Archive for October 10th, 2008

Publicis Groupe’s Zenith Optimedia has downgraded for a third time this year its ad expenditure forecast for 2008. The agency now predicts worldwide ad spending will rise 4 percent this year, down from the nearly 7 percent gain it projected when it last ran the numbers in June.

The media shop also reduced its forecast for 2009 to 4 percent from 6 percent.

The reason for the downgrade, ZO said, is primarily the “financial shock caused by the bank failures during the latest phase of the crisis in financial markets, which has spread uncertainty and undermined confidence in the wider economy.”

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Yahoo is expanding search capabilities on select mobile devices in the U.S., U.K., India, Singapore, Philippines and Canada. Read the rest of this entry »

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A sizable contingent of online video viewers are more engaged with Web programming then they are with TV programming, according to a report released today by online video site Veoh Networks.

Veoh found that so-called “engaged viewers,” those who watch more than an hour of online video Read the rest of this entry »

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DC Comics intends to push two legendary comic heroes into motion comics. The studio is currently producing “Batman: Black & White” and “Superman: Red Son”.  To distribute the comic-adapted animation, DC has contracted the services of Warner premiere and Warner Bros. The distributors are proposing to make the motion comics downloadable on the Web. The product will be a combination of comic artwork, subtle movements, voice-overs, and great musical scores.

“Batman: Black & White” is an award-winning mini comic series, which was published during the mid 90s. The artwork was done by Neil Gaiman, Joe Kubert, Brian Bolland, and Bill Sienkiewicz.

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Social networking site Facebook went live with Microsoft’s Live Search this week, increasing the information available among friends on the site.

The deal, first announced in July, should open more opportunities to serve local ads from Facebook’s small and medium-sized business ad programs that allow advertisers to target users by location and demographics, according to the Kelsey Group.

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ESPN will offer multimedia coverage of the 2009 World Baseball Classic beginning March 5, 2009, with coverage across ESPN, ESPN HD, ESPN2 ESPN2 HD, ESPN Deportes, ESPNews, ESPN International, ESPN Deportes Radio, ESPN360.com and ESPN Mobile.

ESPN and ESPN2 will combine to televise 23 games in the U.S. And all of those games will be simulcast via ESPN360.com and ESPN Mobile TV. Read the rest of this entry »

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When Christian Slater’s new series for NBC, “My Own Worst Enemy,” debuts Monday, he’ll be playing two very distinct characters. Henry Spivey is a husband and father who lives in the suburbs. Edward Albright is a secret agent who speaks 13 languages and is trained to kill

The twist is the two men reside in the same body. Oh, did we mention that Slater’s dual personalities have separate cars?

That’s another wrinkle to the series, which is one of NBC’s stronger fall offerings. The network and General Motors have teamed up in a special way for “My Own Worst Enemy.”

The official announcement back in May called GM “the exclusive automotive integration partner” for the show.
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Never mind that the advertising market looks bleak. Google still wants to build its share of what little brand advertising there is these days. The company already sells graphic and video advertising on some sites, but so far it has not achieved anything close to the share of these markets that it has with text advertising.

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Just when it looked like “SNL’s” suddenly ready for prime-time players might be the predominant network TV factor during the 2008 presidential race, Barack Obama’s campaign is readying a prime-time play of its own. The Democratic candidate has purchased rare half-hour prime-time buys on at least two of the major broadcast networks to air on Wednesday, Oct., 29th, less than a week before Election Day.

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What’s wrong with the Internet? For starters, it’s a “cesspool,” a festering sea of bad information, said Google CEO Eric Schmidt yesterday while talking to a group of visiting magazine executives at the company’s Mountain View, Calif. Campus during the American Magazine Conference. The cure? More brands! Read the rest of this entry »

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