The New Media Sphere

Fake commercials spread quickly online | CNET News.com

Link: Fake commercials spread quickly online | CNET News.com.

Even as the British unit of Volkswagen prepared Wednesday to confront the creators of a fake Volkswagen commercial circulating online, executives there said they were worried that the incident would not be the last.

The Emerging Mediascape: Interactive Television

National Public Radio ombudsperson Jeffrey Dvorkin and Boston Globe media critic Mark Jurkowitz consider how new sources of information are interacting and competing with traditional forms of journalism. Are we less informed today, amid a torrent of voices and technologies offering us so-called news, than citizens in olden, pre-digital days? How has the role of print or radio journalism changed since the advent of the Web and the 24-7 operations of the TV cable news networks? Interactive Television

Amish in the City is Mad Mad House Lite

Last night I checked out Amish in the City while I was o­n the elliptical machine at my gym. I ended up wearing myself out through the first hour before I needed to leave. I o­nly saw the first hour, but I was a deer in headlights. Mind you, I was much more fixated o­n Mad Mad House than I am o­n this show, but the look and feel of the show is very much the same, as is the formula. Although Amish in the City has neither Avocado nor Art, it does have Mose.  Mose is the reason to watch Amish in the City because other than Mose, the rest of Amish are really just eye candy.

An active interest in kids

Nickelodeon executives say they care about kids. So, get this, to help children get more active, the network will go dark in October. Saturday, Oct. 2, has been designated Nick's "Worldwide Day of Play," and from 12 to 3 p.m the network will skip showing its usual "Jimmy Neutron" and "Hey Arnold!" and air a message telling kids to play. Preempting programming "is our way of saying to kids, get up, go outside and be active," Nickelodeon President Cyma Zarghami told the Daily News last week.New York Daily News - Entertainment - An active interest in kids

Frog to bow new series on Internet

The WB's new fall series "Jack and Bobby" won't debut on TV. Instead, Frog and Warner Bros. TV have signed a deal with corporate sibling America Online to have the series premiere online. It's the first time a television show has ever aired online legally before it is broadcast. Debut of a series on the Internet before it's on TV is a riskier move, balancing the benefits of online promotion with the risk that people who watch it online, where it runs without commercials, won't tune in to see it again on air. But a WB rep said by making the show available only to the 3.5 million AOL broadband subscribers, it will serve primarily as a large sampling opportunity. "We really see it more like a movie preview screening," explained WB exec veep of marketing Suzanne Kolb. "We think we can get the audience that sees this not only to watch future episodes, but most importantly to talk to others about it."
Variety.com - Frog to bow new series on Internet

'Advertise All You Like ... Just Don't Screw Up the Show!'

[A Washington, DC, Marketing Company] surveyed 338 TV viewers in the most popular film, entertainment, women's, family, and mainstream online communities. When asked about their thoughts on product placement, 83% said, "It Doesn't Bother Me," or that they had "No Opinion" on the advertising tactic. Only 17% of fans surveyed reported they found product placements "Annoying" or "Offensive." 'Advertise All You Like ... Just Don't Screw Up the Show!'

Halftime show flap puts spotlight on sex in prime time

"The vast majority of folks - 90 percent_think it (the tearaway) was staged," said Pete Snyder of New Media Strategies, an Internet research firm that polled 1,500 Web users Monday. "They don't think it was particularly exciting," he said, because Janet Jackson "is a total has-been." KRT Wire | 02/02/2004 | Halftime show flap puts spotlight on sex in prime time

Cable Makes Inroads In Advance Sales

The 2004 upfront selling season -- the time during which TV networks try to secure big ad-money commitments from advertisers for their new programs -- has begun in earnest, but in a very different starting place. The early move to cable was partly led by Ford Motor, media buyers and sellers say. Ford executives couldn't be reached to comment. "The health and beauty companies and the automobile companies are the ones pushing money to cable right now," says Bill McOwen, director of national broadcast for Havas' MPG. Yum Brands' Taco Bell has also committed dollars to cable, a person familiar with the company says.Cable Makes Inroads In Advance Sales

TV ADVERTISING DOESN'T WORK FOR MATURE PACKAGE GOODS

TV advertising doesn't work for most mature package-goods brands, and the industry's increase in ad spending over the past three years has accelerated waste, concludes a sure-to-be-controversial Deutsche Bank report. The study, released on the eve of the TV buying upfront, examined 23 household, personal-care, food and beverage brands using customized marketing-mix analysis from Information Resources Inc. It found only 18% generated a positive return on investment (ROI) in the short term (a year or less) from TV advertising. Less than half (45%) saw their TV investment pay off long term. TV ADVERTISING DOESN'T WORK FOR MATURE PACKAGE GOODS

ABC going to extremes

New Alphabet primetime topper Steve McPherson will unveil a fall schedule today with eight new shows and at least an hour of changes on every night of the week (save for Saturday). Given the dire straits in which the network finds itself at the end of this season, however, the sked offers a surprising sense of stability, with established shows anchoring most nights and a greatly improved program flow than that in last year's patchwork quilt of a sked.
Yahoo! News - ABC going to extremes