• Fox 'Enhances' Consumer Value -- Other Nets Sure To Follow
    It's a tricky scenario for traditional TV networks. How can they keep older distributors and retailers -- like cable operators -- happy while serving new fast-growing digital video sites like Hulu? The answer: Pry a few more dollars that come straight from consumers' hands.
  • If Not Paying For Interviews Means Less Story-Telling Drama, Will Advertisers Still Pay?
    Seems that big-time news organizations are looking to clean up their acts. ABC News says it won't pay for interviews -- er, make licensing deals for video or photo content surrounding those interviews. Recently we have found that Rupert Murdoch was horrified to find out that some of his News Corp. editors got their news stories in inappropriate and downright illegal ways. All that has stopped, he says. All this signals good news for journalism. But will this yield mundane, less glamorous journalistic stories? Will advertisers buy into this?
  • TV Upfront Revenues: A Still-Changing Face For Marketers
    The changing face of the TV upfront market? You probably don't need anyone to drum you over the head concerning the improvement of cable networks, the up-and-down road of NBC, and the growth of Spanish-language networks. But if that isn't enough -- and you need some specifics -- just follow the money. Estimates are that Univision pulled in around $1.7 billion in the upfront. Sounds big? It happens to be around the same amount NBC pulled.
  • Is The NFL The Only Option For Heavily Male-Targeted Marketers?
    The NFL is coming back -- and TV marketers are breathing easier. But might they be gasping again? Back in April, NFL TV advertisers -- who target male viewers -- believed their fall marketing plans might be in big trouble, due to a possible league shutdown. The concern was big, said those executives, because there were few alternatives to run their media and make business hay. Now the league is seemingly good to go this season. But the frantic thinking that beset the business for months might reveal a seemingly underlying problem in the growing entertainment and marketing …
  • Has Your Latest Entertainment Technology Let You Down?
    You might love your iPad (though flash video might make it better). You might love your Netflix (though that price hike is kind of stupid). You might love your 3D movies (though you might feel ripped-off by low-grade storytelling). The overriding question is easy: Has your latest entertainment technology let you down? Moviemaker and mogul Jeffery Katzenberg said if many 3D movies feel lame of late, you have a legitimate gripe.
  • What Would Consumer-Generated Marketing Do For Media Brands?
    We have all seen countless consumer-invented TV commercials and other consumer-inspired messaging -- for Doritos and other popular brands, especially during big TV events like the Super Bowl. What would happen if young millennials took a real whack at re-inventing -- or curating -- a media brand, like MTV, NBC, Netflix, or a Comcast Xfinity web brand?
  • CBS' Summertime Buzz: Tease Me! Tease Me! And Promise To Please Me
    Summer is the time for networks to drive big awareness for the fall season -- especially for new shows. But sometimes with a change in characters, more marketing is needed. High on the list here is the obvious: CBS' "Two and a Half Men." What better to get our attention than an outdoor and print campaign showing -- what else -- three men, including new cast member Ashton Kutcher? Oh, by they way, they are naked behind a sign touting the start date of the new season.
  • Do News Corp.'s Brands Need A New Image In The U.S.?
    How do you save a media brand when your name is Rupert Murdoch or News Corp.? You shut down a profitable weekend newspaper; you buy back $5 billion in News Corp. shares; you cut bait on trying to take over British Sky Broadcasting; you trot out a couple of resignations; and you take out full-page ads in U.K. newspapers, including one that had long pursued a story against one of your own papers. There'll be more coming.
  • Is Sheen's Anger Management, Both Real and Fictional, A TV Marketer's Dream Or Nightmare?
    What are the first two words that come to mind when someone says "Charlie Sheen"? Anger? Management? Say what you will about Sheen. But Lionsgate's effort to star him in a sitcom titled "Anger Management," riffing off the 2003 theatrical movie starring Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson, makes perfect popular culture sense.
  • Cowell, New Singing Reality Show Boss, Is Same As -- And Nastier Than -- The Old Boss
    Cowell's new show, "The X-Factor," seems to take a swipe at "American Idol" -- a rare move considering both shows air on the Fox network. The latest "Factor" promo starts off with Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and others in syrupy mode -- praising mediocre performers for their "spirit," only to find out this is a dream --actually, a nightmare -- of Cowell's. The scene then shifts into the real Cowell, calling people "horrific," "total rubbish" and the like. It delivers what we want to see with Cowell -- complete with an occasional rolling of eye in light of a …
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