The Marketing Ideanet is a free idea sharing newsletter published by 602 Communications. 602 Communications is a TV training and consulting company that specializes in improving front-line news and promotion skills. We teach workshops on teasing, marketing, reporting, producing, lighting, editing, internet and graphics. Get more information on all our workshops.

The Marketing Ideanet is sent via TVSpy's e-mail servers. Visit TVSpy's Marketing Matters online community.

Graeme Newell
602 Communications
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
(919) 217-4438
http://www.602communications.com

In This Issue
Promo of the Day
Health-Care Debate Dominates News: PEJ
Anti-Health Care Reform Group Pulls Ads After Kennedy Death
'79 TV Interview Disasterous for Kennedy
'The TV News' Webcast Set to Hit the Web
Stewart/Colbert Audience 'Impassioned', Comedy Central Proves
Fox Gives 'House' Guerrilla Ad Treatment
WWE to Create Own Cable Network
ESPN to Screen USC-Ohio State Game in 3D
Top 10 Most Influential Journalists on Twitter
Twitter No BFF to Teens
Tweeting Pointless to Anti-Twitters
YouTube to Post Ads on Popular User-Generated Videos
FCC 'Safe Viewing' Report Request Further Study
COLBERT in Space Will Have to Wait
Failed URL Shortening Services


Quotes

"Humor is by far the most significant activity of the human brain."
- Edward De Bono

"There is always some frivolity in excellent minds; they have wings to rise, but also stray."
- Joseph Joubert

"Humor is something that thrives between man's aspirations and his limitations. There is more logic in humor than in anything else.  Because, you see, humor is truth."
- Victor Borge


Promo of the Day
Bill Ritchotte directed us to these promos for WBZ's 'Stay Curious' campaign.  Wendy McMahon and Pete Masucci are the EPs.  Peers in the industry are buzzing about this fresh visual style. These are the first three in a series.

602communications.com/VideoExamples

Have a video clip to share?  Email it to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Flash (.flv) or QuickTime (.mov) files, size 320 x 240, are preferred, but WindowsMedia (.wmv) files will also be accepted.  Large files may be sent via http://www.yousendit.com.  You can also mail your clip on VHS or DVD to Graeme Newell at 1011 Lyndhurst Falls Lane, Knightdale, NC  27545


Health-Care Debate Dominates News: PEJ
The health care debate was the top news story for the fifth consecutive week, according to the Pew Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ) News Coverage Index for the week of Aug. 17-23, but the war in Afghanistan is capturing more of the media's attention.  The economy continued to be the No. 2 story of the week, but the war was right behind at No. 3, nearly doubling its percentage of the news hole in major electronic and print media outlets, and registering its highest share--10%--since PEJ began the index in January 2007.  The war led the online news sector, with 20%.  The economy also got a 10% share but just edged out war coverage--PEJ rounds the number for the report.  Afghanistan has become a bigger story in the past three weeks, said PEJ, against the backdrop of the Aug. 20 elections there, claiming 6%, its highest mark up until the jump to 10% and three times the attention paid to the war in Iraq.  PEJ's content analysis calls it "a growing sign the press now perceives the conflict as Obama's war as he winds down the U.S. role in the conflict George Bush launched."  The index tracks 55 outlets in five media sectors, print, online, network TV, cable and radio.  The fourth-biggest story of the week was the decision by Scotland to release the terminally ill bomber who had been convicted of blowing up a commercial airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland.  Coming in at No. 5 was the war on terrorism, led by claims in a book by former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge that the Bush administration had him insert some lines in a statement about raising the terror threat level that had political implications for the 2004 election.
MultiChannel


Anti-Health Care Reform Group Pulls Ads After Kennedy Death
One of the most vociferous opponents of Democratic health care legislation, led by former hospital executive Rick Scott, has pulled its anti-health care ads, saying that it wanted to respect the death of Edward Kennedy.  The well-funded group, Conservatives for Patients' Rights, has been a polarizing force in the debate.  Its most recent ads mocked President Obama for going on vacation.  "With the sad news of Senator Kennedy's passing Conservatives for Patients Rights is immediately suspending our ad campaign for health care reform out of respect to the Kennedy family as well as the Senator's colleagues and supporters, to whom we extend our condolences," said Scott in a statement.  The move may have not just be about class, since it also saves the group a chunk of money it can deploy in the fall.  Kennedy's passing has the potential to lower the temperature of the health care debate, which heated up in August at town halls and has descended into dueling conference calls, with both parties accusing the other of negotiating in bad faith.  (One party, however, admits to negotiating in bad faith, so at least one of the charges is fair.)  The reprieve may be brief, but gives the administration a chance to catch its breath.  Scott, whose hospital chain was convicted of defrauding the government, won't stay down for long, however.  "We know the debate will continue -- a debate Senator Kennedy embraced with vigor -- and we look forward to engaging in the debate in the months ahead," he said.  "But now is a time for respect, reflection and remembrance.  Senator Kennedy's lifetime of dedicated public service transcended multiple generations.  His devotion to many issues and his relentless passion made him a hero to his supporters and worthy adversary to his opponents.  His voice and presence will be missed."
Huffington Post


'79 TV Interview Disasterous for Kennedy
Senator Edward Kennedy, who died Tuesday night, finally mastered how to be very effective on TV.  But as the NY Times recalls, TV was Kennedy's undoing when he challenged then incumbent Jimmy Carter for the democratic presidential nomination.  Here' the verbatim account by John Corry, who at the time wrote about media for the New York Times.  This appeared as part of a much larger article about style vs. content on TV in the Feb. 26, 1984 edition of the New York Times. Mr. Corry's analysis was very much the consensus of most pundits at the time:  "Television's most celebrated instance of utterly unintended disaster in a softball exchange is Roger Mudd's question to Senator Edward M. Kennedy during a "CBS Reports" on Oct. 12, 1979.  [Mr. Mudd asked the Senator,] ''Why do you want to be President?''  Mr. Kennedy faltered, speaking in run-on sentences, while giving a clear impression that he had never considered his reasons before.  His candidacy, which he formally announced three weeks later, seemed to die right there.  If Mr. Kennedy had made the same response to a print reporter, he would have escaped with no more than a story that said he had answered hesitantly or perhaps had appeared indecisive.  The answer on television, however, did him in."
TV Week


'The TV News' Webcast Set to Hit the Web
The TV News, a daily video webcast about the television industry is set to launch Monday, Aug. 31.  The show will be broadband delivered at www.thetvnews.tv and will be made available across sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.  The program will be a daily report of breaking stories in TV and new media.  It will also feature electronic media industry segments from sales and marketing to sports and technology.  The TV News is a partnership between strategic video marketing and on-air promotions company American Ingenuity TV and entertainment and sports sales and marketing company Storin Associates.  "The television industry is now more than 70-years-old and we've never really communicated the daily happenings of our business in our own native tongue-video," said the show's creator and anchor Jeff Grimshaw.  "It's high time we change that."
Broadcasting & Cable


Stewart/Colbert Audience 'Impassioned', Comedy Central Proves
Do your friends who watch Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, the late-night hosts on the Comedy Central cable channel, stop you on the latte line the next morning or e-mail, text or tweet you to quote lines from those shows?  Stephen Colbert, above, and Jon Stewart draw more devoted attention from their primary fans than other late-night hosts, Comedy Central is telling advertisers.  And when they do, do you think that they’re kind of cool?  Comedy Central has research that says you do — or at least some committed fans of those shows are convinced that you do.  A little over 20 percent of hard-core fans of Mr. Stewart and Mr. Colbert said in a “multi-engagement study” conducted by Harris Interactive Research that “people think I’m cool because I watch” those two programs.  And, the same survey says, viewers who identify themselves as fans of other late-night hosts — viewers who don’t even watch the Comedy Central shows — are pretty darn impressed too.  Among the terms fans of people like Jay Leno, David Letterman and Conan O’Brien used to describe viewers of Mr. Stewart and Mr. Colbert were “enthusiastic,” “friendly,” “fun,” “more informed, “more intelligent,” “trustworthy,” “warm,” and “witty.”  All those encomiums, which were included in a list that participants could check off, were chosen by more than 60 percent of people answering the survey, which, it should come as no surprise, was commissioned by Comedy Central.  Besides the virtue of puffing up their viewers’ self-images, the survey had a practical point.  The cable channel wants to prove that its late-night viewers are so impassioned about their hosts that their shows offer special value to beleaguered television advertisers looking to ensure that their messages reach truly engaged viewers.  The information that Comedy Central put together was intended to contrast its late-night hosts with the other men in suits sitting behind desks and talking to guests over on the broadcast networks. 

In terms of numbers, these committed late-night viewers tend to watch the Comedy Central stars more often, with about 40 percent averaging two-to-four viewings a week, according to the survey.  The best performance by a network late-night star was Jay Leno (he was still on the “Tonight Show” then) at 29 percent.  In the Harris survey, conducted from Oct. 29 to Dec. 22 last year — a period that included the presidential election and its aftermath, which could have bolstered the politically charged versions of late-night humor that Comedy Central offers — the biggest margins of difference came when fans were asked about their “emotional connection” to their favorite shows.  When asked if they out-and-out loved a show, “The Daily Show” with Mr. Stewart hit 51 percent among those surveyed, with “The Colbert Report” second at 39 percent.  Only one network star came close to generating that much love: CBS’s Craig Ferguson.  Among his fans, 35 percent said they loved his show.  That may come as something of a surprise to those who don’t often catch Mr. Ferguson, a host who almost always generates boisterous enthusiasm, and big laughs from his studio audience.  Viewers of “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report” have a deep personal connection to the shows, says Beth Coleman, a vice president for advertising sales for MTV Entertainment Networks, the parent of Comedy Central.  “They wear these shows like a badge,” she said.  “It’s a cultlike phenomenon.”  What advertiser wouldn’t want in on that?
NY Times


Fox Gives 'House' Guerrilla Ad Treatment
"Snakes on a cane."  Sound familiar?  Perhaps you've seen the flashes of a caduceus employing a cane instead of a staff while watching commercial breaks on Fox.  Or seen the symbol drawn with chalk on New York streets.  Or even clicked through to the phrase's cryptic Web site.  Fox is set to announce what many who've spied the symbol already suspect: It's been a summerlong guerrilla marketing promotion for Season 6 of "House" in the fall.  Yet few would guess that the idea came from "House" star Hugh Laurie.  In the spring, the actor sketched the symbol and showed it to the network, whose marketing department ran with the idea as an innovative teaser campaign.  "Teaser campaigns are usually reserved for Year 1 shows," Joe Earley, Fox's executive vp marketing and communications.  "Rarely would you do something like this for a show that's already established."  "House" is set to return Sept. 21 and likely will continue its reign as the network's highest-rated drama.  The first part of the campaign just spread the symbol without any context.  The second phase added a countdown clock to the "House" premiere date on the campaign's Web site and five-second "subliminal" ads during Fox programming, while remaining cryptic and not directly showing a connection to "House."  One ad was a full-page placement in a major publication without a title or tune-in date.  Online viewers have made myriad guesses about the symbol -- from being something related to the president's health care plan to a campaign for a new movie.  "We were really able to hit a wide range of people," Earley said. "  'House' doesn't need a teaser campaign, but given how brilliant it is, it's intrigued people in a new way."  The crucial part is making sure that viewers make the connection between the teaser "snakes on a cane" imagery and "House."  So Fox is set to ramp up the next phase of its campaign: In addition to ads on the air and off, the network will have a vintage ambulance driving around Los Angeles with the symbol and tune-in information for the show.
Hollywood Reporter


WWE to Create Own Cable Network
World Wrestling Entertainment plans to get into the cable network ownership ring.  A WWE representative said plans were still in their infancy, but the company is "exploring the creation of a cable network," and hopes to launch a standalone branded network on the basic -- or most widely available cable tier -- in the next 24 months.  The move runs counter to current industry dynamics, in which standalone networks are shutting down or are severely hampered financially because of the lack of leverage with distributors.  The Hallmark Channel, for instance, is on the brink of bankruptcy, and NBC last year bought Oxygen for a pittance -- $925 million vs. an original asking price of as much as $2 billion.  But WWE has more clout than the typical independent network owner because its programming consistently ranks among cable's highest rated each week and its roughly 14 annual pay-per-view events generate millions of dollars for distributors.  For that reason, WWE has to tread delicately to avoid upsetting programming partners like USA Network and MyNetworkTV, which pay millions of dollars each year to broadcast its content.  Already, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon has made a point of saying that the extremely popular "Monday Night Raw," which averages 5.5 million viewers per week for USA, wouldn't be part of any new channel.  WWE envisions the channel as a companion to, rather than a cannibalizer of, current content.
NY Post


ESPN to Screen USC-Ohio State Game in 3D
ESPN says it will test its ability to televise football games in 3-D with a special screening of the game between No. 4 USC and No. 6 Ohio State at three theaters on Sept. 12.  Tickets will be given away to fans listening to ESPN radio affiliates in Los Angeles, Dallas and Columbus, Ohio, later this week.  The Galen Center on the USC campus in Los Angeles will screen the game in 3-D, as will theaters in Columbus and Hurst, Texas -- the lone neutral site for gathering unbiased fan reaction.  ESPN staff will also watch a screening in Hartford, Conn., near its Bristol headquarters.
Yahoo Finance


Top 10 Most Influential Journalists on Twitter
Editor's Note: Each week, we rank the top 10 most influential journalists on Twitter.  This is not a list of the most active journalists or the most followed ones.  This is a list of the most influential ones.  Our weekly rankings take into account each journalist's total number of followers and total number of tweets.  Most importantly, these rankings are influenced by the average number of times per day that a journalist's tweets are then re-tweeted by other Twitter users.

