Television ads most helpful; Internet banner ads most ignored
http://www.rbr.com/media-news/research/15610.html
A new study from Harris Interactive says that television ads are considered the most helpful to Americans, while Internet banner ads are the most ignored by the public. For radio ads, only nine percent of respondents said they ignore them. However, 46% said they ignore online banner ads.
Over one-third of Americans (37%) say that television ads are most helpful in making their purchase decision while 17% say newspaper ads are most helpful and 14% say the same about Internet search engine ads. Radio ads (3%) and Internet banner ads (1%) are not considered helpful by many people. Over one-quarter of Americans (28%), however, say that none of these types of advertisements are helpful to them in the purchase decision making process. Half of people aged 18-34 (50%) say television ads are most helpful while three in ten (31%) of those aged 55 and older say they find newspaper ads to be most helpful. There is also a slight regional difference. Two in five Southerners (40%) say they find television ads most helpful, while only one-third (33%) of Midwesterners feel the same…
TV Shows Bring Their Ads Online
In Comcast's Test of New Service, Some Programs Won't Shed Spots to Adapt to Web
By SAM SCHECHNER and VISHESH KUMAR
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124770791413149107.html?mod=dist_smartbrief
Cable-TV shows, including TBS's "My Boys," are coming to the Web -- along with a full complement of ads.
The shows will be part of a new Web-TV trial that begins this month, spearheaded by cable operator Comcast Corp. It involves more than a half-dozen other media companies, including CBS Corp. and Time Warner Inc. The idea is to put more TV shows online, but only for paying cable subscribers...
For Media Business, The New Normal Is Ugly
Forbes - Dirk Smillie, 07.08.09
http://www.forbes.com/2009/07/08/television-internet-magazines-business-media-media.html?partner=email
Those apocryphal "green shoots" in the U.S. economy have yet to take root in the media business, says a new study from private equity fund Catalyst Investors.
In fact, this year will be an "annus horribilis" for traditional media, says Catalyst. Get used to it: Mainstream media's advertising meltdown is the "new normal" for the ad business. Plummeting consumer spending and the Web's ability to eat away at the pricing power of traditional media has driven the declines. In the magazine sector, for example, the drop in ad dollars is fueled in part by the move to "just-in-time spot ads vs. advance ad purchasing..."
Commercials On The Go
Forbes - Laurie Burkitt, 07.14.09
http://www.forbes.com/2009/07/14/mobile-tv-advertising-leadership-cmo-network-mobiletv.html
Michael Jackson's memorial service drew a surprising number of eyes to TV sets July 7. Even more surprising was the number of people who watched the farewell on their phones--nearly 1 million.
Turns out there are more than a few folks rallying around 2.5-inch screens to watch breaking news or their favorite shows, if only a few minutes of them. Over 13 million Americans tuned in to handsets in the first quarter of the year, a 52% spike from the year before, says Transpera, the largest mobile video ad-network in the U.S. If the numbers keep rising, so will the ad dollars--or at least that's the hope of television networks, which have been mourning their own loss: $1.5 billion in ad revenue in the first quarter of 2009, a drop of nearly 11% from $12 billion at the same time last year, says the Television Bureau of Advertising…
Stations Must Re-Think Web Strategies
By Chris Westerkamp
TVNEWSDAY, Jul 10 2009
http://www.tvnewsday.com/articles/2009/07/10/daily.1/
Despite having to compete in a 500-channel universe, local broadcasters still hold a unique advantage over their local online media competitors. They have plenty of content -- news, station promotions, contest and, of course, weather and traffic -- and they can use their broadcasts to drive viewers to their sites.
But most stations are squandering their advantage by operating unremarkable sites that don't engage the visitor or build community…
Malone Says ‘It May Be Too Late’ for Media Companies (Update2)
By Brett Pulley and Andy Fixmer
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601204&sid=aumtC_QBYovo
July 8 (Bloomberg) -- Liberty Media Corp. Chairman John Malone said television, film and publishing companies must find a way to charge Internet users for content they provide.
Some media companies are running out of time as they struggle to generate revenue from the Web, the cable-industry pioneer told reporters today at the Allen & Co. conference in Sun Valley, Idaho…
KKR, Bertelsmann to Form Music-Rights Joint Venture
Dow Jones Newswires
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124703848501210471.html
FRANKFURT -- German media company Bertelsmann AG and U.S. financial investor Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. plan to form a joint venture in music rights management, KKR said Wednesday.
