NBC shelled out $2 billion for the the rights to broadcast the 2010 and 2012 Olympic Games (in Vancouver and London, respectively). Spending $1.18 billion alone for the 2012 Games, NBC easily outbid Fox and ABC two years ago, says Media Life.
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Semiconductor manufacturer Advanced Micro Devices filed a “surprisingly readable” lawsuit against competitor Intel alleging that the company engaged in anticompetitive practices, according to Gartner.
The filing, which claims Intel violated antitrust law by pressuring 38 systems manufacturers to use its microprocessors, strikes analyst Martin Reynolds as being as much media campaign as legal complaint; AMD is backing its position with full page ads in major newspapers, he points out.
Based on studies using eye-tracking technology, a new report from Enquiro, Did-It and Eyetools looks at how users interact with Google search results, writes Search Engine Watch (via MarketingVox). Viewers scan Google search results in an F-shaped pattern, with the eye traveling vertically along the far left side of the results looking for visual cues (e.g., relevant words, brands) and then moving to the right. Also, the way searchers react to organic results is different from the way they react to sponsored listings.
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According to the Magazine Publishers of America, through the first half of 2005, the magazine industry launched a dismal 18 new magazines per month, down from 40 new magazines per month in 2004, MediaDailyNews reports.
The quarterly numbers for 2005 indicate the downward trend might gain momentum.
The Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY)wants alcohol ads to only appear in media with less than 15 percent underage readership or viewership, down from the current 30 percent standard, Ad Age reports.
MediaPost reports that a canvas of studio execs shows that the television syndication markets are shifting from an upfront-heavy process to one with more and more reliance on the scatter markets. Marketers may be holding back upfront dollars (this year’s upfront seems to be commanding flat or lower prices) because they saw in recent years lower prices in the scatter markets. That might be an incentive to keep some powder dry for later - presumably more favorable - market conditions. Growth will be tougher as well because 2003 and 2004 saw relatively high price hikes exceeding the long-term trend.
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Radio revenue climbed two percent during the first five months of 2005, compared to the same time last year. In May alone, revenue climbed one percent across most sectors, including spot and non-spot, local ad sales, national sales figures, and combined local and national ad sales. Non-spot revenue in May remained flat compared to the same month last year, according to the Radio Advertising Bureau.
Broadcaster Chris Evans looks close to signing a deal for a weekly show on the BBC’s Radio 2, disappointing commercial broadcasters who had hoped to sign him for a weekly, networked show that would directly challenge the BBC station, reports UK’s Media Guardian.
Evans, who had left the BBC seven years ago, had returned to radio as a host on commercial broadcasts for tsunami releif, prompting hopes that he would return to them for a weekly show.
Nickelodeon launched a new broadband internet channel called TurboNick, allowing its audience members to see full-length programming, such as episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants, whenever they want. The top ranked cable network said it will produce 20 hours of original programming each week to be made available online.
Nick’s ad-supported website, featuring both a leaderboard unit and a wide skyscraper unit on most pages, may provide a higher effective CPM than its cable television equivalent, making it a rather rational push to move its audience from the tube to the computer.
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McDonald’s has partnered with Sony in a new promotion, “Only the Mac Knows,” in which the burger chain will give away up to 50,000 items, including the new Sony PlayStation Portable, Brandweek writes.
Consumers who buy a Big Mac or large fries get a code they can enter at PlayatMcD.com to see if they won a prize.
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The Globe and Mail reports that Al-Jazeera will attempt the launch of an English language satellite station, broadcast from its home country of Qatar. The satellite network took only a few years to dominate Arab and Muslim country news programming, sweeping away the local dominance of other government-run channels, which tended to have all the charm of early Soviet propaganda television.
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A new CSPAN-like cable network, broadcast by cable providers Time Warner and Charter, plans to launch in Wisconsin next year. Senate and Assembly committees approved seven-year contracts that will allow nonprofit organization WisconsinEye to fix remote-controlled cameras in the state Capitol, reports the Duluth News Tribune.
Direct response television (DRTV) advertising significantly increases search engine query requests, according to a study by direct marketing services company SendTec. The study concludes that direct response marketers should have corresponding search engine marketing campaigns to support marketing efforts and capture online orders triggered through search engines, and emphasis should be placed on paid search engine listings to ensure visibility.
An important implication of the study is that DRTV marketers should forge close working relationships between their media buyers and SEM search teams, whether in-house or outsourced.
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When brand awareness is the goal, advertisers should select a location in the middle of an online article; for image enhancement, choose the top location, under the masthead and before the byline. That’s advice suggested by a report authored by researchers from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism and University of Kansas School of Journalism and Mass Communication and reported on by MediaPost.
A new branding opportunity has unveiled itself for marketers: a Detroit school district has voted to sell naming rights to its buildings (including a new elementary school), athletic fields, and even events such as the prom, writes AdAge.
The cost of sponsorship, however, will be difficult to determine, as size and wealth of community, among other factors, must be considered.