Top 10 Most Influential Journalists on Twitter

1.  Larry King (Last Week: --, Peak: 1, Total Weeks on Chart: 1)

2.  Rachel Maddow (Last Week: --, Peak: 2, Total Weeks on Chart: 1)

3.  George Stephanopoulos (Last Week: 2, Peak: 2, Total Weeks on Chart: 2)

4.  Ana Marie Cox (Last Week: 3, Peak: 3, Total Weeks on Chart: 2)

5.  David Gregory (Last Week: 4, Peak: 4, Total Weeks on Chart: 2)

6.  John Dickerson (Last Week: 5, Peak: 5, Total Weeks on Chart: 2)

7.  Anderson Cooper (Last Week: 9, Peak: 7, Total Weeks on Chart: 2)

8.  Scott Simon (Last Week: 7, Peak: 7, Total Weeks on Chart: 2)

9.  Bill Simmons (Last Week: --, Peak: 9, Total Weeks on Chart: 1)

10. Jack Gray (Last Week: 8, Peak: 8, Total Weeks on Chart: 2)

If you're not doing so already, make sure you follow Scooping the News on Twitter.  Also, starting next week, a brief bio will accompany each of the journalists that rank in the top 10.  We will also provide an example of a tweet sent by each journalist in the past week that was re-tweeted on a large scale.
Scooping the News


Twitter No BFF to Teens
Kristen Nagy, an 18-year-old from Sparta, N.J., sends and receives 500 text messages a day.  But she never uses Twitter, even though it publishes similar snippets of conversations and observations.  Teenagers, it seems, would rather chat with close friends than tweet to the masses.  “I just think it’s weird and I don’t feel like everyone needs to know what I’m doing every second of my life,” she said.  Her reluctance to use Twitter, a feeling shared by others in her age group, has not doomed the microblogging service.  Just 11 percent of its users are aged 12 to 17, according to comScore.  Instead, Twitter’s unparalleled explosion in popularity has been driven by a decidedly older group.  That success has shattered a widely held belief that young people lead the way to popularizing innovations.  “The traditional early-adopter model would say that teenagers or college students are really important to adoption,” said Andrew Lipsman, director of industry analysis at comScore.  Teenagers, after all, drove the early growth of the social networks Facebook, MySpace and Friendster.  Twitter, however, has proved that “a site can take off in a different demographic than you expect and become very popular,” he said.  “Twitter is defying the traditional model.”  In fact, though teenagers fueled the early growth of social networks, today they account for 14 percent of MySpace’s users and only 9 percent of Facebook’s.  As the Web grows up, so do its users, and for many analysts, Twitter’s success represents a new model for Internet success.  The notion that children are essential to a new technology’s success has proved to be largely a myth.  “Many people use it for professional purposes — keeping connected with industry contacts and following news,” said Evan Williams, Twitter’s co-founder and chief executive.  “Because it’s a one-to-many network and most of the content is public, it works for this better than a social network that’s optimized for friend communication.”  Many young people use the Web not to keep up with the issues of the day but to form and express their identities, said Andrea Forte, who studied how high school students use social media for her dissertation.  “Your identity on Twitter is more your ability to take an interesting conversational turn, throw an interesting bit of conversation out there.  Your identity isn’t so much identified by the music you listen to and the quizzes you take,” as it is on Facebook, she said.  She called Twitter “a comparatively adult kind of interaction.”  Perhaps Twitter’s experience will encourage Web start-ups to take a more realistic view of who uses the Web and go after a broader audience, Ms. Forte said.  “Older populations are a smart thing to be thinking about, as opposed to eternally going after the 15- through 19-year-olds,” she said.
NY Times


Tweeting Pointless to Anti-Twitters
Dave Magnusen has never used Twitter, yet it bugs him.  "It's a form of communication, but it's not very social," says Magnusen, 55, a database administrator in Durham, N.C.  "You can't ignore (Twitter), but it's kind of sad how it's replaced people talking."  Tony Fuda feels the same way. The Niles, Ohio, native is particularly irked by tweets that insist on sharing the most mundane details of life.  "Do we really need to know that you just put your pants on, just brushed your teeth, just ordered a hamburger, just finished dinner, just walked out of the bathroom?" he says.  Magnusen's and Fuda's gripes underscore a strong undercurrent of resentment — and incredulity — by non-Twitter users toward the social-media service used by tens of millions.  Backlash among anti-Twitterers — reflected in scores of recent online comments to USATODAY.com — often center on unfamiliarity with the technology, its often narcissistic bent and the "random" use by many of its advocates, says Joseph Turow, a professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania.  "With the advent of every new medium — books, radio, TV, social networks — there is a built-in fear, social concern, that it will lead to lack of productivity and a general sense of dysfunction," he says.  "This is one of the tropes of the arrival of any new media.  Many consider Twitter a fad.  Twitter spokeswoman Jenna Sampson pointed to a recent blog post by Twitter co-founder Biz Stone.  In it, he acknowledged the company has work to do in reaching out to those who are new to Twitter.  "Defining a 'tweet' ... doesn't resonate with everyone," Stone wrote.  Pear Analytics categorized 811 out of 2,000 random tweets over two weeks as babble. It categorized 751 (38%) as conversational, 174 (9%) as moderately interesting and 117 (6%) as self-promotional.  Spam accounted for only 4%, or 75, of the tweets.  Many bemoan the loss of face-to-face communication among a generation of people glued to their smartphones, netbooks or websites.  Indeed, 87% of 1,000 adults questioned in June said they prefer to deal with other people in person instead of via computers or smartphones, according to a survey from Brightkite, a mobile social-networking service, and GfK Technology, a market research agency.  "People are losing human contact," says Fuda, 39, a mail carrier. "They would rather text/Twitter/tweet — whatever it is called — than actually speak face-to-face with a person."  For some, social media is the latest step away from the art of simple conversation and human interaction. "Ten or 15 years ago, people on vacation would, rather than enjoy the moments and the time with the family, have a video camera stuck to their eye the entire time," says Magnusen, who uses e-mail and instant-messaging services. "I mean, taping a thrill ride so you can go home and watch your vacation? I don't know ..."
USA Today


YouTube to Post Ads on Popular User-Generated Videos
Most of the videos YouTube is most famous for -- the wild animal battle at Kruger National Park, the skateboarding bulldog-- haven't been monetized until now.  I just broke the news that YouTube is rolling out its partner program to include uploaders of viral hits.  YouTube's partner program strikes revenue-sharing deals with the site's regular uploaders of popular content.  But many of the site's most popular videos are one-hit-wonders, and now YouTube as well as the uploaders will be able to cash in.  Google's video site aims to identify viral hits as they're on the rise, inserting ads early enough to take advantage of millions of clicks.  Here's how it'll work: an algorithm will identify videos that have attracted a lot of views, and whose popularity is growing fast, a sign that they will only become more popular over time.  Then the site contacts the uploaders to make sure they own the rights to all the content in the video and if they want YouTube to insert ads onto the video.  If they do, YouTube will post the same ads as it does on other partner videos (banner, overlay, etc) and give the same revenue split.  YouTube doesn't reveal details, but does say that the uploader gets the "majority" of the revenue.  YouTube provides a lot of free bandwidth and until now has only monetized the professionally-generated content and a tiny percent of the user-generated content.  Today's announcement is a significant step towards putting ads on more and more of the videos watched on the site every day.
CNBC


FCC 'Safe Viewing' Report Request Further Study
The FCC's report to Congress on the state of media-screening technologies, due by the end of this month, comes to two broad conclusions, but does not suggest any action items beyond opening an inquiry prompted by its survey of the current content-control landscape for a variety of media.  That inquiry includes a request for better data, something that should come as no surprise for followers of the current commission.  The FCC's two conclusions: 1) There is no universal ratings system in place, and 2) better educating parents on how to use the existing systems would likely help drive adoption.  The report doesn't do anything or promise to do anything other than launch a notice of inquiry, said multiple sources.  That squares with the FCC's charter in the Child Safe Viewing Act, which gave the FCC an Aug. 29 deadline for a report surveying existing technologies for the most advanced methods of video content "blocking"/"empowering" technologies, including on wired and wireless platforms and across a variety of platforms including TVs, DVD players, VCRs, cable set-tops and wireless handsets.  An original version of the bill, which got as far as Senate passage, would have directed the FCC to take action on the report's conclusions, including mandating a new content-management regime if necessary.  But that mandate was dropped to secure House passage, as was language teeing up the inquiry by saying that video "erodes the ability of parents to develop responsible attitudes and behavior in their children," and that "there is a compelling government interest in empowering parents to limit their children's exposure to harmful television content."  FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski is a founding board member of Common Sense, and has said he prefers parental over governmental content management where feasible.
Broadcasting & Cable


COLBERT in Space Will Have to Wait
NASA postponed the launch of the space shuttle Discovery early today for 24 hours due to stormy weather, delaying the 13-day mission to the International Space Station.  The liftoff at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, was put back to 1:10 a.m. local time tomorrow, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said in a broadcast on NASA Television.  The shuttle’s crew of seven astronauts aims to deliver supplies and equipment to the station including a treadmill named after comedian Stephen Colbert, a freezer to store research samples and a new sleeping compartment.  NASA named the apparatus COLBERT, or Combined Operational Load-Bearing External Resistance Treadmill, after the comedian urged viewers to suggest his name for a new pressurized module providing room for many of the station’s life support systems.  While his name received the most entries in NASA’s online poll, the agency dubbed the module “Tranquility” instead, after the site of the first moon landing 40 years ago.  The treadmill will allow station crews to exercise to avoid a type of bone loss experienced by astronauts and will be the second on the outpost.  Colbert, host of “The Colbert Report” on Viacom Inc.’s Comedy Central cable-television network, told NASA TV yesterday he “couldn’t be prouder” about the treadmill being named after him and said it will be used to “finally slim down all those chubby astronauts.”
Bloomberg


Failed URL Shortening Services

12. tr.im

11. sh.it

10. diggbarlookalike.trafficstealer.com

9.  definitelynotarickroll.com

8.  redirectallyourlinkstogoatse.cx

7.  youwereprobablylinkingtopornanyway.com

6.  gotsomethingtohideeh.com

5. 
 
4.  www.wecanmakeitshorter.co.uk

3.  oopswelostyourlink.com

2.  tinypen.is

1.  webreakyoururl.com

BBSpot

--------------------------------------
The Marketing Ideanet is a free idea sharing newsletter published by 602 Communications. 602 Communications is a TV training and consulting company that specializes in improving front-line news and promotion skills. We teach workshops on teasing, marketing, reporting, producing, lighting, editing, internet and graphics. Get more information on all our workshops.