KKR would take a 51% stake in the venture, named BMG, with Bertelsmann taking the remaining 49%. A KKR spokeswoman said KKR will invest around €250 million ($347.8 million) in the venture over the next few years…
Radio outperforms internet ads
http://www.insideradio.com/Article.asp?id=1400025&spid=32060
Radio spots aren’t necessarily the most helpful of any advertising, but Americans say they're also less likely to ignore what they hear. A Harris Interactive survey finds just 9% of adults tend to disregard radio ads the most compared to internet ads -- which half of respondents say they ignore. But there is some bad news too. People find radio ads among the least-helpful…
Ad Industry Backs Form of Opt-In For Behavioral Ads
Groups Say Guidelines Could Be In Place By Start Of 2010
John Eggerton -- Multichannel News, 7/2/2009
http://www.multichannel.com/article/307340-Ad_Industry_Backs_Form_of_Opt_In_For_Behavioral_Ads.php
Major advertisers and their agencies have agreed to give Web surfers more control over behavioral advertising. They also say that control should apply to ads serviced by the Google's and Yahoo!'s of the world, as well as ISPs.
That is according to new self-regulatory guidelines issued today by the major advertising trade associations, the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A's), the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), and the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB)...
Study: TV More Effective Ad Environment Than Online
By Anthony Crupi - July 1, 2009
http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/content_display/news/digital-downloads/broadband/e3i0cc84e4e1158251a7e8eafa8fea722c8
A new research report designed to assess viewer engagement as it relates to various media platforms suggests that television presents a more effective commercial environment than the Internet or mobile devices.
A joint initiative of the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing and the research firm NeuroFocus, the study found that TV earns high marks for emotional engagement, commercial recall and intent to purchase. Small-screen media is less immersive; as such, viewers tend to find that advertising on mobile and Internet platforms is not nearly as engaging as it is on TV…
Outsourcing Master Control Gains Traction
By Jim Barthold
TVNEWSDAY, Jul 2 2009
http://www.tvnewsday.com/articles/2009/07/02/daily.11/
With cost cutting looking like the only way to boost profit margins these days, hard-pressed TV broadcasters are considering outsourcing master control and other technical back-office tasks.
Broadcasters never really wanted to outsource these functions "until the double hit of the economy and the fragmentation of revenues," says Karl Paulsen, CTO of AZCAR Technology, a systems integrator that has been working on the concept for nearly a decade…
Cover Story: Swim at Your Own Risk
Stations involved in content pools may save money. But they could also jeopardize ratings—and revenue
By Michael Malone -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/22/2009
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/295345-Cover_Story_Swim_at_Your_Own_Risk.php
Local television is increasingly looking like an episode of Survivor. In the six months since NBC and Fox officially launched the first content-sharing Local News Service (LNS) in Philadelphia, new station alliances have been popping up seemingly every week. He's in cahoots with her, and she's in talks about teaming up with that guy—all in the name of keeping the tiki torch aflame one more week. Phoenix alone has two separate alliances—the Meredith, Belo and Gannett stations have banded together on a helicopter, and the Fox, Scripps and Meredith outlets pool ground content…
Is This a Web-Series Model That Works?
Deca and other online producers build shows based on Web personalities—and give sponsors a say in programming
By Jon Fine
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_26/b4137064327152.htm?chan=magazine+channel_business+views
The thing about Web video, of course, is that anyone can do it. Shoot it, edit it, distribute it on YouTube (GOOG) and other outlets—done. Assuming, of course, that "distribute" means "put it alongside zillions of similar things." This is partly why building a Web video business is tough, as even showbiz vets have discovered. Infinite competition and uncertain ad demand for unproven Web properties make the 21st century dream—a hit online video series, or at least one that pulls in steady dollars— all but impossible. Unless you invert aspects of the traditional model, as a two-year-old Santa Monica (Calif.) Web video outfit called Deca does…
New service tracks online interest in TV
Will measure engagement on Facebook, Twitter, Google
By James Hibberd - June 21, 2009
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i34e2ede5adb7e1e8b586dc093041da69
Web site creation service Wetpaint has launched a measurement system that tracks fan interest in popular TV shows.
