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Graeme Newell
602 Communications
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In This Issue
One Word Coverage Promises
John Stewart vs Fox News
Most People Get Healthcare Info From Cable News, Poll Finds
200+ Advertisers Boycotting Beck's Show
Comedy Central Caves to Extremists' Threats
Hitler Film Parodies Removed from YouTube
Fox, ABC Restrict Lane Bryant Sexy Ad
PRISM Awards Honor Truth in Drug/Mental Portrayals
Rare Reagan/James Dean TV Show Discovered
CBS Marketing Guru Ron Scalera Dies at 49
Stations Growing Web Revenue: RTDNA Survey
Your 3D TV Side Effects May Include...
Jason Love's Perfect World


Quotes

"Whenever, therefore, people are deceived and form opinions wide of the truth, it is clear that the error has slid into their minds through the medium of certain resemblances to that truth."
- Socrates

"Man's mind is so formed that it is far more susceptible to falsehood than to truth."
- Desiderius Erasmus, Dutch humanist (c.1466-1536)

"A deception that elevates us is dearer than a host of low truths."
- Marina Tsvetaeva, Russian poet (1892-1941)


One Word Coverage Promises
by Graeme Newell
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Twitter: gnewell
Facebook: facebook.com/gnewell

A great tease will contain a solid promise of coverage that foreshadows a full and satisfying story.  In the world of entertainment, the goal is to convey the depth and complexity of the story line.  Any promises that smack of simplicity or shallowness just won't motivate a viewer.

We see this in movie trailers all the time.  You will never see a promo that promises the basic plot of the movie.  For example:” Will the hero get the girl?"  Of course he will.  "Can these clever thieves pull off the heist?"  Of course they can.  The goal of the trailer is to show the incredible depth of the story line and promise a tale that is unique to moviedom.  "Can a ferret, two parakeets and a bank robbery lead to love for these midgets transvestites on a road trip across the Ukraine?"  Now that sounds like a deep story line with some real twists.  They have proven that the movie will have much more than the basic plot points.

The goal is the same in TV news promos and teases. Far too often, the components foreshadowed in a tease convey only a basic story.  We make a specific promise of coverage, but we never convey the depth of the story line.  The problem - we focus solely on facts, not on how those facts add up to a full and rich plot line complete with heroes, villains, twists and turns.

When writing in-show teases and promos, apply this simple test to determine the depth of your story line.  Make a promise of coverage, and then see how many words it requires to fulfill that promise.  If the answer is just a word or two, you've failed to show the intricacy of your story.  For example:

The promise: "Tonight, find out who hid the fugitive after the escape."
The answer:  "His sister."

The answer contains just two words and does not convey the cool parts of the tale. Let's try again:

The promise:  The fugitive's hide and seek game that stumped police for more than a week."

Fulfilling this promise of coverage requires a long explanation and a very intricate story.  That is a sign you've done a great tease.   If the explanation of the promise takes several sentences, then you have successfully conveyed depth of coverage.  After hearing that promise, I get the feeling that the full story will be a real adventure - something very entertaining.

It is the same principle with weather:

The promise: "Find out when it will rain this week."
The answer:  "Thursday"

This sounds like a basic weather forecast I can get on any channel. The goal is convey an entire weather drama that promises unique coverage:

Better: "Some wild days of wind and rain are just around the corner.  I'll show you when the heaviest showers will hit the Valley."

Same with sports:

The promise: "Who won the big game."
The answer: "The Broncos"

Sounds like basic scores and highlights I can get off the internet.

Better:  The game-winning touchdown pass that blew this grudge match wide open in the second half."

In teasing and promos the goal is not the proverbial "KISS" formula -"keep it simple stupid."  We want to convey complexity and a brain stimulating drama.

Next week:  Simple writing tips that convey story depth in just a few words.

Graeme Newell is a broadcast and new media marketer who specializes in core emotional drivers.  He guarantees that his teasing seminar will immediately increase your news ratings or his workshop is free.  Find out more here.


John Stewart vs Fox News
Last week that comedian did something that the hosts of “Fox & Friends,” the morning show on Fox News, did not do: he had his staff members call the White House and ask a question.  It may have been in pursuit of farce, not fact, but it gave credence to the people who say “The Daily Show” is journalistic, not just satiric.  “Fox & Friends” had repeatedly asked whether the crescent-shaped logo of the nuclear security summit was an “Islamic image,” one selected by President Obama in his outreach to the Muslim world.  The White House told “The Daily Show” that the logo was actually based on the Rutherford-Bohr model of the atom.  “This is how relentless Fox is” in savaging President Obama, Mr. Stewart said.

On the subject of Fox, Mr. Stewart is pretty relentless too.  As demonstrated by that crescent segment and dozens of others since Mr. Obama took office, he may well be television’s pre-eminent fact-checker of Fox News, the nation’s highest-rated cable news channel.

It has been noticed by, among other people, the Fox host Bill O’Reilly, who called Mr. Stewart a “devoted critic” of Fox News and said “his influence is growing.”

Separately, this week Mr. Stewart’s contract was renewed by Comedy Central into 2013.  Combining the earnestness of a journalism professor and the sarcasm of a satirist, Mr. Stewart routinely charges that Fox’s news anchors and commentators distort Mr. Obama’s policies and advance a conservative agenda.  He reminds some viewers of the left-wing group Media Matters but much funnier.

“Stewart does a great job of using comedy to expose the tragedy that is Fox News, and he also underscores the seriousness of it,” said Eric Burns, the president of Media Matters.

The segments about Fox are often replayed hundreds of thousands of times on blogs and other Web sites, amplifying their significance.  “Media criticism has become part of his brand,” said Mark Jurkowitz, the associate director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, who noted that Mr. Stewart had also dissected CNN and CNBC in lengthy segments in the past.

It is true that the often-left-leaning “Daily Show” deals with a wide array of topics, but Fox is one that Mr. Stewart is overtly passionate about; he said on the show this week that he criticizes the network a lot because it is “truly a terrible, cynical, disingenuous news organization.”

According to “The Daily Show” Web site, thedailyshow.com, Fox News has been a subject of 24 segments so far this year, including eight in the month of April.  The lower-rated news channel CNN, by contrast, has been a subject of five segments this year.

In many of the segments, Mr. Stewart questions Fox’s journalistic practices.  He noted that Fox had hired former Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska to be a political analyst in a January segment he called “News of the Weird.”  But he wasn’t laughing when he asserted that Fox is “functioning as her de-facto rapid response media arm, and they’re paying her for the privilege of doing it.”

In February he noted that Fox News had stopped showing President Obama’s widely praised meeting with Republican leaders while CNN and MSNBC had carried it start to finish.  Mimicking a Fox anchor, Mr. Stewart said, “We’re gonna cut away because” — humorous pause — “this is against the narrative that we present.”

In March he ridiculed the news anchor Megyn Kelly for lining up guests who were opposed to the Democratic health care overhaul and citing polls that claimed the American people were opposed to it.  Then he played a clip from October 2008, when Mr. Obama was leading in most polls, of Ms. Kelly’s saying “don’t trust the polls.”

Mr. Stewart and his executive producers usually let their segments speak for themselves, and they declined interview requests about Fox this week.  Friends and colleagues of Mr. Stewart say privately that he cares deeply about media issues and happens to be in a position to talk about them.

His staff members regularly dismiss claims that “The Daily Show” is a form of journalism.  “I have not moved out of the comedian’s box into the news box,” Mr. Stewart said on the show on Tuesday, adding, “The news box is moving toward me.”

But there he was, checking in with the White House when Fox didn’t.  The inspiration for the “Fox & Friends” segment about the “Islamic image” came from The New York Post, which, like Fox News, is owned by the News Corporation.  Mr. Stewart cut up the clips of the co-hosts Brian Kilmeade and Gretchen Carlson reckoning that the flags of Muslim nations look a lot like the summit logo — followed by Ms. Carlson’s saying “you be the judge” — before letting rip.

“Yeah, you be the judge,” Mr. Stewart said, hurling an expletive and continuing, “We’re just curious citizens, wondering if we put that logo up with four Muslim flags, whether you’ll have a visceral reaction that our president is perhaps Muslim.”

He concluded: “Anyway, what do you think?  We’re just doing the math and then giving you the answer, and then asking you to check our work.”
NY Times


Most People Get Healthcare Info From Cable News, Poll Finds
Cable news is where most people have gotten their information about healthcare reform, according to the findings of a Kaiser Health Tracking Poll.  Over a third of the respondents (36%) cited cable news outlets and their Web sites, compared to network newscasts (16%), newspapers (12%), friends and family (10%) and radio (9%).  The poll was conducted April 9-14 via telephone using a random sample of 1,208 adults 18-plus. The margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.  Local TV station newscasts appear not to have been one of the options given in the question about media sources of information.  Other options were other web sites and blogs, elected officials, employers and community organizations.
Broadcasting & Cable


200+ Advertisers Boycotting Beck's Show
According to a Washington Post story by Howard Kurtz, about 200 advertisers have "joined a boycott" of Glenn Beck's program, with Apple abandoning Fox News altogether.  From the story:  "More than 200 companies have joined a boycott of Beck's program, making it difficult for Fox to sell ads.  The time has instead been sold to smaller firms offering such products as Kaopectate, Carbonite, 1-800-PetMeds and Goldline International.  A handful of advertisers, such as Apple, have abandoned Fox altogether.  Network executives say they believe they could charge higher rates if the host were more widely acceptable to advertisers...... By calling President Obama a racist and branding progressivism a "cancer," Beck has achieved a lightning-rod status that is unusual even for the network owned by Rupert Murdoch. And that, in turn, has complicated the channel's efforts to neutralize White House criticism that Fox is not really a news organization.  Beck has become a constant topic of conversation among Fox journalists, some of whom say they believe he uses distorted or inflammatory rhetoric that undermines their credibility."  Fox News has become the "American Idol" of cable news, utterly dominant, so much so they're planning to target mainstream entertainment networks such as USA and TNT at their upfront pitch to advertisers.  But its easy to forget that ratings only matter if your numbers can successfully convince advertisers to purchase time on a program.  To hear Kurtz tell it, Beck's program is like that "Twilight Zone" episode where a librarian is left alone with a million books and a broken pair of glasses.
Hollywood Reporter


Comedy Central Caves to Extremists' Threats
In its 200 shows, the irreverent animated program "South Park" has mercilessly satirized Christianity, Buddhism, Scientology, the blind and disabled, gay people, Hollywood celebrities and politicians of all persuasions, weathering the resulting protests and threats of boycotts.  But this week, after an ominous threat from a radical Muslim website, the network that airs the program bleeped out all references to the prophet Muhammad in the second of two episodes set to feature the holy figure dressed in a bear costume.  The incident provides the latest example that media conglomerates are still struggling to balance free speech with safety concerns and religious sensitivities, six years after Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh was slain for making a film critical of Islamic society.  Comedy Central declined to comment on the latest incident.  But "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone clearly disagreed with their bosses' handling of the situation.  A statement posted on their website said that executives "made a determination to alter the episode" without their approval and that the usual wrap-up speech from one character didn't mention Muhammad "but it got bleeped too."  Experts say that in trying to forestall such threats, media companies may be setting dangerous precedents — a possibility underscored by the fact that "South Park" has stirred up a free-speech issue that, while dormant for years, has now exploded anew.  UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh said that although he sympathizes with the predicament faced by Comedy Central, the network has potentially empowered other extremists by how it has chosen to handle the situation.  "The consequence of this position is that the thugs win and people have more incentive to be thugs," said Volokh, who teaches free speech and religious freedom law.  "There are lots of people out there who would very much like to get certain kind of material removed, whether religious or political.  The more they see others winning, the more they will be likely to do the same. Behavior that gets rewarded gets repeated."  Co-creator Matt Stone noted that paradoxically, the network continued to run an episode from an earlier season in which Muhammad is not only shown but speaks, along with Jesus of Nazareth, Buddha and other religious figures.  "It was before the Danish cartoon controversy, so it somehow is fine," Stone said.  "After that," he said, network self-censorship was "the new normal."
LA Times


