MEDIA SPOTLIGHT by Power Media Group

Spending on cable and online ads are up

2005-12-19T08:56:00.000-08:00

TV ad spending down as niche markets elbow in on dollars

19 December 2005
SmartBrief, Inc.®
1100 H ST NW, Suite 1000
Washington, DC 20005

Television ads with the right formula may still work, advertising experts say, but growing niche markets and other mediums are giving the second-largest advertising market a run for its money. Broadcast network TV ad spending is down 1.9% to $16 billion through the first nine months of 2005, while spending on cable and online ads are up. And a BBDO creative director says "you have to do something remarkable," for TV ads to have an impact.

Blogging not always popular, but necessary

2005-12-12T09:22:00.000-08:00

Panelists at the Utah Information Technology Association agreed that bloogin is not always popular, but necessary.

Coverage of this week's meeting concluded;

What do Utah's experts think of "blogging?" Opinions vary, but panelists agreed that it is a phenomenon that larger companies, in particular, cannot afford to ignore. While the credibility of bloggers is still much lower than that of formal publications who must follow journalistic standards and rules, blogging can be a beneficial means of perpetuating information to a larger community than ever before.

Weber State Coach's Corner Now on Channel 3

2005-12-12T09:18:00.000-08:00

Weber State Coach's Corner Now on Channel 3

Ogden - The Coach's Corner with veteran media host Bill Marcroft and Weber State University Basketball Coach Joe Cravens airs now on Channel 3.

Channel 3 is carried by Comcast Cable along the Wasatch Front and features high school sports and Park City programming. The WSU Coach's Corner features interviews with players, coach's and game footage. It will also be available on Comcast on Demand.

Marcroft is well known for his work at channel 2 in Salt Lake City and as the past “Voice of the Utes” and the present “Voice of the Utah Summer Games.”

For a complete broadcast schedule visit, www.comcastutah.com or www.northernutahtelevision.com

####

NUTV Northern Utah Television

924 24th Street Suite 12

Ogden, Utah 84401

801-627-0430

www.northernutahtelevision.com

Study: Ads in video games hit mark

2005-12-06T13:52:00.000-08:00

Monday, December 5, 2005

Video games have "more consumption by males 18-34 than television.

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Ads in video games can have a major influence on whether people buy products and recommend them to friends, a new study by Nielsen Entertainment concludes.

Nielsen has been studying advertising in games for more than a year in a joint project with game publisher Activision Inc.

Previous studies have shown that static ads in games, such as a billboard or blimp, or integrated advertising, such as a car a player must drive, can improve awareness of a brand in the same way as a 30-second TV spot.

But a new study released Monday shows that when ads are on screen long enough and are highly integrated in the game, they can make players feel more positive about a product.

"There's a whole new variable here," Nielsen Senior Vice President Michael Dowling said about the persuasive aspect of in-game advertising.

Game publishers have been trying to find a standard measurement of awareness so they can charge in the same way that television and other advertising is sold.

"Here is this medium that has more consumption by males 18-34 than television today," said Robert A. Kotick, chairman and chief executive of Activision, based in Santa Monica. "So if you just measure awareness, we can do better."

Nielsen's study included 1,350 male gamers between the ages of 13 and 44. The participants were split into four groups that played games with ads and two groups that played the same games without ads.

Three other groups watched TV shows, some with traditional ads, some with product placements and some with no advertising.

The study found that when ads were relevant to the game, the ads could remain on screen longer and resulted in a high percentage of brand awareness.

Players surveyed after 20 minutes of game playing also said they would be highly likely to recommend an advertised product to a friend.

The study showed that products can make games more realistic. But ads done in a way the player interprets as inappropriate can also annoy.

Pay for only the cable channels you view?

2005-11-30T12:28:00.000-08:00

Cable By the Channel Favored
FCC Chairman Aims To Limit Indecency

By Arshad Mohammed
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 30, 2005; Page D01

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin J. Martin yesterday said allowing consumers to buy cable channels individually, rather than in packages, might not be more expensive and would help protect children from indecent and violent programs.

Martin's comments were a warning to satellite and cable providers that if they fail to promote family-friendly viewing, Congress could consider imposing decency standards such as those that apply to over-the-air network broadcasts.

The FCC chairman's remarks about "a la carte" pricing at a congressional hearing offered support for an idea fiercely opposed by the industry, which argues that this will raise consumer costs and ultimately limit TV choices.

Industry analysts said Martin's testimony would give ammunition to those who want to pass legislation requiring providers to sell channels individually, but added that such a step would face stiff political resistance.

Lawmakers regularly decry increasingly coarse content on TV, but they have been at a loss to enact laws to limit it, hemmed in by First Amendment protections and by a powerful entertainment industry lobby.

Martin was unusually blunt in faulting the industry for not doing enough to protect children.

"For the last three years, I have . . . been urging the cable and satellite industry to give parents more of the tools they need. Thus far, there has been too little response," Martin said at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing that included testimony by entertainment executives and anti-indecency groups.

"If cable and satellite operators continue to refuse to offer parents more tools such as family-friendly programming packages, basic indecency and profanity restrictions may be a viable alternative that should also be considered," he said. He also said he would prefer voluntary action by the industry.

In his testimony, Martin repudiated an FCC study released last year by his predecessor, Michael K. Powell, that found that a la carte pricing would raise consumer costs and would not be viable for the industry.

Martin said that study "relied on problematic assumptions and presented incorrect and at times biased analysis."

He said the agency's new study "concludes that purchasing cable programming in a more a la carte manner in fact could be economically feasible and in consumers' best interest."

Cable industry executives rejected the notion.

Advertising methods

2005-11-22T14:44:00.000-08:00

Keeping tabs on media trends involves a great deal of serching. Today, we googled, "advertising methods," hoping for a list of the top ways to advertise. In the process,we were guided to The MARKETING SURVIVAL KIT Newsletter.

Having subscribed to the free newsletter, we were very pleased to receive this article. Note bold text for the highlights. The key phrase is "Have your TV spots, radio commercials, print ads, and sales letters all send people to your web site where they can spend as much time as they need perusing your in-depth material."

How to Correct Common Marketing Mistakes
by Kevin Nunley, guest columnist
http://getresponse.com/t/16097/

A well-tuned marketing campaign is a beautiful thing. Your
advertising not only connects with just the right prospects, but
it seems everyone is talking about you, your product, or service.

Sales come in at a nice pace. Profits mount as you quietly
chuckle thinking how little you spent on marketing. Suddenly,
moving your company forward doesn't seem hard at all.

Unfortunately, marketing rarely works that easily, at least at
first. Rhonda, who is marketing director for a mid-sized
business-to-business company, purchased an expensive series of
television ads to boost product awareness. "I thought getting our
brand in front of so many people would naturally increase sales,
but it didn't happen," she laments.

Meanwhile, Ted, working hard to get a home-based business
opportunity started, sunk his entire three-month marketing budget
into a sales letter to 1,000 prospects. Only a few responded
leaving Ted wondering what he did wrong.

Most marketing gets held back by a few very common mistakes.
Let's look at a few along with ways you can easily correct them
to get your advertising back on track.

Mistake #1: Your marketing gets lost in the crowd. Each of us
gets bombarded by thousands of advertising messages every day.

From magazines, to radio ads, to a TV talking in the background,
to the flier left on your front door, the daily ad barrage
continues.

Prospects quickly learn to ignore marketing. After all, most of
it has very little to do with their concerns. Prospects only pay
attention to marketing that is radically different or marketing
that speaks directly to their most immediate concerns.

Highly innovative marketing rarely works. It may be one of the
most counterintuitive features of promotion. How many of the
outrageous dot-com ads from the 1990s do you still remember?

Instead, separate your ad from the pack by making it talk
directly to something the prospect really cares about. It should
point out a problem your product or service can solve.

Make the language of your ad sound like the way customers would
describe the problem, the solution, and the way they feel after
the problem is solved. This is language that gets attention.

Mistake #2: Marketing targets an audience that is too broad.
Before you can address the specific concerns of a prospect, you
have to narrow the groups of people your marketing is reaching.

Ted's sales letter didn't work because the list of addresses he
mailed to weren't people who had already shown an interest in
starting a home-based business. Many were already owners of good-
sized businesses. Others were managers in companies with little
time or inclination to work from home.

Ted would do better to use a more tightly targeted list of people
who had recently requested information on a home-based business
or had tried one or more opportunities in recent years.

An ad in your big city newspaper will reach a great many people,
but very few will be in the market to buy your improvement for
offset printers. In this case, your ad would work much better in
a trade magazine for printing companies.

TV and newspapers work very well to sell products used by a
large, diverse mass of people. You can target TV and newspapers
further by putting ads on specialized cable TV programs or in
special neighborhood editions of newspapers. Likewise, you can
get better targeting and lower rates by placing ads in regional
editions of national magazines.

Mistake #3: Your ad budget gets blown in a one-shot marketing
gamble. This is one of the most common and often heart-breaking
problems. A new store will spend everything they have on one
radio remote, full page newspaper ad, or direct mailer. If the
first try doesn't work (and it often doesn't), there is no money
left for a second or third try.
Which leads us to the next mistake.

Mistake #4: Marketing isn't consistent. The old saying among
veteran marketers is the first ad never works. You get
consistent, long-term results by continuing your ad over weeks
and months.

It may be true that familiarity breeds contempt, but not in
marketing. Familiarity develops awareness and confidence in
prospects so they buy.

There are endless examples of a small inexpensive ad that
appeared in the local Sunday paper every issue for years. Sales
started slowly, then built to a constant roar.

I'll never forget the owners of an auto parts supplier who
strongly believed if the ad didn't pull astounding results the
first time, there was no use in continuing. They bounced from ads
in one publication to ads in another with little to show for
their effort.

Mistake #5: Marketing fails to tie different media together. Too
many times the direct mail campaign a company does has little to
do with the magazine ads they are running. Instead, make your ads
in different media all relate to each other.

Take the audio from your TV commercial and adapt it for a radio
spot. Use a still from the TV commercial in your magazine and
newspaper ads. Take the still photo and some of the verbiage from
your spot and use it in a direct mail campaign.

The continuity will increase your chances of breaking through the
marketing clutter to really reach prospects.

Keep in mind different media work in different ways,
accomplishing some things better than others. Television SHOWS
how your product or service works. Radio helps people know the
FEELING of using your product. Newspapers and magazines are good
at EXPLAINING how things work. Direct mail utilizes the power of
the letter to talk to your prospects in a very personal one-on-
one way.

Mistake #6: Finally, don't belive the hype that the Internet is
somehow dead or dying. USA Today recently reported the number of
people using the Web has doubled since the Internet Boom in 1998.
Huge numbers of consumers and businesses worldwide now understand
the Web is a wonderful place to find a large variety, get things
done fast, and uncover a lower price.

Use your web site to give visitors all the information they need
to understand and buy your product or service. Have your TV
spots, radio commercials, print ads, and sales letters all send
people to your web site where they can spend as much time as they
need perusing your in-depth material.

Marketing is one of those aspects of life where the tried-and-
true often works best. Use these proven solutions to common
marketing mistakes to insure your advertising and promotion
efforts bring the results you expect.

Kevin Nunley provides marketing advice and copywriting. See his
10,000 marketing ideas and popular promotion packages at
http://getresponse.com/t/16098/ Reach Kevin at kevin@drnunley.com or
603-249-9519.

A desire by media companies to put more shows on the web

2005-11-22T13:44:00.000-08:00

AOL, IAC Invest $16 Million in Net TV Startup Brightcove
22 Nov 2005

Article courtesy of VOX

Internet TV startup Brightcove, which has developed online tools to get video distributed on websites and collect fees or ad revenue, has gotten high-profile investors America Online and InterActiveCorp (along with Allen Bank and Trust, and Hearst) to invest $16.2 million in the company, reports Reuters. Brightcove has also inked a distribution deal with AOL. Forrester Research analyst Josh Bernoff is quoted as saying the investments could help break "TV's exclusive lock" on how viewers watch TV.
Bernoff said the move is indicative of internet and media trends: a desire by media companies to put more shows on the web; consumers' appetite for online videos; and booming online advertising.

Program owners who upload videos to Brightcove's servers can opt to have Brightcove attach a 15- or 30-second commercial to the videos - and be charged nothing for the service. Advertisers are charged $25 CPM, a rate higher than the average $16-20 charged on broadcast TV. Brightcove takes an estimated 30 percent cut of ad sales.

Women's cable TV network Oxygen Media and lifestyle television and media network Lime, funded by AOL founder Steve Case, are early customers of Brightcove. Several big media companies are testing the network, according to Brightcove founder Jeremy Allaire.

Comparative growth in the media

2005-11-21T13:41:00.000-08:00

According to a Kragun Research estimate, newspapers have an anemic growth forecast. Television programs in syndication have strong potential, but the Internet has the best projections for future growth. As grow these various media, so grows their potential for attracting advertising dollars.

Basic cable has the next highest forecast, but there is a big gap between this crowded media and the top two.

Robert Marich points out in the November 21 Kragan Newsletter, "Internet media is a growth sector these days, but traditional media companies are mostly anchored in adjacent media sectors with only moderate prospects."

While this report is aimed at investors, the report probably gives us a good idea of where to best spend our advertising dollars.

The entire report - inlcuding a bar graph - can be found at
http://www.kagan.com/ContentDetail.aspx?group=5&id=114

US to loose control of the Internet?

2005-11-17T09:06:00.000-08:00

Al Gore may or may not have invented the Internet, but it was definately an American development. There is a move afoot to parse out control of the Internet to a more world-wide control. If this happens, the Internet would splinter. Two people in different parts of the world might type in the same URL - such as powermedia.us - and they would reach different web sites

(**See seperate article below for history of the Internet**)

A UN summit was held this week with the agenda to wrest away US control, and the results of that conference bear watching. Here is just one news item from that summit.

Compromise On Internet Governance Opens U.N. Conference
Nov. 16, 2005
InformationWeek
By The Associated Press

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP)--Negotiators from more than 100 countries agreed late Tuesday to leave the United States in charge of the Internet's addressing system, averting a U.S.-EU showdown at this week's U.N. technology summit.
U.S. officials said early Wednesday that instead of transferring management of the system to an international body such as the United Nations, an international forum would be created to address concerns. The forum, however, would have no binding authority.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce Michael Gallagher said the deal means the United States will leave day-to-day management to the private sector, through a quasi-independent organization called the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN.

"The Internet lives to innovate for another day," he told The Associated Press.

