By age 7, a surprisingly high number of kids use personal music devices, digital cameras and DVD players on a daily basis, according to NPD Group’s new “Kids and Consumer Electronics Report,” proving astonishing growth in the category among youth, with twice as many children aged 4-14 owning personal music devices and digital cameras as did in 2005, writes AdAge.
With over three-fourths of people in the U.S. subscribing to a mobile phone service, cell phone companies hope that by marketing to more specific audiences they will gain new customers, writes The New York Times. Hispanics are the main target market being sought by mobile companies, as the industry spent nearly $140 million last year on advertising to attract these consumers, more than they spent on any other cultural group.
Yesterday, Tribune Co. announced it would buy back 25 percent of its shares, easing the concerns of shareholders and financial analysts of the company’s sagging performance, Editor & Publisher reports. However, an underlying concern still remains that the buyback only adds to the argument that the industry’s downturn is permanent rather than a temporary slump.
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British TV is bringing back its interactive TV hit, DubPlate Drama, for a second season, this time inviting users to actually aid producers in developing the storylines and suggesting the dilemmas the characters face in the series, writes Media Life.
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The estimated $420 million spent by U.S.-based advertisers in sponsorships for the 2006 Soccer World Cup may be in vain, as a majority of Americans are reportedly unaware of the sponsors or where and when the tournament will take place, according to survey results released Tuesday by Global Market Insite, MediaPost writes.
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More than ever, a growing group of marketing executives, coined “growth champions,” at America’s largest companies are gaining institutional power and playing a bigger role in making strategic decisions, according to a new report from the Association of National Advertisers and Booz Allen Hamilton, writes MediaPost.
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CBS Corp. CEO Leslie Moonves announced last week at Morgan Stanley’s annual media investor conference his plans to shake things up at Showtime, planning to make the network more like HBO with programming aimed at large audiences rather than television critics, Mediaweek writes.
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Next month, TNS Media Research, a major TV ratings provider outside the U.S., will become the first significant player to challenge Nielsen Media Research domestically since the 1980s, when TNS commercializes its ratings service that’s based on anonymous viewing data collected from Charter Communications’ 55,000 Los Angeles-based subscribers, writes MediaPost.
Posing more competition to cable companies, telecommunications giant AT&T is reportedly spending $4.6 billion on efforts to provide TV over broadband in up to 20 U.S. markets by the end of the year, reaching some 19 million homes across more than 40 markets by the end of 2008, writes Informitv. Some analysts, however, are skeptical regarding the feasibility of the plan in the proposed timeframe.
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In celebration of this year’s Advertising Week, New York’s Madison Avenue has been decorated with banners featuring notable advertising icons from Tony the Tiger to the Geico Gecko, writes Adrants.
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CJOK radio station in Fort McMurray refused to run ads it said were insulting to the northern Alberta city’s community, writes Yahoo. The ads in question were created by Economic Development Lethbridge, which wanted to run promotional ads for the southern Alberta city.
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Senior media and ad execs from old and new media groups from Yahoo to YouTube plan to meet next month for a brainstorming session hosted by McKinsey management consultancy aimed at capitalizing on the increasing popularity of social networking websites, Financial Times reports.
“Advertisers are looking for leadership on how to find ways of reaching the growing audience for user-generated content,” said Aaron Cohen, chief exec of Bolt Media, who is involved in planning the meeting.
The need for leadership has recently become clear. According to Forrester Research’s recent survey of 253 interactive marketers, although marketers have expressed interest in new web channels like social networks and video games, most don’t plan to use the venues in the next year.
Merrill Lynch analysts’ report “Deep Depressing Dive,” released Friday, said they have taken an “increasingly sober” outlook for the newspaper industry in lowering newspaper ad spending estimates once again, MediaPost writes.
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Marketers not rushing to social networks Although marketers have expressed interest in new web channels like social networks and video games, most don’t plan to use the venues in the next year, according to Forrester Research’s survey of 253 interactive marketers, Adweek reports. The survey results showed marketers’ reluctance to shift from more familiar online channels like search and email marketing.
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AKQA has created a one-page site consisting of a single looped .GIF animation for its client MSN Messenger, called “The Way News Spreads,” as a unique digital art object meant to provide the Microsoft application with more youth appeal and personality, writes ClickZ.
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CBS Corporation and Sirius Satellite Radio confirmed Friday the reported settlement in the breach-of-contract lawsuit CBS brought against its former talk-show host Howard Stern. As part of the agreement, Sirius will pay CBS $2 million towards the release of the rights to Stern’s old broadcastings on CBS, writes Radio Ink.
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The complaints filed with the FCC concerning TV and radio broadcast indecency and profanity increased to 275,131 in the first quarter of 2006, up over six times from the 44,109 complaints filed in the fourth quarter of 2005, writes Broadcasting & Cable. While only 1,798 complaints were reported in January, there were 138,527 filed in February and 134,865 in March.
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Although the majority of Republicans voted against chairman James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin’s “network neutrality” bill 20-13, with the help of all the Democrats, the House Judiciary Committee yesterday passed the legislation that would use antitrust law to enforce nondiscrimination in the provision of internet service by networks like cable operators and phone companies, writes Broadcasting & Cable. The bill adds another obstacle to the passage of telecom reform legislation this session.
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Less than two weeks after NBC presented its 2006-07 primetime schedule to advertisers, the network is following through on its consideration to switch up its lineup, moving Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip from its original Thursday slot to Monday night at 10 p.m. and moving Deal or No Deal to fill in the Thursday 9 p.m. vacancy, writes MediaWeek.
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Wednesday, the judge presiding over CBS Radio’s breach-of-contract lawsuit brought against its former talk-show host Howard Stern said that the case had settled, though no official statements of an agreement had been released by the lawyers on both sides, writes The New York Times.
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