Hitler Film Parodies Removed from YouTube
Constantin Film, the production company behind the Adolf Hitler film "Downfall" that spawned hundreds of Internet parodies, defended its decision to have YouTube remove the clips in part as a response to complaints from those satirized in them.  The company's Munich office was bombarded with calls and emails after YouTube began pulling down the "Downfall" spoofs -- part of a meme, in Internet parlance -- on orders from Constantin.  The parodies use the same premise: snatch the film's climatic scene, in which Bruno Ganz as Hitler is told he cannot win the war, and add new subtitles to make the Fuhrer rail against anything from the iPad to the new Hannah Montana album.  "Sometimes we have been asked to take certain ones down -- by companies whose products have been ridiculed or from Jewish associations who were offended by certain neo-Nazi parodies using 'Downfall' footage," Martin Moszkowicz, Constantin's head of film production, told THR.  "But we don't want to be the judge of what's good or bad taste.  We just see this as a simple case of unauthorized use of our copyright-protected material."
Hollywood Reporter


Fox, ABC Restrict Lane Bryant Sexy Ad
Lane Bryant is up in arms that two networks -- Fox and ABC -- have resisted airing a sexy lingerie ad from the company in time periods where the networks have broadcast other racy fare.  In a post on LB's Inside Curve blog, the company complains that "ABC and Fox have made the decision to define beauty for you by denying our new, groundbreaking Cacique commercial from airing freely on their networks."  The ad, which was initially available on YouTube and at lanebryant.com/sexy, has since been removed.  The post also claims that ABC "restricted our airtime" and refused to air the spot during Dancing With the Stars, while Fox "demanded excessive re-edits and rebuffed it three times before relenting to air it during the final 10 minutes of American Idol, but only after we threatened to pull the ad buy."  The post continues: "Yes, these are the same networks that have scantily-clad housewives so desperate they seduce every man on the block -- and don't forget Bart Simpson, who has shown us the moon more often than NASA -- all in what they call "family hour.'"  The ad depicts several attractive, plus-sized models in the latest line of Lane Bryant lingerie.  Ample cleavage-which Bryant says was a problem for the nets-is on display in the ad.  "The networks exclaimed, 'She has...cleavage!'  Gasp!'' the blog post states.  "While it's no secret that Victoria's Secret 'The Nakeds' ads are prancing around on major networks leaving little to the imagination, steaming up TV screens and baring nearly everything but their souls, our sultry siren who shows sophisticated sass is somehow deemed inappropriate ... Does this smack of a double standard?  Yep.  It does to us, too," the post continues.
AdWeek


PRISM Awards Honor Truth in Drug/Mental Portrayals
The 14th annual Prism Awards, which honor those that accurately present substance abuse and mental health issues, were presented at the Beverly Hills Hotel on Thursday (April 22).  For Performance in a TV Movie or Miniseries category, Rosie O'Donnell received an award for her character in Lifetime Television's America.  Hector Elizondo and Tony Shalhoub were recognized for Performance in a Comedy Series for USA Network's Monk; Timothy Hutton for Performance in a Drama Episode for TNT's Leverage; and Kevin McKidd, for Performance in a Drama Multi-Episode Storyline in ABC Entertainment's Grey's Anatomy.  TV series award recipients include AMC's Breaking Bad, NBC's Law and Order and Celebrity Apprentice.  ABC's Grey's Anatomy, and CBS's How I Met Your Mother and Dr. Phil.  Crazy Heart won for Feature Film along with its' stars Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhall for Best Performance in a Feature Film.  "The PRISM Awards recognizes and applauds the remarkable efforts that have been contributed by our creative community.  We salute those in the entertainment industry that promote informational truths in their work to improve the lives of the audiences they entertain," EIC's President and CEO, Brian Dyak said.  "Through accurate character portrayals and inspired storytelling, our industry reinforces the importance of those individuals within the care giving and health fields."
Broadcasting & Cable


Rare Reagan/James Dean TV Show Discovered
Writer Wayne Federman, who is compiling materials for the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library centennial celebration of the late president's film and television career, made a rare find when he unearthed a live TV drama from Dec. 12, 1954, starring Reagan and actor James Dean, reports The Atlantic.  It's an excellent quality kinescope from the anthology drama series "General Electric Theater."  This entry is called "The Dark, Dark Hours," and in the show, Dean played a teenaged criminal seeking medical care for a friend and forcing a doctor -- Reagan -- to comply by threatening the doctor's family.  Reagan, who by this time had a long movie career, was also the host of the series.  Dean's big movies, "East of Eden," "Rebel Without a Cause" and "Giant," had yet to be released.  Less than a year after this show aired, Dean was killed in an auto crash, on Sept. 30, 1955.
TV Week


CBS Marketing Guru Ron Scalera Dies at 49
Ron Scalera, executive vp and creative director of the CBS Marketing Group, died Wednesday in Los Angeles after collapsing during a morning walk.  He was 49.  Scalera, who joined CBS in 1997 as senior vp/creative director of advertising and promotion, helped make the Eye "America's Most Watched Network" with the creation of branding and launch campaigns for many successful series, including the "CSI" franchise, "NCIS," "The Big Bang Theory," "The Good Wife" and, most recently, "Undercover Boss."  He was promoted to his current position in the CBS Marketing Group in 2004.  "It is a day of profound sadness, shock and loss at CBS," said CBS Corp. president and CEO Leslie Moonves.  "We have lost a gifted colleague and a friend whose work graced the air of CBS every day and whose engaging personality touched our lives."  "We are all in shock.  Ron's talent, imagination and creativity knew no bounds," CBS Marketing Group president George Schweitzer added.  "He blazed an incredible trail in our company and our industry and he leaves a rich legacy."  Scalera was involved with sales promotion, affiliate promotion, network creative services and all special events, including affiliate meetings and upfront presentations.  He also oversaw Eyelab, the digital promotion unit that produces and distributes shortform videos to the CBS Audience Network, ultimately reaching hundreds of consumer websites.  A native of Newark, N.J., Scalera joined CBS from Fox, where he served as senior vp on-air promotion from 1994-97.  He was part of the network team that was voted "Marketing Team of the Year" in 1996 by Promax International, the association of promotion and marketing professionals in electronic media.  Scalera began his TV career at Fox's WNYW in New York.  In 1988, he became a writer/producer at the network before moving up the ranks to vp on-air promotion in 1992 and then senior vp in 1994.  Scalera is survived by his wife, Elizabeth; children Rachel and Michael; his mother, Kathy; and brother, Paul.
Hollywood Reporter


Stations Growing Web Revenue: RTDNA Survey
Around 35% of the TV station websites are believed to be profitable this year, up 4.3% from the number last year, according to the "TV and Radio on the Web" survey released by RTDNA/Hofstra University.  Only 14.4% of the nation's TV stations expected to lose money on the web this year.  News directors at 43% of stations conceded they did not know if their site is making money-suggesting that online is not yet a major business priority for a number of local news outlets.  Stations are expected to bag nearly $1.4 billion in local online revenue in 2010, a 21% improvement over 2009, according to a study released earlier this week by Borrell Associates and the Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB).  Stations rang up some $1.15 billion in interactive business last year, a 10% boost over the year before.  The RTDNA survey said TV sites are "maturing" as they emerge as legitimate breaking news outlets.  Text, photos and video are essentially universal, while audio, live cameras, recorded newscasts and blogs are increasingly being utilized.  Less popular are streaming audio, podcasts and assembling Web-only newscasts.  Nearly 36% of stations simulcast live newscasts on their websites.  Just 2.7% produce web-only news programs.  "These numbers suggest that, more and more, stations are deciding that certain web elements aren't working that well for them--or aren't worth the effort--and they're either scaling them back or not bothering with them at all," said survey director Bob Papper, professor and chair of the Department of Journalism, Media Studies, and Public Relations at Hofstra University.  The survey was conducted in the fourth quarter of 2009.  Valid responses came from 1,355 of the 1,770 TV stations in America, a 77% response rate.  The mid-size markets feature the most profitable station websites.  Markets 1-25 showed 34% of station sites being profitable, while markets 26-50 posted a 46% and markets 51-100 a 47%.  When we reach markets 101-plus, the number slides back down to 27%.  The survey also found that 400 people lost their local news jobs in 2009-significantly less harsh than the 1,200 people who lost TV news jobs in 2008.
Broadcasting & Cable


Your 3D TV Side Effects May Include...
Thinking of getting one of those new 3D capable TV sets?  Just be aware that there are slew of "side effects" Samsung says you can get from watching 3D TV.  The TV manufacturer posted the warning on it Australian website, according to EETimes.  According to the article, "Samsung's posting, titled, 'Photosensitive Seizure Warning and Other Health Risks,' runs through a short list of serious maladies that can be triggered as a result of viewing 3-D TV, the worst of which is a stroke or epileptic seizure.  The warning also describes a long list of symptoms to watch out for—especially in children and teenagers—including altered vision, lightheadedness, dizziness, involuntary movements such as eye or muscle twitching, confusion, nausea, convulsions, cramps, disorientation and 'loss of awareness.'
TV Week


Jason Love's Perfect World
In case you didn't notice, the world is not a perfect place.  There's war, pollution, hunger, and of course Paris Hilton.

One night after being flagrantly overserved by a bartender, I scribbled on cocktail napkins a list of things that I would change about the world.  You know, if I were a deity.

The unabridged list is, unfortunately, swirling above a local landfill, but here are some napkins that survived the beer spills.

Ahem.

In a perfect world ...