Negotiators have met since Sunday to reach a deal ahead of the U.N. World Summit on the Information Society, which starts Wednesday. World leaders are expected to ratify a declaration incorporating the deal during the summit, which ends Friday.

The summit was originally conceived to address the digital divide--the gap between information haves and have-nots--by raising both consciousness and funds for projects.

Instead, it has centered largely around Internet governance: oversight of the main computers that control traffic on the Internet by acting as its master directories so Web browsers and e-mail programs can find other computers.

That job is handled by ICANN, which answers to the U.S. government.

The EU mediated between the United States and a group of countries including China and Iran that have sought to replace ICANN with a multi-country group under U.N. auspices.

But Washington declared in June that it would retain oversight indefinitely, despite what many countries thought was a longstanding policy to one day completely turn the function over to ICANN.

In September, the EU insisted that a new combination of governments and the private sector share responsibility of policing the Internet.

The compromise was the creation of a forum with representatives from government, civil society and the private sector, said David Gross, the State Department's top official on Internet policy.

Besides taking up addressing issues, the forum could address spam, cybercrime, and any other issue its participants want to bring up, Gross said. The first meeting will likely be held in Athens, Greece, early next year, he said.

Gross said the forum would not have oversight authority nor would it do "anything that will create any problems for the private sector."

James Love, a U.S.-based consumer advocate who follows international policies affecting technology, said the forum should be influential, even if it lacks authority. In an online posting, Love said businesses have attempted similar forums in the past, but none with the legitimacy of a U.N.-sanctioned group.

Meanwhile, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization on Tuesday expressed concern about what it called the "rural digital divide."

"The rural digital divide is isolating almost 1 billion of the poorest people who are unable to participate in the global information society," the agency said in a statement.

Ahead of the summit, rights watchdogs say, both Tunisian and foreign reporters have been harassed and beaten. Reporters Without Borders says its secretary-general, Robert Menard, has been banned from attending.

*************************

Lawrence Roberts of MIT connected a Massachusetts computer with a California computer in 1965 over dial-up telephone lines. . . . .
The Internet, then known as ARPANET, was brought online in 1969 under a contract let by the renamed Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) which initially connected four major computers at universities in the southwestern US (UCLA, Stanford Research Institute, UCSB, and the University of Utah). The contract was carried out by BBN of Cambridge, MA under Bob Kahn and went online in December 1969. . . . .
Charley Kline at UCLA sent the first packets on ARPANet as he tried to connect to Stanford Research Institute on Oct 29, 1969. The system crashed as he reached the G in LOGIN!

Entire article available at
http://www.walthowe.com/navnet/history.html

"The good, the bad and the ugly of On Demand "

2005-11-12T13:50:00.000-08:00

The good, the bad and the ugly of On Demand

The good
You can select from a large collection of pay-per-view movies. Both recent theatrical hits and older favorites and classics are available, typically costing $2.99 to $3.99.

The vast majority of On Demand programming is available at no extra charge. About 95% of the more than 3,800 movies, music videos, series repeats and other programs are free.

You can create your own viewing schedule, unchained from the networks.

The bad
You can't get On Demand unless you subscribe to digital cable, which boosts monthly cable bills $12 a month or more depending on how many premium channels you order. (So far, 40% of the cable industry's 63 million subscribers have signed on up for digital.)

The On Demand menu, with multiple subheadings for each category, can be daunting and time-consuming to navigate.

Delays and interruptions in service, caused by heavy use and software shortcomings, occur most frequently on Fridays and Saturdays, peak usage times for On Demand, says Comcast exec Page Thompson.

"The content has really exploded," says fellow Comcast representative Jerome Espy, acknowledging recent system overload troubles in the Detroit area. "So that's why you see those glitches showing up. We're in the middle of installing new software," which he says will solve the problems.

The ugly
Comcast has made no friends recently by removing some popular channels from its conventional analog cable lineup and switching them exclusively to digital. Most prominently, Comcast customers in the Detroit area and elsewhere can no longer get HBO unless they subscribe to the more expensive digital service.

Mike Duffy
Courtesy of http://www.freep.com/
November 11, 2005
Copyright © 2005 Detroit Free Press Inc.

Consumer wallets are maxed out?

2005-11-12T13:44:00.000-08:00

Consumer Entertainment Spending Hits Post-WWII High, Pointing To Saturation

Courtesy of kagan.com

Various theories are offered to explain why box office is slumping (down 6% year-to-date) and home video titles have shorter shelf lives: The most common is that this year's movies aren't as good as in past years. Also, DVDs of TV shows are gobbling up video shelf space, elbowing aside theatrical films.

Here's another explanation not often discussed but supported by Kagan Research data. By historical standards, per capita spending on TV-video-cinema entertainment has rocketed since 1966. A possible conclusion concerning entertainment spending is that consumer wallets are maxed out.

In 2004, consumer outlays on TV entertainment climbed to 1.76% of median household income. That compares to just 0.26% in 1968, notes soon-to-be published Kagan Research databook Media Trends 2006 (twelfth edition). The mid 1960s was a low point in entertainment spending on cinema-TV (home video did not yet exist). Consumer spending as a percent of income is something of a vast V spanning five decades, with percentage spending on entertainment sliding down from the late 1940s to the depths of the 1960s.

"We seem to be at an historical pinnacle with entertainment spending growth," notes Deana Myers, Senior Analyst at Kagan Research. "With concerns over increasing energy prices and inflation, coupled with declining consumer confidence, Americans will have less disposable income, which could curtail their entertainment spending."

On a dollar basis, each U.S. household spent on average $783 in 2004 on TV-video-cinema entertainment, versus just $20 in 1968, when cinema tickets were the main drain on consumer wallets. Cable TV was a minor part of 1968 spending given it was confined to rural areas and cheap, as it just re-transmitted broadcast TV signals. Premium pay TV popped up in 1975, followed by home video, pay-per-view and DBS, which in aggregate expanded entertainment spending.

In addition to more media consumption, the dollar spending gets a boost because of wage gains and inflation. The median household income in 1968 was $7,743 per year, zooming to $44,389 in 2004. On the other hand, entertainment spending calculated on a percentage basis tends to wash out the impact of inflation, because both income and entertainment spending are impacted in lockstep.

For the future, elaborate in-home entertainment systems, such as high definition TV, can be expected to tilt consumer spending to subscription-based TV services with HD channels. For a flat monthly fee, consumers get gobs of programming. In past years, cable has proven to be "recession resistant," although going forward consumers may look hard at adding or keeping premium options. At the same time, transactional video rentals and out-of-home cinema going are disadvantaged, as they offer less value per dollar, notes Kagan Research newsletter Kagan Media Money.

The bulging consumer spending is also a good omen for DBS, which prices TV service lower than cable, and new TV service from telcos, which vow to undercut cable prices, notes Myers.

Robert Marich

Old ways not extinct yet

2005-11-11T09:48:00.000-08:00

New Survey Shows Americans Trust Traditional News Sources Most

PRSA/Harris Interactive survey compares views of consumers, execs and
congressional staffers

NEW YORK and ROCHESTER, N.Y., Nov. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- When it comes to
Americans' reliance upon news, what's "new and hot" is not the choice for many
consumers, business executives and Washington insiders, according to the
findings of a groundbreaking survey developed jointly by Harris Interactive(R)
and the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Foundation.
The national survey, titled Executive, Congressional and Consumer
Attitudes Toward Media, Marketing and the Public Relations Profession,
compares attitudes and opinions about media, marketing and public relations
among American adult consumers, Fortune 1000 executives, and congressional
staffers. And while there were marked differences among the three groups, one
of the survey's major findings was that substantial majorities of each group
are interested in the news and they tend to trust traditional news sources
most.
Contrary to oft-repeated assessments that Americans are losing interest in
the news, the survey found that majorities of all three groups polled say they
use news, pay attention to it, want to keep up with it, and have a distinct
set of news sources they depend on.

* At least seven in 10 general consumers (71%), congressional staffers
(77%) and executives (87%) agree that they have a defined set of news
sources that they trust to provide them with fair and balanced coverage
and that they largely ignore other sources.

* Majorities (53% to 71%) of the three groups surveyed say they like to
keep up with the news, but it's just one of the many ways they spend
their leisure time. However, some (15% to 43%) say they are "news
junkies," asserting that keeping up with the news is a favorite leisure
time activity.

* Sixty-five percent of general consumers, 75 percent of executives and 80
percent of congressional staffers actively look for news and information
that challenges their political opinions and social beliefs.

* Minorities (21% to 42%) of each of the groups surveyed rely heavily on
independent sources like Internet chat rooms, blogs or other alternative
media to get news and information.

Most Trusted: Tried and True Traditional Media
Despite some talk of a media landscape dominated by blogs and Internet
chat rooms, the survey finds that the most trusted news sources are the tried
and true -- public TV and radio programming, national newspapers and
commercial broadcast news.

* Sixty-one percent of general consumers, along with 70 percent of
congressional staffers and 75 percent of executives, trust news shows on
public television or National Public Radio.

* More than half (56%) of general consumers and more than three-quarters
of both executives and congressional staffers (78% each) say they trust
national newspapers like The New York Times, The Washington Post or The
Wall Street Journal.

* Majorities (53% to 62%) of the three groups surveyed say they trust
commercial broadcast news, including network television, cable and
commercial radio networks.

However, trusting news sources doesn't necessarily imply blind loyalty or
a lack of skepticism as minorities of general consumers (43%), congressional
staffers (33%) and executives (28%) agree that most of the news they see is
accurate and unbiased.
There are a number of news sources that garner somewhat lower trust among
respondents, including advocacy groups (18% to 44% of the three groups
surveyed say they completely or somewhat trust this source), pollsters (37% to
51%) and elected or appointed government officials (31% to 53%). Interestingly,
only about half (53%) of congressional staffers say they completely or
somewhat trust public officials.
The least-trusted information sources among the 11 included in the survey
are entertainers or celebrities who support particular causes (8% to 30% of
the three groups surveyed say they completely or somewhat trust them), liberal
(18% to 31%) and conservative (29% to 35%) talk radio hosts, and people who
work in the advertising industry (20% to 25%).
"All of this is important information for professionals who daily are
challenged about which channels and sources they should use to reach consumers
and business/political decision-makers," said Judith T. Phair, president and
CEO of the Public Relations Society of America. "It's easy to read the
headlines in trade and business press about all of the hot 'new' media
channels and start to believe that the traditional press is passe, but this
survey confirms that despite some new entrants, Americans still use news, seek
news and place their trust in the traditional sources."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
SOURCE Harris Interactive
Web Site: http://www.harrisinteractive.com http://www.prsa.org

CBS and NBC into On Demand

2005-11-09T09:02:00.000-08:00

CBS, NBC plan on-demand replays

BY SETH SUTEL
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Will people pay to watch their favorite TV shows when they want to? NBC and CBS are betting on it.
The two networks delivered a major challenge to the half-century-old business model of broadcast television Monday by offering ondemand replays of several top shows including “CSI” and “Law & Order: SVU” for 99 cents.
The replays of NBC shows on the satellite broadcaster DirecTV Inc. will be commercial-free, but viewers will have to buy a new digital video recording box, which is going on sale next week.
The CBS shows will be offered to roughly 5 million subscribers to Comcast Corp.’s digital cable service, a company spokeswoman said.
Those shows will still have commercials, but users will be able to zap through them with their remote controls. Both services start up early next year.
The announcements came just weeks after Walt Disney Co.’s ABC network said it would make available episodes of its hit shows “Desperate Housewives” and “Lost” for viewing on Apple Computer Inc.’s new video iPod for $1.99.
Together, the announcements could mark the beginning of a new way of watching television — what you want, when you want it. Forrester Research analyst Josh Bernoff says the TV distribution model has been “cracked wide open,” while Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett called it “a significant sea change in the way TV is consumed.”
By handing over more control to viewers, media companies are responding to rapid changes in the technology used to distribute, store and view TV shows — much in the way the iPod revolutionized the way people listen to music.
The emerging use of dig-SOURCE: The companies
ital video recorders makes it possible for viewers to store TV shows and then skip past the commercials — something that doesn’t bode well for the traditional business of selling 30-second ads.
At the same time, the growth of high-speed Internet connections has also made piracy of music and other media content like movies and TV shows easier. Video is also increasingly available on the Internet from companies including Yahoo Inc. and Google Inc. that traditional media see as a growing threat.
By delivering some of the most popular TV shows on demand in a legal way, TV networks are hoping to cater to the desires of a growing number of tech-savvy media consumers who already are accustomed to more convenient ways of watching shows, such as getting HBO programs on demand from their cable providers or buying episodes of TV shows on DVD.
“The overwhelming majority of people are still going to watch television in a linear fashion,” said David Zaslav, the head of NBC Universal’s cable business. “But there’s a growing group of people who aren’t looking to see what’s the best show on in that time slot, but what’s the best show available. We need to stay ahead of that.”
Digital video recorders are still a relatively small part of the TV business, making up just 1.1 million of Comcast’s 21.4 million subscribers.
But understanding the fact that consumers are now willing to pay extra for the convenience of having the shows they want when they want them has led ABC, CBS and NBC to see if they can charge money for something that most people think of as free.
For Comcast, the nation’s largest cable operator, the addition of top-rated shows like “CSI” could also become a major boost to its growing video-on-demand service.
After a slow start, video-on-demand services have started to take off for Comcast, with overall usage of those services jumping from only about 20 percent of eligible users in its home market of Philadelphia when the service launched in 2003 to about 85 percent now.
Page Thompson, who handles Comcast’s video-ondemand services, says the company is still talking to major networks about getting other other top-quality shows on its service. Many on-demand shows on Comcast’s service now consist of reruns of cable TV programming.

