• MSNBC About All Things Live -- And News As Well?
    New MSNBC leadership from Andrew Lack wants to turn the cable TV channel's long-time focus from primarily commentary/opinion to news, plain and simple. This is a work in progress. The heading "MSNBC Live" may just be a place holder for stuff yet to appear. Reports suggest this doesn't just mean new programs but perhaps a total channel name change as well.
  • FCC's Carriage Issue Non-Fix: The Emergency Meeting That Wasn't
    When the Federal Communications Commission looks to intercede in free-market negotiations between a big TV station group and a major pay TV provider, you can have some eyebrow-raising. But does that means legislative and regulatory changes are afoot? Not likely.
  • Writing Monthly Checks To CBS ABC, Fox, And NBC? When Do I Start?
    Senior execs at Netflix must be rolling their eyes over the current state of digital video metrics: viewability levels, supposed standards and verification issues. "Measurement? Who needs measurement?" I can hear them saying. Netflix execs know who's watching its TV content; they don't need Nielsen to tell them. And the company doesn't need to tell others about its proprietary data. Even better still: "Advertisers? Who needs advertisers?" Netflix doesn't. Not when you have enough subscribers paying around $8 a month.
  • Spoiler Alert: Read All About Your Series Finales Here -- Or Not
    Results can be cruel when it comes to disclosing -- or not -- future storylines of TV shows. We speak of spoiler TV program activity. With more disruptive TV programming -- and disparate programming release schedules -- TV viewers' emotions can get ruffled. TiVo says its new "Spoilers Behavior Survey" showed that 82% of respondents have encountered a spoiler, up from 78% in 2014.
  • Political TV Advertising Still Big For 2016 - But Expect More Annoying Noise
    You can understand digital media's optimism this political season. But the reality is that this and next year's political advertising extravaganza will still be on TV. According to Borrell Associate, some $5.5 billion will be spent on national political TV advertising, with around $1.08 billion spent on political digital media.
  • Music Business Goes 'Upfront' -- Whatever That Now Means
    Amid the nervousness of the TV advertising market -- as well as the current troubling U.S. stock market -- media businesses are looking to borrow some of TV’s marketing tactics. Recently the iHeartSummit, the big radio group, offered up two-day showcase by record companies, managers and artists including Justin Bieber, for some 100 key influencers. Another upfront-like effort was a daylong presentation of the Universal Music Group’s current projects. The first obvious question: What took the music industry so long? A short answer might be hubris. For a long time, music labels didn't need marketing help. As a matter …
  • Will Live Sports Leverage Sponsorship Messages On Jerseys?
    The NHL will be "testing" the idea of putting advertising/sponsorship messages on jerseys in the upcoming World Cup of Hockey next month. Some critics worry this could change the image of the game; others shrug their shoulders.
  • Rethinking TV Ecosystem And 'Super' Viewers
    How much would you pay for your favorite TV network -- if you described yourself as a "super" viewer? Imagine a super viewer as someone who tunes in pretty much everyday, maybe to a news network, cooking channel, or sports network. A lot of talk has been surrounding ESPN -- the biggest cable TV network -- and what will be its second act. Bet that super viewers will be part of the equation.
  • Will Lower TV Ratings And Cord-Cutting Mean Lower Carriage Fees?
    Plenty of lower ratings abound for cable networks -- as well as for broadcast networks. Leaving aside weaker advertising revenues at the moment, should that also mean lower prices for pay TV providers going forward?
  • Why 'Sesame Street' Went To HBO
    I can't help thinking back to those reports in the fall 2011 of how Netflix kids' programming -- reruns from likes of Viacom's Nickelodeon -- might have cannibalized some traditional kids' networks. Now, we have a major kids TV brand, "Sesame Street," moving, in part, from the public TV airwaves to HBO, a premium cable TV network. Does this mean parents have figured out pay TV services for kids aren't t so bad?
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