Billed as the first measurement tool of its kind, TV Fandex tracks the level of "fan engagement" of popular programs on Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Wetpaint's own network of 1.5 million user-created fan sites…
Media Suddenly Looks Like a Good Bet
By PAUL THARP – June 22, 2009
http://www.nypost.com/seven/06222009/business/media_suddenly_looks_like_a_good_bet_175419.htm
After making it halfway through one of their worst years ever, media stocks are now starting to score double-digit gains for a promising comeback.
Analysts say a new optimism for a strong fall TV season has combined with hopes for more summer blockbusters to help big media and entertainment companies vastly outperform the broader stock market.
What's helping even more is that many advertisers believe they're finally touching bottom in the year's historic advertising washout.
"Many are seeing a bottom and there's some optimism that cable upfront will be better," said Ed Atorino, a media analyst and managing director of Benchmark Co., referring to the advertiser interest in shows due on cable TV…
Cable wins, broadcasters lose with Web video
Bernstein Research analysts study the Web video ecosystem to discern winners and losers as IP takes over
Jun 18, 2009 1:15 PM, By Sarah Reedy
http://telephonyonline.com/video/news/bernstein-research-web-video-0618/
Video on the Web is clearly proliferating and attracting controversy in the technology, media and telecom space as it does. According to Bernstein Research analysts, all the players in the Internet video ecosystem pay TV providers, media companies and Internet companies will influence the future of Web video, but there will be winners and losers in its wake.
In a Webcast held this week, the analysts discussed the intersections between US media, the Global Internet, data networkers and cable and telecom companies. Drawing from Bernstein’s recent in-depth consumer-behavior study, the analysts found that consumers watch a lot more TV about 309 minutes a day than they realized and a lot less Web video only about 2 minutes per day than they claimed. Yet despite the low numbers, the growth rate of Internet video has been very high, said senior analyst Jeff Lindsay. NBC and Fox’s Hulu is growing at an average of 89% per year, and Google’s YouTube at 38%, and their viewers are far more diverse than the assumed teenage male segment. This rise to fame of online content aggregators has many cable and telcos fearful of video cord-cutting, a potential trend, although one that has yet to materialize...
Music Industry Sees Nightclubs as a New Source of Revenue
By ERIC PFANNER
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/business/media/01iht-music01.html?_r=1&ref=arts
PARIS — In Australia, every nightclub-goer is now a lucrative V.I.P. — to the music industry, at least.
To pump music out to their dance floors, Australian clubs used to have to pay record companies and artists a nominal 7 Australian cents in royalties per guest, per night. Under a recent copyright settlement, that rate has risen to 50 cents per customer, and it is set to jump to 1.05 dollars, or 84 U.S. cents, in a few years…
Broadcasters compete to put TV on cellphones
The digital switch will let live video be sent to mobile devices -- phones, computers, car systems -- on the newly available analog spectrum. Contenders include MobiTV, Qualcomm's Flo TV and Transpera
By Alana Semuels - June 9, 2009
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-mobiletv9-2009jun09,0,381894,full.story
The digital switch is the end of one TV era, but broadcasters and device companies hope it's opening up another.
Their vision for the future: a world in which we access live television not just on big screens in our living rooms, but also on cellphones and computers and in cars.
On Thursday, when stations will be required to broadcast through digital rather than analog signals, some companies will use the broadcast spectrum freed by the switch to transmit live television to cellphones and other portable devices. Shows and live video clips are already available on some phones, but this heats up competition as broadcasters and cellphone companies vie to turn the feature into a must-have.
"This is one of about six or seven or eight things people are going to use their phone for," said Rob Hyatt, executive director of premium content at AT&T Inc…
Coping With Recession
Mediapost
http://www.mcsaatchi.com/
Richard Storey, chief strategy officer for M&C Saatchi, London, suggests that recession is discussed as if it were a singular phenomenon, and that consumers have taken for granted the notion that there is one single, inevitable and all enveloping global crisis. News headlines tend to report macro trends, making bleak reading: slowing economy, falling house prices, rising food and fuel costs, or decreased consumer spending.
The problem, he says, is macroeconomics that would have us believe that the recession is a macro phenomenon with a single, reasonably predictable outcome, but understanding the dynamics that lay beneath these conditions could identify more interesting and effective recession strategies for businesses…
Online Classifieds Take Newsprint Down
MediaPost
http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2009/7--Online-Classifieds.aspx?r=1
According to the findings of an April 2009 survey by the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, the number of online adults who have used online classified ads has more than doubled in the past four years. Almost half of internet users say they have ever used online classified sites, compared with 22% of online adults who had done so in 2005. And, on any given day about a tenth of internet users (9%) visit online classified sites, up from 4% in 2005...