Sling Box, On Demand, and HDTV are here now

2005-11-08T17:00:00.000-08:00

Introducing the Slingbox™ — a groundbreaking piece of hardwired ingenuity that will literally transform the way you watch television. The Slingbox enables you to watch your TV programming from wherever you are by turning virtually any Internet-connected PC into your personal TV. Whether you’re in another room or in another country, you’ll always have access to your television.
Courtesy of www.slingmedia.us
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ON DEMAND from Comcast Digital Cable allows digital cable customers to select from hundreds of movies and other programs using their existing Digital Cable box, in many cases, for no additional charge. Customers can rewind, fast forward and pause programs, and can store selections for up to 24 hours from the time of ordering, so they can watch programs whenever and however often they like.
ON DEMAND from Comcast Digital Cable is not yet available in all areas, but if it is not yet available in your area it is coming soon!
New releases are only $3.99, and most other movies are $2.99 or less. There is no extra monthly cost for ON DEMAND from Comcast Digital Cable; you simply pay any movies or programs that you view.
ON DEMAND is available only with Comcast Digital Cable.
You can stop your movie anytime you want and it will be saved for up to 24 hours from the time you place your order (viewing times for some programs may vary) you may watch the movie more than once during that time.
Courtesy of www.comcast.com
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In April 1997, the Commission established a timeline that required all television stations to broadcast in digital by certain deadlines. The digital television (DTV) construction requirements vary depending on several factors, including the size of the television market. Affiliates of the top four commercial networks in top ten markets have a deadline to construct DTV facilities prior to May 1, 1999. The deadline for all other commercial stations to construct DTV is May 1, 2002. Finally, public television stations must construct facilities by May 1, 2003. Once constructed, DTV stations must begin partial simulcasting of the analog (NTSC) channel's video content in 2003 and are scheduled to shift to full simulcasting in 2005.8 The goal of the legislature is to have this transition coincide with the purchase of high definition television (HDTV) sets. Once the goal of full transition by 2006 is reached, viewers must have purchased either digital television sets, or the converter boxes that allow analog television sets to receive the digital broadcast.

Courtesy of http://www.law.duke.edu/journals/dltr/articles/2001dltr0014.html

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HDTV provides pictures with several times the clarity of DVDs and over 5 times the resolution of a regular television picture. HDTV is the largest leap in TV technology since color TV replaced black and white.

Color: HDTV provides vivid color, including a wide range of hues (such as subtle purples and reds) without any bleeding at the edges of the image.

Clarity/Detail: HDTV images are as detailed as a high-resolution photograph. It is like looking through a window. When watching a TV program in HD, you will be amazed at the sharpness of the picture. You can even pick up the specks of different colors in an actor’s eyes, or see individual sweat drops on a football player--details you could never see through regular television.

Wide-screen: HDTV allows you to view content in a 16:9 wide-screen format, the same format used in movie theatres. Current TVs use a 4:3 image, which cuts pictures off because it forces a wide image into a narrow space.

Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound: All HDTV programming can provide 5.1 channel Dolby Digital Surround Sound--just like true theatre sound.

To receive HDTV service from Comcast, you must have an HDTV-capable or a HDTV-ready television set. In addition, you need an HDTV cable box that enables you to receive and watch HDTV programs. Comcast will provide this box for an additional monthly charge. (Please understand that not all programs are broadcast in HDTV.

Do I need a special TV to be able to see HDTV?
Yes. Most TV's have 525 horizontal screen lines with the screen itself having a 4:3 ratio of width to height. High-definition television sets, by contrast, get their better picture by having either 720 or 1,080 horizontal screen lines. Most models of high-definition television sets also have a wider movie-style display with a 16:9 ratio which allows you to view a larger area than traditional programming.

Courtesy of www.comcast.com
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Women rule TV

2005-11-01T08:06:00.000-08:00

Women on TV: More than equals
Wives do most of the steering in many new prime-time dramas
Tuesday, October 25, 2005

By Rob Owen, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

This season, women rule TV dramas.

Following last year's success of "Desperate Housewives," that development should come as no surprise; TV executives are eager to emulate recent success.

Although women have had prominent roles in TV since at least the 1960s, this year there is a tangible difference: married women in the driver's seat.

Mary Tyler Moore, a successful single, headlined a self-titled sitcom in the 1970s. Dana Scully, another successful single, was Fox Mulder's equal in every sense on "The X-Files," a 1990s drama. But the new trend elevates wives and relegates husbands to playing second fiddle, particularly in prime-time dramas:

On NBC's "Medium," Patricia Arquette plays the title role and gets the majority of screen time.

The disparity is more pronounced on CBS's imitator, "Ghost Whisperer," where Jennifer Love Hewitt's psychic is front and center, while her paramedic husband (Pittsburgher David Conrad) appears less frequently to offer comfort and support but doesn't get many of his own stories.

On CBS's "Close to Home," Indianapolis prosecutor Annabeth Chase (Jennifer Finnigan) is the focus, while her husband is seen only in rare scenes of Annabeth in domestic life. His character serves almost solely as a sounding board.

On ABC's "Commander in Chief," where first gentleman Rod (Kyle Secor) wins more screen time than most of these other "plus one" guys, he still plays a clear second to his wife, President Mackenzie Allen (Geena Davis).

The reasons for the shift are myriad: They're economic and demographic, they're out of narrative necessity, and they're a result of the maturing of a medium that mirrors changes in society.

Viewers have seen married women in leading roles in the past, especially on sitcoms ("Maude" in the 1970s), but there are fewer examples in prime-time dramas. It has happened from time to time (e.g. Mary Beth Lacey on "Cagney & Lacey" in the 1980s), but usually the female leads in TV dramas are single, as on "Ally McBeal," "Judging Amy," "Gilmore Girls," etc.

In her upcoming book "Redesigning Women: Television After the Network Era" (University of Illinois Press, April 2006), University of Michigan communication studies assistant professor Amanda Lotz charts the rise of female-centered dramas from 1945 to the present in nine-year increments. Seven series fitting that description were made between 1975 and 1984, and more than double that number from the mid-1980s to the mid-'90s.

The floodgates burst open from 1995 to 2004, when more than 35 female-centered dramas were produced. Even then, many of those series starred young single women ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Felicity," "Dark Angel" and more) and aired on smaller networks or niche cable outlets. In time, TV shows with female leads migrated to the larger networks, particularly after NBC's success with "Providence" in 1999.

"In the realm of television history, it is still pretty new," Lotz said by phone last week. "We didn't really [regularly] have women as leads of successful dramas until the mid-to-late '90s. ... The fact that they were single women is significant as part of the complicated history of feminism and how we understand it in popular culture.

"Wrongly, it was assumed that women had to be single to be progressive female characters. ... It took the success of a number of single female characters in these types of shows before taking the next step of female characters who are also in committed and equal relationships."

John Gray, executive producer of "Ghost Whisperer," acknowledged the roles of men and women in TV dramas are changing.

"We've reversed what we saw for so many years where women were just the grace notes," Gray said. "It may be a response to that. The audience seems to be responding to it."

"Ghost Whisperer" writer/producer Emily Fox said she doesn't think of Conrad's character as supporting.

"I think of him as a main character, but she is our point of view," Fox said. "It's more recent that we've had dramas told from a female point of view where females are doing something other than just looking for love -- where they're cops, investigators and now ghost whisperers."

And because the focus is on their jobs, Gray notes, their marital lives are in the background. That presents a new challenge for TV writers who aren't accustomed to crafting secondary stories for male spouses.

Lotz pointed to "Medium," which gives the husband more screen time because the couple have three young children. On "Close to Home," Annabeth and Jack (Christian Kane) have a newborn.

"It almost feels like they don't know what to do with the husband" on "Close to Home," Lotz said. "They want [Annabeth's] personal life, it's an important part of her character to understand she's a young mother, but it seems like it's difficult to blend those aspects [with workplace stories]."

She also notes that because it's a workplace-centered procedural drama, regardless of the gender of the lead, the show would have a 90 percent-10 percent balance of work-to-home scenes.

Garth Ancier, chairman of The WB, said television reflects American cultural shifts.

"You're in a work force where almost half the workers are women," he said. The WB's new drama "Related" focuses on four adult sisters; only one of them is married, and her husband is a supporting character. "The majority of women in this country are breadwinners for their families, so you're just reflecting society."

Tina Pieraccini, professor of broadcasting at the State University of New York at Oswego, agreed.

"Culturally it's not politically correct anymore to have women put second," she said. "You can do that with men, and nobody's going to complain. ... Look at 'Desperate Housewives'; all their husbands are either dying or in the background."

Just as society has evolved, so have television's depictions of it.

"There used to be this perception, and it came through on television, that to be a successful independent woman in a career, you couldn't have it all," Pieraccini said. "That perception isn't there anymore."

And so we get the supportive husband who understands his wife's busy work schedule ("Close to Home") or her supernatural abilities ("Medium," "Ghost Whisperer") as she balances family and career responsibilities.

"As an entertainment medium, television creates fantasized versions of reality. ... We don't want to be in the kitchen; we don't really want to be alone like the 'Ally McBeal' image. We want it all, but we know we need help," Pieraccini said. "Enter the idealized supportive TV husband."

Commensurate with the rise of women, men's roles have been continually diminished throughout TV history, according to Rich Hanley, director of graduate programs in the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn.

"Men have been shuffled off to the margins of television in a slow, steady process," he said. "The general role of men shifted from that of husband/provider/father figure in the 1950s and 1960s to that of ignoramus in the 1970s and 1980s and eventually to that of idiot in the 1990s. Think of 'Father Knows Best' morphing to 'All in the Family' to 'King of Queens.' "

He attributes that shift, in large part, to economics.

"TV will reflect what the audience consists of," he said. "This is one of those periods where women are controlling the remote and they want to see reflected through that culture stuff they're familiar with. ... Men aren't watching network television as much as they previously did. They're watching ESPN; they're playing video games."

Married women in leading roles also mirrors the life changes for the targeted 18-to-49 female audience, said Sharon Ross, an assistant professor in the TV department at Columbia College in Chicago.

"What happens next for all the women who grew up with shows about single women? The logical trajectory is that those women get married and have kids, and you can't keep feeding them what you've been giving them," Ross said, pointing out that even at the end of its run, the women of "Sex and the City" (more of a drama than a comedy by its conclusion) had all paired off and were no longer single.

The role of women behind the scenes in Hollywood may also be a factor, acknowledged Laverne McKinnon, senior vice president of drama development at CBS.

"CBS is a great example of it with ['CSI: Crime Scene Investigation' executive producer] Carol Mendelsohn, ['CSI: Miami' executive producer] Ann Donahue and ['Cold Case' creator] Meredith Stiehm all being female show runners," McKinnon said. "It's reflective of people's experiences and speaks to us as studio and network executives as more and more women have risen to positions of leadership in the entertainment industry and other industries."

Just yesterday, Daily Variety reported a new series in development at ABC for next fall: A drama about the realities of career women with children.

Viewers should bear in mind that this women-in-the-spotlight, men-in-the-wings dynamic is only happening on a few programs. With all the different demographic niches targeted by assorted broadcast and cable networks, the trend will undoubtedly continue but is unlikely to overtake prime time.

"I don't think it's the end of feminism and the beginning of female domination, but it's sort of a natural diversification in these characters," Lotz said. "And I'd still point to the entire FX lineup and many other locations where we have male characters with equivalently dominant screen time."

Saturday night TV wasteland

2005-10-29T11:20:00.000-07:00

TV networks put early end to week

October 21, 2005

BY DAVID BAUDER (AP)

The state of network television on Saturday nights has become so dire that ABC has essentially put a prime-time slot up for auction to anyone who has a compelling idea -- as long as it's done very cheaply.

ABC has put the word out to Hollywood producers that a Saturday night home is available to a program that can be made for no more than $500,000 an episode, which is about a quarter of what the traditional comedy or drama costs.

"Because it's Saturday night, they're willing to try things that they wouldn't try at midweek," said Jeff Bader, ABC's head of scheduling.

Saturday has become the forgotten night for broadcasters, who aren't entirely sure what to do there anymore. They just know it's not worth spending much to seek an audience that clearly has other plans.

"It's the loneliest night of the week for network television and television in general," said Mitch Metcalf, NBC's executive vice president for scheduling.

Except for occasional specials, CBS's "48 Hours Mystery" is the only original Saturday night program on ABC, CBS and NBC this season. Fox has run "COPS" and "America's Most Wanted" on Saturday for years; the WB and UPN don't broadcast.

Viewers with long memories know it wasn't always this way. "Gunsmoke," "Perry Mason," "Mission: Impossible," "Love Boat," "Fantasy Island," "Golden Girls" and "Touched By an Angel" are among the classic series shown on Saturdays.

Saturday night -- date night -- was never the most popular night for TV. But the decline in Saturday viewership caught momentum with the advent of cable television, particularly when HBO scheduled its showcase movies then. The popularity of home videos and DVDs gave viewers still more options, said David Poltrack, chief researcher at CBS.

Since 2000, Saturday night network TV viewership has dropped 39 percent, compared to 16 percent for the seven nights in total, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Along with viewers, advertisers who are increasingly adept at targeting an audience are shying away from Saturdays, Metcalf said.

"They want to get their messages out before the weekend starts, before people make their purchasing decisions for the weekend," he said. "By Saturday, that ship has sailed."

Lately, it's a classic chicken-or-egg argument: Are the viewers fleeing because the networks aren't offering much, or are the networks abandoning Saturdays because they sense viewers' lack of interest?

Networks began dialing back early this decade. Saturday became "movie night," but even that rarely works because people are impatient watching movies clogged with commercials. With shows like "The District" and "Hack," CBS bragged two years ago that it was the only network still in business on Saturday, but that didn't last.

Now it's mostly reruns.

"I'd like to think we all tried," said Kelly Kahl, head of CBS's scheduling department. "We held out probably a little longer. But the choices at some point just become overwhelming."

CBS wraps its reruns in a nice bow: two hours it calls "Crimetime Saturday." It airs episodes of procedural dramas like "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and gets about the same modest ratings as it did with original shows, and even does better among young viewers, Poltrack said. As a result, the network now makes a nice profit on a night where it used to lose money.

Besides movies and NASCAR races, NBC has found Saturday to be a comfortable home for its "Law & Order" franchise. This year it has taken a cue from HBO and is using the night to give viewers a second chance to catch on with its new series. A week ago, NBC ran three straight episodes of "My Name is Earl," and has also showcased "Surface."

"People's lives are so busy and there are so many new shows to watch," Metcalf said. "They key is to pick shows that are showing signs of growth."

For the past few weeks, ABC has given fans of "Lost" a second chance to keep up with that story. It has also aired repeats of "Invasion" and "Commander in Chief." A combination of movies and repeats will fill out the season, Bader said.

Experimentation, along the lines of what ABC is planning, might be the only other recourse on Saturday nights. Why can't the networks try out pilots of new shows, even ones executives have rejected, to see if something draws some interest?

ABC has set no boundaries for the suggestions it seeks: the shows could be reality, scripted, news, sports, whatever, Bader said.

"We use the summer to experiment," he said. "Well, Saturday can be our summer every week."

10 media trends to watch

2005-10-14T08:44:00.000-07:00

10 media trends to watch

Erica Iacono
PR Week USA Oct 5 2005 17:06

From the rise of transparency to the decline of newsprint, every PR pro needs to remain on top of the ever-changing media landscape.