TVSpy.com is home to ShopTalk, the FREE daily newsletter for the TV news industry, read by more than 25,000 subscribers. For more than 20 years, ShopTalk has given TV news professionals the daily inside scoop on the industry. Read today's ShopTalk and subscribe for FREE. news professionals the daily inside scoop on the industry. Read today's ShopTalk and subscribe for FREE.

The Marketing Ideanet is a free idea sharing newsletter published by 602 Communications. 602 Communications is a TV training and consulting company that specializes in improving front-line news and promotion skills. We teach workshops on teasing, marketing, reporting, producing, lighting, editing, internet and graphics. Get more information on all our workshops.

The Marketing Ideanet is sent via TVSpy's e-mail servers. Visit TVSpy's Marketing Matters online community.

Graeme Newell
602 Communications
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
(919) 217-4438
http://www.602communications.com

In This Issue
Increasing Hits to your News Web Site
Social Media Users a Desirable Audience for Marketers
Conservatives Have Upper Hand on Twitter, Bloggers Say
Twitter Readies Commercial Account Launch
Twitter Plans Location-Aware Feature
'Meet the Press' Scores Highest Rating Since April
NBC Launches 'Community' Webisodes
Is News Corp. Forming an Online Consortium?
City of Reno Trying to Save 'Reno 911'
Cable Accounts for 95% of Alcohol Ads on TV: Study
Movie Theaters Cut Listings From Newspapers
Top Ten Signs You're Watching A Bad War Movie


Quotes

"The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance - it is the illusion of knowledge."
- Daniel J. Boorstin

“People are usually more convinced by reasons they discovered themselves than by those found by others.”
- Blaise Pascal, French mathematician, philosopher and physicist (1623-1662)

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes."
-  Marcel Proust (1871 - 1922)


Increasing Hits to your News Web Site
by Graeme Newell
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
http://www.602communications.com
Twitter: gnewell
Facebook: facebook.com/gnewell


Ever wonder why the buyers in the yearly upfronts keep paying ever higher rates for steadily diminishing network audiences?  Phenomenal reach.  That's local and network television's most powerful weapon.  If you want to get your message out fast to a whopping crowd of people, nothing can do it better than television.  It has been our medium's saving grace.

It's this reach that made us the big dog on the media block.  We've never really had to scrap hard to get noticed.  We've become accustom to the panache that comes with this kind of attention.  We can put a few spots in American Idol and bam!  - everyone in the community knows about it in record time.

Unfortunately, the internet is a very different game.  The web is a frequency medium.  Few web sites attract a wide swath of fans.  Instead, they attract smaller, but very loyal audiences that come back repeatedly.  You'll get smaller groups of people but you can develop relationships that are more interactive and personal.

The problem is that most TV web sites still treat their on-line content like it's a TV rock star.  They create pages and special sections on their site and just assume the world will find them on their own.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

65% of web surfers do not come through the front door of your web site.  They come through the side door, usually through search engines like Google.  Google uses a super secret patented link analysis system called "PageRank" to find the best stuff.  This is the engine behind Google's uncanny ability to find exactly what you want on the first page of the search results.  It is downright spooky how good they are at this.

In the PageRank world, popularity is not that important.  Getting a lot of hits on your site will not do a lot to move you up the ranking list.  In the search engine world, just like in junior high, it's all about how many friends you have.  You gain ground on Google if a lot of other web sites have a link to your site.  If popular sites have links to your site, you gain even more search pre-eminence.  In essence, the most successful sites don't just have a lot of friends, they have a lot of popular friends.

An entire science has grown up around PageRank called SEO, or "search engine optimization."  Huge buildings full of math dudes make millions of dollars tweaking web sites to improve their findability on the search engines.

Most TV stations spend precious little time on SEO.  We're used to creating content, then sitting back and letting the world beat a path to our door.  In the rarefied air of high reach television, this works just fine.  On the web, it is a recipe for disaster.  If you want to see this in action, pull up Google, then put in the word "weather" and the name of your town.  See where you end up.  Keep scrolling down - it may take you a while to find your station.

So how do you fix this problem?  There are a lot of ways, but the most popular is web site link trading.  That means methodically getting in touch with other web sites and asking them to put your link on their page.  In return, you put their link on your page, or pay them a fee to list it.

In TV we use on-air promos to make direct appeals to our viewers and generate an audience.  TV broadcasts have the audience horsepower to do this effectively.  Putting promos on your site will do little to muscle your web pages up the search engine rankings.  There just aren't enough people coming to your site.  The most effective hit generator is buzz.  When sites like Digg, YouTube, or Technorati showcase a cool page, the world takes notice.  These alpha buzz sites create web superstars in a matter of hours.  Other web publishers go to them to find out what is hot.  If you can get a cool local video clip on any of these all-the-rage sites you can exponentially increase your hits overnight.  A little well placed publicity can deliver exponential results.

Another great way to generate hits is to syndicate your content to other sites.  We are lucky to have very cool info and video that other sites would just love to showcase.  Using RSS technology, you can automate content distribution that will show up on other web sites without the need to manually post the info.  Offer a daily weather update, complete with a link back to your site's main weather page.  Offer a picture of the day, sports scores or health tip of the day.  Better yet, offer all of them.  With a little bit of simple programming you'll be able to distribute this content without a lot of fuss.

So ask yourself, are you passively waiting for the world to discover your web genius or do you have a carefully laid out plan to capture buzz from the web headliners.  Remember that TV tactics will get you nothing on the web. If you hope to generate hits you need to get out there and sell your wares to the key sites that have the attention of other web publishers.  These are marketing skills that everyone in TV needs to master.

Graeme Newell is a broadcast and web marketing specialist.  He guarantees that his teasing seminar will immediately increase your news ratings or his workshop is free.  Find out more here.


Social Media Users a Desirable Audience for Marketers
No wonder social networks are feeling such urgency to figure out how to monetize their audiences.  According to a new study from BIGresearch, the Worthington, Ohio-based research company, social media users represent a hugely desirable audience.  They are younger than the average American, more affluent, and more apt to buy certain big-ticket items, such as furniture, computers and televisions.  Social media users tend to use multiple platforms.  A Facebook user, for example, is far more likely to use Twitter or LinkedIn than the general population is.  Social networkers have a median income of $68,311, and they’re more likely to be female (nearly 58 percent).  Gary Drenik, president and chief executive officer at BIGresearch, talks to Media Life about why social media users represent a desirable audience for buyers and planners, why they’re more likely to be female, and why MySpace is losing users to Facebook.

What did you find most surprising or most interesting about this report?
The high level of usage and interactions among social media options.  It demonstrates a new way for marketers to communicate with their customers.  It’s interesting to see where the crossover is.  For example, Facebook tends to be popular for LinkedIn and MySpace users, but Facebook users aren’t as apt to use LinkedIn or MySpace.

What's the most important thing media buyers and planners can learn from it?
Not only is social media widely used, but the users are active consumers.  They are planning on buying at a higher rate than the general population.  For example, 30 percent are planning to purchase a vacation (versus 26 percent of adults 18-plus), 18 percent are planning to buy furniture (versus 13 percent) and 17 percent are going to buy a computer (versus 13 percent).  With a higher propensity to spend, social media users need to be targeted by marketers.

Why are social media users likely to use more than one platform?
Social media users tend to be more tech-savvy than the general population.  They are more likely to purchase products online (35 percent versus 27 percent of adults 18-plus).  They are more likely to regularly use new media forms, including downloading video (23 percent versus 14 percent) and text messaging (57 percent versus 27 percent).  Being early adopters of digital media, they are highly aware of different applications available to them and tend to be more engaged.  Social media users also like to give their opinion.  Forty percent regularly give their opinion about products/services they’ve purchased (versus 30 percent of adults 18-plus).  Social media gives them a chance to express their views.

Why are regular MySpace users apt to regularly use Facebook but not vice versa?
If you look at adults 18-plus, you’ll see that over a quarter (28 percent) regularly use Facebook, compared to 12 percent who regularly use MySpace.  Just six months ago (in our last SIMM Survey), 17 percent regularly used Facebook and 18 percent regularly used MySpace.  So it appears that MySpace users are migrating towards Facebook.  These things are viral and people tend to go where their friends are.  It’s kind of like a bar – people want to go hang out with their friends.  One reason we may be seeing a migration is that MySpace started as a user-generated company which News Corp. acquired in 2005.  When they bought them, they turned on the advertising spigot.  About a year later, Facebook (which was limited to college students) opened to everyone, giving MySpace users an alternative without all the advertising.

How do social media users differ from the rest of the population in terms of demographics?
Social media users tend to be younger than the rest of the population, with an average age of 38 (versus 45).  More tend to be female (58 percent versus 51 percent) and they have higher incomes ($68,311 versus $66,942).

Why do women make up such a large percentage of social media users?
One-third of women say they regularly view photos from friends (versus 22 percent of men) online for fun and entertainment.  Sixteen percent (versus 9 percent of men) share stories and 15 percent (versus 13 percent) look for old classmates and friends.  Therefore, women tend to do more of the activities social media platforms are used for than men.

Which social media site surveyed had the lowest median age and why?
MySpace has the youngest user of those platforms profiled with an average age of 33.  MySpace’s origins are in music, which could be why their users are a younger MTV-type of crowd.  Thousands of bands use MySpace to promote their music, and fans support them by using the platform.

Which social media outlets do blacks, Asians and Hispanics favor more heavily than whites?  Why?
Social media is a good place to find ethnic groups because they index high across all social media platforms.  Ethnic groups tend to be big media users across the board from traditional media forms to new media and have a higher propensity than whites to regularly use Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace and Twitter.
MediaLife Magazine


Conservatives Have Upper Hand on Twitter, Bloggers Say
Liberal bloggers established online political activism, besting their conservative rivals during President George W. Bush's eight years in office.  But conservatives are now finding great success 140 characters at a time. Even this week, the conservative organization Club For Growth promoted their Twitter account on their $1.2 million ad campaign against health care.  Even though President Obama and national Democrats use Twitter – the social micro blog that everyone from Ashton Kutcher and Shaquille O'Neal to Chuck Grassley and Newt Gingrich often use to directly speak to followers – Republicans have embraced the technology.  And with major policy issues being debated and the midterm elections right around the corner, liberal bloggers acknowledge the GOP has the upper hand when it comes to using 140 character messages known as "tweets" to influence the discussion.  "While it is obvious the progressive blogosphere is superior, we are being out-organized on Twitter," said Gina Cooper, a blogger who helped organize Netroots Nation, an annual gathering of online liberal activists that met last week in Pittsburgh.  "There is some catching up to do on the progressive side."  "Conservatives have long had this inferiority complex in the online world," said Matt Lewis, a conservative who writes for PoliticsDaily.com.  "That is because Republicans have been in power when the blogosphere was invented.  Lewis added, "The ability to effectively utilize the Internet in the political realm works very well for the have-nots.  It does not work so well for the establishment."  Cooper is quick to defend progressives: “Conservatives are always good at pushing that one concise message.  The death panels are easy to tweet.  The explanation for why there are no death panels and making that explanation takes much more explanation.  You can’t do that on Twitter.”
CNN Political Ticker


Twitter Readies Commercial Account Launch
Co-founder Biz Stone said the company is in the first phase of rolling out commercial accounts that will entice business users to pay for premium services like detailed analytics.  After that, the company might move into building business-oriented application programming interfaces (APIs), creating a “commercial layer” over the social network.  The commercial APIs would be out “later this year,” he said.  “Twitter will still be free for everybody and we’ll still tell them to go crazy with it,” said Stone in an interview.  “But we’ve identified a selection of things that businesses say are helping to make them more profit.”  The company has already moved in this direction by releasing a guide for professional users, detailing how companies can use it to find customers, pass on deals and perform market research.  It is also going to offer “certified accounts,” for businesses, for example letting JetBlue certify that its Twitter account is owned by JetBlue and not by someone pretending to be JetBlue (until now, Twitter has done this only for a limited number of people, including celebrities).  Stone didn’t give a specific date for when the company would launch the newer commercial offerings.  Also, it might be hard to tease out who is using the service professionally and who is using it for personal reasons, and then charge them for it.  So the idea is to build a set of features that people are willing to pay for.  Building premium commercial offerings would put Twitter in closer competition with third-party developers like CoTweet, which helps brands manage customer relations on the microblogging network.  Stone, however, was careful to stress that the company doesn’t want to disturb the world of third-party developers building around the network.  “We’ll continue to support the ecosystem with a whole new set of commercial APIs,” he said.
VentureBeat