Future of Advertising? Print, TV, Online Ads
ARF, Wharton School Study Finds WOM Largely Driven by Paid Media Ads
By Jack Neff; Published: June 01, 2009
http://adage.com/article?article_id=136993
BATAVIA, Ohio (AdAge.com) -- A research project commissioned late last year with dire-sounding rhetoric about a crisis in advertising has produced decidedly calming conclusions. Among them: Threats posed by DVRs and clutter to TV ads are overblown; print and online advertising are effective; and word-of-mouth about brands is largely driven by paid media ads.
The Future of Advertising project, undertaken by the Wharton School in cooperation with the Advertising Research Foundation in December, bears its first fruits with 21 papers to be published in the ARF's Journal of Advertising later this month…
Advertising Growth Spreads in All Mobile Formats
MediaPost
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?&ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090514005194&newsLang=en
According to the quarterly Mobile Advertising Report by Brightkite and GfK Technology, 38% of US mobile phone owners recall seeing advertising on their cell phones in the first quarter of 2009, although for Smartphone (such as iPhone) users, 59% recalled seeing mobile advertising. For iPhone users, the number one format for seeing ads is mobile web advertising, while for other Smartpphone users, it is SMS. Overall awareness of mobile phone ads has risen in the twelve months, the survey of 1,000 users found, increasing from 6.8% of the user population in Q1 2008 to 10.8% a year later…
Music Labels Cut Friendlier Deals With Start-Ups
By BRAD STONE
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/28/technology/start-ups/28music.html?_r=1
SAN FRANCISCO — With CD sales dropping fast, it is not hard to imagine how the major music labels could benefit from the growth of Web start-ups like Imeem. The company’s service lets people listen to songs, discover new artists and share their favorites with friends. And in return, Imeem owes the labels licensing fees for use of the music.
But two months ago, Imeem’s founder, Dalton Caldwell, was ready to pull the plug. While 26 million people a month were using the service, Imeem owed millions of dollars to the music labels, and income from advertising was nowhere close to covering expenses. “It reached a point where it was not even clear it was worth doing any more,” Mr. Caldwell said…
Viewers 35+ Drive Long-Form Video Streaming
http://www.nielsen-online.com/press.jsp?section=ne_press_releases&nav=1
According to Nielsen Online, YouTube continued to rank as the No. 1 video Web brand with 5.5 billion total streams in April. Meanwhile, Hulu continued its explosive growth, increasing 490 percent in total streams year-over-year, from 63.2 million in April 2008 to 373.3 million in April 2009, making it the fastest growing brand among the top 10.
Jon Gibs, vice president, media & analytics, Nielsen Online, said "Historically short form, clip-length video has ruled streaming on the Web... Hulu, along with pure-play providers... have spent the past two years trying to convince consumers that the Internet can be a good place to watch full length programming... April's strong showings... suggest that consumers are beginning to listen…"
NAA Leads Meeting of Newspaper Execs to Discuss Charging for Online Content
By Mark Fitzgerald and Jennifer Saba
Published: May 28, 2009 UPDATED 5:20 PM ET http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003977470
CHICAGO The nation's top newspaper executives gathered at a Chicago O'Hare airport hotel today to discuss charging for online content and protecting intellectual property.
The summit was initiated by the Newspaper Association of America in response to the recent hearings on Capitol Hill. John Sturm, the NAA's CEO, told E&P the event's purpose was to bring together top publishers to "discuss how best to support and preserve the traditions of newsgathering that will serve the American public."
Sturm said those gathered discussed such topics as protection of intellectual property rights, as well as possible approaches to Congress and Administration to address these and other issues.
He added that antitrust counsel was present during the meeting.
The closed-door powwow was first made public by former Chicago Tribune Managing Editor James Warren on The Atlantic's Web site. E&P found the meeting, in the Dublin and London rooms of the Hilton Hotel in O'Hare, where lunch was brought in to the group…
Digital Radio Ad Spending Surges Amid Medium's Downturn
Joe Mandese, May 22, 2009 07:30 AM
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=106617
Amid an apparent implosion in its terrestrial broadcast marketplace, radio is experiencing a digital boom. Total radio advertising declined 24% to $3.430 billion during the first quarter of 2009, according to figures released Thursday by trade association the Radio Advertising Bureau, but the radio industry's digital advertising revenues surged 13% to $101 million.