Portability of video content

"It's an understatement to say that the news media have changed almost cosmically over the past several years," says Laurence Moskowitz, CEO of Medialink. And that change, he adds, is not a result of content or society's appetite, but is instead due to technology.

Indeed, technology is at the root of many current trends in the media landscape. But perhaps one for which it has the power to have the most influence is the portability of video content. It was not long ago that news programs or entertainment TV programs could only be viewed from the comfort of one's living room. Now, with the increasing popularity of video on demand, there is a lot of talk about video content on cell phones, says Lela Cocoros, cofounder and partner of October Strategies, a marketing and communications firm that counts a number of cable content providers as clients.

While such technology is already the norm in Japan and parts of Europe, Cocoros says it will be a reality in the US within the next year.

"Probably the next step is a video version of an iPod," says Steve Lanzano, EVP and GM of Havas-owned media planning and buying firm MPG. He adds that this ties in with the overall trend of consumer control of communication. "They get what they want, how they want it, and where they want it," he says. "Distribution can be anywhere."

Giving video the portability feature that print has always enjoyed makes it the dominant content, adds Moskowitz.

Cocoros says that providers likely will have different programming on cell phones or broadband sites, as well as programming specifically designed for those outlets. For marketers, the key to taking advantage of this rising trend is determining the consumer's preferred mode of communication, Lanzano says.

Moskowitz adds that PR pros must attain fluency with technologies and with the kinds of content that can be communication vehicles for clients. "The PR industry remains far less technically adept than its marketing and advertising brethren," he says. "We need to be minding the traditional processes, but we certainly can't be looking in awe - and only awe - at the new ones."

Blogs

In the past couple of years, blogs have grown from an outlet for tech-savvy geeks to something that has reached an almost mainstream level. Indeed, corporations and even media outlets are making blogs part of their marketing strategies. They reached news-breaking entity status when a group of bloggers debunked Dan Rather's report on President Bush's National Guard service.

Although they're considered valuable outlets for marketers - especially PR practitioners - to monitor, Lloyd Trufelman, president of Trylon Communications, says blogs will eventually just be integrated into the media mix, rather than remain a standalone entity.

"Now blogging is becoming very simple and very pedestrian," he says. "I don't know how many of these blogs will exist as viable economic [entities]. If a blog is going to exist as a commercial enterprise, it's going to have to track to the same economic rules that govern all other forms of media."

Mark Weiner, CEO of Delahaye, agrees that the excitement over blogs will settle down, although incidents where blogs break mainstream news will cause periodic spikes in interest. But for the most part, blogs' influence over a large segment of the population appears to be limited.

"We see that, except for a small handful of influential, opinion-leading blogs, for the most part bloggers are people who have an interest in something and are speaking to [those] people who share that interest," Weiner says.

Going forward, PR practitioners need to be mindful of the blog's place in a client's communication strategy, says Ray Kerins, EVP and managing director of corporate communications and media relations at GCI Group. "Every client is not appropriate to have blogs," he says.

The rise of celebrity weeklies

Celebrity news and gossip have been part of the American media landscape since the days of Hedda Hopper and Walter Winchell. And People magazine, the modern founder of celebrity-based journalism, has been a bestseller at the newsstand for more than 30 years, selling more than 1 million copies weekly. Yet the past few years have seen the introduction of a new crop of celebrity magazines, especially weeklies, including In Touch, Life & Style, a retooled Us Weekly and Star, and British import OK!

Recent figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations show a remarkable increase in circulation, newsstand sales, and subscriptions for these types of magazines for the first half of this year. Michael Schiferl, SVP and director of media relations for Weber Shandwick, says that part of the fascination with such magazines is that they provide an escape. And their success is due to the fact that they cut across a lot of demographics, he adds.

However, while the public appetite for celebrity news is not likely to disappear altogether, the recent rise of coverage, and the publications that provide it, is bound to plateau. "People will get sick of it," notes Kerins, "and turn more toward lifestyle news. [But] it'll never go away completely."

The trend in celebrity news is linked to one toward feature-driven content in general, says Schiferl. He cites the Chicago Tribune, which now includes a celebrity gossip column in its front section, as an example. And The Wall Street Journal Weekend Edition's Pursuits section adds to the publication's growing feature component.

Steve Cohn, editor of the Media Industry Newsletter, says such adjustments will continue as newspapers and newsmagazines try to attract new readers or keep ones they might be otherwise losing to other media outlets.

Media transparency

It is no secret that traditional media have suffered in credibility and reputation over the past few years. While promises by public editors and apologies by editors-in chief for publications' transgressions have become far too common, some outlets are now considering other ways to regain readers' trust.

Kerins says media companies are more likely to utilize outside PR firms than in previous years.

"You're seeing a much greater convergence of public relations in the news media," he says.

For many media organizations, transparency is a growing trend, says Sam Whitmore, editor of Sam Whitmore's Media Survey, a website that offers analysis of the industry.

"I think media are trying to figure out a good way to involve readers and listeners in their processes without necessarily handing over the keys," he says.

Business Week recently began to offer weekly podcasts about the cover story for that week's issue. The podcasts include interviews with Business Week reporters and editors to offer insight into the story behind the cover story. And in May, The New York Times released an internal panel's recommendations on improving credibility with its readers, including blogs, a speakers bureau, and the posting of reporter's notes on its website.

"[Media outlets are] pretty much trying to be a little bit more intimate and less haughty because the media have always distanced themselves in some ways," Whitmore says, adding that letters to the editor were previously the only way readers could get in touch with media outlets. "You're going to see a lot of media companies and titles experiment with this sort of thing."

Indeed, after its black eye stemming from its inaccurate report on President Bush's National Guard service, CBS launched its Public Eye blog. Its "fundamental mission," according to the site, is to "bring transparency to the editorial operations of CBS News - transparency that is unprecedented for broadcast and online journalism."

The growth of Hispanic media

Look at any newsstand in the US and notice a display of the segmentation of American media: publications aimed at mothers, surfers, golfers, teenagers, health nuts, and celebrity-news junkies, to name just a few.

But across all forms of media, those with a Hispanic focus appear to be growing at a faster pace.

Peter Wengryn, CEO of VMS, says the monitoring company has noticed the trend in the TV content it tracks.

"We have seen an increase in Hispanic stations in the past three to four years," he says. "I see that as a fast-growing segment of the media."

Kerins describes the Hispanic market as a "booming" one. "You cannot look in any top 10 major city and not find a daily Hispanic newspaper," he says. "Any corporation that does not take advantage is missing the boat."

Roxana Lissa, president of RL Public Relations, says that the Hispanic market's largest area of growth has been in print. "We have seen tremendous growth and tremendous opportunities in that area," she says.

The sports category in particular has been very open to Hispanic-targeted publications, including Sports Illustrated Espa–ol and ESPN DeportŽs.

Other forms of media, including broadcast and radio, will continue to grow, Lissa says, as Univision and Clear Channel expand their presence. Also, many companies outside the US will try to enter the market, such as Mexico-based TV Azteca and Spanish media company Grupo Prisa.

While the internet is growing in its influence among Hispanics, Lissa says, it has a low penetration in the market compared to other forms of media.

"It will take a few more years to develop to the level of the general market," she says.
For marketers of all types, the growth of such media signals an opportunity. "To be able to understand the cultural sensitivity and harness the power of this segment of the news is a winning proposition," says Kerins.

Business woes for newspapers

With a host of circulation scandals, a series of layoffs at some of its largest companies, and indications that readership is down, the newspaper industry has seen better days. The New York Times Co. and Knight Ridder were the latest to announce layoffs, a significant amount of which will be in editorial operations.

Colby Atwood, VP of media research firm Borrell Associates, says the newspaper industry is in the midst of a long period of transition that will take 10 to 15 years. Such a transition will result in more consolidations and reductions in work forces, as the industry adjusts to playing a smaller role in news distribution and advertising, he adds.

Because smaller work forces will undoubtedly affect a newspaper's ability to gather news, Atwood says, newspapers will have to focus on the news that is most relevant to their readers.

Weiner predicts that newspapers that have had circulation scandals will likely come to terms with their advertisers to survive. "There is such a huge vested interest on the part of the advertiser, as well as the media owner, that they're in it together, "he says.

Atwood agrees that papers will survive, but maintains there will be changes. "In general, newspapers will have to shrink to maintain profitability," he says, adding that they will likely become smaller and more sharply focused.

Digitalization of print media

When The New York Times announced in August that it would merge the operations of its digital and print news, it signified the latest step in the evaporating line between print and online content. Trylon Communication's Trufelman says that such an evolution will likely impact newspapers the most.

"There will be more of an impact on newspapers in [the next] two to five years than has happened in the past 100," he says. "Online news is going to impact the traditional newspaper much quicker and faster."

While online content has served as an adjunct to print for many years now, Trufelman believes that in the future the inverse will be true. Aaron Kwittken, CEO of Euro RSCG Magnet, points to Forbes' recent decision to offer its entire magazine online. MPG's Lanzano predicts that print publications will provide deeper analysis and more editorials than their online counterparts. This is comparable to the way newsweeklies like Time and Newsweek have already coped with the news-breaking qualities of online news sites.

But while chants of "print is dead" have been prevalent since the dawn of TV and radio, Lanzano says, print publications will always survive. "People like to feel, touch, hold [print publications]; it's not going to go away," he says. "They just have to [find] their niche."

Media consolidation

The model of one media entity owning outlets across multiple platforms is one that is not new to the industry. And it's likely to be something that will continue in the future. Conglomerates like Gannett, Clear Channel, and Time Warner hold a large stake in many forms of communication that Americans use on a daily basis.

Kerins says the trend of media conglomerates is one that shows no signs of slowing down. "Unless [the government] legislates it and regulates it, you'll never see a reversal," he says. "If anything, it's going to continue to drive in the same direction."

But Trufelman says that society has a way of getting past the negative effects of such media consolidations. He points to the rampant consolidation in radio, which resulted in standardized radio stations. Such a climate created a need for the current phenomenon of satellite radio, which was made possible by technology, he says.

"In an absence of government regulation on media industry consolidation, the only [form of] checks and balances is technology because it impacts the marketplace," he says. Such developments could follow in other forms of media, such as print and radio.

Source agnostic/disintermediation

The merging of technology and the 24-hour news cycle has only increased the amount of news available to consumers. And some believe that the abundance of information will only decrease the importance of traditional media.

Magnet's Kwittken says the average consumer doesn't care where he gets his information. "Media credibility is at an all-time low," he adds. "People are less concerned about source and more concerned about content."

In such an environment, Kwittken says, wire services, including newswires, are going to be much more important going forward. "The average consumer ...can no longer discern the difference between the press release and press story, especially on the web," he says.

In fact, with many wires distributing releases to sites like Yahoo News, many PR pros report that some clients consider such placement an actual media hit. Weiner says that the blurring of lines between what is journalistic coverage and what's not presents an opportunity for PR practitioners. "When a regular consumer can read a Business Wire story as if it's news from a bona fide objective journal, that's actually a short-term victory for the PR person," he says.

Kwittken says consumers are still concerned with authenticity of information, but will not rely on traditional media as much in the future.

Refining media measurement

The issue of media measurement has always been a tricky one: How relevant is the impressions figure when referring to print placements? Are Nielsen ratings really measuring a good cross-section of the population? Will there be an equivalent to Arbitron ratings in satellite radio?

"There have to be new metrics," says Lanzano, adding that there has been some discussion of measuring engagement, as well, although no one has cracked the code. "We're all grappling with this right now."

Although Nielsen has faced its share of opposition from media companies with its new Local People Meters, Weiner says that traditional audience measurement companies will never go away. "You have a 200-year-old juggernaut that represents hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars in spending each year that would have to be derailed to come up with a new system," he points out. "What we'll see is incremental adjustments."

Issues with Nielsen in particular, he says, have been around for decades and are not likely to cause a major overhaul. "There's just too much momentum in the current method to cause a revolution like that," he says. "They improve the Nielsen services to adjust to [the current media environment]."

The insider's view - Jon Friedman

Jon Friedman writes the Media Web column for Market Watch, addressing topics including Federal Communications Commission regulation, industry layoffs, and media credibility. He spoke with PRWeek about the biggest trends in the media right now and what they mean for the PR industry.

PRWeek: What is the most significant media trend right now?
Friedman: The most profound trend right now in the entire media business is the attention being paid to the web. I think, for better or worse, companies are realizing that their best path to increased and sustained advertising revenue is on the web. Corporations seem to be shying away from increasing their spending in the so-called mainstream media of all kinds, and yet web advertising spending seems to be soaring.

PRWeek: What does this mean for traditional media?
Friedman: The internet is playing a very large and influential role in forming public tastes. The public likes what it gets on the internet: the convenience, the speed, hopefully the reliability of the news and commentary. And now you have blogs entering the picture in a forceful way, changing everything. Now anyone can be a publisher or journalist. As a result, these pretty stodgy magazines and newspapers that have relied for a century on the same formula have to hit themselves in the backside and get it together and adapt.

PRWeek: Are there any current trends that you see as more short-lived?
Friedman: Blogs, to a degree, will have a shakeout, just as any burgeoning field of communications [would]. People will pick the wheat from the chaff. If you have thousands of blogs today, maybe you'll have hundreds in two or three years because people simply won't be reading all the blogs out there. The best ones will survive, and the weak ones will go away.

PRWeek: Are there any trends that present a challenge in terms of reaching audiences?
Friedman: Network television and weekly news magazines have the biggest challenges of all. Time, Newsweek, US News & World Report, their circulations haven't grown much in 30 years. They're having a very hard time gathering advertising, simply because of the page counts. It used to be that 100 pages were the minimum; now it's 75.

PRWeek: How will those two industries survive in the future?
Friedman: They will have to adapt to the changes the web has brought and make their offerings more web-like in terms of the appearance of immediacy, the appearance of irreverence, and experimentation with layouts. All these factors will go into the presentation of their products. Anything you can see, you are going to see them all adapting to the web. They have to or else they are gone.

Internet television

2005-10-14T08:26:00.000-07:00

At Northwestern University, students no longer have television sets in their dormitory rooms. Instead, they watch up to 24 television channels on their desktop and laptop computers. The channels are delivered at full broadcast quality in real time over the Internet using MPEG-4.

Dartmouth, the University of Massachusetts and the United States Military Academy at West Point are among a number of other major universities using the same technology.