- pug dogs would have a reasonable amount of skin on their face.
- boot would rhyme with foot.
- we'd get paid for the time we spend preparing for, commuting to, talking about, and unwinding from work.
- radio stations would keep their contest money and play some bloody music.
- a man could fix all of his relationship issues with WD-40 or duct tape.
- answering machines would come with a get-to-the-point button.
- breeding laws would limit couples to one child per 75 IQ points.
- athletes would retire only once.
- cat burglars would break in and steal your cat.
- traffic lights would change when we honk at them.
- O.J. Simpson would marry Lorena Bobbitt. I'm assuming they're both single.
- priests who hear confessions would get paid the same as shrinks.
- our TV's brightness control would turn up the intelligence.
- if an officer has to tackle the suspect to make an arrest, the officer would be entitled to three free punches.
- when people graduate high school, they'd also graduate high school mentality.
- the game of "peekaboo" would have an official end.
- decaf coffee would come in a different color.
- political speeches would be delivered by the people who write them.
- there wouldn't be so many needless, unneeded, unnecessary words.
- freeways would grow at the same rate as the population.
- somebody would confiscate Dennis Miller's thesaurus.
- when the computer gets hung up, we could just shake it like a pinball machine.
- all movies would be formatted to fit your screen without apology or explanation.
- when a woman gets a perm, that's it—no changing.
- lawyers would speak a language that humans also understand.
- walkie-talkie cell phones would exist only in hell, where they were invented.
- sick days would include when you're sick of work.
- when teams lose on Fan Appreciation Day, spectators would get their money back.
- Cupid would have better aim.
- naming your son Zavery or Oceana would qualify as child abuse.
- weight gain would be caused not by food but by some undelicious thing like televangelism.
- the Meyers would get together with the Myers and settle the spelling once and for all.
- the calf bone would have more meat on it.
- every driver would understand the Merge Concept.
- a man and woman would never know which one will end up pregnant.
- football games would not end on a field goal.
- we could surgically remove that part of our brain that plays the same snippet of music over and over and over.
- everyone would die on their one-hundredth birthday while having sex.

But the world is not perfect, so we have storms and train wrecks and Paris Hilton, left to wonder about a deity who would have it this way.  It would be too much to handle but for a gift from this same creator, something to iron out the wrinkles and put the world back into perspective.  And that is lots of beer.

Jason Love


-------------------------------
The Marketing Ideanet is a free idea sharing newsletter published by 602 Communications. We are a TV training and consulting company that specializes in improving front-line news and marketing skills.  Check out thousands of cutting edge examples at our web site.  Join us on Facebook and Twitter.

Sent via TVSpy's email servers. Visit TV Spy's Marketing Matters.

Graeme Newell
602 Communications
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
(919) 217-4438
Web Site
Facebook
Twitter

The Marketing Ideanet is a free idea sharing newsletter published by 602 Communications. We are a TV training and consulting company that specializes in improving front-line news and marketing skills.  Check out thousands of cutting edge examples at our web site.  Join us on Facebook and Twitter.

Sent via TVSpy's email servers. Visit TV Spy's Marketing Matters.

Graeme Newell
602 Communications
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
(919) 217-4438
Web Site
Facebook
Twitter



In This Issue
Promo of the Day
The Mystery of the Missing TV Viewer
Sitcoms Make Comeback
ABC Benefits from DVR Playback
Stewart, Colbert Reupped at Comedy Central
Muslim Group Issues Warning to 'South Park' Creators
Cars, Healthcare Dominate Web Traffic
Social Media Ads Double Brand Awareness: Study
Wood's Nike Spot FAIL
Apple Demands Prototype iPhone Back From Gizmodo
Message From Michael
The iPad Song


Quotes

"The shortest and surest way of arriving at real knowledge is to unlearn the lessons we have been taught, to mount the first principles, and take nobody's word about them."
- Henry Bolingbroke, British politician  (1678-1751)

"Everything has been said yet few have taken advantage of it.  Since all our knowledge is essentially banal, it can only be of value to minds that are not."
- Raoul Vaneigem, Belgian situationist philosopher

"If you have knowledge, let others light their candles with it."
- Winston Churchill


Promo of the Day
WXMI Fox 17 'It's Good to Know" campaign is rife with beautiful imagery and empowering music.

602communications.com/VideoExamples

Share your creative work with your promo peers on the 602communications.com site.  Just 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 a DVD to Graeme Newell at 1011 Lyndhurst Falls Lane, Knightdale, NC  27545.



The Mystery of the Missing TV Viewer
This is one mystery the television networks definitely don't want to be part of their schedule: the case of the missing TV viewer.  Network and ad execs are scratching their heads at an unusual dip in the amount of time people spend watching TV, which has started to pick up in recent weeks, but it still has the industry wondering if it's a blip or the start of a bigger shift in viewing habits.  Nielsen figures show that TV usage -- which reflects the amount of time the TV is on -- is down slightly since the start of the current TV season, and that the drop-off has become much more pronounced in just the past few weeks, with declines recorded across most audience categories and day parts.  Some of the biggest declines have showed up among younger viewers in primetime. Viewers ages 18 to 49, which advertisers consider a key group, have been watching 5.1 percent less TV in primetime since the start of March through April 11, the most recent figures available. Among the younger viewers, ages 18 to 34, the decline is 5.8 percent.  Across all times of the day, those two groups are down 3.3 percent and 4.2, respectively.  Total household TV usage is also down 2.3 percent across all time periods, Nielsen figures show.  Although broadcast ratings have been eroding for years, TV viewing overall has been steadily rising for decades.  So even though there are fewer primetime hits on the major networks, people aren't using their TVs any less.  Pat McDonough, senior vice president of research at Nielsen, said the company has combed through its data and believes this dip is nothing more than a seasonal aberration.  She also points out that the biggest weekly decline -- 7 percent among viewers ages 18 to 49 -- happened during the holiday week bracketed by Passover and Easter, when a lot of families would have been traveling.  Since then, the declines have already eased up, with TV viewing for the most recent week down just 3 percent among the 18-49 set.  "I think it's just too early to be calling it a decline," she said.  "We're already back up to minus 3 percent. It seems to indicate it is already abating.
NY Post

Sitcoms Make Comeback
Networks are experiencing a renaissance of sorts for the TV sitcom, which not too long ago was pronounced terminally ill.  On studio lots, where dozens of new shows are being fretted about and fought over ahead of the networks’ scheduling decisions in May, the number of sitcoms in development has spiked.  “I think we’re on the cusp of a bull market for comedy,” said Kevin Reilly, Fox’s entertainment chief, whose No. 1 priority for the fall is adding more live-action comedies to his schedule.  It is evident that comedy success begets more comedy.  The sitcom blocks on CBS, ABC and NBC are looking more stable than they have in years, thanks to shows like ABC’s “Modern Family,” the season’s breakthrough new sitcom; “The Big Bang Theory,” with surging ratings in its third season; and NBC’s “30 Rock,” still piling up awards well into its fourth season.  Despite some exaggerated claims to the contrary, the sitcom never died.  What happened in the unfunny middle of the last decade, post-“Friends,” post-“Frasier,” post-“Everybody Loves Raymond,” turned out to be merely an anemic period.  But it did deprive many comedy writers and producers of jobs as reality TV stole time slots from underwhelming scripted shows.  Executives and producers cite several reasons for the boom, including the desire, according to some studios’ internal research, for lighter fare in a limp economy.  “I do believe that the economy has created a need for escapist entertainment,” Bill Lawrence, who co-created “Scrubs” and “Cougar Town,” said, but he emphasized that the economic climate sometimes gets too much credit.  “First and foremost it’s an issue of quality.”  Given the boom-and-bust cycles of television, perhaps it is once again comedy’s turn.  The reality genre — which several years ago had “funnier, more surprising, more outrageous characters than some of the canned sitcoms on the air,” Mr. Reilly said — is now starting to seem canned itself.  “The audience,” he said, “is starting to feel that sitcoms are the freshest shows now.”
NY Times


ABC Benefits from DVR Playback
There’s one thing that's clear about ABC viewers: they know how to use a DVR.  ABC was one of the greatest beneficiaries of live-plus-seven-day-DVR playback during the week ended April 4, according to Nielsen, with the network claiming four of that week’s top five gainers with L+7 data factored in.  “Grey’s Anatomy” was again the week’s top gainer among viewers 18-49, adding 1.4 for a 4.9 L+7 rating, a 40 percent boost.  The medical drama was followed by ABC's “Modern Family” (1.1 gain), ABC's “Private Practice” (1.0 gain), and ABC's “Lost” and CBS’s “CSI” (0.9 gain each) in the top five shows that saw the largest L+7 boost among 18-49s.  “Grey’s” also saw the largest boost among total viewers, adding 2.78 million viewers with L+7 data factored in.  CBS’s “CSI” (2.1 million increase), CBS’s “The Mentalist” (1.98 million increase), “Family” (1.98 million increase) and “Practice” (1.91 million increase) rounded out the top five gainers among total viewers with L+7 playback factored in.
MediaLife Magazine


Stewart, Colbert Reupped at Comedy Central
Bad news for President Barack Obama and whichever Republican happens to run against him in the 2012 election: Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert will be there to satirize their every move.  Comedy Central has signed the two comedians to contract extensions through the 2012 election, at a time when late night is coming under increasing scrutiny with the impending launch of Conan O'Brien's TBS show this fall.  "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report" both have audiences that skew heavily toward the young demographic that O'Brien will also be chasing.  Though neither draws total viewers comparable to NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" or CBS's "The Late Show with David Letterman," they're arguably just as influential or more, appearing on magazine covers and driving buzz with their edgy comedy.  In fact, when Walter Cronkite died last year, a Time.com poll found that Stewart is now America's most trusted anchor.  Comedy Central has not commented on the financial terms of the deals.
MediaLife Magazine


Muslim Group Issues Warning to 'South Park' Creators
An Islamic group based in New York compared the “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone to Theo Van Gogh, the Dutch filmmaker who was killed by an Islamic militant, and said that a recent episode of that satirical animated series insulted the Prophet Muhammad, CNN reported.  The group, Revolution Muslim, published its post after a “South Park” episode last week that depicted the founders of various religions, including Moses, Jesus and Buddha, but declined to show the Prophet Muhammad outright and instead represented him as wearing a bear costume.  The post, written by Abu Talhah Al-Amrikee, said that the episode “outright insulted” the Prophet, adding:  "We have to warn Matt and Trey that what they are doing is stupid and they will probably wind up like Theo Van Gogh for airing this show.  This is not a threat, but a warning of the reality of what will likely happen to them."  Mr. Van Gogh was slain in Amsterdam in 2004 after making a film that discussed the abuse of Muslim women in some Islamic societies.  Mr. Stone and Mr. Parker have mocked Comedy Central for refusing to allow them to depict the Prophet Muhammad on “South Park” in a series of episodes that were broadcast after the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published cartoons satirizing Muhammad.  In a telephone interview on Wednesday, Younus Abdullah Muhammad, a member of Revolution Muslim, repeated the group’s assertion that the post was a prediction rather than a threat.  He said that the post on the group’s blog “was intended in a principle that’s deeply rooted in the Islamic religion, which is called commanding the good and forbidding the evil,” tying the group’s complaints about “South Park” to larger frustrations about U.S. support for Israel and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Comedy Central declined to comment on the group’s remarks or say if it was taking any precautions because of them.
NY Times


Cars, Healthcare Dominate Web Traffic
These days if you want to take the pulse of the American people, you look to see what they've been up to online, and last month two major trends emerged: a big uptick in traffic to automakers' web sites and a surge of interest in healthcare issues.  That's according to March data from the comScore Media Metrix service, which found that auto manufacturers were the top-gaining site category, growing 23 percent to more than 30 million visitors, many of whom were checking out major incentive deals.  That's a great sign for the auto industry and for media people.  With people once again interested in purchasing cars as the economy improves, carmakers will continue to increase ad budgets.  Meanwhile, traffic to political sites jumped 18 percent over the prior year, to 20.5 million, driven by debate over the wisdom of the White House's efforts to reform the healthcare system.  PoliticsDaily.com drew 5.3 million visitors, while traffic to the Economist Group and Politico rose 35 percent and 10 percent, respectively.  Andrew Lipsman, senior director of industry analysis at comScore, talks to Media Life about how incentive deals drove people to auto sites, why healthcare was a boon for many sites, and how web traffic has changed the past few years.  Check out the interview here: MediaLife Magazine