Twitter Plans Location-Aware Feature
Twitter just announced that it has plans to launch a feature that makes the service location-aware.  They're rolling out a new API that will allow developers to add latitude and longitude to any specific tweet.  "Folks will need to activate this new feature by choice because it will be off by default and the exact location data won't be stored for an extended period of time," says Co-founder Biz Stone.  "However, if people do opt-in to sharing location on a tweet-by-tweet basis, compelling context will be added to each burst of information."  "For example, with accurate, tweet-level location data you could switch from reading the tweets of accounts you follow to reading tweets from anyone in your neighborhood or city—whether you follow them or not," he explains.  "It's easy to imagine how this might be interesting at an event like a concert or even something more dramatic like an earthquake.  There will likely be many use cases we haven't even thought of yet which is part of what makes this so exciting."  Twitter will be adding the feature to Twitter.com as well, but will release geolocation to developers first.  So look for this functionality on various Twitter-apps before finding it on the site.  Twitter seems to be stepping it up in the way of usability. They also recently announced plans for retweet capabilities (see why that's good for businesses here). 
WebProNews


'Meet the Press' Scores Highest Rating Since April
"Meet the Press" had its highest total viewer delivery since April this past Sunday, averaging 3,359,000 total viewers for David Gregory's most convincing victory in months.  ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" — which was guest-hosted by Jake tapper while Stephanopoulos was on vacation — averaged 2,470,000 total viewers for a distant second place, while CBS' "Face the Nation" with Bob Schieffer averaged 2,447,000 total viewers and FOX's "FOX News Sunday" averaged 1,207,000 total viewers.  Sunday's "Meet the Press" featured Rachel Maddow's debut on the show; she appeared with former House Majority Leader Rep. Dick Armey (R-TX), Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), and former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) for an in-depth look at the health care debate.  "Meet the Press" hasn't seen an audience as large as Sunday's since April 19, when it featured Larry Summers and averaged 3,439,000 total viewers.  Perhaps more importantly, though, it hasn't had as decisive a victory over its chief competitors — ABC's "This Week," which recently topped it for the first time since 1999, and CBS' "Face the Nation" — since the spring.  Sunday's "Meet the Press" topped "This Week" by 36% (889,000 viewers), Gregory's strongest victory over "This Week" since March 22; and it beat "Face the Nation" by 37% (912,000 viewers), Gregory's strongest victory over "Face the Nation" since May 17.
Huffington Post


NBC Launches 'Community' Webisodes
NBC has launched the first in a series of original Webisodes that serve as mock marketing videos for Greendale Community College, the fictitious school where the upcoming fall sitcom Community takes place.  The first video, which debuted on NBC.com on Thursday (Aug. 20) features several “testimonials” from Greendale students who praise the school, saying it deserves “straight A's.”  Then the show’s Dean of Admissions, who is played by Community creator Dan Harmon, presents Greendale’s “official” Straight A’s—i.e categories where the school excels: “Accessibility, Affordability, Air Conditioning, Awesome New Friends and A Lot of Classes.??”  Best Buy has signed on to sponsor the initial Community Webisode. The electronics retailer is running both :30 preroll video ads along with accompanying banners.  NBC is pulling out all the stops for Community, which stars Joel McHale (of E!’s The Soup) and Chevy Chase as students who become part of a group of misfit friends at a community college.  Besides the Webisodes, the network is streaming the show’s pilot exclusively on Facebook prior to its Sept. 17 premiere.
MediaWeek


Is News Corp. Forming an Online Consortium?
News Corp. executives reportedly have been meeting in recent weeks with newspaper publishers about forming a consortium that would charge for news online and on wireless devices, The Los Angeles Times reports today.  The Times' story states that News Corp. chief digital officer Jonathan Miller has made the company "a logical leader in the effort to start collecting fees from online readers because of its success with the Wall Street Journal Online, which boasts more than 1 million paying subscribers."  It adds that Miller "is believed to have met" with publishers from The New York Times Co., Washington Post Co., Hearst Corp. and Tribune Co.
MediaWeek


City of Reno Trying to Save 'Reno 911'
The city that was both made famous and mocked by Comedy Central's “Reno 911!” has come to the show’s aid after news that is was canceled.  The city launched saveRENO911.com Aug. 14, less than 24 hours after actor/writer Thomas Lennon announced via Twitter that the show had been canceled.  A total of 420 fans have signed the online petition on the site to save “Reno911.”  Another 587 Facebook fans and 165 followers have also joined the struggle to save the show.  “We hope the petition results in the show getting picked up by another network, and that they film the show here instead of the non-descript valleys of southern California,” says Ellen Oppenheim, president and CEO of the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority.
TV Week


Cable Accounts for 95% of Alcohol Ads on TV: Study
Between 2001 and 2006, alcohol ads on cable increased with the percentage of teens in the audience, according to a study by the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) and UCLA to be published in the American Journal of Public Health.  Cable accounts for about 95% of alcohol advertising on TV, according to the group.  The study does not assert advertisers on cable were targeting youth, but it says self-regulations don't appear to be working.  Advertisers strongly disagree.  The ad industry pledged in 2003 to further limit its advertising in TV shows reaching a youth audience, saying its goal was to limit advertising to shows whose audience was no more than 30% youth ages 12-20, down from its previous standard of 50%.
MultiChannel


Movie Theaters Cut Listings From Newspapers
Filmgoers who have long turned to the local newspaper to find theaters and show times for movies may have to start looking elsewhere as theater chains rethink the value of paper and ink in a digital age.  The top two U.S. chains, Regal Entertainment Group and AMC Entertainment Inc., have begun in recent months to reduce or eliminate the small-type listings showing the start times for movies at individual theaters.  Theaters typically must pay newspapers to print that information.  Looking to cut costs, the theater chains are instead directing consumers to their Internet sites or third-party sites, like Fandango, Moviefone or Flixster, which offer those listings for free and make money from the fees they charge for selling advance tickets to movies. Many of those sites also feature film reviews and movie trailers.  The effort may be gaining some traction, as U.S. Internet traffic to AMC's Web site rose 21 percent in July compared with a year ago, according to comScore Inc., while visits to Regal's Web site were up 18 percent.  Ken Doctor, a media analyst with Outsell Inc., said some newspapers have responded by teaming up with Web sites that sell movie tickets, gaining a small revenue stream on each ticket sold, or by selling movie studios sponsorships for parts of their Web sites.  For example, he noted that The New York Times displays small ads for movies when a user wants to e-mail a news story to a friend.  In general, though, Internet ad rates haven't matched what print commands.  And as social-networking sites like Twitter and Facebook become the place to learn about which movies are hot and where they're playing, he said, newspapers and their Web sites risk losing their readers if they cannot quickly figure out how to tap in.  Andrew Lipsman, director of industry analysis for comScore, said the online sites have become more interactive than newspapers. Although newspapers may try to add similar features to their own sites, he said, the damage may be done.  "Once a behavior has moved from the print medium to online, in many cases people go to the online brands," Lipsman said. "They won't necessarily go to the newspaper."
Huffington Post


Top Ten Signs You're Watching A Bad War Movie

10. It's titled "Saving Private Ryan Seacrest"

9.  When you buy ticket, Moviefone guy says, "Really?!?"

8.  Critics call it "Platoon" meets "Julie & Julia"

7.  It's about the "Cola Wars" of the mid 1980's

6.  Allied forces step into resolve conflict between Jon and Kate

5.  Prisoner refuses to talk, but will Twitter

4.  Ten minutes in, Jimmy Carter gets everyone to stop fighting

3.  France wins

2.  Claims Civil War was fought by giant transforming robots

The Late Show with David Letterman

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The Marketing Ideanet is a free idea sharing newsletter published by 602 Communications. 602 Communications is a TV training and consulting company that specializes in improving front-line news and promotion skills. We teach workshops on teasing, marketing, reporting, producing, lighting, editing, internet and graphics. Get more information on all our workshops.

TVSpy.com is home to ShopTalk, the FREE daily newsletter for the TV news industry, read by more than 25,000 subscribers. For more than 20 years, ShopTalk has given TV news professionals the daily inside scoop on the industry. Read today's ShopTalk and subscribe for FREE. news professionals the daily inside scoop on the industry. Read today's ShopTalk and subscribe for FREE.

The Marketing Ideanet is a free idea sharing newsletter published by 602 Communications. 602 Communications is a TV training and consulting company that specializes in improving front-line news and promotion skills. We teach workshops on teasing, marketing, reporting, producing, lighting, editing, internet and graphics. Get more information on all our workshops.

The Marketing Ideanet is sent via TVSpy's e-mail servers. Visit TVSpy's Marketing Matters online community.

Graeme Newell
602 Communications
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(919) 217-4438
http://www.602communications.com

In This Issue
Promo of the Day
Changing The Low Hanging Fruit First
Fox News Fans Rabid with Devotion
All Things Obama at NBC Store
'60 Minutes' Creator Don Hewitt Dies at 86
Robert Novak Dies at 78
Pentagon Channel Adds Live, Interactive Video Platform
Afghan Media Rejects Gov't Request to Censor News
Brazil Crime-Show Host Investigated in TV Killings
Google #1 in Customer Satisfaction
CBS To Run Video Ad In Magazines
BlockBuster Bringing Movies To Motorola Phones
Fifteen Tips On How To Live To 100


Quotes

"Loyalty cannot be blueprinted.  It cannot be produced on an assembly line.  In fact, it cannot be manufactured at all, for its origin is the human heart-the center of self-respect and human dignity.  It is a force which leaps into being only when conditions are exactly right for it-and it is a force very sensitive to betrayal."
-  Maurice Franks

"The greater the loyalty of a group toward the group, the greater is the motivation among the members to achieve the goals of the group, and the greater the probability that the group will achieve its goals."
- Rensis Likert

"Talk to people in their own language. If you do it well, they'll say,"God, he said exactly what I was thinking."  And when they begin to respect you, they'll follow you to the death."
- Lee Iacocca


Promo of the Day
CTV did some thinking outside the box to make a news story literally 'pop' using 3D technology:
 
"I thought I would share a little experiment our station did in July.  Our videographer Michael Melling and Tech op Ryan Snider put together a 3D news story and filed it on Youtube within 48 hours of Youtube creating a new 3D capable function.  Turns out it is the first 3D news story filed by a mainstream broadcaster on Youtube.  It's already had a few thousand hits.  We filed two parts, one with the 3D version of the story."  It has over 5,000 hits 2 weeks later.  You can view CTV's experiment here:

602communications.com/VideoExamples

Have a video clip to share?  Email it to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Flash (.flv) or QuickTime (.mov) files, size 320 x 240, are preferred, but WindowsMedia (.wmv) files will also be accepted.  Large files may be sent via http://www.yousendit.com.  You can also mail your clip on VHS or DVD to Graeme Newell at 1011 Lyndhurst Falls Lane, Knightdale, NC  27545


Changing The Low Hanging Fruit First
by Kevin O’Neal

If it can't be sold right now, should we give some of it away as a post on the web?

In this economy we are all asked to cut expenses and still keep up revenue, so here are three low hanging fruit ideas-things you can do this week to bring up revenue without spending extra money.

Find the show that can make you the most money and promote the heck out of it.  If you’re trying to promote everything, nothing will get enough frequency to really affect anyone.  Unless the logs are really wide open you only have the promo time to get across one idea really well.  In order to do this  first, you have to find the show that a change in ratings will have the greatest effect on revenue.  This takes a little math.  Take the difference in what you are currently charging for a spot in a show and what you could charge if the ratings were one point higher and multiply that by the number of avails you have in a show.  (Hint: The answer will not be in primetime) This will show you without a doubt where you should put your promotional effort.  Then dedicate the majority of your spots towards promoting that show, ideally a single idea about that show.  If you think this is too many spots, remember: no one watches your station as much as you do, so when you get tired of a spot that audience is only just starting to notice it.  Watch a cable network and see that this is exactly what they do.  Once you mass your promotional efforts at a single point of attack, you will watch the ratings for that show increase, and you will get closer to budget.

