Archive for January 7th, 2008

“There will be a press conference this afternoon announcing that the Globes Awards ceremony will not go on. Here is the plan:
At 9 PM there will be a press conference covered by NBC News announcing the Golden Globe winners. (9pm-10pm)
At 8 PM, we are negotiating with Dick Clark Enterprises for a one-hour retrospective/clip show.
At 7 PM, we will air a Dateline with clips and interviews with nominees. (Currently scheduled to air for two hours on Saturday night.)
At 10 PM, we will broadcast an “Access Hollywood” style, Golden Globes party show…visiting the various parties in Hollywood

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NBC and the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. are trying to work out a deal to present Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards as an hourlong NBC News special featuring award winners reacting from parties or a press room at the Beverly Hilton hotel.As of Monday afternoon, HFPA was in talks with the Writers Guild of America to determine whether the guild would still picket the event, thus deterring top celebs from appearing. NBC News scribes are covered under a separate contract from the entertainment division and are not on strike against the net.

Sources cautioned that the sides are still discussing the particulars of the deal, and it could quickly fall apart if the WGA refuses to hold back its pickets. The HFPA’s hope is to still have a red carpet procession and the traditional Globes parties. Notion is that stars would go down the red carpet and then proceed to the various parties. At a set time an HFPA official would read will off the film and TV winners on the live telecast. Cameras would then cut to star reactions from the various party sites, or winners would have the option of heading to a press room to give reaction statements.

NBC reps declined comment.

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Advertising spending will be up 4.2% this year, according to a forecast released Monday by TNS Media Intelligence.

Spending is expected to increase 3.6% in the first half of 2008, followed by a 4.7% gain in the second half.

“2008 is shaping up as a year of contrasts,” said Jon Swallen, senior VP, research, TNS Media Intelligence. “Aside from the continued double-digit growth rate of Internet display advertising, spending gains will be driven predominately by the powerful combination of Summer Olympics and record-setting levels of political advertising.

“Offsetting this, a weakened economy will have a dampening effect on the broader, core advertising market,” he added.

TNS expects the Internet to show a 14.4% increase and spot TV to gain 9.9%. Read the rest of this entry »

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After successfully growing its Doritos and Sun Chips brands, Frito-Lay is setting its sights on cranking up Cheetos’ flat sales with a new adult and Hispanic focus.

The initiative, which includes boosting the brand’s ad spend by more than 50%, follows an internal overhaul in early 2007 at which time Cheetos more than doubled its internal marketing team and installed former Lays marketing exec Dorothy Jones as its marketing director. In August, Cheetos swapped ad agency BBDO, New York, for Goodby Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco.

Though traditionally perceived as a children’s brand, consumer research during the retrenching showed that more than 60% of Cheetos consumers were over the age of 18, and moreover, 43% of all childless households were consuming the brand’s products.

While the PepsiCo entity is by no means shuttering its child-focused marketing operations, it will beef up its presence on networks such as TBS, Comedy Central, Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim and other late night programming in a bid to capture 18- to 49-year-old consumers.

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NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Brian Owens isn’t your typical TV executive. Prior to his arrival at News Corp.’s Fox in December, he worked at Nestlé for 11 years, devising marketing programs for Raisinets and Nestlé Crunch. Now he’ll try to take what he’s learned selling candy and apply it to “The Simpsons” and “The Moment of Truth.”

Brian Owens, Fox’s VP-marketing strategy and analytics

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Will Smith is making a killing with his mega-hit I Am Legend, so it should come as no surprise that the trailer for his latest Hancock has debuted. The movie, which opens this summer, is about a bum who just happens to be a superhero. The verdict is still out on this one. Could be fun or could be - well - it could be Wild, Wild West-esque. As we wait for the film’s release, just thought I’d point out a visible product in the film’s trailer. Take a peak, and you’ll spot a VAIO notebook being used by the film’s co-star Jason Bateman. Bateman’s good in anything - even The Ex, which was a terribly, terribly unfunny film with Zach Braff last year. Anyway, I digress.

- JC

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LONDON — Product placement — commonplace in U.S. television but banned in Blighty — is set to bow on U.K. networks within 18 months.

British webheads are urging a cautious approach and are calling for a properly regulated system.

Channel 4’s head of sponsorship David Charlesworth said: “Product placement must be able to offer advertisers a privileged and exclusive access to programming in a way that sits comfortably with editorial content.

“It should not distract from the content or undermine the credibility of the content.

“The industry would need to agree sensible guidelines with Ofcom (the U.K. media regulator) in advance of operation and allow plenty of time to agree with editorial staff, advertisers and producers.”

This view echoes statements made by Channel 4 CEO Andy Duncan who has emphasized the need for caution over product placement in TV shows and pointed out that it is not a substitute for spot advertising, under pressure from the Internet and on-demand viewing.

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LOS ANGELES (AdAge.com) — Kitt, the car star of the 1980s hit series “Knight Rider,” is set for a return to our screens next month with the Mustang Shelby GT500KR as the hero. The re-emergence of the talking auto, in an NBC two-hour movie special on Feb. 17, will test not only whether audiences still have an appetite for the Hoff-mobile but how far Ben Silverman has come in his mission to rewrite the TV business model as we’ve known it.

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MTV is well aware of the tumble its ratings took going into last year’s upfront sales, so for 2008, the cable network built on music videos has resolved to make sure viewers interact with brands in every way possible.

The MTV sales team is experimenting with ways to up engagement outside ad breaks.

Photo Credit: Scott Gries

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In a significant move designed to further strike-proof its schedule, CBS will begin airing repeats of Showtime’s cult hit fave Dexter on Feb. 17. The show just wrapped its second season on the CBS-owned premium cable network. The Eye says it will edit the first season of the series — a graphic drama starring Michael C. Hall as a forensics expert who moonlights as a serial killer — for broadcast at 10 p.m. Sundays. By opting to air 12 episodes of Dexter, CBS will become the first broadcast network to program an entire season of a premium cable series.There has been speculation for some time that CBS would call up one of Showtime’s buzzworthy shows to help fill the void on its schedule while the strike looms large. Dexter, with its roots in the crime world, made the most sense for the network home to the CSI franchise, Cold Case, NUMB3RS and Criminal Minds. On the other hand, Weeds, though an award-winning critical fave, could be difficult for the Eye to air because some viewers have suggested that the drama about a suburban drug dealing mom promotes marijuana use.

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