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If you follow the media, you have probably seen a dozen factoids this week decrying that the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric has hit an all-time ratings low. Since we live in a “Top 10,” everybody loves a winner society, many armchair television programmers are feeling a certain sense of schadenfreude. You should all Continue Reading →

TNS MEDIA INTELLIGENCE reports that advertising spending in the U.S. fell 0.3% in the first quarter. Network TV spending was down 7.2% (to $6.1 billion). National newspaper advertising fell 5.3% (to $810 million). Internet display advertising jumped 16.7% (to $2.7 billion). EBAY will begin auctioning radio ads today via its Media Marketplace. Advertisers will create Continue Reading →

ROCKETBOOM has adopted a sponsorship model. For $3000 per show, a sponsor will receive a 7 second post roll and a personalized blog entry. Quicktime versions of Rocketboom will also include an embedded link to the sponsor’s web site. Andrew Michael Baron, the CEO and founder of Rocketboom, recently discussed the challenges of finding advertising Continue Reading →

HEARST-ARGYLE TELEVISION has signed a revenue-sharing deal with YOUTUBE. Hearst-Argyle will post local video content from its 26 television stations on the video site, and profit from advertising. This is the first time YouTube has made an agreement with local TV. Five stations will begin posting content today. NBC Universal appointed Katherine Pope as President Continue Reading →

By definition, summer blockbusters attract blockbuster-sized crowds — especially on opening weekends. By the time the commercials start, the theater is typically SRO. Commercials? Yes, about eight of them taking over ten minutes to get through. Then, after a short promo for the concession stand and a Cingular commercial altruistically dressed as a “please turn Continue Reading →

EMI struck a licensing deal with YOUTUBE. EMI recordings and videos will be available on the site, and users will be able to include content in their own videos. All four major labels have now signed deals with YouTube. REALNETWORKS announced a new version of RealPlayer that will “rip” and save video from multiple internet Continue Reading →

APPLE is bringing YouTube support to AppleTV in June. Select videos will be added at first, with the entire YouTube catalog available by fall. No advertising will be seen initially. THE OXYGEN NETWORK is planning to sell ad time via the THE ONLINE MEDIA EXCHANGE. Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, and Home Depot will purchase time through the Continue Reading →

NBC UNIVERSAL appointed co-chairmen Ben Silverman and Marc Graboff to oversee the network. Graboff will focus on business matters, while Silverman will be the top creative executive. Silverman pledged to focus on content that can succeed in both prime time and on the web. ABC will launch a news show built on user-generated content. “i-Caught” Continue Reading →

NBC Universal will replace its top programming executive, Kevin Reilly. Negotiations are in progress to fill the position with “The Office” producer Ben Silverman. THE FTC has begun its preliminary antitrust investigation of GOOGLE’s Doubleclick purchase. TURNER BROADCASTING‘s TNT and TBS will stream all episodes from original summer series online. The episodes will be available Continue Reading →

FACEBOOK officially announced an impressive list of application partners. 65 companies, from Amazon to Microsoft, are creating widgets that users can install on their pages. Facebook is encouraging the use of widgets for transactions and advertising. FACEBOOK also launched a video application that will allow users to create and share videos with other Facebook users. Continue Reading →