Social Media Ads Double Brand Awareness: Study
Social media remains a murky area for advertisers, with many resisting it due to the unpredictability of its content and others foregoing it until social networks come up with more effective ad platforms.  But as it turns out, the platforms in place can already be quite effective.  In their first joint study, Nielsen and Facebook found that ads with social context increase campaign effectiveness because people are more likely to notice the ad, remember the message, and increase intent to purchase.  Concludes the report, "This is clear evidence that ads incorporating authentic social context have a greater effect than standard display ads and result in increases in individual brand metrics."  Such ads resulted in a doubling of brand awareness compared to standard display ads.
MediaLife Magazine


Wood's Nike Spot FAIL
Viewers' general reaction to the "Did You Learn Anything?" spot from Nike featuring Tiger Woods?  In a word: "ick."  According to ad evaluator Ace Metrix, the commercial scored well below norms for footwear ads overall, garnering low marks for both persuasion and watchability.  Ace gauged the clip using an online panel of 500 adults.  The 30-second commercial, which featured a voiceover from Tiger's dead dad, received an overall score of 365 out of a possible 950 points.  (The norm for spots in the apparel footwear category is 501).  For persuasion, the ad scored 428 (vs. a 554 norm for the category), and for watchability it scored 459 (vs. a 567 norm).  Ace said the spot, crafted by independent Wieden + Kennedy in Portland, Ore., was the lowest-scoring commercial in the category since a Nike/Serena Williams commercial that ran last September, around the time Williams verbally berated a line judge after a disputed call at the U.S. Open.  That ad scored 353 overall.  And what a difference a year makes for Tiger.  In April 2009, a spot the golfer did for Gatorade ( "Woods of Wisdom") posted an overall Ace score of 512, which was 157 points higher than his latest ad with Nike.  Among the verbatim comments from viewers participating in the Ace survey: "Commercial is in very poor taste -- using his dead father's voice as if it applies to the recent scandal," and, "That made me actively uncomfortable -- it capitalized far too much on somebody's personal life for the sake of selling something. Ick."  In addition to general anger about Woods' behavior, said Lee, "the main reason the ad failed to resonate creatively is because there is a disconnect between the voiceover content [with Woods' father] and Tiger Woods' expressionless stare.  There is no hint of emotion or trying to answer the questions."
MediaWeek


Apple Demands Prototype iPhone Back From Gizmodo
The latest on that alleged iPhone 4G prototype:  Brian Lam, Gizmodo's editorial director, has published an official letter he received from Apple requesting that the device be returned immediately.  Gizmodo believes that such official communication proves the device is real.  However, it should be noted that this does not necessarily mean that the device is the next iPhone--just that it's an Apple prototype of some sort.  The iPhone 4G prototype--at least, that's what Gizmodo assumes it is--was reportedly found by an anonymous bar-goer at Gourmet Haus Staudt, a German beer garden in Redwood City, near San Francisco.  The phone was discovered on a barstool at midnight on Thursday, March 19.  The person who found the phone asked around the bar to see if anyone had lost an iPhone 3GS (the phone had a case on it that made it look like a 3GS), but nobody claimed it.  The person then unlocked the phone and found the Facebook page of Apple software engineer, Gray Powell, still signed in.  The person decided to try to return it in the morning.  Gizmodo says that the person woke up to find the phone dead--thanks to Apple's MobileMe service, which allows users to wipe their stolen iPhones of all data, remotely.  The person then noticed the phone looked different from other iPhones--for one thing, it had a front-facing camera--and managed to remove the "disguise" case.  Upon discovering that this iPhone was not like any other iPhone out there, this person promptly forgot their promise to find Gray Powell and return the phone, and started selling to the highest bidder.  Did Gizmodo shell out $5,000 for its exclusive lost iPhone 4G story?   Yes, says head of Gawker Media (the publisher of Gizmodo) Nick Denton, who tweeted earlier Monday, "Yes, we're proud practitioners of checkbook journalism.  Anything for the story!" and "Does Gizmodo pay for exclusives? Too right!"  According to AOL's Daily Finance, Engadget had the chance to bid after it published the first fuzzy photos of the phone, but declined.  Engadget editor in chief Joshua Topolsky says he doesn't believe in checkbook journalism as "it encourages awful behavior in tipsters."  This is not the first time Gawker Media has paid for a story, either--in October 2009, Gawker reportedly paid a 25-year-old researcher for the confirmation that the (by then, infamous) "Balloon Boy" story was a hoax.  Also, in January 2010, Gawker's tech blog Valleywag offered up to $100,000 for concrete details on the (then rumored) Apple tablet: $10k for pictures, $20k for video, $50k for pictures or video of Steve Jobs holding one, and $100k if you could put it in Valleywag's hands for an hour.
PC World


Message From Michael
THE RISE AND PHONE OF THE INNOVATION EMPIRE:  There are more people in the world with cell phones than there are people with clean toilets.  How’s that for a factoid?  It comes from a New York Times article by Anand Giridharadas which makes the point that while the U.S. is focused on innovation using new devices such as the iPad, much of the rest of the world is focused on finding innovative new uses for the basic cell phone.  Not only do other countries make much greater use of text messaging for everything from job hunting to voting, they use it as a flashlight, a television, a radio and even as a sort of credit card to pay bills and transfer money – something that hasn’t caught on in the U.S.  As to the cell – toilet comparison, the figures come from the International Telecommunication Union and the United Nations.  The I-T-C says the number of mobile subscriptions is expected to pass Five Billion this year.  Although Giridharadas does not go into the exact figures in his article, a little research shows not only is the comparison true, but that several other publications have also made the point.  A report by the United Nations University along with the World Health Organization says there are 2.7 Billion people without clean toilets in the world.  And I know this may fall into the category of too much 4-1-1 for some people, but the report says 1.1 Billion people defecate in the open.  And some 4-1-1 that everyone should note, more than 4.5 Million children under the age of five have died from diarrhea and other water-borne diseases in the past three years.  That’s roughly equivalent to the population of Ireland.

To put the numbers in perspective, the Central Intelligence Agency, which is the prime citing source for many of the numbers cited about the world, says there are more than 6.7 Billion people in the world today.  So, subtract 2.7 Billion people without clean toilets from that number, and you have Four Billion people with ‘clean’ toilets compared to Five Billion people with cell phones.  As a side note, the Internet World Stats put the number of people with Internet access at 1.8 Billion people, which represents more than one in every four (26.6%) persons in the world.  And for a little more perspective, another New York Times article profiled cell phone maker Nokia subsidiary Vertu which provides custom cell phones made of gold, platinum and titanium with price tags ranging from $5,000 to $25,000.  Or if you want, you can have a diamond encrusted version, starting at $80,000.

PAY PHONE AS YOU GO:  Apparently more and more people are adopting that philosophy.  In an interesting twist on the cell phone discussion above, a new report by an independent technology and telecommunications think tank says more people are turning to pre-paid phones instead of the ‘traditional’ contract phones.  Two thirds of the 4.2 Million net subscribers added in the fourth quarter of this year were pre-paid phones, so that nearly one in every five cell phone users is talking on a pre-paid phone.  That translates into 54.4 Million out of the 285 Million wireless subscribers in the U.S. in the fourth quarter of last year.  Jose Guzman, the project coordinator with the group called New Millennium Research Council is quoted as saying, “the era of cell phone penny pinching is officially here.”  The report authors say the recession is primarily responsible for the movement, along with the fact that many of the pre-paid phones now offer an “all you can eat” variety of services not associated with pre-paid phones in the past.

I WANT MY MTV:  They may want it, but they don’t need it, or at least not as much as they used to, according to a study released by Edison Research and Arbitron.  For the first time, the Internet has passed TV as the “most essential” medium in Americans’ lives.  More than two in five Americans surveyed (42%) cited the Internet as “most essential” just ahead of TV (37%), but way ahead of radio (14%) and way-er ahead of newspapers (5%).  Television is still the dominant medium for people over the age of 45, but for those between the ages of 12 and 44, it’s the Internet.  On a very much related note, the same two groups found in a different survey that nearly half of Americans (49%) believe that newspapers will cease to exist in the future.  What may be even more disturbing for my newspaper brethren is that number is a dramatic jump from just three years ago when ‘only’ a quarter (27%) agreed with the questionnaire statement:  in the future, there will be no more newspapers because everyone will be getting their news over the Internet.”

SOCIETY’S SOCIAL SURGE:  From the same two groups, yet another study shows the percentage of Americans with a profile on a social networking site has doubled in the past two years.  Nearly half (48%) of those aged 12 and over say they have a social profile online, compared to a quarter (24%) in 2008.  And although as you would expect, young people are more likely to have a social networking profile, it’s not just about them.  Three quarters of teens (78%) and 18 to 24 year olds (77%) have profiles, but so do two-thirds (65%) of those aged 25 to 34 and half (51%) of those 35 to 44. In keeping with other studies about where people get their news and information, the Edison/ Arbitron survey says that nearly a third (30%) of those people visit their social networking sites “several times a day” which is not quite double (18%) what it was only a year ago.  As one of the authors says in the report, social networking has now become “mainstream media behavior.”

COCKTAIL CHATTER:  According to The Center for Public Integrity, the health care legislation was the subject of the “most expensive and intense” lobbying battle in history.  More than 1,750 businesses and organizations spent more than $1.2 Billion, using more than 4,525 lobbyists – a record eight lobbyists for every member of Congress.  And the center notes that there is another, possibly even more expensive, lobbying battle coming up – financial regulatory reform.  Former vice presidential candidate and Alaska governor Sarah Palin’s Fox news special “Real American Stories” won its time slot, beating everything else on Cable TV at that hour combined.  However, the special which was run in the Greta van Susteren’s On The Record time period, was actually down 10% in viewers from van Susteren’s previous week’s show and down 28% in demo’s, according to website TVNewser.  And in the interest of keeping message readers on the cutting edge, visit the website streamys.org, to see the winners of the Streamy Awards recognizing the best of online ‘webisodes.’  Ironically, the online show was apparently a technical disaster, but you can watch the winners at the website.  The winner of the best news or politics site was the increasingly popular but somewhat tiresome Auto-Tune the News, which synthesizes newsmakers voices and inserts synthesized voice characters.

WORTH NOTING:  In what some free press advocates see as a canary in the media mine, Apple has rejected an app proposal from a political cartoonist who just won a Pulitzer Prize.  Satirist Mark Fiore’s application was rejected, according to the letter sent him and made public by the Nieman Journalism Lab, because it “ridicules public figures” which is a violation of Apple’s program license agreement.  Apple attached a screen grab to its rejection letter showing the White House gate crashers interrupting a Presidential news conference, as an example of the offending material.

