
Stop the storyline and sell me some product. But take your chances with what comes next. Two heavy-handed branded entertainment messages will now subtract one more person from the already dwindling supply of those watching NBC's "Chuck." According to my professional scientific survey, my wife may be another in a small stream of people looking to back away from the four-year old critical (but not with the overall public) favorite NBC show. Her change has to do with a specific branded food product being snarfed down by a character while being held hostage on a recent episode.
by Wayne Friedman on Mar 25, 11:00 AM
Consumers love to grouse about bad experiences when it comes to products and services. But if you were to include all big-name consumer brands when taking a poll for the worst company in America, wouldn't you include those brands consumers still spend the most time with for their evening entertainment?
by Wayne Friedman on Mar 24, 12:15 PM
Does one name and one brand always equal one "network"? Sounds like a lot for one person to handle. You might have put Oprah Winfrey, Martha Stewart and Keith Olbermann into this field -- considering recent TV business moves. Now there's the possibility of Glenn Beck headed into the same area with talk about him fronting his own "network." Really? What kind of network? A
by Wayne Friedman on Mar 23, 3:45 PM
If the way Europeans treat paid digital content is any harbinger of where this model is going, U.S. TV executives may need to rethink their plans.
by Wayne Friedman on Mar 22, 4:45 PM
What's the marketing problem with "Glee" for some musicians? Not everyone -- from Barbra Streisand to Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters -- is exactly pining to be associated with the Fox show. (Streisand originally had some frank comments about the show, then apologized).
by Wayne Friedman on Mar 21, 12:45 PM
A major earthquake leading to a tsunami that swallows not just homes, but people and everything in its wake -- that may seem incomprehensible. Now it seems the laws of nature want to extend collateral damage to some TV news history.
by Wayne Friedman on Mar 18, 11:45 AM
How do you market an original TV show when you don't have a place to run promos? When your customers aren't sure where to look for new shows? When you don't really have a "network"? Someone at Netflix must be asking these questions. Maybe someone else there has the answers. Maybe someone else is just winking at it all.