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NBC has quickly patched the hole that will be left in Today when Katie Couric departs the show for CBS’s Evening News with The View’s Meredith Vieira, Media Life writes. Vieira seems the obvious choice for Today: she is similar in age and temperament, and has shown herself capable of discussing “anything from orgasms to organic fruit” during her nine years on ABC’s The View, according to the article.
NBC moved quickly to announce Couric’s replacement in part because, moving into the upfront, it needed to show advertisers that a plan is in place for the post-Couric years. In the meantime, the network may raise its price by as much as 15 - 20 percent from its current Today advertising rates - up to $78,000 for a 30-second spot - during the last week that Katie Couric remains on the show, according to media agency executives, Mediapost writes.
Couric has been on Today for 15 years and has helped the show generate some $600 million per year in ad sales. Vieira has been courted by ABC and CBS’s morning shows in the past, but had said that she didn’t want to inconvenience her family by making a big switch. Her ABC contract expires July 31, but the network is expected to release her from the contract earlier. Couric’s last day on Today is May 31.
Katz Media Group has added another new client, Lincoln Financial Media, and will sell ad time on the company’s 15 stations beginning immediately.
Katz also added CBS Radio and Entercom last week, picking them off from Interep’s list.
Katz has also…
Last week, Aegis Group CEO Robert Lerwill resigned unexpectedly, sparking speculation that a takeover may be on the horizon.
Lerwill stepped down officially today (Monday), with Aegis chairman John Napier taking over his duties on an interim basis, writes MediaPost. People…
Out-of-home companies are bracing for the recession like everyone else, but they may not feel the sting as badly as other media.
Though the third quarter brought negative growth to the nation’s three largest OOH companies - Clear Channel Outdoor,…
The 82nd annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade pulled an average 12.6 rating/26 share on Thanksgiving morning, Nov. 27, according to Nielsen.
That was 8% higher than its telecast last year, Mediaweek writes. NBC estimated that a total 44.7 million viewers…
Top American non-luxury auto brands received higher ratings and less negative comments from online consumers than competing Japanese brands, according to an analysis of consumer opinions collected from automotive review websites by Biz360, MarketingCharts reports.
The research, which aggregated a year’s…
Email, news gathering and paying bills continue to be the most widely used online activities among U.S. adults, but downloading TV programs, watching videos and making web phone calls posted the biggest overall growth, according to data from Mediamark Research…