ALSO WORTH NOTING:  Although there has been extensive coverage, I would be remiss if I didn’t note the local television stations which won Peabody Awards:  WYFF/ Greenville won for its special following donated organs; KTVU/ Oakland for its coverage of the BART train station shooting; KHOU/ Houston for an investigation into discrimination in the Texas National Guard; WFLD/ Chicago for what the judges rightfully called the “horrifying video” of the beating death of an honor student at a high school, but more rightfully its follow-up coverage; and KCET/ Los Angeles for its ‘eye-opening coverage’ which showed there are more legal, medical-marijuana dispensaries in the city than Starbucks franchises.  And although I doubt seriously that my former colleague Steve Kroft will ever read this, a note of congratulations to him as well for his double – two Peabodys for his work with 60 Minutes.  And I also would be remiss if I didn’t also mention the Pulitzer Prize where two newspapers scored triples – The Washington Post and The New York Times.

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.

The iPad Song

By Francisco Rangel.
To the tune of The Zephyr Song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers

See the keynote presentation
Check out Steve Jobs' new creation
With this feeling of elation
I don't need no information
See that big touchscreen display - I drool
Gotta have one now today

I know Flash is not supported
And it's not USB-ported
Multi-tasking's not been sorted
Lack of camera's reported
But I'll buy one very soon - for me
Show it off and make you swoon

I'm gonna get an iPad.
I know you think I'm quite mad.
You say it's just an iFad
You jealous, mean, uptight cad.
I will have it.

Stand in line, such an endeavor
Feels like I've been here forever
Been four days here now, however
Soon I'll have one, ain't I clever?
Look inside, it's on display - for me
This is gonna be my day

Well, I just bought my iPad
Spent all the money I had
But this device is quite rad
I think now I can die glad.

I'm an Apple fanboy showing my devotion
All the world can kiss my ass
I got my freakin' iPad
The one that you wish you had

Want want want want want want - I do
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
Want want want want want want - don't you?
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

I had to sell my iPad
The expectations I had
Were not met, now I cry sad
I bought too soon, well, my bad

I'm an Apple fanboy showing my devotion
What they sell, I have to buy
And though I sold my iPad
My time with it was so rad
It's so rad

BBSpot


-------------------------------
The Marketing Ideanet is a free idea sharing newsletter published by 602 Communications. We are a TV training and consulting company that specializes in improving front-line news and marketing skills.  Check out thousands of cutting edge examples at our web site.  Join us on Facebook and Twitter.

Sent via TVSpy's email servers. Visit TV Spy's Marketing Matters.

Graeme Newell
602 Communications
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
(919) 217-4438
Web Site
Facebook
Twitter

The Marketing Ideanet is a free idea sharing newsletter published by 602 Communications. We are a TV training and consulting company that specializes in improving front-line news and marketing skills.  Check out thousands of cutting edge examples at our web site.  Join us on Facebook and Twitter.

Sent via TVSpy's email servers. Visit TV Spy's Marketing Matters.

Graeme Newell
602 Communications
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
(919) 217-4438
Web Site
Facebook
Twitter



In This Issue
How to Write a Great Weather ID
Broadcasters Doing More With Less, Study Finds
NBC Posts $223M Loss On Olympics
ABC Sees Success in iPad App
White House Flogs CBS News Blogger
Fox News Yanks Hannity from Tea Party Appearance
Google Launches Public Archive of Tweets
MSNBC Twitter Account Tweets News From 1985
Twitter Hits 100M User Mark
Social Media a Habit for 75% Online Users
Women Turn to Blogs for New Product Info: Study
Wood's Wife Angry About Ad, Insiders Say
Apple Working on 'iSpecs' for 3D Viewing
Papers' Readers-Per-Copy Average Rises: Study
FCC to Launch Inquiry on Media Ownership Regulations
Redneck Census Form


Quotes

"What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients.  Hence, a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention and a need to allocate that attention efficiently among the overabundance of information sources that might consume it."
- Herbert Simon

"The audience only pays attention as long as you know where you are going."
- Philip Crosby

"It has always struck me as odd that sometimes we pay much more attention to the messenger than to the message."
- Philip Gilbert Hamerton


How to Write a Great Weather ID
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

In past articles, I’ve talked about how to write a great news ID, but what about weather?  Just as with other short promos, there is never enough time to properly convey the intricacies of complex weather coverage in a short ID.  Conveying distinctive weather coverage usually requires large tracts of promo real estate.  So shake off that eighth-grade English teacher guilt and resign yourself to writing IDs using sentence fragments.  It is the only way to make them work.

The ideal weather promo will have three parts:

1) The attention grabber - "Rain coming..."

The sole goal of this line is to grab attention and let viewers know the weather is changing.  These few words are the most important of the entire ID.  Viewing of weather goes way up when inclement weather is on the way.

Most weather talent begin weather IDs the same way they begin a weathercast - with the current conditions:  "Sure was a sunny day out there today."  Weather promos should never be about current or past conditions.  They should always be about the future and the changes that are inevitable.  Don't promote past weather.  All of us went outside today and don't need a recap in the promo.

What should you do if there is no weather in the forecast?  There is NEVER no weather in a forecast.  The changes may not arrive for a few days, but weather is always changing.  Even in markets like San Diego and Los Angeles, the weathercaster will find a way to fill two or three minutes talking about how the weather is changing.  Look west for the next storm.

Remember that clearing inclement weather is just as sellable as the next storm on the way.  Promise the changing conditions as that current storm makes its way out of the area.

Keep the attention grabber as short as possible - two or three words at the most:
"Clearing finally..."
"Wild temperature swings..."
"Clouds on the way..."
"Big changes coming..."

2) The promise line - "Which cities will be completely destroyed..."

The promise line should contain a specific promise of enterprising weather coverage.  The goal of this line is not to give away the forecast, but to whet the appetite for more information. 

We want to leave the audience with the impression that a lot of interesting weather changes are on the way, but there is just too much to tell in a simple ID.  They need to tune in the newscast to get the full story about these wildly varying weather conditions.  We want to convey a complexity in the forecast.

The most important thing to avoid here is any sort of question. When we ask questions about the weather, we are toying with viewers.  "Will it rain?  I know and you don't!"  Most importantly, the answer to this question is "yes" or "no."  This one-word answer does not properly convey the depth of your forecast.  I can get "will it rain" from any web site in the nation.  If I'm to tune in your weathercast, you better show me how incredibly in-depth and complete your forecast will be.

3) The time and channel - "Next on ten."

Again, keep this tag to an absolute minimum number of words - two or three at the most. No marketing lines, no "newscenter" or "eyewitness news" lines - just time and channel number.

Sometimes weather conditions are so volatile that more time is needed to alert viewers to the severity.  In situations like this, it is okay to forgo the promise line.  For example:
"A big storm threatening metro neighborhoods.  Next on Eight."

If time is tight, then leave out the promise line, but make sure that the attention grabber foretells a major weather change.  Just remember that this kind of ID encourages viewers to watch ANYBODY's weather, not just your weather.

Graeme Newell is a broadcast and new media marketer who specializes in core emotional drivers.  He guarantees that his teasing seminar will immediately increase your news ratings or his workshop is free.  Find out more here.


Broadcasters Doing More With Less, Study Finds
TV stations employ fewer people in local TV news, but the stations are pumping out more news than ever.  Even as staffing fell by 400 last year, the amount of news increased from 4.7 hours to 5 hours per weekday, according to the RTNDA/Hofstra University Annual Survey.  Though 400 lost their local TV news jobs last year, it's a far cry from 2008 when 1,200 lost their jobs.  In 2009, 770 TV stations produced original local news, shared with another 205 stations for a total of 975.  Going into 2010, there were 762 stations producing original news, shared with 224, for a total of 986 stations.  Of those stations that cut news, one was a network affiliate; yet most were independent stations (and continued to run local news) but got it from another station.  News on the radio didn't change much, but it is more centralized, the study found.  The typical news director oversees news on three stations, and more than 80 percent of radio news directors have responsibilities beyond news.  The RTDNA/Hofstra University Survey was conducted in the fourth quarter of 2009 among all 1,770 TV stations and a random sample of 4,000 radio stations.  Valid responses came from 1,355 television stations (76.6 percent) and 203 radio news directors and general managers representing 301 radio stations.
MediaWeek


NBC Posts $223M Loss On Olympics
The tally is in: NBC lost $223 million on the Winter Olympics in the first quarter.  That's slightly better than the most recent estimate of $250 million in losses.  Advertising sales have improved a bit since NBC parent General Electric Co. made that projection in late January.  The Olympics did bring about $800 million in extra revenue to GE.  But NBC had a lot of production and other expenses, including $820 million just to acquire the rights to carry the Vancouver Games on television and online.  That expense was cited as the main culprit for the red ink.  Still, GE executives said the high-profile event had ratings that were 14 percent better than the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, for which NBC paid $613 million.  And GE Chief Financial Officer Keith Sherin said the Olympics provided a good platform to advertise its new 10 p.m. lineup and Jay Leno returning to "The Tonight Show" at 11:35 p.m.
Huffington Post


ABC Sees Success in iPad App
ABC is the only television network so far to offer an application for watching its shows free—with ads—on Apple Inc.’s new iPad tablet computer, and it says its business model is proving fruitful.  The network said that in the 10 days since the iPad’s debut, its TV-show watching app has been downloaded 205,000 times, giving the Walt Disney Co. unit a presence on nearly half the 450,000 devices that Apple says it has sold.  Moreover, users have watched at least part of 650,000 television episodes using the app, generating “several million” ad impressions, according to an ABC spokesman, although the precise number is still being calculated.  Advertisers on the iPad so far include Clorox, Lexus, AT&T, Heineken, Sears and Target.  For now, Disney is delivering the same kind of 30-second spots seen on television.  Starting in the fall, it expects to sell the kind of interactive ads featured on its Web player.  Also, ABC eventually expects to give local affiliates the ability to sell ads that would be seen only by iPad users in their markets, a capability that already exists on its Web-based player.  The app represents one of the most ambitious attempts to date by a traditional media company to create a new business model on the new Apple device.  Like the video player on ABC’s Web site, the app allows viewers to watch most of the network’s shows free, with five 30-second ads per hour.  Unlike the Web-based player, though, the iPad app also includes links that let viewers buy episodes through Apple’s iTunes Store.  The iPad app is part of Disney’s broader strategy of creating numerous legitimate — and revenue-generating — ways for consumers to access its content.
WSJ


White House Flogs CBS News Blogger
The White House ripped CBS News on Thursday for publishing an online column by a blogger who made assertions about the sexual orientation of Solicitor General Elena Kagan, widely viewed as a leading candidate for the Supreme Court.  Ben Domenech, a former Bush administration aide and Republican Senate staffer, wrote that President Obama would "please" much of his base by picking the "first openly gay justice."  An administration official, who asked not to be identified discussing personal matters, said Kagan is not a lesbian.  CBS initially refused to pull the posting, prompting Anita Dunn, a former White House communications director who is working with the administration on the high court vacancy, to say: "The fact that they've chosen to become enablers of people posting lies on their site tells us where the journalistic standards of CBS are in 2010."  She said the network was giving a platform to a blogger "with a history of plagiarism" who was "applying old stereotypes to single women with successful careers."  The network deleted the posting Thursday night after Domenech said he was merely repeating a rumor.  The flare-up underscores how quickly the battle over a Supreme Court nominee -- or even a potential nominee -- can turn searingly personal.  Most major news organizations have policies against "outing" gays or reporting on the sex lives of public officials unless they are related to their public duties.  CBS executives at first defended the column, noting that it appeared in an opinion section that contains contributions from blogs and publications on the left and right.
Washington Post


