• You CAN Advertise Digital TV Shows On Cable TV -- If You Have The Right Business Model
    Are you marketing an original TV show on the Internet -- and hoping to get an audience of a decent size? You need to advertise on TV. At least that's what those behind Glenn Beck's digital video efforts seem to think.
  • Give Viewers What They Really Want: Much Less
    Less programming usually means more viewers -- especially for sports and reality shows. ESPN is reporting that, through 14 NBA games, its total viewers are up 21%, to 2.1 million. And its numbers are 31% higher among 18-49ers -- a 1.7 average rating so far. The NBA, in the midst of a shortened season, seems to have pushed viewers to climb on board for what has been called a "sprint" finish.
  • Bite On This: Shared Content Vs. Product Placement
    Viewing a way-too-long product placement for Subway in a recent "Hawaii Five-0" episode on CBS got me thinking: What if a friend, who got a quick lunch bite, talked highly about his meal at a certain sandwich franchise? Shared comments from a friend would have top billing, of course -- even versus paid ads or brand placements that are easier to digest, resulting in just a shrug-of-shoulder response.
  • With 'Family TV' Getting Old-Fashioned, Can 'Co-Viewing' Work?
    Still looking for family entertainment on TV? "Modern Family" and shows like that might not entirely cut it. Big consumer product marketers continue to try to find new ways to promote family TV shows. But what is this really about?
  • New Broadcast Networks Need Good After-Market -- Or Current Market -- Partners
    Here'w an easy TV business quiz: If you were starting a new broadcast network, what would be its target? Women 18-34? Young men? Older citizens? How about Hispanic-Americans? Census data -- and trends --- show that's perhaps the only direction where there is assured growth.
  • For True Engagement, Follow Viewers' Extra Entertainment Money
    How do you measure true TV engagement? I'm not talking about wistfully sending off an email, a tweet, or a Facebook update about what the girls should be doing on "Gossip Girl," "New Girl" or "2 Broke Girls." I'm talking about old-school pulling-out-the-wallet engagement.
  • Sampling Or Piracy? Are Viewers Thieves, Lazy, Or Being Abetted?
    For some, there is a fine line between sampling and piracy. For others, the goal posts keep moving. Where does marketing end and stealing start? If you go to a disreputable website and get CBS' "Two and a Half Men" episode a day early, are you stealing? Yes, more than likely. But if you go to an honorable website, say Hulu or XfinityTV, and get the premiere of NBC's new show "Smash" early, it's not thievery, just marketing.
  • Super Bowl Media Buying 'Makes You Be Sharp"
    More new advertisers will offer commercials in the upcoming Super Bowl than in recent memory -- probably the most since the Super Bowl in 2000, when 19 new dot-com advertisers spent lavishly, only to mostly disappear soon afterward. What does this say? Lessons are hard to learn? Traditional TV is far from dead? If anything, it means media buying and planning professionals will gain lots of knowledge -- both good and bad -- and fast.
  • New Music, Entertainment Channel Can Take Lessons From MTV
    What's your first thought when you hear about a new "music, pop culture, entertainment lifestyle" network? You're about to yawn, perhaps? But wait. Take note of the names attached to this new project, called AXS TV (you can pronounce it "Access TV") -- Ryan Seacrest, media and sports billionaire Mark Cuban, live entertainment impresario AEG, and powerful Hollywood agent Creative Artists Agency.
  • Networking For All Your Entertainment In 2012
    Years ago I had a crazy friend who wanted to start a network. Not a cable network, mind you, a broadcast network. She had no experience -- except as a producer for a made-for-TV movie. "Hmm, that's kind of ambitious," I said cautiously,
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