Get into your newscast as fast as you can.  If you’re trying to hold anyone over from the lead in, don’t give them time to change the channel.  Get the viewer into your first story as quickly as possible.  Cut the open, all it really does is give a chance for people to pick up their remote.  I know you want to get the branding in at the beginning of the show so people know what they’re watching, but instead of a preproduced open all you need is for your anchor (and, yes, your anchor should open the show) to open with “This is XYZ News” and go right into the story that will grasp the viewer.

With the importance many of our owners are putting on driving web traffic, I have to dedicate at least one of these tips to the web.   Pick one story a day and offer extended content on the web.  Ask a few extra questions of an interviewee and string them together and put them on your website.  It doesn’t have to be perfectly edited, in fact it should not be, so it has the feel of letting the viewer behind the scenes.   Then you have the reporter or anchor end the story with “for an extended look at this interview go to our website XYZ News.com”  Not only does this give you fresh and in-depth content on the web, which is what viewers are looking for, but your news team should be able to pull this off with minimal effort after the initial mind-set change.

There you have it.  Three things that you can change today that will help your station.  No added expense, no new equipment, and after the initial change, not a lot of added work for anyone either.


Fox News Fans Rabid with Devotion
South Carolina Republican Bob Inglis, frustrated by a restive crowd at a recent forum to discuss health care reform, suggested people turn off the TV when Fox News Channel's Glenn Beck came on.  Big mistake.  Judging by the escalating boos and catcalls, squirting lighter fluid on burning coals would have been wiser.  Beck is a hero to many people who are not buying the Age of Obama, and so is Fox.  The network was already on pace for its best ratings year even before the health care debate sent viewership jumping during a traditionally slow month for news.  How emboldened is Fox?  After President Barack Obama's press secretary Robert Gibbs warned against "cable news" derailing health care plans, Bill O'Reilly assumed he was referring to Fox and seemed ready for a fight.  "Who's that going to help?" O'Reilly said.  "Us, that's who.  Our ratings are already soaring because we don't denigrate the protesters, the way a lot of other TV news organizations do.  They're dying.  We're on fire."  Fox's strong year hasn't come without controversy.  Some critics worry about overheated rhetoric -- Beck has called Obama a racist and joked about poisoning House Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- and suggest Fox has helped lead, instead of just follow, the president's opponents.  Fox's viewership is up 11 percent over last year, according to Nielsen Media Research.  CNN and MSNBC, which benefited from interest in the campaign last year, are down.  O'Reilly, who already had cable news' most popular show, Beck and Sean Hannity lead the way.  The ratings expose as naive anyone who believed that the dawn of a Democratic government in Washington would hurt Fox.  "Fox is much more firmly established than it has ever been," said Eric Burns, former host of Fox's "News Watch" media criticism show.  "It has been in existence for 13 years.  It knows its base.  And it knows its base is bigger than CNN or MSNBC."  Since Fox is already the network of choice for conservatives, the ratings indicate it must be drawing in more moderates and even liberals, said Bernard Goldberg, best-selling author of "A Slobbering Love Affair: The True (and Pathetic) Story of the Torrid Romance Between Barack Obama and the Mainstream Media" and other books that criticize liberal media bias.  The poor economy and the administration's ambitious agenda have made people anxious and searching for a media outlet that understands them, he said.

Roughly three times as many Republicans said in a June survey that they regularly get news from Fox, as opposed to CNN or MSNBC, reported the Pew Research Center.  The three networks had about the same number of Independent followers, and Fox had more Democratic followers than CNN and MSNBC had GOP fans.  Tim Phillips, president of Americans for Prosperity, a group that is busing demonstrators across the country to health care forums held by members of Congress, said other news organizations seem more interested in who is helping to organize protests.  Fox doesn't ignore the protesters' concerns, he said.  "Is Fox more critical of Obama than MSNBC? Of course," Phillips said.  "But when you look at what is happening, Fox is actually covering it."  Fox's critics question its balance.  Fox aired comments from 63 opponents of health care reform on Monday and Tuesday, and only 10 supporters, the liberal media watchdog Media Matters for America said.  Fox also cut away from Obama's New Hampshire town hall after only two questions, saying it would return if it got contentious.  It didn't.  Just from the e-mails he got at "News Watch," Burns, the former "News Watch" host, said he understands the devotion of Fox's fans.  Many Fox fans feel their point of view wasn't expressed on TV, and will be forever grateful to someone who does.  The brand loyalty "exceeds the loyalty, I'll bet, to any other network except maybe ESPN to sports fans," he said.  With Obama in office, he's bullish about Fox's future.  "They've got it made," Burns said.  "They've got it made for four years."
Yahoo Finance


All Things Obama at NBC Store
If you’re a fan of all things Obama, NBC Universal's online store has no fewer than 29 options for your buying pleasure -- from a shirt with the president's picture proclaiming "YES WE DID" to both of his books to a special inauguration DVD to a refrigerator magnet of the first couple.  But if your favorite color in the red, white and blue just happens to be red, you're out of luck.  There are no t-shirts or refrigerator magnets for George and Laura Bush, and NBC did not say whether it ever sold Bush items after his victory in 2000.  The CBS and ABC online stores sell books about the president, but no merchandise.  Fox and CNN do not sell books or gear.  Some journalism ethics scholars said NBC Universal's focus on Obama merchandise was unseemly for a media outlet.  "The NBC Universal Store stands out for the amount of pro-Obama trinkets and gadgets and promotional material it sells.  Its nearest competitor is CBS, which has a dozen items...books and the 60 Minutes interview with Obama,” DePaul University journalism professor Bruce Evensen said.  "The [NBC] site seems like a campaign stop for those following their messiah...The appearance that NBC isn't reporting the news with fairness, balance and impartiality -- but is instead cheerleading -- is apparent," he said.  But others said the sale of Obama items appeared to be nothing more than a smart business decision.  "I think it indicates that NBC thinks it can make money from selling Obama items but not from McCain or Bush items," said Eric Alterman, author of the book, "What Liberal Media?" and an English and journalism professor at Brooklyn College in New York.  Jane Kirtley, executive director of the University of Minnesota’s Silha Center for Media Ethics and Law, said, "I would agree that it is problematic when you have an entity that has a news division to appear to be taking a partisan line.  When you're selling memorabilia that supports anybody who prevailed in an election, you run the risk of being labeled as having a partisan affiliation."  "To me, whatever money they're making off of this, it's not worth it. It undermines any attempt to represent itself as a nonpartisan entity," she said.
Fox News


'60 Minutes' Creator Don Hewitt Dies at 86
Don Hewitt, the CBS newsman who invented "60 Minutes" and produced the popular newsmagazine for 36 years, died Wednesday.  He was 86.  He died of pancreatic cancer at his Bridgehampton home, CBS said.  His death came a month after that of fellow CBS legend Walter Cronkite.  Hewitt joined CBS News in television's infancy in 1948, and produced the first televised presidential debate in 1960.  He made his mark in the late 1960s when CBS agreed to try his idea of a one-hour broadcast that mixed hard news and feature stories.  The television newsmagazine was born on Sept. 24, 1968, when the "60 Minutes" stopwatch began ticking.  He dreamed of a television version of Life, the dominant magazine of the mid-20th century, where interviews with entertainers could co-exist with investigations that exposed corporate malfeasance.  "The formula is simple," he wrote in a memoir in 2001, "and it's reduced to four words every kid in the world knows: Tell me a story. It's that easy."  Hewitt often said the accepted wisdom for television news writers before "60 Minutes" was to put words to pictures. He believed that was backward.  A Sunday evening fixture, "60 Minutes" was television's top-rated show four times, most recently in 1992-93. While no longer a regular in the top 10 in Hewitt's later years, it was still TV's most popular newsmagazine.  Hewitt had four children.  Survivors include his wife of 30 years, Marilyn.
Yahoo TV


Robert Novak Dies at 78
Chicago Sun-Times columnist Robert Novak, one of the nation's most influential journalists who relished being known as the "Prince of Darkness," died at home here early Tuesday morning after a battle with brain cancer.  He was 78.  "He was someone who loved being a journalist, loved journalism and loved his country and loved his family," Mr. Novak's wife, Geraldine, told the Sun-Times on Tuesday.  Robert David Sanders Novak, 78, was born and raised in Joliet and his first newspaper jobs were with the Joliet Herald-News. He passed away at 4:30 a.m., returning home after being hospitalized between July 10 and July 24.  Mr. Novak, a conservative, was deeply sourced among Republicans and Democrats.  He brought a zest for shoe-leather reporting and scoops to his must-read columns.  Mr. Novak's July 14, 2003, scoop about undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame made him unwittingly part of the story, a figure in the leak investigation led by the Chicago-based U.S. attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald.  He wrote original material -- Mr. Novak was no rehasher -- and his rule for each column was that it had to contain new information.  While he cultivated a gruff exterior, I knew him only as a generous and sharing colleague.  Mr. Novak loved the "Prince of Darkness" nickname so much he used it as the title of his 2007 memoir about 50 years of reporting in Washington.  Mr. Novak was a member of the Gridiron Club, serving as president of the journalists' organization in 1998.  Never taking himself too seriously, he looked forward each year to the annual Gridiron Dinner and show.  In one of his last roles, he wore a Darth Vader costume and sang a song about then-Vice President Dick Cheney.
Sun Times


Pentagon Channel Adds Live, Interactive Video Platform
The Pentagon Channel has added live, interactive video platform Ustream to the Army's "arsenal" of social media distribution.  The Department of Defense already employs Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and "whatever else comes out tomorrow," according to channel spokesman Michael Winneker.  In conjunction with Monday's unveiling of the revamped DOD web site, defense.gov, the Ustream channel will add a social networking/interactive element to the Pentagon Channel.  That channel already reaches 2.6 service members on military bases and other postings, as well as 16 million households via commercial distribution on satellite and cable MSO's in systems with large military populations.  For example, a live briefing will be able to include a moderated discussion involving online participants, as well as allowing Pentagon Channel online viewers to talk to each other about programming or issues like, for example, the G.I. Bill.  Ustream also allows users to upload their own videos.  Winneker says that is in the works, but is not yet authorized for viewers to the Ustream Pentagon Channel given concerns about security.  "You don't want someone uploading video that could give away their position," he cites as an example.  But he also points out that there is already an authorized site, trooptube.tv, where videos can be uploaded and shared.
Broadcasting & Cable


Afghan Media Rejects Gov't Request to Censor News
Afghan journalists on Wednesday rejected a demand by the Foreign Ministry not to broadcast information about attacks or violence on election day, charging it violated their constitutional right to cover the news.  The Taliban have ramped up attacks ahead of Thursday's vote, including two suicide bombings against NATO troops, rocket fire on the presidential compound and an armed assault on a bank in recent days.  The militant group has also threatened to attack polling stations on Thursday.  Fearing that violence could dampen turnout, the Foreign Ministry issued a statement Tuesday saying that news organizations should avoid ''broadcasting any incidence of violence'' between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. on election day "to ensure the wide participation of the Afghan people."  Afghanistan's active local media -- the country has a host of newspapers, radio stations and television news outlets -- condemned the statement as stifling freedom of the press that was supposed to have returned after the ouster of the Taliban in 2001.  "We will not obey this order.  We are going to continue with our normal reporting and broadcasting of news," said Rahimullah Samander, head of the Independent Journalist Association of Afghanistan.  U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Fleur Cowan said the U.S. acknowledged the sovereign rights of the Afghan government but believed that free media reporting "is directly linked to the credibility of the elections."
Editor & Publisher


Brazil Crime-Show Host Investigated in TV Killings
Brazilian police say the host of a TV crime show is under investigation for possibly ordering killings to boost his show's popularity.  The host of the show in Brazil's lawless Amazon region is also a state lawmaker and a former police officer.  Prosecutors say he faces separate charges of drug trafficking and involvement with a gang.  Amazonas state police intelligence chief Thomaz Vasconcelos said Tuesday that investigators believe Wallace Souza "had crimes committed to generate news for his program."  He said Souza is being investigated in connection with as many as four killings.  Souza's lawyer, Francisco Balieiro, said Souza is innocent and the charges are an attempt by his political enemies to disgrace him.
Salon