Fox News Yanks Hannity from Tea Party Appearance
Angry Fox News executives ordered host Sean Hannity to abandon plans to broadcast his nightly show as part of a Tea Party rally in Cincinnati on Thursday after top executives learned that he was set to headline the event, proceeds from which would benefit the local Tea Party organization.  Rally organizers had listed Hannity, who is on a book tour, as the headliner of the four-hour Tax Day event at the University of Cincinnati.  The rally, expected to draw as many as 13,000 people, was set feature speakers such as “Liberal Facism” author Jonah Goldberg and local Tea Party leaders.  Participants were being charged a minimum of $5, with seats near Hannity’s set going for $20, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer, which reported that any profits would go to future Tea Party events.  Media Matters for America noted that Hannity’s personal website directed supporters to a link to buy tickets for the Cincinnati rally.  But senior Fox News executives said they were not aware Hannity was being billed as the centerpiece of the event or that Tea Party organizers were charging for admission to Hannity’s show as part of the rally.  They first learned of it Thursday morning from John Finley, Hannity's executive producer, who was in Cincinnati to produce Hannity's show.  Furious, top officials recalled Hannity back to New York to do his show in his regular studio.  The network plans to do an extensive post-mortem about the incident with Finley and Hannity's staff.  “Fox News never agreed to allow the Cincinnati Tea Party organizers to use Sean Hannity’s television program to profit from broadcasting his show from the event," said Bill Shine, the network’s executive vice president of programming.  "When senior executives in New York were made aware of this, we changed our plans for tonight’s show.”  Critics of Fox News have accused the network of promoting the Tea Party even as it covers the political movement as a news story.  A spokeswoman for the network said that Neil Cavuto was the only host other than Hannity at a Tea Party event Thursday, stressing that Cavuto was covering the Atlanta event for both Fox News and Fox Business Channel, not attending as a participant.
LA Times

Google Launches Public Archive of Tweets
While Twitter is working to generate advertising with Promoted Tweets, Google is promoting historical tweets in its search results.  On Tuesday, Google began introducing a new feature to help users search and explore the public archive of tweets.  Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence, said Google's new feature is both interesting and useful because it allows users to investigate Twitter posts about any subject at any time and over time.  "You can see what was said on a single day, for example, about 'health care reform' in the months and weeks leading up to its passage or even what was being tweeted the moment it passed," Sterling said.  "Twitter itself doesn't provide access to this information.  It also opens up a range of interesting possibilities from a news and sociological perspective."  With the advent of blogs and micro-blogs, there's a constant online conversation about breaking news, people and places -- some famous and some local, said Dylan Casey, product manager for real-time search at Google.  "Tweets and other short-form updates create a history of commentary that can provide valuable insights into what's happened and how people have reacted," said Casey.  "We want to give you a way to search across this information and make it useful."  "All of us are just beginning to understand the many ways real-time information and short-form web content will be useful in the future, and we think being able to make use of historical information is an important part of that," Casey said.  "As for me, after some hard work on real-time search, it's time for a virtual vacation to relive one of my favorite moments of the winter games."
NewsFactor


MSNBC Twitter Account Tweets News From 1985
The MSNBC Breaking News Twitter feed, appropriately called @BreakingNews, made a rather odd blunder today -- tweeting something out from 1985 as breaking news.  Posted at approximately 3:25 p.m. EST, the tweet read, "Gunfire erupts as police surround Philadelphia rowhouse occupied by activists from radical group MOVE http://bit.ly/9RhJSi"  Sure, this was a big story.  The only problem?  It was breaking news in 1985.  The story linked to has a clear dateline on it: "Mon, May. 13, 1985"  Twitter users quickly reacted to the mistake:
- allen099: @BreakingNews Thank you for proving that yet again, research is not done much of the time. It's all about who's first. Thanks MSNBC.
- PRStoetzer @BreakingNews This is a story from nearly 25 years ago!
- stevehuff: Funnier than @BreakingNews accidentally tweeting a 25-yr-old news story - the stunning number of idiots unironically RT-ing it Twitter-wide.
Moments later, @BreakingNews caught wind of the error and posted a correction tweet: "Correction: Report of police confrontation with MOVE activists in Philadelphia is wrong; old story moved in Philly.com rss feed." Here's context on the 1985 bombing.
Huffington Post


Twitter Hits 100M User Mark
Microblogging sensation Twitter has signed up more than 100 million users and hopes to snag hundreds of millions more in coming years by making the service easier and more accessible on mobile devices like cell phones.  At the company's first conference for Twitter developers on Wednesday, Chief Executive Officer Evan Williams said generating revenue was among the key priorities going forward -- a change of tone for a firm that had previously said it focused mainly on improving the user experience.  The comments come a day after Twitter rolled out a new advertising program dubbed "Promoted Tweets," its first attempt to make money from its service and a milestone on the path toward an initial public offering.  Twitter co-founder Biz Stone said Twitter now has roughly 105 million registered users.  According to presentation slides, Twitter drew 180 million monthly unique visitors on its site, suggesting that Twitter may be more popular than previously believed.  According to comScore, Twitter had 69.5 million unique visitors to its site in February.  Stone did not cite any specific timeframe for visitors to Twitter, introduced in 2006 and now used by politicians, corporations and others seeking to reach an audience growing several-fold annually.  A number of private companies have created specialized applications allowing Web surfers to access Twitter.  Stone's slides showed that 75 percent of traffic for the service occurs outside of the Twitter.com site.  The company provided official data about the usage of its site for the first time.  Privately held Twitter is backed by investors including Benchmark Capital and Spark Capital.  Last year, the firm raised $100 million in a new funding round that valued it at $1 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Reuters


Social Media a Habit for 75% Online Users
New research shows that social media use has become a regular habit for three quarters of the online population.  In a survey of 1,700 U.S. Internet users, Nielsen Online found that 73 percent engaged in social media at least once per week.  Engagement was defined as reading a blog, visiting a social network or reading (and/or commenting on) a message board.  The research pegs the total U.S. social media audience at 127 million.  The Nielsen study, commissioned by women-focused blog network BlogHer and NBCU's iVillage, found that Facebook is becoming a major attraction for a broad swathe of the population, rivaling the reach of traditional media channels. Of the online population, 47 percent visit Facebook daily, according to Nielsen, nearly rivaling the 55 percent that watch TV.  Facebook daily use easily beats out other traditional media like radio (37 percent) and newspapers (22 percent).  In fact, social gaming is a daily habit for a huge number of people.  According to Nielsen's survey, 32.7 million people play social games daily.  That is equal to newspaper readership and more than double the readership of magazines in the sample.  Social games are polarizing, however, as over 50 percent said they never play them.  For all its buzz, Nielsen found Twitter is still a niche activity for all but a small segment of the online population.  Yesterday at its developer conference, Twitter boasted 105 million registered users. According to Nielsen, just 11.4 million (6 percent) use it daily.  BlogHer and iVillage commissioned the research to determine the role of social media in the lives of women versus the general population.  It found little differences between the sexes when it comes to social media adoption, with women slightly more likely to tweet and blog while men overindex for watching videos.  Blog reading remains a niche activity for online users, with just 11 percent saying they read them daily.  It trailed message board readers (17 percent).  BlogHer's audience, naturally, is more inclined to visiting blogs as a habit, with 77 percent reading them daily and 96 percent weekly.  The BlogHer audience sample also identified blogs as trailing only search among ad-supported media in purchasing decisions.  BlogHer COO Elisa Camahort said the popularity of social networking is not stealing time and attention from blogs.  "It's like any media progress we've had," she said. "Nothing is killing the other media source. Blogs are still where substantive conversations are happening. It's not on Facebook."
MediaWeek


Women Turn to Blogs for New Product Info: Study
Blogs are the place to be for companies who want to flog new products to women.  That's one implication of the newly released 2010 Social Media Matters Study from BlogHer Network, iVillage, Ketchum and the Nielsen Co.  The survey found that 59 percent of BlogHer Network users turn to blogs to find out about new products, compared to 20 percent who go to social networks.  And it appears that blog-reading crowd is generally a young audience.  The study found that 30.3 percent of adults who read blogs are age 18-25, with 29.3 percent 26-42, 23.1 percent 43-61 and 17.2 percent 62-76.  But that’s not to say blog users aren’t social network fans.  Among BlogHer users, 81 percent read blogs regularly, but 64 percent also use Facebook and 41 percent use Twitter.  Still, BlogHer users prefer blogs to social networks for just about every online activity, outside of keeping up with friends and family.  This includes entertainment, finding new trends, developing new skills and making purchase decisions.
MediaLife Magazine


Wood's Wife Angry About Ad, Insiders Say
During the Masters, most of the headlines about Tiger Woods had to do with his golf game.  Now that the tourney is over, it's his personal life that's back in the headlines, specifically what his wife thought about the new controversial Nike commercial that used old audio of his late father delivering what sounded like a somber slapdown of his son in the wake of his sex scandal, though Earl Woods died several years ago.  Apparently Elin Woods was none too pleased about the ad, if you believe the many anonymous "Elin insiders" who've been leaking to the press over the past few days, suggesting this may have been the last straw for the couple's tenuous marriage.  A report in People suggests that Elin will be filing for divorce from her husband, with a friend telling the magazine, "Elin was violently angry over this commercial and thought it was a cheesy thing to do."  Woods has defended the ad, but many in the public were turned off by it too.  A recent Entertainment Weekly Popwatch poll found 61 percent thought the use of Earl's voice was inappropriate.
MediaLife Magazine

Apple Working on 'iSpecs' for 3D Viewing
Apple Inc. submitted a patent application that confirmed the computing giant is venturing into three dimensions on the small screen, it was revealed Monday.  The innovative technology company from Cupertino, Calif., plans to launch a pair of glasses that will provide high-definition 3D video to users on the go.  The gadget, nicknamed "iSpecs" by technology fans, will allow users to slot their Apple iPod or iPhone into it.  The headset then uses special lens technology to split the picture between the eyes, allowing 3D viewing.  The device is also mounted with an external camera and infrared sensor, the patent said, meaning that a live video stream of the view in front of the glasses could be automatically displayed if someone approached the wearer.  The patent was filed by Apple in August 2008, but plans were so outlandish they were dismissed as an April Fools' joke when they were published by the company April 1.
NY Post

Papers' Readers-Per-Copy Average Rises: Study
Circulation for newspapers may be falling, but that doesn't mean readership is suffering a similar slide.  The readers-per-copy rate increased 7.5 percent over the past couple years, according to a study released today by Scarborough Research and Newspaper National Network.  It finds that papers are being passed along to slightly more readers, from an average 3.07 in 2007 to 3.3 in 2009.  Newspapers are eager to flog their readership, of course, with circulation and advertising sliding over the past few years.  The study examined readership and circulation data for 25 of the country's top newspapers.  It also found that the median household income for daily printed newspaper readers is 12 percent higher than the nation's average, at $72,300.  Daily printed paper readers are 16 percent more likely to be college graduates and 11 percent more likely to be home owners.
MediaLife Magazine