If anyone still has doubts about the future of the Internet as a delivery platform for television programming, it's time to reconsider. Television stations, cable systems and DBS will no longer be the only games in town.

In the not-too-distant future, the Internet will almost certainly become a major delivery platform for television programming.

There will always be demand for television programming of the highest quality. That programming, however, will be delivered over a variety of platforms. Viewers will increasingly select specialized programming that is of particular interest to them rather than general-interest programming chosen for them by broadcasters. The economics of broadcasting will
fundamentally change, and those who do not adjust to that change will be left in the dust.

At least, that's the way I see it.

Paul J. Broyles, President
International Broadcasting Network
IBN@ev1.net

TV is dead, TV is dead! Hunh?

2005-10-06T14:47:00.000-07:00

TV is NOT dead, according to Paul J. Gough in his Oct. 01, 2005 article for THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.

Nielsen: TV watching hit record last season

By Paul J. Gough
NEW YORK -- Americans watched more TV last season than any other year since Nielsen Media Research started tracking it in the 1950s.

The average American household watched 8 hours, 11 minutes of TV per day, up 2.7% from the year before and 12.5% than 10 years ago, according to data released Thursday by Nielsen Media Research. Individual viewing habits were about half that, with the average American TV viewer watching 4 hours and 32 minutes daily. Nielsen said that was the highest in 15 years.

There were also slightly higher viewing levels this summer compared to summer 2004 (94.7 million people compared to 93.7 million the summer before) and for the first week of the new TV season.

The number of people watching television (109 million) during primetime increased slightly in the premiere week compared to the first week of the 2004-05 season. In 2004-05, 102.5 million people watched TV in the first week of the season.

The most-watched nights were Sunday (11.5 million) and Monday (11.6 million), according to Nielsen.

Will broadcast TV go the way of the dinosaurs?

2005-09-26T14:08:00.000-07:00

Eric Picard wrote September 26 that "Broadcast TV will eventually be phased out."

His web-based article on the Click-Z Network had some other fascinating observations. Among other things he said the following.

Web Media

"Standard" Web media is maturing. The Web experience will become less cluttered and simpler. Web applications will become more open and will be designed using AJAX technologies to make them function much more like installed applications.

Ad products will have a broad range of technologies advertisers can take advantage of, including tools such as RSS, XML, and AJAX. Your creative team will be able to use amazing tools to build advertising that feels different from anything done before.

Television

TV will ultimately be on-demand all the time. Broadcast TV will eventually be phased out. Whether this takes 3, 5, or 10 years is beside the point. TV is better experienced on-demand.

Advertising will have to evolve in this new world. On-demand will lead to more, not less, TV revenue. New technologies around targeting and long-form advertising will drive this growth.

Mobile

Most people believe mobile will enable us to advertise in three areas: WAP pages, SMS type technologies, and installed applications. In all three, we'll see immense growth in advertising as more traffic is generated in all these areas. We're already seeing very high CPMs in the mobile space, as well as high response rates and, from what I've been told, great ROI.

We'll also see growth in music advertising (such as radio) in the mobile space. This will be more from mobile phones with integrated music players (many units do this already, though the public hasn't yet figured it out) than from iPods becoming phones.

In-Game Advertising

This space will explode in the next 10 years. What we currently see in the in-game space isn't where things will end up. There'll be massive changes in the way we interface with each other in 3-D worlds. Marketers will break all sorts of new ground around how to take advantage of this.

As the advertising industry expands into all these new emerging media, we'll see significant new opportunities for customer engagement. Agencies and marketers must learn about all these new technologies. They'll radically change the way we touch consumers. Changes are coming soon.

Eric Picard is a senior product planner in Microsoft's MSN Monetization and Ad Planning group, where he helps set ad product strategy across many verticals.

Salt Lake brings home the Emmys;

2005-09-19T08:26:00.000-07:00

Salt Lake brings home the Emmys;

STANDARD EXAMINER, Page 2E
Sunday, September 18, 2005

By Nancy Van Valkenberg
On TV

The Rocky Mountain Emmys have been announced, and the Salt Lake City market put on a good showing, coming in second in the four major markets represented.

Broadcast journalists of Phoenix, the nation's 15th largest television market, took home a whopping 52 Rocky Mountain Emmys. Utah (36th market) earned 12 Emmys. Albuquerque (47th market) won six awards, and Tucson (72nd market) took home four Emmys.

The Utah journalists and stations recognized were:

* Field Reporting: Reed Cowan, KTVX Channel 4

* Team News Coverage: KTVX

* Newscasts in Markets 1-100: KTVX News

* Photography (programs, documentaries or magazines): John Howe, KUED Channel 7

* Directing, (non-news): John Howe, KUED

* Editing (programs, documentaries and magazines): Carol Dalrymple, KUED, and Josh Greenbaum and Todd Hougaard of Park City Television

* Sports Program: Park City Television

* Music: Brian McBride, KSL Channel 5

* Feature News: Peter Rosen, KUTV Channel 2

* Writing (promotions/PSAs): Robert Stephens, KSTU Channel 13

* Student Production: Ryan Oliver Hansen, University of Utah

For those seeking a further breakdown, that's three awards each for KTVX and KUED, two for Park City Television, and one each for KUTV, KSL, KSTU and a U of U student.

For more information, visit www.rockymountainemmy.org.

Small business advertising myths

2005-09-14T12:02:00.000-07:00

Karen E. Hipp discusses "What Advertising Can and Can't Do For You" on the InsiderReports web site. Her article offers great advice to small businesses.

Myth 1: Advertising is what you have to do to get business.
Advertising is simply the purchase of time or space in order to promote a product or service. There are many other marketing methods available such as publicity, promotions, signage and referral programs that could work better for your business.

Myth 2: Advertising is too expensive for small business.
It doesn't have to be. You can find very cost effective advertising methods through local community papers, classifieds, "zoning" in your main papers local section (to hit certain zip codes only), industry newsletters and small ads that are placed repeatedly in the same spot of the paper. Cable TV can be targeted and cost-effective as well.

Myth 3: There is only one best advertising method.
Just like investing in the stock market, it is important to diversify. You don't want to put all of your eggs into one basket, at least until you find what works best for you. There can be a lot of trial and error, which means that it's crucial to have some type of results mechanism in order to see what works and what doesn't. Sample several approaches all at once, once you have narrowed down the field to those you feel worthy. You will then find the best one or two methods that work for you. This also tells you to avoid any long-term contract with any media outlet until they have been proven a good source. You can even sometimes strike a bargain with a particular media source that you are interested in to allow you to "test" response at a reduced rate.

Myth 4: You only have to advertise on a limited basis.
The success of advertising is all about "frequency." It can take up to 5 times before anyone notices your ad, then 10 or more times before they might act on it. Therefore, you have to have enough money in your budget to test the ad over time. Remember that we are exposed to hundreds of ads a day. As a result, we act like "screeners", filtering out any information not useful to us. So, blowing your advertising budget on one 1/2 page ad in your local paper will surely not produce the results you are looking for.

Myth 5: Advertising does all the work for you.
You can't place your ad, then sit back and wait for the phones to ring. Advertising is not a passive way to get business. The more active you are in promoting your business through a variety of marketing activities, the more effective your advertising will be. Plus, your promotion activities will greatly enhance your advertising efforts. Most ads produce leads from people that are interested. Therefore, you have to have your follow up messages in place. One of the key factors in this is to have your entire staff be knowledgeable of every ad that is placed, where, when and what their response should be. If someone calls to get more information about your ad, but the person who answers the phone knows little to nothing about it, bang. Dead lead. Have your staff be well prepared to answer all questions.

When a Small Business Should Advertise:
When your target market is reachable by one or more media.
When your target market is a decent sized mass-market.
When this is one of the only way you can reach prospects.
When you are moving into a new market.
When your budget permits for frequency.
When you can reach the most people who can and will buy your product or service through cost effective advertising.
When your competition does.
When your competition doesn't.
When A Small Business Should NOT Advertise:
When it is not cost effective for the return on your investment.
When your budget will not permit repetition.
When you expect the advertising will bring in customers by the hundreds.
When advertising will be your only method of reaching your market.
When your advertising will be far less than your competition.
When you cannot afford to have professional ads done.

Complete article

Hispanic power grows

2005-09-12T13:08:00.000-07:00

Meg James of the Los Angeles Times pointed out Sep 12, 2005,
"As Hispanic Population Grows, So Does Its Presence On TV"

James makes some important points related to media trends:

In ABC's new sitcom, "Freddie," one of the main characters -- Freddie Prinze Jr.'s Puerto Rican grandmother -- speaks only Spanish. The show, which debuts in October, will use subtitles to translate her words.

In "Go, Diego, Go!" a Nickelodeon cartoon that premiered last week, the hero is a brown-skinned bilingual boy who lives in a rain forest and teaches viewers to say "cuidado" (be careful) and "al rescate" (to the rescue).

To lend authenticity to UPN's upcoming prime-time soap, "South Beach," some scenes are being shot entirely in Spanish. Subtitles will be sprinkled throughout the midseason offering, which Jennifer Lopez's production company is filming in Miami.

Not so long ago, the only Spanish that most people heard on television came during reruns of "I Love Lucy," when Ricky Ricardo went on a tear. But as Hispanics become the largest minority group in the United States, representing an estimated $700 billion a year in buying power, media companies and advertisers are scrambling to figure how to appeal to them.

"There's a huge change in the economics of television," said Bruce Helford, a creator and executive producer of "Freddie" and the three-year-old sitcom "George Lopez" on ABC. "Now, there is an honest push to have shows reflect the culture and complexion of the audience who's watching."

Last month, TV ratings giant Nielsen Media Research increased its estimate of the number of Hispanic homes with televisions in the United States to 11.2 million. That means Nielsen will be recruiting more Hispanics for its audience surveys, which could boost ratings for programs popular among Hispanics and allow networks to charge more to run ads during those shows.

"The Hispanic market is growing in affluence, and it's growing in influence," said Felipe Herrera, director of diversity sales and marketing for General Motors, one of the nation's largest buyers of TV advertising. "We recognize that this is an incredible opportunity."

Executives at the major networks are experimenting with a mix of English and Spanish to win over what some say is becoming one of the most attractive groups of all: young bilingual Hispanics.

" 'Freddie' is on to something," said Stephen Chavez, a vice president of the Los Angeles-based advertising agency, La Agencia de Orci. "Second- and third-generation Latinos like myself want to see characters who reflect their lifestyle and their culture, and story lines that are relevant to our lives."

(link)

“MAC IS BACK!” - New WSU coach has new show on new cable station

2005-09-08T08:06:00.000-07:00

Ogden: Coach Ron "Mac" McBride is back in a big way with his own TV coach's show. The long-time coach of the Utah Utes won his first game as the head coach of the Weber State Wildcats Saturday 61-0. McBride's Wildcats thumped Western State College in a game called by lightning, but the winner was never in doubt.

The only place to see the new WSU football coach in his own territory is the Coach Ron McBride Coach's Corner hosted by former WSU player Phil Sotomayer on the new Cable Channel 95.

The "Mac Attack" is aired every week day on Cable 95 at 6:30 A.M., 6:30 P.M., and 10:30 PM.

Mac can be seen in all of northern Utah from North Salt Lake City to the Idaho border, including Cache Valley.

For the complete Cable 95 schedule, visit www.cable95.com

Cable TV Channel 95 Launched September 5th, 2005

2005-09-08T08:04:00.000-07:00

Ogden - The newest TV station will reach 300,000 cable viewers from North Salt Lake City up to Preston, Idaho launching on Labor Day. Channel 95 will include Davis, Weber, Box Elder and Cache counties.

"It's been an exciting challenge for over a year to pull this off," Stephanie DeGraw, station CEO said. "There were many hoops to jump through and many hours dedicated to morph this dream into a reality. But it's been worth it now that its happening."

People are contacting the new station already. Businesses who have been waiting for channel 95 to get on the air, are thrilled they can support a station that is dedicated to northern Utah and doesn't have restrictions, she added.

Channel 95 is a Leased Access cable station that will mix the America One Network with local sports, business, news and events. Viewers will be able to get it for free on the basic service of programming. The station will accept commercials and local content such as a coaches sports show.

"We are going to be the only of the only places to see the Weber State University Coach's show with Ron "Mac" McBride and the players," DeGraw said. "The Coaches Corner will have professional, local guest hosts and a segment hosted by Dutch Belnap."

Plans are also in the works for a coach's show for Utah State University. Both shows would be made available on dish and direct TV as well as cable.

The 30 minute WSU Coach's Show will air 6:30 am, 6:30 pm and 10:30 pm daily with a fresh show each week. The Weber State University home football games will also be aired within 24 hours after they are played on cable 95.

"No one else is doing this for the school, at no charge, so I hope the community will support it. I've got a soft spot for my alma mater," DeGraw said. "And I have many local people behind the scenes donating time like my 20 year veteran engineer, Ben Davies. I have a very dedicated staff." Visit online for Cable 95 schedules at www.cable95.com and click the schedules link. Or call 801-627-0430 or 866-NUTV.

The printed newspaper

2005-08-17T09:55:00.000-07:00

Picking up 32 sheets of paper from our doorsteps every morning to read the news is not as popular as it once was.

More and more newspapers are also publishing online, and the online versions are catching up in readership. The August 15 edition of Media Matters asks the obvious question, will online readership replace the printed newspaper as we have known it?

The article points to a Pew Research Center poll taken in June 2005 that shows the printed version still leads in all age categories, but online convenience and cost (free) are making inroads.

The older the audience, the safer the traditional newspaper. But younger readers are edging more and more toward the 'net.

Its all about niche marketing. Carefully analyze your target audience, then keep posted on where best to spread your clients message.

TV ad revenue forecast By David Lieberman, USA TODAY

2005-08-03T10:49:00.000-07:00

Advertising

There are worrisome signs in the advertising department for owners of broadcast and cable networks.

Most held back inventory from the recent upfront market, where they sell most of their ad time in advance for the year that begins this fall.

Advertisers ordered $8.2 billion worth of commercial spots from ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC, down 1% from last year, according to Merrill Lynch.

Forecasters have noticed. Last month ZenithOptimedia and Universal McCann's Bob Coen trimmed their ad-spending projections for 2005.

Several factors are at play.

For a variety of reasons, some of TV's most prolific advertisers — including pharmaceutical companies, retailers, automakers and Hollywood studios — have cut spending for TV spots.

