Volvo Launches Mobile Auto Configurator

Volvo Cars of North America today announced the launch of a new car configurator that runs on BlackBerries, Treos, Windows Mobile Smartphones and other smart mobile devices. The Volvo configurator gives car buyers the opportunity to configure their dream Volvo right on their mobile device, including exterior color, interior fabrics, wheels and options packages. The configurator displays the buyer’s choices, along with pricing information, and allows them to contact a Volvo dealer if desired.

Sporting News Radio Signs New Advertising Rep

Sporting News Radio has announced that Dial Communications-Global Media will be the company’s exclusive network radio advertising sales representative. SNR recently won a number of industry awards: Host James (”JB”) Brown on Friday was named the first Pat Summerall Award winner, in recognition of his professional and humanitarian leadership; at SNR’s Los Angeles station, KMPC 1540, Paul McDonald won his second consecutive Radio Color Commentary award from the Southern California Sports Broadcasters Association for his work as part of the station’s USC Trojans football broadcast team; and host Petros Papadakis was named the best radio sports talk host in Los Angeles by Los Angeles Daily News media columnist Tom Hoffarth (three of the station’s hosts made Hoffarth’s top 10). Petros’ show airs Monday through Friday Noon to 2PM, PT.

Online Advertising Motivates College Students to Buy

A recent survey of 18-34-year-old college students and recent grads found that online advertising motivates them to purchase products or services, according to a survey by Experience, Inc. (via iMediaConnection and MarketingVox). The “2006 Online Advertising: Habits” survey found that the age group spends a significant amount of time online researching products and services before purchasing - and when they do purchase, it’s online.

Al Michaels a No-Go for MNF Next Season

Tony Kornheiser

When Monday Night Football airs on ESPN next fall, Al Michaels won’t be in attendance in the broadcasting booth, Broadcasting & Cable reports. Instead, Tony Kornheiser, Mike Tirico, and Joe Theismann will announce the game. Al Michaels had initially been announced as part of the team, but according to John Skipper, ESPN executive vp, Michaels had said that he was not comfortable with the direction of the show, so ESPN “made the decision to move on.”

Lazard: Time Warner Handling of AOL Just Awful

Since the 2001 merger of Time Warner and America Online, “Time Warner’s missteps have been particularly value-destroying at AOL. Since 2002, almost every strategic decision concerning AOL has been wrong,” according to a 343-page report by advisory investment firm Lazard, hired by financier Carl Icahn to help drive out Time Warner’s board, MediaPost reports (via MarketingVox). Lazard proposed that Time Warner be split into four: AOL, a publishing company, a cable company, and a content company.

Brian Williams to Co-Host Opening Ceremonies with Costas

NBC has announced that Brian Williams will co-host, along with Bob Costas, Friday night’s Winter Olympics opening ceremony, giving Williams what could be his toughest challenge since replacing Tom Brokaw as anchor on the NBC Nightly News, the Chicago Tribune writes. Katie Couric has co-hosted the last three games, but NBC has said that she’ll be skipping this year’s event because live anchoring of the Today show from Rome, Florence, and Milan this week has kept her from attending rehearsals.

New Sites Could Shake Up Real Estate Biz

Two new real estate websites are starting to offer services that could change the way real estate is bought and sold, writes the New York Times (via MarketingVox). Just-launched Zillow.com helps homebuyers and sellers obtain detailed sales data that real estate agents typically do not display in the public multiple listing service. Last week, a smaller site, Redfin.com, introduced a service that automates the process of bidding on a house online.

Showtime Sells ‘Sleeper Cell,’ ‘Weeds’ via iTunes

Following in the wake of ABC and NBC, among others, Showtime has begun offering some of its programming via Apple’s iTunes Music Store, Mediaweek reports. Two of its series, Weeds and Sleeper Cell, will sell for $1.99 per episode.

January Consumer Ad Pages Slip 1.9 Percent

Consumer magazine ad pages slid 1.9 percent in Jan., compared to Jan. 2005, marking the second consecutive year of January declines, Mediapost reports. That means that the consumer publishing industry is still 0.5 percent below its high, in Jan. 2001, of 14,079.6 ad pages. According to numbers released by the Publishers Information Bureau, 2005 ended with an ad page volume gain of 3.4 percent over Dec. 2004.

More NBC U Content Available Online

Set to launch in spring, Aeon Digital, a new online on-demand service, will make more NBC Universal content, including TV events and movies, available on the web, writes Broadcasting & Cable. Users can access programming for 24 hours after ordering. Aeon’s service uses a digital set-top box to access, play and save the content sent over the Internet.

Apple’s online iTunes service will also offer NBC U content from 300 episodes of 16 new and old series, starting in December.