Currency
B&C Business Editor Jon Lafayette covers the financial dimension of the TV business at the intersection of Wall Street and Madison Ave.
Is TV Dying Again?
Once again, the death of TV is being debated. In one corner is former analyst Henry Blodget, representing the industry’s morticians. Blodget now runs the Business Insider website, which on Sunday published an article with the headline “Don’t Mean To Be Alarmist, But The TV Business May Be Starting To Collapse.” In the other corner is former media agency researcher-turn ...... Read More
Comments (1)Sports Costs Too High? Iger Calls Out Regional Nets
When asked about the high cost of sports on TV, Walt Disney Co. chairman and CEO Bob Iger said that his ESPN unit provided a much better value than expensive regional sports channels. Iger, speaking at the Sanford C. Bernstein Annual Strategic Decisions Conference, also said Comcast would be launching a Watch Disney app as soon as next week, and took a shot at Dish Network’s commercial-ski ...... Read More
Comments (1)GM Wants to Drive Upfront in Reverse
TV ad sales execs say automaker General Motors is looking for double digit rollback in prices for the ads it buys in this year’s upfront. GM has already made noise in the market by canceling $10 million worth of advertising on Facebook and opting out of CBS’ Super Bowl. Former media agency executive turned analyst Brian Wieser says those moves signal that GM is looking to boost its ...... Read More
Comments (0)USA Takes Swing in Upfront Big Leagues
USA Network, the top-rated cable network, closed out upfront week Thursday with a presentation to ad buyers that showed it belonged in the big leagues. It attracted an overflow house of media buyers who waited in a long line under a hot sun (welcome after a rainy week) to get in, and used social media to draw cheering fans as the stars of its shows walked a red carpet outside Lincoln Center’ ...... Read More
Comments (2)Media Buyers Smile at Glitch-Free Turner Upfront
This year, the projectors and other electronics at Turner Broadcasting’s upfront all worked. Turner made the most of last year’s failure, opening up with a film showing executives still suffering from “post-upfront traumatic stress disorder” getting tips from its show’s stars on what to do if there were issues again this year. In the tape, Conan O’Brien as ...... Read More
Comments (0)ABC Says 'Our Spots Sell Better Than Yours'
Geri Wang, president of ad sales at ABC, told media buyers that its new research shows that her network’s shows attract more of marketers’ best customers. While much of upfront week is about programming, media buyers and their clients are also eager for reassurance that the millions they’re spending on commercials will increase their own sales. And at a time when “big d ...... Read More
Comments (0)TV Business Issues Also Aired at Upfronts
Amid the programming on display at Monday’s upfronts, there was also some discussion of the business of television at the presentations put on by Fox and NBC. The word of the day was fluidity, a term both Fox and NBC used to describe their desire to sell ads to sponsors on both the TV and digital versions of their programming. At Fox, ad sales chef Toby Byrne pointed out that in a multiscre ...... Read More
Comments (0)Upfront Forecasts See Modest Growth
A few days before the broadcast networks begin their upfront presentation, analysts are predicting a more modest market for 2012-13 than the robust one the networks rang up a year ago. Spencer Wang of Credit Suisse estimates that broadcast upfront dollars will rise 2% to $9.3 billion and cable will see a 4% rise to $9.7 billion. Wang says three factors lead him to this conclusion. He says that sca ...... Read More
Comments (0)Look Up in the Sky, It's Weather Channel's 30th
In New York, the forecast for Wednesday evening calls for blue. That’s because the Empire State Building will be lit up in the Weather Channel’s distinctive color to mark the cable network’s 30th birthday. The 102-story high tribute is part of the channel’s celebration, which includes special programming across its television, online and mobile platforms. On Wednes ...... Read More
Comments (0)Analyst Sees Broadcast Upfront Up 4% to $9.49B
Look out media buyers, another analyst is looking for a strong upfront. In a new report, Anthony DiClemente of Barclays expects upfront revenue for the Big 4 broadcasters to increase 4% to a record $9.49 billion from last year, with cable doing better, and with the value of ad commitments up 6% to $9.88 billion. “We think it could be another strong upfront, although it may not be as robust ...... Read More
Comments (0)Syfy's Winner Hopes to Hop to Australia
Fact was stranger than science fiction at the Syfy upfront Tuesday night for one media buyer who’s about take the trip of a lifetime. Syfy President David Howe told the audience at the Museum of Natural History that the network would be giving away around-the-world upper class tickets for two on Virgin Airlines. And when Elsa Schlosser’s name was called at the end of the presentation ...... Read More
Comments (1)Syfy Sends Buyer on a Major Voyage
One lucky media buyer got something extra special out of Tuesday’s Syfy upfront. As the presentation wrapped up, Syfy ad sales head Chris Czarkowski announced that Elsa Schlossser had won an around-the-world, upper-class ticket on Virgin Air. Virgin founder, the maverick billionaire Richard Branson, spoke via video, embracing Syfy’s notion of “igniters” — consume ...... Read More
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