Meanwhile, some major buyers — such as Procter & Gamble — are redirecting some ad spending away from dependence upon TV ads as they adjust to changes in the ways consumers use media. A growing number of people are buying ad-skipping technologies, including digital video recorders. At the same time, advertisers are shifting dollars to the Internet, which is filled with low-priced opportunities to reach consumers.

But TV ad spending could improve next year. A combination of election-year ads from political candidates and spending by companies hoping to reach the big audiences that are expected to watch the Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, could add about $3 billion to the market, Nathanson estimates.

USA TODAY - August 1, 2005

What Every Good Marketer Knows by Seth Godin

2005-08-02T10:23:00.000-07:00

What Every Good Marketer Knows

Original blog by Seth Godwin May 9, 2005

“Godin reinforces what good marketers know.” The New York Times

I’m flattered! I wasn’t sure I knew what every good marketer knows. I guess I do now. But, assuming that you’re like me and the rest of the people I know (which means you haven't figured out everything there is to know about marketing yet), here’s a list to get you started.

I’m confident that the trackbacks below this post will show you what some of the great marketers out there would add to this list.

Anticipated, personal and relevant advertising always does better than unsolicited junk.

Making promises and keeping them is a great way to build a brand.

Your best customers are worth far more than your average customers.

Share of wallet is easier, more profitable and ultimately more effective a measure than share of market.

Marketing begins before the product is created.

Advertising is just a symptom, a tactic. Marketing is about far more than that.

Low price is a great way to sell a commodity. That’s not marketing, though, that’s efficiency.

Conversations among the members of your marketplace happen whether you like it or not. Good marketing encourages the right sort of conversations.

Products that are remarkable get talked about.

Marketing is the way your people answer the phone, the typesetting on your bills and your returns policy.

You can’t fool all the people, not even most of the time. And people, once unfooled, talk about the experience.

If you are marketing from a fairly static annual budget, you’re viewing marketing as an expense. Good marketers realize that it is an investment.

People don’t buy what they need. They buy what they want.

You’re not in charge. And your prospects don’t care about you.

What people want is the extra, the emotional bonus they get when they buy something they love.

Business to business marketing is just marketing to consumers who happen to have a corporation to pay for what they buy.

Traditional ways of interrupting consumers (TV ads, trade show booths, junk mail) are losing their cost-effectiveness. At the same time, new ways of spreading ideas (blogs, permission-based RSS information, consumer fan clubs) are quickly proving how well they work.

People all over the world, and of every income level, respond to marketing that promises and delivers basic human wants.

Good marketers tell a story.

People are selfish, lazy, uninformed and impatient. Start with that and you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what you find.

Marketing that works is marketing that people choose to notice.

Effective stories match the worldview of the people you are telling the story to.

Choose your customers. Fire the ones that hurt your ability to deliver the right story to the others.

A product for everyone rarely reaches much of anyone.

Living and breathing an authentic story is the best way to survive in an conversation-rich world.

Marketers are responsible for the side effects their products cause.

Reminding the consumer of a story they know and trust is a powerful shortcut.

Good marketers measure.

Marketing is not an emergency. It’s a planned, thoughtful exercise that started a long time ago and doesn’t end until you’re done.

One disappointed customer is worth ten delighted ones.
Obviously, knowing what to do is very, very different than actually doing it.

[irony alert: since the inspiration for this post has been misinterpreted a couple of times, I wanted to clarify: the New York Times wasn't trying to be nice when they said what they said... even though it seems nice to you and me, they didn't mean it that way. And this list didn't appear in the Times, it was inspired by their attempt to be snide. Thank you.]

Posted by Seth Godin on May 09, 2005

REVOLUTIONIZING THE INDUSTRY

2005-07-26T07:51:00.000-07:00

The mobile billboard industry is getting a face lift thanks to a local company partnering with Internet giant EBay.
Power Media Group, a marketing and public relations firm, is putting mobile billboards on the auction block.
"Mobile billboards are very effective but usually too pricey for the average business," said Lance Hill, Power Media Group Promotions Director. "So we decided to be original and affordable . Your message will be advertised on the infamous eBay auction block."
Power Media reports the auctions will begin at one quarter of the price they are currently listed. "We believe the opportunities will sell fast and around half of what people are currently paying for mobile billboards," said Hill.
People can go online to eBay and click on "advertising options" to bid for mobile billboards.
Mobile billboards are available on various routes locally and nationally. To see a full description click on www.powermedia.us and go to "Services."
For information regarding auctions or other services provided by Power Media Group, contact Lance Hill at 801-627-0430 or lance@powermedia.us.
CONTACT:
Lance Hill
924 24th Street, Suite 12
Ogden, Utah 84401
801-627-0430 Fax:627-2546
lance@powermedia.us
www.powermedia.us
www.nutv.us

New TV station holds logo design competition

2005-07-13T09:19:00.000-07:00

Ogden, UT— Northern Utah Television, NUTV cable channel 95, is sponsoring a logo design competition open to all ages.

The deadline for submissions is 5 PM July 22.

The announcement of the five finalists will be on July 27, 2005. Then the selection of the two finalists will be chosen August 1, 2005. The winner will be announced August 5, 2005.

“We are looking for creative design, style, and personality, " public relations director Jennifer Andrews said. "We would like to have more emphasis on the channel number 95 than on the letters NUTV."

Submissions may be in any format, but if drawn or painted, must be able to fit a stardard-sized scanner. High quality computer-generated images are preferred.

“The current logo is being re-considered, and the community is invited to tell us what they want their station to look like,” Andrews said.

Local businesses are going to be awarding prizes for the finalists and the winner. Some of the prizes include tickets to Cherry Hill Recreation Park, Eccles Dinosaur Park, Lagoon Amusement Park, Mount Ogden Golf Courses, Park and upcoming events at the Peery’s Egyptian Theater.

To see the current current logo for the television station, and for information on the NUTV cable station, go to www.nutv.us

Submissions should be carried or mailed to NUTV, 924 24th Street, Suite 12, Ogden UT 84404. They may also be emailed to info@nutv.us

All entries become the property of NUTV.

Contact:
Jennifer Andrews, Public Reltaions Director
NUTV Channel 95
924 24th Street
Suite 12
Ogden, Utah 84401
Phone 801-866-NUTV (6888)
Fax 801-627-2546
www.nutv.us

"Slingbox" - one more media trend to watch

2005-07-05T08:55:00.000-07:00

According to the Wall STreet Journal, "A Silicon Valley start-up company called Sling Media is introducing a $250 gadget it calls a "personal broadcaster." This small device, named the Slingbox, can beam any live TV show coming into your home to an Internet-connected Windows PC anywhere in the world. It also allows you to remotely watch shows you have recorded at home on a TiVo or other digital video recorder."

Oh great, one more media trend to track!

"The Slingbox gives you full control of your home TV and digital recorder even if you are thousands of miles away. You can change channels, use the program guide, and perform any action on the menus of your TV or recorder just as if you were sitting in front of your set. The home TV doesn't even have to be on at the time."

So what are the commerical complications - not in selling the units, but in exposing the buyers to client messages?

Something on which we will keep our eye!

June 30 2005 Wall Street Journal article By WALTER S. MOSSBERG

As I see it, by Peter Richard

2005-06-30T09:44:00.000-07:00

"As I see it"
Guest entry by Peter Richard

Media trends are tricky and fickle. In the business, we study demographic reports and hear pitches from different representatives touting their "Best bets for the quarter."

Movie revenues have fallen for a record (insert number ) number of weeks. TV viewing is off. No one reads the newspapers anymore. The Internet is getting more and more "flashy," requiring an extra staff member to keep up with the latest. What's a client to do?

It's a full-time job to track media trends. It can be frustrating, at best.

The last few days, I have been smiling at the work of the creative team (The Martin Agency) behind the Geico gecko. To me, this is the most effective current advertising campaign in ANY media. The little guy even has a web page of his own so you can watch his latest commercials on line! - geico.com

I'm also very impressed with the HP picture frames TV campaign.

Reflection then brought images of the Budweiser Clydesdales stomping through the snow toward home during Christmas. No announcer, just music.

Then the old Coke ad proclaiming, "I'd like to teach the world to sing." Heck, that even ended up becoming a hit single on the radio (supposedly sung by the "Hillside Singers").

Finally, my mind goes way back to find the first ad impression in my brain. The file opens up on "No matter what shape your stomach is in," touting Alka-Seltzer. That music also became a popular hit (by the T-Bones).

As I wandered through my memory, I noticed a trend - a media trend, if you will. All of my favorite and most long-lasting ad impressions are from television.

My mind does not recall a single print ad stored in my "favorites" folder. The folder contains no radio ad - if you exclude the two songs already mentioned from TV ads. No unique movie ad pops out. I've just started looking for files to download into my brain off the Internet, but nothing sticks out as of today.

As I see it, the strongest media influences in my head come from - television.

Larry H. Miller Creates Movie Distribution Company

2005-06-10T08:13:00.000-07:00

Larry H. Miller Creates Movie Distribution Company

by PR or Business News Wire
10 June 2005

Larry H. Miller, owner of the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies, and Scott Swofford, film producer and founder of Vineyard Productions, LLC, announced the formation of a new motion picture distribution company, Vineyard Distribution, LLC. The new company will handle all national and international film distribution and home entertainment releases of the new The Work and the Glory film adaptations now currently under production. In addition, the new company is in negotiations to acquire other motion pictures for theatrical and home entertainment distribution.

“Between Vineyard Productions film producing capabilities and Larry’s Megaplex Theatres and KJZZ-TV, developing a film distribution unit became a natural outgrowth of the companies’ partnership,” said Jeff T. Miller, CEO of Vineyard. “And having personnel already in place with years of film distribution experience makes the evolution of Vineyard Distribution that much easier.”

Dean Hale has been named Director of the newly formed company. Hale was previously Director of Sales and Market Development for Vineyard Productions. Prior to joining Vineyard, Hale was Vice President of Motion Picture Distribution for Excel Entertainment Group, Inc. and lead national marketing and distribution efforts of films such as the first The Work and the Glory, the award-winning Saints & Soldiers, God’s Army, and The Other Side of Heaven,among others.

“As I’ve said before, The Work and the Glory films are a labor of love for me and I’m excited to take an even bigger part in the next two films’ success through Vineyard Distribution,” said Larry H. Miller.

Are your Internet ads being seen?

2005-06-03T09:59:00.000-07:00

Ian Schafer asks the leading question in regard to Internet ads -

"Ask yourself the following important questions about your own rich media planning and development. Are all my ads being seen by all my audience members?"

..........For the hundreds of campaigns in my rich media lifestyle, I ask: if the most valuable audience members can't see your rich media ad campaign because they're using an "incompatible" browser, did the campaign make an impression?

.............Make sure your video ads play in all browsers and on all OS platforms. A great way to ensure this is to work with an agency or a rich media vendor that can deliver the right video format (Flash Video, Windows Media, QuickTime, etc.) to consumers regardless of the tools they use to get online.

Complete article.

WIKI, what?

2005-06-03T09:09:00.000-07:00

Okay, it is getting harder and harder to keep track of trends in the media. A fad may have peaked and waned before some of us even hear about it. Still, we have to keep tabs.

Now comes something off the Internet known as "wiki."

As TIME magazine defines it in the 6 June 2005 edition , "A wiki is a deceptively simple piece of software (little more than five lines of computer code) that you can download for free and use to make a website that can be edited by anyone you like."

That's the technical definition, but is it practical? Chris Taylor gives some examples in his article, including the most famous, an online encyclopedia named wikipedia.

Need to solve a thorny business problem overnight and all members of your team are in different time zones? Start a wiki.

Inspired by Wikipedia, a Silicon Valley start-up called Socialtext has helped set up wikis at a hundred companies, including Nokia and Kodak. Business wikis are being used for project management, mission statements and cross-company collaborations. Instead of e-mailing a vital Word document to your co-workers—and creating confusion about which version is the most up-to-date—you can now literally all be on the same page: as a wiki Web page, the document automatically reflects all changes by team members. Socialtext CEO Ross Mayfield claims that accelerates project cycles 25%.

.........Whatever happens to Wikipedia, the wiki genie is out of the bottle. There are wikibooks for collaborative nonfiction, wikipes for recipes and wikimedia for citizen journalists. Wales has a for-profit website, Wikicities, where anyone can form a community. (The two largest are geeking out on the chronologies of Star Wars and Star Trek.)

The code to start your own wiki can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki_software

Product placement shoring up failing TV ad revenue

2005-05-27T11:10:00.000-07:00

A TIME Magazine article of May 30, 2005 is a must-read for all media-types.

The article is PRIME-TIME PEDDLING by Daren Fonda. The sub-head observes, "The 30-second spot is under assault. But advertisers and TV producers have a solution: make the brand an inseparable part of the show."

While each market area is differnet, and not every market has the alternatives discussed in the article, this media trend is very well worth watching.

Some quotes:

At least 6.4 million households now have digital video recorders (DVRs) like TiVo. Cable and satellite providers are pushing the technology hard—40% of households are expected to have DVRs by 2009—while the cable guys are also pitching video on demand (VOD), another technology consumers use to watch content on their own schedule. "VOD is the ultimate worry for us," says Jon Mandel, chairman of the ad-buying firm MediaCom US. "If 25% of people watch TV totally randomly, it becomes much harder to buy, sell and target ads."

No wonder some advertisers are turning off the tube. American Express has slashed the TV share of its ad budget from 80% a decade ago to less than 35%, replacing commercials, in part, with online mini-films. Pepsi recently relaunched Pepsi One without any TV advertising, which execs at the firm say wouldn't have been the case five years ago. Reebok has also shifted marketing dollars to new media, partly at the expense of the TV budget. "If you look at youth and how they consume media, TV is still an important part of the mix, but especially for young males it's becoming a smaller part," says Brian Povinelli, vice president of integrated marketing for Reebok.

All the more reason advertisers want to TiVo-proof their message. Since 1999, television product-placement deals have surged in value from $709 million to $1.9 billion, according to the research firm PQ Media. Already, marketers have burrowed into reality shows like Survivor and The Apprentice. This season also brought us a Desperate Housewife fawning over a Buick, Bernie Mac popping Rolaids, a character in According to Jim declaring she only wants "the shrimp at Red Lobster" and an episode of Arrested Development set in a Burger King. "We needed as much support for the show as we could get," says Steven Melnick, a senior marketing executive at 20th Century Fox Television, which produces Arrested Development, defending Burger King's starring role.