Google #1 in Customer Satisfaction
The latest American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) shows that Google reigns supreme in the search engines and portal industry when it comes to customer satisfaction.  This isn't hard to believe considering Google's share of the search market.  There's a reason why Google dominates the arena.  Users are generally satisfied with the results they get, and see no reason to switch engines.  That is why Microsoft has its work cut out for it with making Bing a true competitor. "Google is unquestionably king of search, so the only competition is for second place," says Larry Freed, president and CEO of ForeSee Results, who released the ACSI along with the University of Michigan.  "The research was done before Bing entered the market, so we don’t know what effect its entry will have.  But Google’s customers are pretty happy and have little reason to try something new, so Bing has a real uphill battle ahead."  Google got an 86 on the ACSI's 100-point scale for the second year in a row.  That's 9 points higher than Yahoo, Google's nearest competitor.  AOL has reason to be happy though, because it is the only one in the search engines and portals category whose numbers actually went up.  Everyone else stayed the same, but AOL gained 1% to reach a score of 70.  According to the index, the eBusiness sector is up on the ACSI by 2.8%, which is an all-time high for the category. It scored an 81.5.  The online news and information industry didn't do quite as well, decreasing by 1.3% to a score of 74.  USAToday.com was the only site in the category to go up, while ABCNews.com reached an all-time low, dropping by 5% to a 71.  "With a number of major newspapers shifting operations online, it’s surprising that news and information websites have not seized the opportunity to provide customers with the quality of news they’ve come to expect," says Freed.  "Online customer satisfaction has a proven impact on reader loyalty and therefore on advertising revenues, and the battered industry needs any help it can get."
WebProNews


CBS To Run Video Ad In Magazines
Broadcast network CBS will be advertising its fall TV season with a video-chip ad embedded in an issue of Entertainment Weekly.  The September 18 issue of the Time Inc.-owned magazine will feature the first video ad to appear in print, George Schweitzer, CBS marketing president, said Wednesday at a press conference at the company's headquarters here.  The ad will be launched in partnership with PepsiCo to promote Pepsi Max soda and the TV network's Monday prime-time lineup.  Not everyone will be seeing it: the ad will appear in a magazine insert sent to subscribers in the New York and Los Angeles areas--an edition without the video chip will be sent to subscribers elsewhere and show up on newsstands.  The technology for the battery-powered ads was manufactured by a Los Angeles-based company called Americhip, and each ad can handle about 40 minutes of video.  "It's leadership in innovation, which we really stress at CBS in every part of our company," Schweitzer said of the ads, which were developed with the collaboration of the Ignition Factory, a division of the Omnicom Group's OMD media agency.  PepsiCo has been experimenting with edgy, experimental ads for some time now, distributing millions of 3D glasses for its SoBe LifeWater Super Bowl ad earlier this year.  It more recently launched a new Mountain Dew flavor by inviting prominent Twitter users to a party at a trendy Brooklyn venue.  Pepsi Max is the company's new diet soda geared toward men, advertised earlier this summer with bold print ads that declared, "Save the calories for bacon."  "The evolution of marketing television in the fall--it used to be as simple as this," Schweitzer said, holding up a vintage copy of TV Guide.  n"It was axiomatic in those days.  If you took an ad in TV Guide, people watched your program. Not anymore."
CNet


BlockBuster Bringing Movies To Motorola Phones
BlockBuster said Tuesday it will bring its streaming movie service to Motorola cell phones and smartphones.  The deal is the first time BlockBuster is bringing its onDemand service to mobile devices, and it will eventually enable Motorola users to have on-the-go access to thousands of movie titles.  The companies did not announce when this service would be implemented, or how much it will cost.  The move is just the latest by BlockBuster to get expand its services beyond its retail locations in order to combat rivals such asNetflix, Roku, TiVo, and on-demand video services from cable providers.  The company recently inked a deal with Samsung to bring its instant-movie service to high-definition TVs, home theater system, and Blu-ray players.
InformationWeek


Fifteen Tips On How To Live To 100
Follow this checklist of 15 tips and you could add up to 77 years to your life.  Sound too good to be true?  Not according to new research from Norwich Union.  The insurer's actuarists have crunched some numbers that shows simple things like enjoying a good laugh and eating well can give a huge boost to your longevity.

The list ranges from the fairly obvious - quit smoking - to the more esoteric.  Who would have thought that flossing your teeth could add six years to your life?

Here is the list:

1. Be married/live with a partner - add 1 year
Norwich Union data shows people who are married or live with a partner can expect to live on average a year more than their single friends.

2. Maintain a healthy weight - add 6 years
Being severely obese (having a BMI of above 40) could reduce your life expectancy by around four years. A healthy BMI level is between 18.5 and 25, according to the Food Standards Agency.  On the other hand, being underweight might reduce your life expectancy by around two years, so maintaining a healthy weight is vital.

3. Don’t smoke – add 10 years
People can add as much as 10 years to their lives simply by not smoking.  Research carried out at the University of Helsinki has found that people who don’t smoke can expect to live up 10 years longer than those who smoke 20 cigarettes a day.

4. Love to laugh – add 8 years
According to scientific studies, people who laugh for 15 minutes each day could add an extra eight years to their lives.

5. Be a woman! – add 3.3 years
Right around the world, women tend to outlive men by around 10 per cent.  According to Government statistics, currently in the UK women have a projected average life expectancy of 91.8 years at birth, compared to 88.5 years for men.

6. Clear out the clutter – add 1 year
People who live in jumble and chaos are more likely to feel stressed and depressed.  Sorting out this disorder can add another year.

7. Eat well - add 6.6 years
According to Erasmus University in Rotterdam, a diet which includes daily consumption of garlic, wine, vegetables, fruits, almonds and dark chocolate could extend life expectancy by up to 6.6 years.

8. Eat less meat – add 3.6 years
A study carried out at Loma University in the US found that people who ate meat less than once a week on average lived 3.6 years longer than their carnivore counterparts.

9. Have a positive outlook – add 9 years
Studies have shown that those with an optimistic outlook are less prone to viruses and recover quicker from illnesses and injuries.  These people tend to act in ‘healthier’ ways than negative people by taking more exercise and enjoying social activities.

10. Live in Eastbourne – add 6.2 years
According to The Grim Reaper’s Road Map, a study compiled by the University of Sheffield, inhabitants of West Eastbourne in East Sussex have the longest life expectancy of any town in Great Britain, living 6.2 years higher than the national GB average.  Central Livingston in East Central Scotland has the lowest life expectancy in Great Britain at 67.2 years.

11. Keep the faith – add 3 years
Numerous studies have unearthed links between having a faith and enjoying a long life.  According to the University of Pittsburgh, people who attend weekly religious services can expect to live around three years longer than non-attenders.

12. Be born later – add up to 6.1 years
According to the Government Actuary’s Department (GAD), people born 25 years ago had an average life expectancy of 84.6 years for men and 88.5 years for women.  People born in 2009 now have an average life expectancy of 88.5 (males) and 91.8 (females).  Predictions from GAD suggest that people born 25 years from now could live as long as 91.7 (men) and 94.6 (women).

13. Get a good night’s sleep – add 5 years
Poor sleep can contribute to a number of medical factors which can put people at risk of heart disease.  Those who regularly get at least six or seven hours’ sleep can hope to live up to five years longer than those who sleep badly.

14. Floss your teeth – add 6 years
Flossing your teeth daily can add as much as six years to your life expectancy by removing harmful bacteria that can contribute to cardiovascular disease.

15. Get a pet! – add 2 years
US research shows that people with pets are less likely to suffer from depression and visit their doctors less often than those without.  It is also said that stroking a pet can reduce blood pressure and stress levels.

Darren Dicks, head of annuities at Norwich Union, says: “While we aren’t really suggesting that someone adopting all of these practices will automatically add more than 70 years to their life, our research shows that broadly speaking these activities will have an effect on life expectancy.”

Times Business

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The Marketing Ideanet is a free idea sharing newsletter published by 602 Communications. 602 Communications is a TV training and consulting company that specializes in improving front-line news and promotion skills. We teach workshops on teasing, marketing, reporting, producing, lighting, editing, internet and graphics. Get more information on all our workshops.

TVSpy.com is home to ShopTalk, the FREE daily newsletter for the TV news industry, read by more than 25,000 subscribers. For more than 20 years, ShopTalk has given TV news professionals the daily inside scoop on the industry. Read today's ShopTalk and subscribe for FREE. news professionals the daily inside scoop on the industry. Read today's ShopTalk and subscribe for FREE.

The Marketing Ideanet is a free idea sharing newsletter published by 602 Communications. 602 Communications is a TV training and consulting company that specializes in improving front-line news and promotion skills. We teach workshops on teasing, marketing, reporting, producing, lighting, editing, internet and graphics. Get more information on all our workshops.

The Marketing Ideanet is sent via TVSpy's e-mail servers. Visit TVSpy's Marketing Matters online community.

Graeme Newell
602 Communications
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http://www.602communications.com

In This Issue
Using Social Media to Recruit Viewers-6 Rules You Should Never Break
Nielsen Challenged by Media Consortium
Letterman Repeats Top Conan Originals
Recession Brings Rise in Nurse Dramas
Dobbs Sold Soul for Ratings, Friedman Says
GE Calls Fox Bombs Report 'Maliciously False'
Study Shows PR People Surprisingly Ethical
Study Finds Mostly Pointless Prattle on Twitter
AP Bans Use of Iconic Woodstock Photo
Message From Michael
What Benjamin Franklin Knew About Social Media


Quotes

“In the absence of communication among your customers, advertising rules.”
- Don Peppers, founding partner of Peppers & Rogers Group and 1to1 Media

“New marketing is about the relationships, not the medium.”
- Ben Grossman, founder and chief strategist for BiGMarK

"Social media is like teen sex.  Everyone wants to do it.  No one actually knows how.  When finally done, there is surprise it's not better."
- Avinash Kaushik, author of "Web Analytics: An Hour A Day"


Using Social Media to Recruit Viewers- 6 Rules You Should Never Break
by Graeme Newell
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
http://www.602communications.com
Facebook: facebook.com/gnewell
Twitter: gnewell


1) Present yourself as a human being, not a company.

Escape the bonds of your corporate identity, loosen that tie, and get friendly. Remember, its called social media, not business media.  Its purpose is to socialize and bond, not to exploit the patrons.  If your sole intent is to build your business, odds are the audience will see right through your superficial agenda.

Social media sites are not a place to blatantly hock your shows, and those who break this rule will be cast out by the communities they hope to friend.  However, there are lots of people recruiting new audiences and making substantial amounts of money through social media.  These pros understand social media is based on the very human principles of giving and listening.  Think of social media as the local tavern, a place where you gather with friends to share the experiences of the day and to raise a pint or two.  Now consider all the things you would never do to your friends in a bar.

2) Never advertise, instead, socialize

You would never walk into your local tavern and yell “I’ve got shoes for sale for $39.00 a pair.  Who would like to buy some from me?” Every person in the place would instantly avoid you.  Doing this instantly tags you as a taker with a transparent, self-serving agenda.  Treating your friends like a potential sales mark is strictly prohibited.  I see TV station social media profiles that are exclusively populated with self-serving posts that are nothing more than free ads.

“Watch Channel 9 tonight for an update on the storm.”

“Channel 9 has the latest reports from Wall Street.  We are your station for complete coverage.”

Their egotistical agenda is obvious - all they want are followers to watch their news.  It’s all about their own ratings for this station.  They see other participants as a crop to be harvested, not a relationship to be nurtured. This station does not want friends, it wants prospects.  If you want to advertise on Facebook, then buy an ad, but never jeopardize the tenuous friend relationship by showing your buddies such a selfish agenda.   Don’t treat Facebook like it’s a radio promo or a billboard ad.

3) Speak like a human, not an advertising shill

Don’t talk in ad speak.  It just makes people distrust your motives.  Take a look at these posts from a local station Facebook page:

“Watch Carrie’s report on autism, tonight at 6 on Channel Nine - your local news source.”

“Watch the Valley’s most complete coverage of the police shooting tonight at five.”

People just don’t talk like this. You would never spout sales slogans at your local tavern and you should never do it on social media sites.  Social media is a place where you inform and share.  Never subject your XXX to slogans, calls-to-action or sell lines. Remember, these are advertising tools and social media is not advertising.