Digital, which consists of revenue derived from radio Web sites, was the only one of the five revenue categories reported by the RAB to experience growth during the quarter, and while it is the radio industry's newest source, it is beginning to nip on the heels of far more established categories such as network radio, which declined 13% to $238 million.
"Radio's digital platforms are experiencing the greatest growth and are reflective of the dollar shift from media to marketing by many of today's advertisers," stated Jeff Haley, RAB president-CEO. "As consumer and technological sophistication increases, advertisers will continue to support those platforms which appeal to their customers' increased on-demand behaviors -- and Radio is primed for it…"
News Sharing: One For All, All For One?
By Kim McAvoy - TVNEWSDAY, May 20 2009
http://www.tvnewsday.com/articles/2009/05/20/daily.1/
Local TV coverage of President Obama's commencement address at Arizona State University a week ago may have seemed fairly typical to Phoenix viewers.
But it wasn't.
Much of the coverage was jointly produced by three stations. Only sharp-eyed viewers flipping channels would have noticed.
Fox-owned KSAZ, Scripps' KNXV (ABC) and Meredith's KPHO (CBS) relied on their recently formed newsgathering partnership to supply footage of the president's arrival and his motorcade through the city.
Cable Is Building Apps for Your TV — Slowly
By Saul Hansell
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/03/cable-is-building-apps-for-your-tv-slowly/
The cable industry needs to learn a lesson or two from Apple’s iPhone. That’s a message I heard throughout my time at the Cable Show in Washington. In particular, several executives boasted of new technology that would open set-top boxes to applications written by independent developers, much as Apple has done with the iTunes App store…
Radio Listening holds steady
http://www.insideradio.com/pdheadlines.asp?phid=562891&PT=Today%27s+Top+Stories
More than half (55%) of those surveyed by American Media Services listen to about the same amount of radio than in the past. Nearly one in five (18%) have increased their listening. When commercials come on -- a majority (56%) say they keep listening to the station.
Will Targeted TV Ads Justify Higher Fees?
Corporate marketers will be watching closely when the first "addressable" ads are aired in June
By Burt Helm
http://www.businessweek.com/print/magazine/content/09_16/b4127000389178.htm
For years, advertisers have hankered to tailor TV ads to specific groups of people, much as they can on the Internet or via direct mail. The cable, phone, and satellite TV companies are eager to do the same, since such an approach could potentially generate more revenue…
YouTube Is Doomed (GOOG)
Benjamin Wayne, Apr. 9, 2009, 6:30 AM
http://www.businessinsider.com/is-youtube-doomed-2009-4
YouTube, that incandescent tower of video Babel; monument to the sloughed-off detritus of our exponentially-exploding digital culture; a Technicolor cataract of skateboarding dogs, lip-synching college students, political punditry, and porn; has reached the zenith of its meteoric rise; and Icarus-like, wings melting; is spiraling back to earth. Despite massive growth, ubiquitous global brand awareness, presidential endorsement, and the world’s greatest repository of illegally-pirated video content, Google’s massive video folly is on life-support, and the prognosis is grave…
TV Stations Hit $1 Bil. in '08 Online Ads
That’s according to a Borrell Associates report commissioned by the TV Bureau of Advertising
By Janet Stilson, April 2, 2009
http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/media/e3i06cf86cfd5eb4356f5b46ecbaed9a0c0
NEW YORK Broadcast TV stations reached the $1 billion revenue mark in online advertising sales for the first time in 2008, a 36 percent rise over 2007. And while in the majority of markets newspapers are still outstripping the TV outlets with unique visitors, the broadcasters are gaining ground…
Cable TV: Pushing to Become More Web-like
The cable companies are trying to emulate online video sites before those sites eat their lunch
By Tom Lowry
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_15/b4126050298367.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index+-+temp_news+%2B+analysis
When a guy like Steve B. Burke likens TV viewers' stampede online to a "wildfire," you know the cable industry is feeling the pressure. Burke is the president and chief operating officer of Comcast, America's largest cable distributor. He notes that Hulu.com and other popular Web sites that offer access to TV shows and films attract a fraction of the viewers that cable does. But Burke acknowledges that he and his rivals can't afford to sit still--not when Americans can get many favorite shows online for free…