..............No one is predicting the demise of network television, which brought in an estimated $16.5 billion in advertising last season. As ABC demonstrated, it takes only a few hits like Desperate Housewives to orchestrate a rebound. But network execs are already dreaming up ways to resell content on platforms like video on demand, cell phones and the Internet.

Just how deeply IS the Internet affecting television?

2005-05-26T11:06:00.000-07:00

More than one study shows the Internet is making strong inroads on television. Marketers are keeping a close eye, because it effects the way advertising dollars are spent.

How will media-savvy marketers be effected? Here are some quotes from a May 25th article by Lara Sinclair.

Original article

WITHIN five years the internet will change people's lives to the point where almost every minute of traditional down time may be spent consuming media or communicating with people electronically, according to US academic Jeffrey Cole, founder of the World Internet Project.

"The influence of the internet will be far more powerful than television," says Cole..............

"In the next four to five years in the US, probably sooner in Australia, before people leave the home they will download one to two hours of video to watch when (they're) waiting for people or when (they've) got a couple of minutes free," Cole says.

.........Cole says while TV had a vast but largely unquantified social impact, the net and the mobile internet is transforming how people work, play, learn, communicate and date - and that's just the beginning.

.............some net users will cut their weekly TV viewing by up to five hours per week.

For newspapers, the prognosis is equally mixed. "In about the third year (of internet use) people spend 1 to two hours each week less reading the papers than non-users," Cole says.

"They spend 42 minutes a week reading online papers - half of which is reading their usual papers online and half is reading papers they never used to get access to - but they spend about an hour less each week reading newspaper content overall."

Internet users typically spend more time playing video games and watching movies than non-users.

Globally, radio is the only medium whose consumption has not yet been shown to be greatly affected by the net.

Film-friendly Ogden, UT

2005-05-24T13:35:00.000-07:00

From the Standard Examiner, page one, May 24, 2005

Complete article with Utah filming statistics

Maybe it's the art deco structures of Ogden High School and the Ogden Municipal Building, or the historic feel of Historic 25th Street and Union Station. But there is something about Ogden that attracts filmmakers.

The latest throng of camera crews, producers, directors, and actors has descended upon the city to make the movie "Blind Guy," expected to open nationwide and internationally at the end of this year.

"It seemed like it had all the locations close by," said Joy Mellins, co-producer of "Blind Guy." "It seemed like the perfect place."
Theta Films, a London-based company, is co-producing the movie along with Catfish Productions, based out of Los Angeles.

"Blind Guy" will be filmed in Ogden throughout May and June at various locations, including the University of Phoenix building, Lindquist Stadium and Union Station. Other locations will be in Salt Lake City.

Dave Baggott, president of the Ogden Raptors, said he allowed the film crew to remove a section of mesh from the Lindquist field's fence on the right side of the field so they could film an alley behind the stadium.

Costa Theo, producer and owner of Theta Films, said Ogden and New York are more similar in looks than people think.

Theo said the housing structures and plant life in Ogden are remarkably similar to the Big Apple.

Aaron Syrett, of the Utah Film Commission, said filmmakers can transform Utah into virtually any place they would like.

"Utah can look like Africa or it can look like Texas," he said.

The Utah Film Commission reported almost $85 million in economic impact from the fiscal year of July 1, 2003, to June 30, 2004. Totals were from out-of-state feature films, television shows, in-state productions and commercials.

Theo said, due to Utah's competitive standing with other film locations, the state can expect even more films being made here in the future.

"I would say Utah is 100 percent competitive with London and cheaper than South Africa," he said.

USING VIDEO TO DRIVE SALES

2005-05-18T10:05:00.000-07:00

A potential customer is smart, right? He or she weighs the pros and cons
of every buying decision. But all of us have that little voice in the
back of our head that will make or break any sale. A voice that isn't
rooted in the part of us that thinks but rather in the part of us that
feels. Clearly then one of the more important things you can do is to
build an emotional connection between your product or service and a
possible customer.

Integrating well crafted video into your overall game plan is a
wonderful way to cultivate this kind of emotional connection. Imagine
creating a world where the viewer will not only see your product or
service in use but we also make it easy for our viewer to picture
himself or herself actually participating in the experience.

'I can see myself watching the sunset on the deck of my new house.'

'Susan would love that fountain in our garden.'

'A trade show booth like this will take my company to the next level.'

I feel that with few exceptions video is best used when it supplements,
rather than replaces, standard printed sales materials. Properly
designed printed material can convey an emotional component to the
reader. However it is difficult to create the specific condition where a
reader can imagine actually using your product or service. One of the
more convenient and cost saving aspects of a high quality video
production is that it can be repurposed for many different uses. With
very little additional effort your video can be used in your web site,
distributed via DVD or used as part of a press kit.

On the other hand professional quality video excels at creating that
emotional "I am there" bond between you and your potential customer.*

Please consider what video can do to enhance your sales efforts. We at
Power Media Group will appreciate the opportunity to help you win over
new clients and new customers.

* Interactive videos and training videos are a different animal
altogether. By their very nature (and also by design) they can and do
create a more intellectual connection with the viewer. But even here
there must be an emotional connection or the information isn't as easily
absorbed.

Stephanie DeGraw
CEO Power Media Group
"We Provide Powerful Marketing Results"
801-627-0430 Fax: 627-2546
www.powermedia.us

Traditional journalism in trouble?

2005-05-17T11:14:00.000-07:00

Whether it is a fad that will go away, or whether it is something strong enought to withstand the test of time, blogging is SO hot right now, in some ways it threatens standard journalism as we know it.

Richard Aedy said during the May 12 Media Report, "Well, television isn’t the only medium being affected by the internet; newspapers are too, especially by blogging. A couple of weeks ago on the program we heard about blogging’s impact on the Australian media, but this is as nothing, compared to what it’s achieving in the United States."

During that same broadcast Jay Rosen said, "Well newspapers are in a great deal of trouble in the United States. The availability of free news, the internet, has weakened the reader’s attachment to any one publication, and in a many-to-many world, people can pick and choose, they can also inform themselves a lot more easily, they’re not as passive, they’re not as needy or as dependent as they once were, and newspaper advertising is also shifting to the internet, especially classified advertising. And a lot of it is sort of disappearing from the grasp of newspaper publishers. And they’ve having a great deal of difficulty adjusting to this change, and nobody really knows what the future of a newspaper is. . . . .I think that organisations like The New York Times and The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, will in fact survive quite easily in the new world, because they have a special authority, because their reach is national, because they have so many people working for them, they’re rich and powerful organisations and when they figure out their economic model, I think they will prosper in the new world. Local newspapers, more marginal products, which frankly aren’t as good as they need to be, the quality isn’t as high, they’re going to be in a lot more trouble, and one can see the local newspaper made kind of obsolete, and I think this is something that publishers are going to start to really worry about."

To BLOG or not to BLOG, that is the question

2005-05-17T09:22:00.000-07:00

When is a BLOG right for a business?

“A good blog encourages readers to post their reactions, to join the conversation," says Ian Joyce, vice president of marketing for Definition 6. "By reviewing these posts, you gain valuable insight into what readers think about your product. You get feedback on what’s working well—and what’s not—with new processes or ideas."

These comments from Joyce are reviewed in a great article titled, "Is a Blog Right for Your Business?" by Bill Koch and Jack Scharff, Editors of the Marketing Watchdog Journal.

PR - not just a press release

2005-05-16T10:49:00.000-07:00

Public relations is more than a press release. Much more.
This article explains.

Arbitron

2005-05-14T11:16:00.000-07:00

We had an opportunity to go to the Arbitron web site today. While Arbitron is in business to sell the results of their media polls, the web site offers a monster library of helpful documents free of charge.

One good place to start is the page labeled "Free Studies and Reports." It may not give you precise information for the block on which you live, but the reports do a great job of tracking media trends generally. The web site also offers sound files, so you can listen to experts talk about trends.

Here are some quotes of interest I found while prowling around the web site:

Broadcasters have long known that children listen to the radio, but until now no one knew to what degree. These are the first syndicated local market ratings survey and call-back study that explore the listening habits of kids (children aged 6 to 8) and tweens (9- to 11-year-olds). Conducted in New York City, the Twin Cities and L.A., it indicates not only that 90 percent of children in this age range listen to radio eight to nine hours per week, but also that they are very active radio listeners, responding to both the programming and the commercials and other content.

More than four in 10 (42 percent) people who listened to Internet Radio in the last month listened while shopping or researching a product or service online, according to the latest study from Arbitron Inc. and Edison Media Research—Internet and Multimedia 12: The Value of Internet Broadcast Advertising. The study focuses on the Internet radio and video audiences and the most effective way to market to this elite segment of the U.S. population.

Are ad agencies and advertisers sold on promoting their goods and services online? According to this Arbitron study, released at the USC/Inside Radio Internet Conference 2000, over three-quarters of advertising agencies buy online advertisements on behalf of their clients, and one-out-of-five who buy online have placed webcast ads. Download the study to find out why many agency executives believe that webcast ads are superior, and how they rate the Internet advertising experience in general.

Internet 2

2005-05-12T10:11:00.000-07:00

Internet 2 is here. The fastest thing since the speed of light, it promises a whole new way to connect computers. Speed is the guiding word, as movies download in minutes, if not seconds.

How will this effect media? We will have to wait and see, but if the Internet as we know it today is having such a stunning impact on presenting products to the public, Internet 2 can only heat things up.

It might pay to keep an eye on the official web site for Internet 2, with its daily updates. "Led by more than 200 U.S. universities, working with industry and government, Internet2 develops and deploys advanced network applications and technologies for research and higher education, accelerating the creation of tomorrow's Internet."

Video blogging

2005-05-12T08:21:00.000-07:00

Vidsense(TM) Rolls Out on Blogs

Mokena, IL –Penn Media announced today that it has just added its recently announced proprietary embedded streaming player Vidsense™ to all Gopher Central Blogs (see blog.gophercentral.com). Each Blog is now receiving streamed video content and ads that specifically match the site content.

(PRWEB) May 12, 2005 -- Gopher Central’s Blog Manager, Kris Skora stated, “Blogs are now video enabled with quality content that changes daily. In addition to the traffic increase as a result of this quality content, we are already enjoying the additional advertising revenue. ”

Gopher Central’s blog site is the first Blog website to add Vidsense™. Now Vidsense™ is available to all Blog sites, offering not only free video content to Bloggers for placing the player on their site, but also paying royalties every time a user clicks the Vidsense™ player on their site.

Penn VP of Advertising, Jeanie Davis noted, “Matching relevant video content to Blog content presents a great targeted environment for placing video commercials. The ad units we are selling are :15 and :30 spots. While still in beta, the results we are getting are quite impressive. As the Vidsense™ network grows, targeting options will continually expand.”

Making Vidsense™ available to Blogs of all sizes will enhance this new medium with a brand new revenue stream. Vidsense™ does just this with its combination of content and advertising.

For an interview or more information about Penn Media or Vidsense™ contact:

Mary Kolacki
Penn Media
e-mail protected from spam bots
708-478-4500 x 109

Audio on the web

2005-05-11T07:42:00.000-07:00

This website gives some simple and profitable ideas for using audio on the Internet, and has what I think is an interesting new approach. The product itself is pretty cool, too. Some quotes from the article -

What Are You LosingBy Not Using Audio On Your Web Sites?

If you do any selling online, you already know that using audio can make a huge difference in your sales and profits. But do you really know how big a difference it can make?

If you already know that audio can make you money, but you're just not sure how you can use it in your business, here's a short list of what you can do with it:

Increase Sales: Obviously, this is the place most people want to start. And audio really is a powerful way to increase sales.The simplest and most common way it's used now is to include an introduction of the product that highlights the main features. This does a few things. It sets the tone and expectations for the written letter that follows, and it creates a more personal feeling on the part of the visitor.That personal connection is where a lot of the power comes from. If someone hears the sincerity in your voice, they're likely to interpret the rest of your letter with that in mind. What might seem like hype otherwise becomes more believable - because you're believable.That translates into a much higher level of trust.
Create Compelling Testimonials: In the past, testimonials were just a few lines of text on the page. As big an effect as they have on sales, they're nothing next to actually hearing the voice of a happy customer.Face it, it doesn't mean much for you to tell someone why your product is the answer to their prayers. That's what they expect you to say. To actually hear your customers say it in their own words is a very different thing.Put a quoted portion of the testimonial on your site, along with the person's name and (where possible) picture. Along side that, put an audio player they can fire up to hear your excited customer for themselves.Then watch what happens to your sales.
Reduce Lost Orders: A friend of mine put a small audio snippet on the order page for one of his sites. It reinforces why the decision to buy was a good one, and thanks them for their order.He was stunned at the result: Over a 400% increase in sales.
Entertain Your Visitors!: Some marketing folks will dismiss entertainment as an unproductive extra. But then, there are people in every crowd who just don't "get it."Entertainment is a strong reason for people to remember you. If you make someone laugh, they're going to come back for more.
Offer Powerful Affiliate Tools: A good audio bit that puts people in the right frame of mind before they visit your site can make a huge difference in your sales.It costs you next to nothing, and your affiliates will love you for it.These can range from simple introductions to complete reviews, interviews, or even testimonials. You need to tell the listener what your product will do for them, and get them to click on the affiliate's link.Using AudioRazor, it's very simple to make tools like this. Once you've recorded the audio, you just create the player code and give it to them to include in their pages.Instant commission booster!
Kick Up Your Auctions: Audio can be a very easy way to get more and higher bids for your auction listings.Why? People love stories. Tell the story behind your business or your product and watch what happens.
Create An Audio Blog: Some people make their points better by talking than by typing. If you're one of them, why not create a blog that's done entirely in audio?After all, how valuable would it be to establish yourself as an online personality?Of course, you'll need to do brief summaries of what each audio bit is about. And that type of copy is perfect for getting the right keyword density for the search engines...
Distribute Brainstorming Sessions: This one is a little less obvious than some of the others.Get one or more people on the phone or in a room and do a little brainstorming on a specific topic. Post the audio to your site, with a brief description. This kind of recording is a great way to show your visitors how fast you are on your feet and how well you know your subject.It can also lead to surprising ideas. It's not uncommon for these sessions to be good enough to be worthwhile commercial products all by themselves.
Offer Music Demos: This one's a gimme. Nothing sells music like letting people listen to it.
Add Value to Consulting: Record your sessions and give copies to your clients. Upload them to a private section of your site or send them on CD.How often have you spoken with someone and later thought, "I wish I had better notes," or, "I wish I could remember exactly what he said about..." Or maybe you've tried to explain an idea to your associates and thought, "If these guys could just hear what he had to say about this, this would be so much easier."Make it easy for them to use what you're teaching. This is a step beyond what they expect, and adds real value to your service. Your clients will love it.
Add Zing To Product Reviews: If you want your product reviews to be more convincing, type out the basic recommendations. Then record your feelings and observations about the product.Let your visitors hear what you really think. It can make all the difference in the world. And it's easier to get people to click on a link when they hear you ask them to...
Offer Product Samples: Free samples are one of the oldest sales techniques in the world. People love them, because they get the feel for what the product is really like.If your product includes audio, give them a "taste," and watch your sales climb.
Showcase Speaker Demos: Want to convince the booking agent that you've got what they need for their next seminar or training session? Let them hear a recording of a live presentation.Think of it as "Show and Sell."
Make The Most Of Teleseminars: Teleseminars are a great way to teach people and to deliver information interactively. But some people can't make them because of the timing, and others need to be able to review the information to get the most from what you're teaching.Record the seminar and make the audio available for free to the folks who attended the call.For even more mileage, sell the recording separately. Or use it as a bonus or lead generator for an existing product.
Syndicate Your Audio: If you're promoting anything from editorials, entertainment or just plain old selling stuff, you want as many interested people as possible exposed to your message.If that message is interesting, there are lots of people who would love to offer it to their visitors. That's the reason that submitting articles has always been such an effective technique.Submitting audio for syndication is even easier. You send the code to the folks who want to use your material, they paste it into their pages, and the visitor can access it with a click of their mouse.The hosting site doesn't have to format it, they don't have to create and link new pages to accomodate it, and it doesn't take up a lot of screen space. If you like, you can even change the audio yourself, without them needing to do anything with that code.It's easy content, and a lot of sites are dying for easy content that's worth offering.
Create Profitable New Products More Easily: Instead of writing a book, why not write an outline and just talk out each point? Then have it transcribed, edit it, and get your book done in a few days instead of months.You can even offer the audio as a bonus. That really increases the perceived value. Your customers won't know - or care - that the audio was created first.Or talk about each of the major points of your product as a way to drive home the points you make in your writing. That adds a new dimension that can help a lot of people get more from your work.And, as a nice side benefit, it allows you to charge more for your products.Another idea... while interview products are very common in the Internet marketing field, they're not nearly as common in other, narrower, fields of interest. You might have a hard time getting someone with specialized information about marketing to agree to an interview. There's just too many requests for it, and they usually competing with themselves.People in niche markets are not as likely to be selling their own knowledge, and they don't get asked for interviews as often. For them, it's like having Larry King ask them to be on the show!
Get More Subscribers: Want to get more visitors to sign up for your list? Introduce yourself, and tell them what they'll get from subscribing. Show your personality.After that, they're not just saying, "Okay. Send me stuff." They've heard you speak and have decided, "Okay. You sound like a good guy. Talk to me."Not only will you get more subscribers, they'll be more active. And that's really what it's all about, isn't it?Another benefit: If you require your subscribers to confirm before adding them to your list, you know there's always a fair number who don't finish the process.To help with that, just add a short audio reminder on your thank-you page, letting them know that they'll have to confirm their subscription. Make sure it plays automatically.I have a friend who has one of the most carefully tracked and tested subscription processes on the net. He's been at it for years. You wouldn't think there'd be much he could do to improve on that, right?When he added that little reminder about confirming, he boosted his completion rate by 5%. What's more impressive is that the increase carried through to the bottom line. That means his profits increased by the same amount.A lot of firms would be happy to get that kind of increase from one division working a whole year. To do it in 10 or 15 minutes would just be unbelievable for most companies.That's the beauty of the net. You can make a lot of small changes and find the ones that get you the big results, faster, cheaper and more conclusively, than offline. Audio is one of the things that can bring you those big results.

News on the Internet

2005-05-09T13:26:00.000-07:00

More and more people rely on the Internet for just about everything, from shopping to catching the latest news. Portions of the following article focuses on Internet for the news.

Original source: News Media Trends

The audience and the economic model for traditional news media are going through a period of violent change. Americans' appetite for news seems to be drifting away from newspapers and network TV.

Advertising, which has always been the financial backbone of American media, is also shifting dramatically. The media are experimenting with new formats.

A New Epoch
The Pew Research Center for People and the Press has traditionally measured news trends in America every two years. In 2004, Pew decided to do its study every year. The 2004 report calls current trends "an epochal transformation, as momentous probably as the invention of the telegraph or television."

. . . . . . .The immediacy of the Internet and cable TV have conditioned the audience to expect instant news, delivered live or within moments after the event occurs. The result is the deadline-pressured delivery of raw, incomplete data, rather than information that is well-organized and includes interpretation, a variety of sources, and cross-referencing.

. . . . . As media companies decrease the quality and quantity of their news (while advertising rates increase), the Pew report says the audience is shrinking, and predicts the same thing will inevitably happen to profits.

. . . . . . . Circulation and ratings figures indicate the public wants news to be more entertaining, more sensational, more stylish and personalized. So the large media companies have delivered what the audience seems to want.
The result, according to current surveys, is public distrust of news operations as shallow, unethical, greedy. The news audience is angry at the media for giving them what they asked for.
As the audience lost its faith in the media, they began to drift away. From network nightly news to cable TV. To the Internet. (emphasis added)

The number of people who get news from the Internet is sharply increasing. The Internet as an answer to the question was included for the first time in 1996 by the Pew Research Center. Only two per cent mentioned the worldwide web.
By 2004, 29 percent of those surveyed listed the Internet.

In 2004, 38 per cent of those surveyed said they get their news from cable TV. The nightly news was listed as a news source by 34 per cent. The combined television response (72%) was higher than the 60 per cent who listed network nightly news in 1994.

The rise in dependence on cable television channels versus network nightly news broadcasts was most striking. In effect, the cable channels leapfrogged over the nightly network shows in just four years. The biggest losers were nightly network news shows, 10 points lower; and daily newspapers, nine points lower.

Those surveyed in 2004 who were between the ages of 18 and 29 said they got almost as much news about politics from TV comedy shows like Saturday Night Live (21 per cent) and The Daily Show (23 per cent) as they did from newspapers. (Satirical versions of the news, not hard core facts. ed)

The Age Factor
Interest in news is proportional to age. Those over 65 years old said they spend 81 minutes per day — those under 25, only 31 minutes. And 37 per cent of those under 25 said they get no news at all.

It's easy to guess the makeup of a newscast audience. Track the commercials during a show. Because the evening news demographic skews older, most of the program commercials advertise products that treat high blood pressure, arthritis, incontinence, heartburn, sleeplessness and various other aches and pains of the elderly.

Advertisers track very carefully the audience demographics, no matter what the medium. They want to make sure they're targeting the people most likely to buy the products and services they're selling.

The Donald domino

2005-05-09T13:08:00.000-07:00

Original post by Blois Olson

Papa "Who's your daddy?" Johns (Domino's)

The latest and perhaps most underhanded but effective assault through competitive messaging came Thursday night on prime time television during the apprentice. The Apprentice, was sponsored by Domino's and the task of the episode was to create a new type of pizza that Domino's didn't sell and sell it on the street.

Both teams picked some variation on meatballs, and of course and the end of the show - someone got fired.BUT that isn't the interesting story - Domino's ran ads that included a Donald contest throughout the show - which is expected - the unexpected came with Papa Johns ran ads mocking Trump and advertising their own meatball pizza. (Trump and the kids on the show made Meatball Pizza's)

This may be the most brilliant move in the ever growing practice of Brand Bashing or Competitive Advertising.Papa John's ads would have likely been rejected by the network, and due to their placement in the Twin Cities market, we are guessing they did local buys in spot markets. Therefore neither Domino's nor NBC would be tipped off.

One question is just how much did Papa John's know about the Domino's role in the Apprentice? From the mocking of Trump, to the flavor of the pizza - they seemed to have matched Domino's toe for toe and done pretty well.

Domino's announced that they were going to be part of the show on March 22nd pretty much telegraphing their move for Papa John's to take advantage of.The Domino's ads ran two or three times as did the Papa John's ads.The ads from Papa Johns included the founder saying "why get pizzas from an apprentice when you can get them from a pro?"The Papa John's website also contains the ad in viewable form. In the news section it shows that Papa John's announced their new Pizza on Monday, and said they had a TV ad. If Domino's isn't monitoring Papa Johns news on a regular basis and some one in PR didn't tie the pizza together with the theme of the DOmino's promotion on the Trump show, they should be...FIRED!

We think these types of tactics are going to do nothing but expand, and therefore get more and more aggressive as people fight for market share. (emphasis added)

McDonald's arches purple?

2005-05-06T14:06:00.000-07:00

Purple McDonald's arches?

Sounds like a simple answer. This column talks about choosing the right colors.

Some quotes:

Could you imagine if the “Golden Arches” were purple, or if the Arizona Diamondbacks played in bright green uniforms? You may have wondered who, how, and why they came up with the colors that they did. Chances are, there’s a lot more to the process than you might imagine. It sounds absurd, but choosing the right colors for your business image and logotype can mean the difference between success and failure. We are all affected by the color we see, both physiologically and psychologically; certain colors have an enormous influence over your customer's behavior. Customers instantly make assumptions about a company, its quality and service based on their logo and the colors associated with it. Everyone does it – we aren’t even aware we’re doing it most of the time. If the colors you choose support your logotype and the image you’re trying to project is logical and pleasing to your customers, you’ll be one step ahead of your competition.

So how do you choose the right colors? If you’re working with a knowledgeable designer to create your corporate image you’re already ahead of the curve. If you go it alone there’s good news and bad. The bad news is that there is no color combination that works for all industries and business. The good news is scientific studies have concluded that there are some basic theories on how certain colors can affect our behavior. If you use the information in these studies, you can select the color ranges that might work more effectively for your business and industry. Here are a few findings from one such study:

RED
The food color. Ever notice that restaurants use red a lot? It makes you hungry by increasing your body's metabolism. Red suggests aggression, hostility, heat, stop, error, warning, danger, error, fire, lushness and passion.

BLUE
Not a good color for hospitals. Blue suggests peacefulness, sadness, and water. Blue is often associated with men. Blue is a cool color and can visually expand a room. It does not compliment most foods. Blue goes well with warm colors and materials.

GREEN
Associated with nature, the pastoral, and general well-being. Green also suggests envy and jealousy. Green should not be overused. Too much can affect skin tones and the appearance of some foods.

YELLOW
Yellow suggests the sun, expansiveness, happiness, and high spirits. Yellow commands attention and suggests caution. It can be used successfully as a highlight.

BLACK
Black can have negative cultural connotations like evil, mourning, apparitions, night, death and fear. However, black can be very stylish and modern. Black works well as an accent with other colors.

"How did they do that?"

2005-05-06T13:55:00.000-07:00

Years ago, an advertising magazine took fancy commercials apart and explained how they were created. I've not been able to find that publication - yet - but I DID find an explanation of how they might have made that wonderful HP commerical where the people grab pictures of themselves in fast motion. It also explains that the original song is by the Kinks! :)

Streaming is steaming

2005-05-05T10:23:00.000-07:00

Streaming media - on the Internet - seems to be very hot. This is a fascinating article on the subject, courtesy of Media Matters.

Newspapers rule

2005-05-05T10:08:00.000-07:00

Original source

The Media Audit and Ranker Report
The Media Audit is an independent survey for newspaper, television, cable and radio audience reach for adults age 18 or older in a particular market.

Media Audit results indicate the print and online editions of The Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret Morning News are the dominant advertising media in the Salt Lake market area, reaching 466,600 adults on Sundays and 436,500 on weekdays.

For more information on the Media Audit Salt Lake City report or to have a custom report generated for you contact NAC's Marketing Department.

Media Audit Ranker, June - July 2004, Adults 18+

Sunday, Tribune/News + Web
62.4% - 466,600 people
Daily, Tribune/News + Web
58.4% - 436,500
Sunday Tribune/News
56.5% - 422,700
Daily Tribune/News
50.3% - 375,700
KSTU Ch. 13 Prime News
17.8% - 133,200
Fox News Channel
15.2% - 113,400
KSL Ch. 5 Late News
14.4% - 107,900
KUTV Ch. 2 Late News
12.7% - 95,200
KSL Ch. 5 Early News
12.3% - 91,600
KUTV Ch. 2 Early News
12.2% - 91,300
Discovery Channel
11.7% - 87,800
ESPN
10.5% - 78,200
KSL
9.2% - 69,100
Salt Lake City Weekly
9.1% - 67,700
CNN
9.0% - 67,000
Comedy Central
8.5% - 63,900
Salt Lake Magazine
6.5% - 48,800
KUUU
6.0% - 44,800
Catalyst
5.3% - 39,700
Sports Guide Magazine
5.1% - 38,500
KXRK
4.9% - 36,800
KZHT
4.8% - 35,700
American Classifieds
4.3% - 32,300
KUBL
3.8% - 28,500

Note: Only the five top-ranking media for each media group are listed.
Source: Media Audit, June - July 2004. Total audience is 747,600 based on 493 respondents out of a total sample of 493 adults age 18 or older. Area covered is the entire Salt Lake County and ZIP Codes 84010, 84014, 84025, 84037, 84054 and 84087 in Davis County. [Radio = station listened to most often] [TV news = viewed yesterday] [Daily newspaper = read yesterday] [Other print media = read last edition] [Internet = viewed in past 30 days].

Newspapers in decline

2005-05-04T12:18:00.000-07:00

Newspapers on the decline

April 24, 2005

Original source

George Will
Media-savvy youth reject traditional journalism

-- Paul Lachine Illustration

WASHINGTON -- If you awake before dawn you probably hear a daily sound that may become as anachronistic as the clatter of horses' hooves on urban cobblestones. The sound is the slap of the morning paper on the sidewalk.

The circulation of daily U.S. newspapers is 55.2 million, down from 62.3 million in 1990. The percentages of adults who say they read a paper "yesterday" are ominous:

• 65 and older -- 60 percent

• 50-64 -- 52 percent

• 30-49 -- 39 percent

• 18-29 -- 23 percent.

Americans ages 8 to 18 spend an average of six hours and 21 minutes a day with media of all sorts, but just 43 minutes with print media.

The combined viewership of the network evening newscasts is 28.8 million, down from 52.1 million in 1980. The median age of viewers is 60. Hence the sponsorship of news programming by Metamucil and Fixodent. Perhaps we are entering what David T.Z. Mindich, formerly of CNN, calls "a post-journalism age."