• Struggling Fox Posts A Victory -- Albeit A Diluted One
    It's been a tough stretch for Fox. Network chief Kevin Reilly conceded this past season was lackluster at best, while upfront deal-making saw dollar commitments decline markedly. Yet, even with the rockiness, Fox again finished the season as the top-rated network in a notable metric: C3 ratings excluding sports and specials.
  • Sheriff Interview Symbolic In Hernandez Case
    Perhaps more than anything, a signal how much interest the Aaron Hernandez case has generated came Wednesday in an interview highlighted by what the former New England tight end would have for dinner. Every detail in the case, where Hernandez is charged with murdering a friend who talked to the wrong people, provides abundant drama.
  • CNN Follows Playbook That Partisanhip Works
    Bill O'Reilly appears to have won. Same for Keith Olbermann. Arguably the two seminal drivers of the fiercely partisan programming that fills prime time on Fox News and MSNBC have received an endorsement from CNN -- the network that had maintained a holier-than-thou approach to unabashed advocacy. Of course, the nod to their success also holds for their bosses who let them run with it: Roger Ailes at Fox and Jeff Zucker at NBCUniversal.
  • Apple Uses Questionable Approach In New Campaign
    If Don Draper is right, Apple is wrong. The "Mad Men" character uses the creative strategy that "if you don't like what's being said, change the conversation." Apple has been under siege, but isn't following the Draper mantra in a new ad campaign.
  • Cord-Cutting Offers Summer Job
    As high school and college kids settled into summer jobs last July, the unemployment rate among 16-to-24 year olds was the lowest in several years. Still, some 50% in the demo weren't working. To be sure, some were in school or doing other things deemed productive. But how many had parents saying quit with the video games and get out of the house? So, to any of the badgered this summer, a job awaits allowing one to become an instant small business owner: cord-cutter.
  • NSA Snooping Could Impact Media Research
    In the U.K., "TV needs you." So says Kantar Media as it looks to recruit people to join the panel that generates TV ratings in Britain. Residents who allow people meters to be installed at home can pick up nice incentives from earrings to a bottle of Smirnoff to a recreational airplane ride ("barrel role" possible!).
  • Ratings Fall, Revenues Jump At Big Four
    Demand for national TV time looks to have been relatively healthy last month. Either that or deft inventory management seems to have been in play at the Big Four broadcasters. By one measure, prime-time ratings were flat at NBC and down precipitously at the other three. Yet, combined ad spending by four large media entities -- across all dayparts -- was up at all four networks.
  • Giving Branded Entertainment Better Digestion For Late Night Hosts
    Brand entertainment can be like walking in a haunted house-- at least to one late night talk show host. It can turn your stomach. Conan O'Brien says talking up a product on his TBS late night talk show without his usual comedic spin can be "creepy." Doritos, for example, might not work when creatives are too specific with exactly what they want him to say.
  • Nielsen Abandons STB Data In Metered Markets, Moves Ahead In Diary DMAs
    Nielsen isn't abandoning set-top-box (STB) data, but it's substantially scaling back plans to use it for local measurement. It boils down to the need for speed. In the 55 largest markets, Nielsen has determined -- at least for now -- that it's not possible to collect and process the data in a timely enough fashion to continue with overnight ratings - a client request. So, Nielsen has altered the new "hybrid" system it laid out last summer.
  • Telemundo Launches Hispanic Multi-Platform Measurement Project
    Lost in some of last week's hoopla around an ESPN cross-platform measurement initiative was Telemundo embarking on a similar effort. The Spanish-language media company is looking to measure behavior among Hispanics across four segments: TV, online, mobile and social. The project Telemundo's commissioned will use resources from Symphony Advanced Media (SymphonyAM), which collects data on multi-media usage, and Vision Critical, which develops panels. It's the first time the two have measurement entities have worked together.
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