FCC to Launch Inquiry on Media Ownership Regulations
Look for the FCC soon to launch a wide-ranging notice of inquiry (NOI) on media ownership regulations.  FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski signaled as much in a Senate Commerce Committee hearing Thursday (April 15), and sources confirm the proposed inquiry is currently being vetted by the FCC commissioners.  The NOI is described as broad and extensive--a 35-page document--that tees up different ways to measure ownership, including by looking at how the FCC has dealt with diversity and competition and localism in the past.  It also notes that there are separate localism, diversity and future of journalism proceedings going on at the same time, said a source, and instructs commenters in those proceedings that if they file in this proceeding "make the connection to ownership structure."  The inquiry is part of the FCC's congressionally-mandated quadrennial review of its ownership regulations.  "At this point, it looks like they have asked lots and lots of questions from lots and lots of perspectives," said an FCC source who has read parts of the document.  "What I have read so far is reasonably neutral and balanced."
Broadcasting & Cable

Redneck Census Form

The official year 2010 Redneck Census Form:

Last name: _______________________
First name: (Check appropriate box)
( ) Billy-Bob
( ) Billy-Joe
( ) Billy-Ray
( ) Billy-Sue
( ) Billy-Mae
( ) Billy-Jack

What does everyone call you?
( ) Booger
( ) Bubba
( ) Junior
( ) Sissy
( ) Other____________

Age:____ (if unsure, guess)
Sex:____ M ____ F ____Not sure
Shoe size:____ Left ____ Right

Occupation:(Check appropriate box)
( ) Farmer
( ) Mechanic
( ) Hair Dresser
( ) Unemployed
( ) Dirty Politician
( ) Preacher

Spouse's Name:_____________
2nd Spouse's Name:_______________
3rd Spouse's Name:_______________
Lover's Name:_______________

Relationship with spouse:(Check appropriate box)
( ) Sister
( ) Brother
( ) Aunt
( ) Uncle
( ) Cousin
( ) Mother
( ) Father
( ) Son
( ) Daughter
( ) Pet

Number of children living in the home:_____
Number of the children living in the shed:_____
Number that are yours:_____

Mother's Name:____________________(If not sure, leave blank)
Father's Name:____________________(If not sure, leave blank)

Education: 1 2 3 4 (Circle highest grade completed)

(Check appropriate box)
Total number of vehicles you own:___
Number of vehicles that still crank:___
Number of vehicles in front yard:___
Number of vehicles in the back yard:___
Number of vehicles on cement blocks:___

Firearms you own and where you keep them:
____truck
____bedroom
____bathroom
____kitchen
____shed

Model and year of your pickup: 196_

Do you have a gun rack?
( ) Yes ( ) No; If no, please explain:

Newspapers/magazines you subscribe to:
( ) The National Enquirer
( ) The Globe
( ) TV Guide
( ) Soap Opera Digest
( ) Rifle and Shotgun

Number of times you've seen a UFO:_____
Number of times in the last 5 years you've seen Elvis:___
Number of times you've seen Elvis in a UFO:____

How often do you bathe?
( ) Weekly
( ) Monthly
( ) Not Applicable

Color of eyes:
Left_____ Right_____

Color of hair:
( ) Blond
( ) Black
( ) Red
( ) Brown
( ) White
( ) Clairol

Color of teeth:
( ) White
( ) Yellow
( ) Brownish-Yellow
( ) Brown
( ) Black
( ) N/A

Brand of chewing tobacco you prefer:
( ) Red-Man

How far is your home from a paved road?
( ) 1 mile
( ) 2 miles
( ) just a whoop-and-a-holler
( ) road?



-------------------------------
The Marketing Ideanet is a free idea sharing newsletter published by 602 Communications. We are a TV training and consulting company that specializes in improving front-line news and marketing skills.  Check out thousands of cutting edge examples at our web site.  Join us on Facebook and Twitter.

Sent via TVSpy's email servers. Visit TV Spy's Marketing Matters.

Graeme Newell
602 Communications
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
(919) 217-4438
Web Site
Facebook
Twitter

The Marketing Ideanet is a free idea sharing newsletter published by 602 Communications. We are a TV training and consulting company that specializes in improving front-line news and marketing skills.  Check out thousands of cutting edge examples at our web site.  Join us on Facebook and Twitter.

Sent via TVSpy's email servers. Visit TV Spy's Marketing Matters.

Graeme Newell
602 Communications
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
(919) 217-4438
Web Site
Facebook
Twitter



In This Issue
Promo of the Day
Conan Finds Home at TBS
Fox Affils Exhale at News
Kevin Eubanks Leaving 'Tonight Show'
CNN Stands Behind Objectivity
Larry King Chalks Up 8th Divorce
NY Times Leads Webby Noms
Washington Post Wins 4 Pulitzers, NY Times Gets 3
Nation's Biggest Broadcasters to Team Up on Mobile Content
Twitter Rolls Out 'Promoted Tweets' Ad Model
Apple Introduces iAd Program
Meet Zach Galifianakis


Quotes

'What this power is I cannot say; all I know is that it exists and it becomes available only when a man is in that state of mind in which he knows exactly what he wants and is fully determined not to quit until he finds it."
- Alexander Graham Bell

"Progress in every age results only from the fact that there are some men and women who refuse to believe that what they know to be right cannot be done."
- Russell W. Davenport

"A determined soul will do more with a rusty monkey wrench than a loafer will accomplish with all the tools in a machine shop."
- Robert Hughes


Promo of the Day
Determination:  You work harder and longer than others.  Others (those not as tough as you) give up because the work is too difficult, you see it through and get things done.  You are a person who is not afraid put her nose to the grindstone to get worthwhile things accomplished.  There are overtones of the martyrdom in this driver.  Here are 2 Nike, an Adidas and a Johnny Walker ad that demonstrate this principle a Core Emotion.

602communications.com/VideoExamples

Share your creative work with your promo peers on the 602communications.com site.  Just 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 a DVD to Graeme Newell at 1011 Lyndhurst Falls Lane, Knightdale, NC  27545.



Conan Finds Home at TBS
Conan O’Brien, the ousted host of NBC’s “Tonight Show,” will join Time Warner Inc.’s TBS, shunning News Corp.’s Fox network as pay television challenges the broadcast networks’ late-night dominance.  The hour-long talk show begins in November and will air Monday through Thursday at 11 p.m., Atlanta-based TBS said today in a statement.  “Lopez Tonight,” hosted by comedian George Lopez, will shift back an hour, to midnight, the network said.  News Corp. expressed an interest in hiring O’Brien, 46, when he left NBC after the network tried to reschedule “Tonight” to make room for Jay Leno.  “The good news: I will be doing a show on TBS starting in November,” O’Brien said on Twitter.  “The bad news: I’ll be playing Rudy on the all new ‘Cosby Show.’”   O’Brien joins cable programs including Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and “The Colbert Report” that are vying for viewers with “Tonight” and “Late Show with David Letterman.”  “This is huge, just huge, for Conan and for TBS,” Shari Anne Brill, an independent media analyst in New York, said in an interview.  “Conan was Fox’s to lose, but I guess they just couldn’t make a deal work.”  “Conan is a great talent and we wish him every success,” Fox said today in a statement. 
Bloomberg


Fox Affils Exhale at News
Managers at Fox affiliates largely treated the news that Conan O'Brien is moving to TBS, and not their own late-night air, with a sigh of relief.  As rumors of Fox installing an O'Brien-hosted late night show picked up, the affiliates were mostly pessimistic on the concept, as they're locked into syndication contracts in that time slot, or air local news, or both.  Both news and syndicated shows offer a more lucrative revenue model than a network show.  "We're a local TV station," said KPTV-KPDX Portland VP/General Manager Patrick McCreery.  "We would've hated to give [late local news] up, and leave the people who want that out in the wind."  The news of O'Brien's shift to TBS was the talk of the NAB-RTDNA show in Las Vegas.  Most broadcast leaders got the news after exiting the Las Vegas Hilton following NAB President/CEO Gordon Smith's opening address.  One exec at a Fox affiliate uttered a hearty "Amen!" upon hearing the news.  Many in the local TV world view today's development as a win for local programming.  "It just didn't make financial sense for a lot of affiliates, especially the strong affiliates," says WGHP Greensboro President/General Manager Karen Adams.  "Displacing heritage local news and high profile off-network programming--there wasn't anything about it that made financial sense for some stations."
Broadcasting & Cable


Kevin Eubanks Leaving 'Tonight Show'
"Tonight Show" bandleader Kevin Eubanks has made it official: He's leaving as Jay Leno's sideman in May after 18 years with the late-night host.  He told Leno during Monday's taping of "Tonight" in Burbank, Calif., that he was ready for a career change of pace, but he didn't announce specific plans.  Eubanks called the NBC late-night show his "home" and said it had been "a wonderful experience" working there.  Eubanks, 52, whose duties included comic sidekick to Leno as well as guitarist, has been aboard since Leno took over "Tonight" in 1992.  Eubanks became musical director when Branford Marsalis left in 1995.  In February, NBC said Eubanks had expressed interest in personal touring and recording.  His final day on "Tonight" is May 28. NBC did not immediately announce his replacement.  "After 18 years of playing America into commercials, I'm gonna go somewhere where I can finish a song," Eubanks said when Leno asked what he planned to do first.
Huffinton Post


CNN Stands Behind Objectivity
In a presentation to advertisers and agencies on Tuesday morning, executives of CNN indicated how they plan to counter the growing ratings of  — and buzz about — the rival Fox News Channel: play up their channel’s identity as an objective source of news.  “Journalism is our core value; it’s who we are,” Greg D’Alba, executive vice president and chief operating officer for advertising sales and marketing, told an audience at the Frederick P. Rose Hall at Time Warner Center.  “Good journalism will make the difference.”  Jim Walton, president for CNN Worldwide, part of Time Warner, put it this way: “We’re the only credible, nonpartisan voice left.  And that matters.”  Both executives alluded to the recent spate of news articles about CNN’s poor ratings in the first quarter as Fox News, part of the News Corporation, and MSNBC, part of NBC Universal, stay ahead of CNN in prime time.  CNN is telling its story as the cable channels continue their series of so-called upfront presentations to Madison Avenue decision-makers.  CNN shared the event with its sibling channel, HLN, formerly CNN Headline News, which offers a Fox News-like line-up of evening opinion shows from the likes of Joy Behar and Nancy Grace after a day of news coverage.  Indeed, the HLN part of the presentation was titled “News and Views,” in contrast with the descriptions of CNN as “Our mission, our mandate, is to deliver the best journalism in the world,” said Jonathan Klein, president for CNN U.S.  “No bias, no agenda.”  That philosophy “puts us in a category of one,” he added, as CNN’s competitors “have abandoned the field” of objective reporting.  Those competitors were not mentioned by name at any point during the presentation.  “We will never abandon our core faith in being the sole nonpartisan cable network in this country,” Mr. Klein asserted.
Media Decoder