4) Demonstrate your passion, not an agenda.

Let your friends see the real you.  Give them a taste of what excites you.  Stop trying to sell them. If you love breaking news, then wear that love on your sleeve. You work in a newsroom and that means fascinating stuff comes across your desk throughout the day.  Don’t try to recruit your friends to watch, instead, give them a taste of the best parts and they’ll come back for more.  Look at these posts and notice how they wear their passion on their sleeve.  I can’t help but click:

“Busy day! Just posted Pittsburgh movie premiere video with Ving Rhames interview http://tinyurl.com/r5vy3w”

“Kennywood is about to announce a new ride to its lineup and it sounds like it might be another coaster! http://tinyurl.com/mg7fr6”

The genuine excitement of these posts is infectious.  This reporter has shown her real passion, and that passion inspires others to click and join in the conversation. That’s how you win friends and followers. Had she tagged her post with “watch tonight at six for the Valley’s most complete coverage” this authentic sentiment would have been tarnished. Stop selling and just be yourself.  It is a far more appealing and effective way to recruit a social media tribe.

5) Give, give, give

Who are the most popular people at a local tavern?  It’s the people with the best stories, who are the best listeners.  Don’t just talk about yourself all the time.  Join the conversation.  Comment long and often about the observations of your friends.  Take a look at your social media page.  Do you post, then wait for others to comment on your genius, or do you let them take the lead too?  The unexpected benefit is that this listening/sharing strategy takes less work.  By encouraging others to add their own passions to the vibrant conversation, you enroll them.  Scintillating conversations continues on your social media page even when you’re too busy to post.


6) Drive to your website, not your broadcast.

The web and social media are all about instant gratification.  If I can’t get it now, then I’m not waiting.  Don’t push your friends to watch future newscasts. You have already done all the hard work of getting that friend to the web and your social media page.  Make the next step easy.  Link them to a story on your web site. It’s just a click away and it’s available NOW.   If you promise content from your next broadcast, odds are they will forget or simply won’t bother.  Using the web to build broadcast views is amazing inefficient.  By pushing to your web site you create a seamless experience, making it more likely that friends will return to your social media page for more good content suggestions.

Graeme Newell is a broadcast and web marketing specialist.  He guarantees that his teasing seminar will immediately increase your news ratings or his workshop is free.  Find out more here.


Nielsen Challenged by Media Consortium
In what looks like a major challenge to the stanglehold Nielsen Media Research has on the currency controlling the spending of billions of dollars on TV,  some of the nation's biggest advertisers, media agencies and networks--broadcast and cable --have formed a consortium to get better measurement of TV and digital video viewing, according to the Financial Times.  According to the Financial TImes, participants include networks owned by NBC Universal, Time Warner, News Corp., Viacom, CBS, Discovery and Walt Disney; advertisers such as the nation's biggest TV spender, Procter & Gamble, AT&T and Unilever; and media agencies such as Group M and the Starcom MediaVest Group.  The consortium appears to be focused on getting single-source data that measures cross-platform TV and digital viewing.  It is expected to be up and running next month and commissioning data by the fourth quarter.  " 'The most deficient thing is there's no single source measurement (for television and digital video),' Sam Armando, senior vice-president of audience analysis at Starcom MediaVest, told the Financial Times, confirming the establishment of the new group.  Armando also told the Financial Times, "The thing is not let's go out to replace Nielsen."  But, he added: "It's not a leap of faith to think that another [measurement company] can come in and do both."  It wouldn’t be the first time Nielsen had a rival: AGB Television Research in the late 1980s and the SMART system in the 1990s tried to take on the ratings giant in the wake of network unhappiness with the company.  But the competitors ultimately didn’t get enough financial support from the media community.
TV Week


Letterman Repeats Top Conan Originals
Repeats of The Late Show with David Letterman topped new episodes of The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien in total viewers and households (albeit by a razor thin margin) for the week ending August 7, according to Nielsen live plus same day data.  Letterman’s Late Show delivered a 2.1/06 household rating and 2.95 million total viewers to The Tonight Show’s 2.0/05 rating and 2.94 million viewers.  NBC was quick to point out that The Tonight Show still won by a sizeable margin in the key demographics, most importantly persons 18-49, which is the demo most-coveted by advertisers.  Although it targets a different demographic and is not a late-night, comedy program, ABC News’ Nightline is relevant when talking about total viewers.  Nightline beat both the Late Show and Tonight Show handily among total viewers that week with 3.25 million.  Nightline has been something of a wildcard in the equation, drawing excellent total viewership numbers and P25-54, an effect which could be sapping away viewers from one or both of the comedy shows, though that is hard to quantify.  NBC also pointed out that The Tonight Show is more than 10 years younger than the competition, which it says gives an edge to the Late Show and ABC’s Nightline in total viewers.  “The median age of Conan’s audience last week was 46.8, more than 10 years younger than Letterman’s 57.0 and almost exactly 10 years younger than the 56.7 of ABC’s Nightline,” NBC said.  Still, the win by CBS during an off week has to be a troubling sign for NBC, which should be handily beating the competition when they are in repeats.  Letterman has been making inroads against O’Brien over the past month or so, beating him in total viewers and occasionally some of the older demographics.  He has also been closing the gap among P18-49, though is yet to top O’Brien in that demo.
Broadcasting & Cable


Recession Brings Rise in Nurse Dramas
Why so many nursing shows lately?  It may be the economy's fault.   Showtime's Nurse Jackie and TNT's HawthoRNe will soon be joined by NBC's new drama Mercy. It's just another sign that the recession has turned networks' attention from upscale doctors and lawyers to the pink-collar workers who didn't always get their due on the air.  "It really felt like a way to depict real working women," Mercy creator and executive director Liz Heldens said.  "These girls are drinking beer in New Jersey, not martinis in Manhattan.  I mean, look, they manage to pull it together and look fantastic but they don't have a ton of money."  The shows' nurses are as varied as those in the profession: HawthoRNe follows a fiercely dedicated nurse in her 30s (Jada Pinkett-Smith), Nurse Jackie stars Edie Falco as a nurse in her 40s who almost revels in rule-breaking and Mercy follows three twentysomething nurses, one of whom (Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Michelle Trachtenberg) is just learning to do the job.  "I think that audiences want to be interested in real life people.  They don't want to sugar coat things," Trachtenberg told TVGuide.com.
TV Guide


Dobbs Sold Soul for Ratings, Friedman Says
I used to laugh off CNN anchor Lou Dobbs' eccentricities.  I chalked up his bluster and preening to the concept of television news meets show biz.  But now, I'm sorry to say, I can no longer chuckle at the spectacle of Dobbs' antics.  Quite simply, the man has sold his journalistic soul to the devil.  How else could anyone explain Dobbs' dramatic transformation over the years, from a professional business-news anchor to his current act, which somewhat resembles Howard Beale on steroids?  Anyone who has watched Dobbs for a while would have no trouble envisioning him rising from his anchor chair -- as the mythical Beale did in the movie "Network" -- stretching his arms to the sky and imploring his viewers to yell out the window that they're as mad as hell and they're not going to take it any more.  Dobbs doesn't even have to raise his voice to risk sounding like a caricature of himself.  For instance, when Dobbs demanded to see President Obama's birth certificate to verify he is an American citizen, Dobbs looked ridiculous, to put it politely.  Actually, there appears to be a simple explanation for all this.  You can even sum it up in one word: ratings.  But even here, Dobbs' message may be losing its punch.  According to CNN's research, Dobbs has lost 31,000 total viewers in the past year.  About 789,000 people were tuning into his show on a daily basis in June and July, down from 820,000 for the same period in 2008.  It's a decrease of 4%.  Meanwhile, Dobbs has added 1,000 viewers in the coveted 25-to-54 year-old range, to 233,000 per night from 232,000 a year ago.  I was surprised that Dobbs didn't do better. In June and July, there was a bumper crop of news to ponder.  It included the deaths of Michael Jackson and Walter Cronkite, as well as Sarah Palin's startling announcement that she would resign as governor of Alaska.  Dobbs would have America believe he is Mr. Ideology, protecting the nation against immigration ruin and God knows what else.  Some observers believe that he genuinely feels and expresses outrage over the failures of the government to safeguard America.  But I see his in-your-face broadcasting style as a distinct ratings grab.  Dobbs' rants have paid off for him in one respect: He has achieved a much higher profile in journalism circles.  I hope Dobbs ultimately looks in the mirror and asks himself a fundamental question: Is it worth it?
MarketWatch


GE Calls Fox Bombs Report 'Maliciously False'
The General Electric Co. called a Fox News Channel report about the company supplying terrorists with material used in bombs "irresponsible and maliciously false" on Wednesday as a feud between Fox's Bill O'Reilly and MSNBC's Keith Olbermann kept sizzling.  It was the first time that GE, the parent company of MSNBC and NBC News, had publicly responded to accusations made by O'Reilly on his Fox show.  Olbermann also kept up his attacks, naming O'Reilly his "worst person in the world" on Wednesday's show for the GE story.  The two men have taken their feud to a new level since The New York Times reported Aug. 1 that the chief executives of both parent corporations of the cable news channels — News Corp. as well as GE — had encouraged them to cool things down.  O'Reilly said on Tuesday that his show's sources say there is a federal investigation into whether American companies supplied components being used in roadside bombs aimed at American soldiers.  He said that radio frequency modules inside some bombs were part of a shipment made by a U.S. company to Corezing International, a Singapore company that does business with Iran.  O'Reilly said that his show "has been told but cannot confirm that the General Electric corporation is under suspicion in the case."  GE spokesman Gary Sheffer said he was surprised by the report, given O'Reilly's admission that he could not confirm GE's involvement.  He said GE does not do business with Corezing or produce the radio frequency modules described in the report.  "We usually do not respond to the misleading and inaccurate claims made on this program because very few people take them seriously," Sheffer said, "but tonight's report took this smear campaign to a new low."  A Fox News spokeswoman, Irena Briganti, had no immediate comment about GE's statement. FBI spokesman Steve Kodak said the bureau does not comment about any investigations it may be doing.  Sheffer said he believed O'Reilly's report was tied to the MSNBC feud.  Briganti did not comment on GE's assertion that O'Reilly's story was done because of the feud. Fox issued a statement last week about GE and NBC: "Both organizations are covered as news warrants."  O'Reilly only briefly touched on the GE story during his show Wednesday, saying in response to a reader's e-mail that "we're not making any accusations, but we're staying on the story."
Yahoo TV


Study Shows PR People Surprisingly Ethical
In a blow to flackery and stereotyping, a study funded by Penn State's Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication discovered that PR people are near the top in ethical thinking compared to other professionals.  The Center's Johnson Legacy Scholars Renita Coleman and Lee Wilkins used the O'Dwyer's database of firms as a sample and something called the Defining Issues Test (DIT) to empirically measure the moral development of working PR pros.  Coleman and Wilkins are J-school professors at U.T. Austin, and University of Missouri-Columbia respectively.  The DIT posed six ethical dilemmas and looked at reasoning in five areas: business concerns, internal motives, truth and respect, religious influences and external influences.  While seminarians and philosophers kicked all-comer ass, PR ranked alongside journalists, nurses and dental students, and beat out orthopedic surgeons, business professionals, accounting students and veterinary students.  Devil took the hindmost with junior high school students scoring even lower than prison inmates, in case you're curious.  Funny but not surprising since age and education are key factors in ethical development.  The researchers explain the built-in aspects of the work that account for PR's surprising ethics:  "To accomplish this function (PR), they need to maintain the trust of both parties, but particularly the trust of journalists who are already skeptical of their institutional role and their individual motives.  Consequently, honesty and a lack of willingness to deceive those who receive information are critical in effective public relations practice."  The full paper is published in the July 2009 issue of the Journal of Public Relations Research.
MediaBistro


Study Finds Mostly Pointless Prattle on Twitter
A new Twitter study by San Antonio Web data analytics firm Pearanalytics confirmed what many talk show hosts have been joking about: there’s a lot of pointless prattle going on in the microblogging sphere.  After randomly sampling a public timeline of tweets — 140 character comments on Twitter — for 10 days, Pearanalytics found that 40.5 percent of the updates fell in the “pointless babble” category.  An example: “I am eating a sandwich now.”

