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Archives » April 2009

News Crawls during Ads Don’t Distress Advertisers

Published on April 30, 2009

Some cable networks, including ESPN and CNBC, keep their “crawls” running during commercial breaks, and most advertisers, rather than looking at the continuous crawl as a distraction that draws viewers’ attention away from the ads, see it as a welcome way to keep viewers from channel surfing.

ESPN runs its BottomLine ticker, with game scores and statistics, across the bottom of screens during...
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Creative-Rich Dream Team to Refurb Interactive Ad Standards

Published on April 30, 2009

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) called upon major online publishers, ad agency creatives and media firms for its first-ever gathering of the Re-Imagining Interactive Advertising Task Force.

This dream team will focus on forming “a comprehensive roadmap for the next stages […] of interactive advertising to ensure that ad formats meet the growing business and creative needs of...
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Clear Channel Faces Cash Flow Crisis

Published on April 30, 2009

It is possible that Clear Channel will win the title of biggest loser among media companies in the current recession.

With revenue and cash flow tanking, the company is finding it increasingly difficult to meet payments on the billions of debt taken on during its leveraged buyout last year, according to The New York Times. The leveraged buyout was largest ever in the media business.

Clear...
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‘Street Art Takeover’ Whitewashes, Repaints 100 NYC Billboards

Published on April 30, 2009

On April 25, more than 100 street-level billboards in New York City were whitewashed and used as blank canvases by artists, in a move by the Public Ad Campaign, a New York group against outdoor advertising.

The billboards are illegal under city law, the Public Ad Campaign claims, so the group decided to use them for “public communication instead of public consumption,” writes The New York...
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NYT Newspaper Guild Agrees to 5% Salary Cut

Published on April 30, 2009

The Newspaper Guild in NYC has agreed to a temporary 5% salary cut for New York Times workers. The union was forced to choose between the pay cut and the loss of 80 jobs, mostly within the newsroom.

The reduction will save the company $4.5 million. The company could not promise that more layoffs would not come before the end of the year, but if there are layoffs, severance packages will be...
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Hulu Steals Number Three Video Destination Spot from Yahoo

Published on April 30, 2009

Hulu.com passed Yahoo to become the third most-watched internet video destination in March, with 380 million videos viewed.

Yahoo viewers looked at 335 million videos, according to comScore (via Bloomberg). Google sites, including YouTube, remains in first place, with 5.9 billion video views, while News Corp. sites including MySpace.com pulled 437 million views. Search Engine Watch credits...
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Starbucks Troubles Continue in Q2

Published on April 30, 2009

Coffee retailer Starbucks, who posted its first-ever fiscal loss in August 2008 and has financially struggled since, continued slumping in the second quarter of its fiscal year 2009.

Starbucks reported reductions in net revenues, comparable store sales, operating income, operating margin, and net earnings, writes Retailer Daily.

During the second quarter ended March 29, 2009, Starbucks...
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MTV Renews ‘The Hills,’ Preps Nine Shows for Optimistic, Escapist Millenials

Published on April 29, 2009

In an effort to gain new viewers and to encourage prime time viewers to do more than sample shows, MTV has announced nine new shows and four returning series for the 2009-2010 season, with all of them geared toward the millennial generation.

New projects include a chat show allowing guests to interact with viewers via Twitter, titled The Alexa Chung Show, writes Adweek. DJ and the Fro will be...
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One-Third of Smartphone Users Respond To Mobile Ads

Published on April 29, 2009

A research study on smartphone usage patterns found that more than a third of high-use smartphone users respond to mobile advertisements.

Interpublic Group’s Universal McCann conducted the study earlier this year and presented detailed findings at the OMMA Mobile Conference this week. The study polled 1,800 participants online who frequently surf the web with their mobile devices. “Smartphone...
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Upfront Likely to Hinge on Flexibility, Negotiation

Published on April 29, 2009

Buyers and sellers of media are still uncertain of how the upfront will play out, but flexibility and negotiation are sure to play a large part.

“Advertisers are looking at what’s going on. [They] want to get the right value and have a proper perspective with what’s going on in the economy,” Mediavest’s Donna Speciale said during a panel discussion at Media Magazine’s 2009 Outfront conference...
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