Larry King Chalks Up 8th Divorce
Larry King has filed for divorce from wife Shawn Southwick King, TMZ reports.  The pair has two sons, Chance and Cannon. TMZ also reports that King has filed for joint custody of the boys.  "It's a very sad day in Larry's life and he hopes the divorce will be amicable," King's lawyer Susan Carter told TMZ.  "Larry loves his children very much and will be an integral part of their lives."  The couple married in 1997; this will be King's 8th divorce.  Southwick was King's 7th wife, but he married (and divorced) the same woman twice.  They appeared affectionate in photos as late as March 6, 2010, when they attended An Evening With Larry King And Friends Gala in Washington, DC.  King is 76; Southwick is 50.  Southwick reportedly entered rehab for a prescription drug addiction in 2008.  She has been attempting to build a music career, and was a finalist for a role on Broadway last year.
Huffington Post


NY Times Leads Webby Noms
The New York Times led the pack of nominees for the Webby Awards on Tuesday, sharing the spotlight for the "Oscars of the Internet" with the BBC, actor Zach Galifianakis and comedian Stephen Colbert.  The Webby Awards, now in their 14th year, highlight the best use of the Internet across a range of categories from the worlds of entertainment and news.  The New York Times stood out by garnering 15 nods, two more than last year, when it also led all nominees.  "They have a prolific and diverse approach to delivering content, quite frankly, and I think they do a lot of new things in a lot of different mediums," said David-Michel Davies, executive director of the Webby Awards.  Davies noted the New York Times was among the first newspapers to have its reporters use Twitter.  Actor Zach Galifianakis, the rising star of comedy movies "The Hangover" and "Youth in Revolt," earned a nomination in the comedy category for his online talk show "Between Two Ferns," which features his interviews with celebrity guests.  In the viral video category, a father's videotape of his disoriented son after dental surgery received a nomination.  The video is called David After Dentist, and it has been seen more than 50 million times on the website YouTube.com.  The Webby Award winners will be celebrated at a ceremony in New York on June 14.  A panel of judges that includes rock star David Bowie will choose a list of winners, and the public will get a chance to pick their favorites.  Information on further nominees can be found at www.webbyawards.com.
Hoilywood Rporter


Washington Post Wins 4 Pulitzers, NY Times Gets 3
The Washington Post won four Pulitzer Prizes on Monday for its work in 2009, and The New York Times won three, while ProPublica became the first of the new breed of online, nonprofit news organizations to win the most prestigious award in print journalism.  The prize for public service went to the tiny Bristol Herald Courier of southwestern Virginia, circulation 29,000, for revealing that many energy companies failed to pay required royalties on natural gas drilling, and that the royalties that were paid were not reaching the local people who deserved them.  Paul Harding won the fiction prize for his novel “Tinkers,” while the drama award went to the musical “Next to Normal,” with music by Tom Kitt and book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey.  The Pulitzer board also voted a special, posthumous citation to country singer-songwriter Hank Williams, “who expressed universal feelings with poignant simplicity and played a pivotal role in transforming country music into a major musical and cultural force in American life.”  The complete list of winners and finalists, as well as the official citations, is available on the Pulitzer Web site.
Media Decoder


Nation's Biggest Broadcasters to Team Up on Mobile Content
A consortium composed of some of the nation's biggest broadcasters -- including News Corp.'s Fox, NBC Universal, Gannett Broadcasting, Hearst Television, ION Television and Cox Media Group -- has struck a deal to create a joint venture to develop programming for mobile devices.  The as-yet-unnamed venture has television stations that reach just about every major market in the United States and by its own estimation could offer content to 150 million people.  The plan is to use spectrum that is not being used for broadcast and transmit content to mobile phones.  The move comes at time when how broadcasters are or are not using spectrum has become a lightening rod at the Federal Communications Commission and on Capitol Hill.  FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski recently submitted the agency's broadband plan to improve mobile and Internet service across the nation, and in that plan the FCC advocates that broadcasters voluntarily return spectrum that could be auctioned to telecommunication firms.  Broadcasters are reluctant to give back any spectrum because they see it as key to develop new businesses and revenue streams, especially as the local television station business is hurting.  Details of the new effort are sketchy. In an interview, Sandy Schwartz, president of Cox Media Group, said the companies are teaming up because it will be more cost-efficient.  "If Cox did it alone it would be a huge expense," he said.  As for content, in the early stages it would most likely focus on the staples of local TV -- news, weather and sports.
LA Times


Twitter Rolls Out 'Promoted Tweets' Ad Model
One of the biggest questions confronting Twitter has been: how will the site make money?  Finally, it seems Twitter has answers.  The site plans to unveil details of an advertising plan that will help Twitter monetize its quickly-growing user base.  The New York Times describes Twitter's plan for allowing advertising on its site for the first time ever:  "The advertising program, which Twitter calls Promoted Tweets, will show up when Twitter users search for keywords that the advertisers have bought to link to their ads.  Later, Twitter plans to show promoted posts in the stream of Twitter posts, based on how relevant they might be to a particular user."  The advertisements will begin rolling out Tuesday, April 13, to between 2 and 10 percent of users.  The 10 initial advertisers will include Starbucks, Best Buy, Virgin America, Bravo, Red Bull, and Sony Pictures.  The Wall Street Journal reports that details on the pricing of the ads are still sketchy:  "For now, Twitter's ad-matching and pricing formula is a work in progress.  The company will start by charging marketers per thousand impressions of their ads.  Over time, it plans to move to a more complex model, charging based on how users interact with the messages.  The Twitter spokesman said it will not show ads that don't receive a certain "resonance" score, based on factors like how many people clicked on or forwarded the ad."  Twitter described the plan on the company's official blog, calling Promoted Tweets "non-traditional," "easy," and something that "makes a ton of sense for Twitter."
Huffington Post


Apple Introduces iAd Program
Tied into iPhone OS 4, Apple's new iAd program will allow developer to include richly interactive ad experiences into their apps and earn a 60% cut of the advertising revenue.  Described as "a new form of mobile advertising designed by Apple to deliver the interaction and emotion currently lacking in the mobile space," iAd is conceived to be a way for users to explore rich content ads right within the app that is presenting it, and without being dumped into a web browser.  "If you look at advertisements on a phone, it's not like on a desktop," Jobs explained.  "On a desktop, its about search.  On mobile, search hasn't happened.  People aren't searching on their phones.  People are spending their time in apps."  Jobs was alluding to the fact that Google makes nearly all of its revenues from paid search placement on the desktop, not the more familiar banner ads and AdSense links that are more visible on the web.  In mobiles however, there's no real market for paid search because people aren't doing lots of searches.  They're involved with apps, and so banner ads is all there is, at least for now.  During its presentation of the new ad network, chief executive Steve Jobs noted that when you click on existing iPhone mobile ads, it yanks you out of the application you're running and launches a web ad.  This prevents people from clicking on ads more often.  In response, Apple has designed a means for providing interactive and video advertising content without ever leaving the app.  Apple will sell and host the ads under a 40/60 split, with app developers getting the larger slice of the ad revenue.
Apple Insider


Meet Zach Galifianakis

Growing up my dad was like, 'Zach, it's not what you say, it's how you say it.'  And he's so right.  Take this, for instance: She had a crack-baby vs. she had a crack, baby.

At what age do you tell a highway it was adopted?  I think seven, because that's about the time he starts to think, "I don't look like Kiwanis club."

You know it's time to do the laundry when you dry off with a sneaker.

My headshot is a scratch and sniff, it smells like failure and onions.

I was at an Arby's today and I thought to myself, "Oh shit, I should be taking someone's order!"

Don't boo people!  Don't boo!  Be more specific! Like, "WHY ARE YOU DOING THAT?!  I HATE THAT!  I HATE IT! "

Reality shows are big now, Survivor, Temptation Island, The Mole.  I want to make a show with three racist white people that live in the South Bronx.  It will be called ...Cracker Hunt.

I want to do another reality show. It's based on The Mole.  It's about sexually transmitted diseases. It's called "God, I Hope That's a Mole."

I have a lot of growing up to do. I realized that the other day inside my fort.

I'm an American so its kind of hard for me to talk about 9/11.  So whenever someone brings it up in a conversation, I say "I didn't like 9/11."

How come girls can say, 'I'm going to go to brunch with my girlfriend', and no one assumes anything, but when I say, 'My boyfriend and I are going shopping for fanny packs', everyone thinks I'm a gay? - that's right, A gay.

I really want to leave New York City, but I just put 6,000 dollars on my Metrocard.

You know you have a drinking problem when the bartender knows your name. And you've never been to that bar before.

I'm Greek and I have sinus problems and I know why.  My body produces feta cheese.  It's not really a joke.  It's just a fact...allow me to open up.

Have you ever been so drunk you wet the bed?  Not even sleeping, just standing over, pissing on it?

I want to start an all-boy Country trio, and call it The Chixie Dicks.

I live in Los Angeles and I had been drinking one night.  So I was on the walk of fame and I saw Tony Danza's star and I started urinating on it.  Just yelling out, "Who's the boss now?"

Sometimes, I like to glue my spare change to my face.  Then, when a homeless person comes up to me and asks "Do you have any spare change?"  I get to say "Sorry, it's glued to my face."

My dream is to move to India, or Pakistan.  And become a cab driver.

I have horrible luck with women.......and it's all my fault.

My father used to beat me with his belt...while it was still on him.

Head gear, plus acne equals...table for one in the cafeteria.

I would start a revolution, but I just bought a hammock

I'm writing a book about Siamese Twins that are attached at the nose.  It's called: Stop Staring at Me!

The other day, I got a henna tattoo that says "Forever."

Have you seen that show on CBS called 'The Amazing Race'?  Is that show about white people?

I have to stop crying when I watch "The View".  It's not because of the topics at hand, I just feel sorry for that couch.

I'm working on a screenplay.  It's called "Schindler's List 2: Let's Get this Party Started".

Four years ago on this very day I tried to take my own life.  And I said, "Zach, do it in front of your co-workers and end the misery." I don't know how many of you ever tried to jump off of a Pizza Hut, but you'll just get a sprained ankle out of the deal. Then you'll have to go back inside, and serve crazy bread.

I wanna open up a cross-dresser store, and call it "Susan B. Anthony".

My brother has ADD, which is weird because he drives a Ford Focus.  I tried to tell my brother that joke but he kept getting distracted by my shoelaces.

I like to use Axe body spray, but I live in a very black area of Brooklyn.  Over there, they call it Ask.  If you don't get that joke, then you're not racist.

I like to read the Bible in really public places, like on the subway... and just mutter things to myself like "Oh, bullshit!"

My girlfriend looks a little like Charlize Theron, and a lot like Dog the Bounty Hunter.

I like to go into really hip record stores and ask for CDs of bands that have never existed. "Uh, ya, do you have the new Boogerstash?"

Do you remember that kid that had sex with his high school teacher?  I was reading on line that he died today.  He died from hi-fiveing."

Do you ever do something, and then think to yourself: That's So Raven?

When I go to events and concerts, there's a lot of people that yell 'Woo!' or 'Yeah!' when they like something.  I like to be more specific when I yell things out.  I like to, like -- when I'm at a concert I like to yell out things like: 'The way you play your music makes me feel good inside!'



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Graeme Newell
602 Communications
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