Other findings:
- 37.5 percent of the comments were conversational — a back-and-forth discussion on a topic
- 8.7 percent had pass-along value — tweets that were re-broadcast or re-tweeted
- 5.8 percent were self promotional
- 3.75 percent were spam — the equivalent of junk mail
- 3.6 percent were news

“Our initial hypothesis that we intended to prove was that Twitter was being used predominantly for self-promotion.  Our data showed this was not the case,” says Ryan Kelly, founder and CEO of Pearanalytics.  “I was most surprised that the news factor was so low.”  About an hour after Kelly posted the results of his study and white paper yesterday, global online technology news blog “Mashable” ran an article and the study became one of the top trending issues of the day. Twitter reaches 27 million people per month in the U.S., according to Quantcast.com.  “We’re experiencing about 100 visitors per hour to our Web site right now,” Kelly adds.
Biz Journals


AP Bans Use of Iconic Woodstock Photo
If your coverage of the 40th anniversary of Woodstock is going to include a black and white version of the famous photo of a couple hugging under a blanket, you might have to hold off.  Associated Press issued a "photo elimination" notice this week that directs members not to use the image of Nick and Bobbi Ercoline that was shot at the 1969 event, and has been distributed for years by AP and other news outlets.  The photo has become nearly as famous as the three-day concert itself, gracing the cover of the concert's album and many related images.  The notice issued Aug. 10 states: "eliminate immediately from all systems and archives," later adding, "AP has no permission from the copyright holder to use the image.  There is no replacement."  The notice also shows the photo with a large red circle and line through it.  Asked why AP had taken the step this week as the 40th anniversary approached and news outlets were likely to use the image, AP spokesman Jack Stokes stated in an e-mail:  "The Woodstock photo we eliminated is a black-and-white version of a color photo by Burk Uzzle, who is the copyright holder and who is represented by the Laurence Miller Gallery in New York.  Our photo editing team noted that the black-and-white photo in our photo archive -- a handout from 40 years ago -- did not contain the proper sourcing info."
Editor & Publisher


Message From Michael
VIDEO VIDEO EVERYWHERE:  It seems like every other week there is another report about the growth in online video usage and, yes, here are some more.  The Pew Internet and American Life Project reports that the percentage of ONLINE Americans visiting video sharing sites has nearly doubled in the past three years from 33% in December 2006 to 62% in April of this year.  Research firm eMarketer says 70% of the U.S. Internet population will watch videos online this year and that percentage will jump to 85% by 2013.  A coalition of media groups including Yahoo, Warner Brothers and Media Lab among others found that a third of online videos (34%) are shared in some way – through emails, social networking or IM’ing.  Researchers Ipsos/ Media CT say online video viewing accounts for a greater percentage of Americans’ ‘entertainment time” than ever.

What is different in these reports is that the amount of longer form online video viewing is also increasing dramatically.  Ipsos says a quarter (26%) of online Americans have streamed a TV show while one in seven (14%) have streamed a full-length movie.  Although the percentages are slightly different, Pew came back with the same finding, that longer form video viewing has doubled in two years.  A third of Internet users (35%) watched either a full length TV show or movie online in the latest survey, compared to half that (16%) in 2007. What is also different is that the reports indicate that the online viewing is becoming an alternative (albeit a small one) to traditional TV viewing.  For example, the Pew report says that a fifth of Americans (22%) have cut back on either cable or television services over the past year while only a tenth (9%) say they have cut back on Internet service.  Partially that is because of other features of Internet service, such as search and surfing but part of it is because more of them are connecting their computer to their TV.  Research site ChangeWave which says its goal is “helping you profit from change” says Baby Boomers in particular are watching less traditional TV, by a five to one margin.  It’s not exactly an apples to apples comparison, but the researchers say boomers now spend less time watching TV (11.8 hours a week) than they do online (12.9 hours per week) although that time is all Internet activity and not just video watching.

What is even more different (and a little scary for broadcasters) is a report by CBS’s head of research, David Poltrack, that online video ads could become more attractive than traditional TV ads because online video ads in the longer form videos ‘capture a more attentive audience that can be more easily targeted.’  Readers will remember a previous Message report about the growing demand for online video ads.  Polatrack says the audience for premium web content is up a third (36%) year to year.  That attentive audience is why that coalition mentioned earlier (Yahoo, et al) says that video sharing has become so prevalent that businesses should target their ads at these ‘most active sharers.’

Disclaimers:  Although Hulu is leading the charge in the growth of online video usage, at least one person isn’t buying it.  NATPE CEO Rick Feldman says that’s because advertisers and consumers aren’t buying it.  The reasoning goes back to the issue raised in last week’s Message about the battle over “free” on the Internet.  Feldman says unless Hulu changes its business model (to include more ads and probably subscription fees as well), Hulu will be history in three years.  And although ChangeWave and others indicate online video poses a threat to traditional TV, Ipsos and others say it’s way too early to say that.  The researchers at Ipsos note that the average American WITH Internet access still watches 15 hours of Television a week compared to only two hours of video on their PC.  Their survey showed that even among digital users, two thirds (64%) would rather watch hour long dramas and half hour long comedies on their TV, rather than renting, buying or watching on their PC.  

THE GOVERNMENTAL DOUBLE WHAMMY:  The new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission has announced his agency, too, will start an inquiry into the state of journalism in the digital age.  You will recall from a previous Message that the Federal Trade Commission has announced that it will be holding a series of workshops starting in September asking the question – Can News Media Survive the Internet Age.  Now, new FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski in an interview with Broadcasting and Cable says he has “real concerns, as many Americans do, about what is going on in America with respect to newspapers, local news and information.”  Genachowski is following the lead set by Commissioner and former acting chairman Michael J. Copps who has circulated a memorandum amongst the commissioners outlining his concerns and issues to address.  Ironically, the memo has not been made public but some indication of Copps’ stance can seen from a speech at a conference in Minneapolis where he said it was time “to put a cop back on the beat” when it comes to FCC oversight of broadcasters.  He called it a “down payment on Media Democracy” and promised ‘meaningful review’ of licenses.  FCC Chairman Genachowski said there is no timetable for the review which -- considering the agenda set by the chairman -- may be some time.  Topping his agenda is, of course, the broadband stimulus effort, followed by review of the Children’s Television Act, the wrap-up of the DTV transition, indecency cases and so on and so on.

As a side note, although it has been reported, some of Genachowski’s views may be seen from his background as a senior executive at IAC as well as being on the board of directors of Expedia, Hotels.com, The Motley Fool and Web.com.  In case you haven’t heard of IAC, it is an Internet company whose “mission is to harness the power of interactivity to make daily life easier and more productive for people all over the world.”  Specifically, it has 50 sub-companies, including The Daily Beast, Ask.com, Dictionary.com, CollegeHumor.com, Vimeo as well as a plethora of dating sites – Match.com, loveandseek.com, BBpeople.com, Singleparent.com as well as just odd sites.  New commissioner Mignon Clyburn is a member of the South Carolina Public Service Commission, former publisher of a weekly newspaper in Charleston, South Carolina, and daughter of House majority whip James Clyburn.  New Commissioner Meredith Atwell Baker was with the NTIA overseeing the digital coupon program and is the daughter of former Senator Majority Leader Howard Baker.   

ONE SINGULAR SENSATION:  It may be that, but not everybody believes, to use the next lyric from A Chorus Line, that it’s going to be “a thrilling combination.”  “IT” is The Singularity – the creation of a ‘super intelligence’ using Artificial Intelligence (AI) from advanced computers and robots.  Yes, it sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but there is a Singularity Institute and a Singularity University that have been created to further this concept and in October there will be a Singularity Summit held in New York City, drawing scientists, futurists and ‘transhumanists’ from around the world.  And, yes, you’re wondering what this has to do with media.  Well, much of the language in AI is from programming language systems like Perl, Java, and C++.  Plus, the AI computers/robots are developing the ability to ‘breed’ in the sense that they can create new, more advanced computers/robots, which, in turn, will create new, more advanced devices which, in turn, will create new, more advanced devices and so on and so on.  Suddenly ‘new media’ takes on a whole new twist.  Anyway, more on this in later MfM’s.
 
MISTAKES THEY’VE MADE A FEW:  But then again, a few too many.  And the “they” in this case are the reporters for The New York Times.  According to a column by the Times’ public editor, the story about Walter Cronkite’s death by reporter Allesandra Stanley had seven factual errors in it.  I know this falls into commentary, which I try to avoid, but the irony that a story about a journalist would have so many journalistic errors is hard not to comment on.  It gets worse.  Public editor Hoyt Clark says that “Stanley was the cause of so many corrections in 2005 that she was assigned a single copy editor responsible for checking her facts.”  Amazing.  She apparently got better after the special attention, but after the Cronkite article, she’s going to get “special attention” again.  Even though Hoyt says Stanley is “a prolific writer much admired by editors for the intellectual heft of her coverage of television,” I have to say that I can never read any of her material again with any sense of comfort.

As a foot note, when I was a semi-young newspaper reporter still suffering under the delusion that editors actually edited, I wrote a story about a city council meeting that had a lead line something like this:  “More than a thousand city employees, including my father, got a three percent raise thanks to the city council.”  My father did work for the city in a minor position at the time, and I assumed the editors would catch the humor and edit it out.  After it made it to the first edition of the newspaper, I had to explain my little attempt at humor to a furious Managing Editor, before it made it to the final edition.
 
And as a foot note that will say something about my readers:  I wonder how many of you thought of Frank Sinatra’s My Way versus Queen’s We Are The Champions versus Smokey Robinson’s Ooo Baby Baby when you read the headline.

Michael Castengera is an instructor at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia AND President of Media Strategies and Tactics Inc., a consulting firm that works with all media but primarily broadcasting.  You can visit his website at MediaConsultant.tv.


What Benjamin Franklin Knew About Social Media

Benjamin Franklin was a blogger – without a doubt.

He may not have had a computer to share his thoughts, nor the internet to spread them.  But he did have a printing press where he printed regular installments of Poor Richard’s Almanack.

Ben Franklin was known to have a sharp and witty mind and a love of things social.  He loved to share his thoughts on any number of subjects.  He loved to stir the pot…and he loved debate.

Think of any bloggers like that?

So Ben Franklin was a blogger before there was blogging.  But don’t just take my word for it.  All the evidence can be found in his own words:

    “Be civil to all; sociable to many; familiar with few; friend to one; enemy to none.”

Isn’t that how blogging works?  You want to be an open door to all, have conversations with those who engage you in the comment box, and become familiar with people who are interested in building relationships.  Further, you’ll find a small group who will become like friends.  And for all, let none become your enemy. Sound advice for any blogger.

And while Ben Franklin was a bit of hot-headed and stubborn in his time, he nonetheless offers great advice on dealing with the negativity we social media-types sometimes face:

    “Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain and most fools do.”

    “He that blows the coals in quarrels that he has nothing to do with, has no right to complain if the sparks fly in his face.”

    “He that would live in peace and at ease, must not speak all he knows nor judge all he sees.”

He was a staunch proponent of finding what was interesting to himself and others and adding what was valuable to your reader’s lives:

    “If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write something worth reading or do things worth the writing.”

And he knew so well that people couldn’t be convinced of anything unless they cared.

    “If you would persuade, you must appeal to interest rather than intellect.“

What’s more, he knew that people did not want to be lectured too. Rather, they need to be engaged and included in the conversation:

    “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”

Ben Franklin clearly understood that writing a solid, interesting blog post took research:

    “An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.”

…and required time and effort:

    “He that can have patience can have what he will.”

    “Energy and persistence conquer all things.”

…and that hard work would eventually pay off:

    “Employ thy time well, if thou meanest to get leisure.”

He even had advice for probloggers and those who wish to make money from their blogs; offering sound advice for remaining in balance between making money and keeping readers:

    “He that is of the opinion money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money.”

Overall, what Ben Franklin reminds us is that if we have something to share…some perspective that’s uniquely ours to share with the world – do it! And don’t let your fears get in the way:

    “Hide not your talents, they for use were made. What’s a sun-dial in the shade?”

But perhaps the best advice of all is the advice that Mr. Franklin offered us for living our lives:

    “Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that’s the stuff life is made of.”


Dawud Miracle
dmiracle.com


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