Fox says that viewers’ attention to commercials is higher when fewer commercials are aired. The revelation comes as a result of testing the network has done for its freshman thriller, Fringe, which will premiere Sept. 9 with limited commercials and shorter commercial pods.
Nielsen has released its first out-of-home TV ratings, in conjunction with Integrated Media Measurement Inc., of television-viewing in bars, fitness clubs, hotels, office buildings and airports. Results showed that Fox dominated prime time non-sports programming from June 30 through July 27, and that cable pulled numbers comparable to broadcast.
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Barack Obama’s acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention attracted 38.4 million American viewers — a larger audience than those that watched the opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics (34.2 million viewers), reports the Guardian (via MarketingVOX). The speech was broadcast on many stations, however; the Olympics opening ceremony only appeared on one.
TiVo posted a $2.94 million profit in the second quarter, up from a loss of $17.7 million last year. Sales were $65.2 million, up 4 percent from $62.7 million in the same quarter last year.
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The CW is running an internet and mobile campaign for its new teen series, 90210, over the next three days. A “virtual billboard” promoting the series will take over the home page of mobile content site Myxer, which has a community of 12 million teens and twentysomethings.
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TNT is playing around with different ad formats for its new legal drama, Raising the Bar. The drama will air without commercial breaks, and will have single sponsors aboard for each episode.
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The broadcast nets will finish the summer up from last year in terms of ratings, with the Big Four up a total of 17 percent in total viewers, and up 10 percent in 18-49s, mostly thanks to NBC’s airing of the Beijing Olympics.
Not quite of Olympics proportions - but not too shabby, either - the opening day of the Democratic National Convention pulled an audience of nearly 22.3 million viewers Monday night across networks. The cable nets’ audience was significantly higher than the last Democratic convention held in 2004, as was NBC’s, while ABC and CBS numbers both slipped.
American Idol has added a fourth judge to the famous triumvirate. Kara DioGuardi - a Grammy-nominated pop composer - will join gushy Paul Abdul, nasty Simon Cowell and straight-forward Randy Jackson for season eight.
While NBC’s Olympic coverage drew record viewers and more than $1 billion in television advertising revenue, NBCU pulled just $5.75 million from online video ads, eMarketer estimates.
Though print newspaper readership continues to fall and reliance on online news is rising, TV still remains the dominant source of news in America, according to the 2008 biennial news consumption survey (PDF) by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, writes MarketingCharts.
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College students are more likely to have computers than televisions in their dorm rooms. With that in mind, Fox is streaming the premiere of Fringe and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles online, at the same time they air on TV, to computer users on college campuses.
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A slump in local newspaper and television advertising is spreading to national categories, helping speed a Q2 decline in ad revenue in the U.S. of 1.5 percent, according to Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.
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NBCU has purchased Hotel Babylon producer Carnival for 30 million pounds, and plans to use the purchase to spearhead expansion in the country - an area NBCU has identified as a key focus for international growth.
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Hoping to harness the Olympics excitement NBC is currently experiencing, ESPN has said it is interested in getting the rights to telecast the 2014 and 2016 Olympics Games.
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The August 25 issue of TV Guide will sport a single advertiser, for the first time in the magazine’s 55-year history. ABC will be the sole sponsor of the issue, with 21 pages devoted to the network’s fall lineup.
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ABC may have a tough time keeping its No. 1 slot in the upcoming fall season. Fox, which has handily beat the competition in recent years in the later part of the season thanks in large part to hits like American Idol and 24, may give ABC a run for its money.
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The Academy Awards show in February will have some unexpected inventory available for advertisers. In what may be the most prominent sign so far of General Motors’ diminishing marketing budget, the automaker - which spent $13.5 million on media for the 2008 Oscars - has announced that it will not advertise during the Oscars in February.
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NBC pulled its best Saturday night ratings since 1990, as Michael Phelps won his eighth Olympic gold medal. The full Saturday night telecast averaged 31.1 million viewers, with nearly 40 million watching around 11 p.m. when Phelps and the U.S. team won the 4×100m medley relay.
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Nearly a third of the people on Earth watched the Beijing Olympics opening ceremonies last Friday night, according to the Nielsen Co.
