THE (LONG HOLIDAY) WEEKENDER
- From BlueFin: “It was a big night for American Idol winner Phillip Phillips and also a big night for American Idol itself: the Season 11 Finale episode set an all-time record in social TV with 1.2M social media comments.”
- But it wasn’t all rosy for AMERICAN IDOL. In terms of ratings, this finale was the lowest watched in the series’ history, even dipping below the first season.
- NBC, CBS, and FOX have sued Dish Network last week for the satellite provider’s new AutoHop technology which allows viewers to skip over recorded shows’ commercials. The suit alleges that the service violates copyright restrictions. At this time, Auto Hop works starting at 1am after a show’s airing and only broadcast networks.
- NBC’s Sunday Night Football (20.7 million average viewers) tops FOX’s American Idol (19.7 million average) as the season’s most watched show and dethroning the singing competition from its eight year reign. MODERN FAMILY ranks as the most watched scripted program.
ANTHONY BOURDAIN TO JOIN CNN The author, TV personality, chef, etc. star is leaving Travel Channel for the news channel. Bourdain’s show will start next year and will most likely be produced by the same company who developed NO RESERVATIONS. Here’s hoping that a LAYOVER-like show will also be developed.
LOCAL MARKET STATIONS SHARE NEWS SERVICES A troubling trend in several small markets across the country where local TV newsrooms share footage, scripts and even anchors has increased because of high costs and lower ad revenue. Stations are seeing some rewards and plateauing of rising costs, but critics say journalistic integrity and responsibility towards local communities are being compromised by lack of in-market competition.
TV NETWORKS SEE FRIDAY AS A RE-INVIGORATED OPPORTUNITY For the better part of the last decade, broadcast networks viewed Friday placements as a descent to cancellation hell. Maybe, no longer: this coming TV season, networks have tinkered with their scheduling by placing low live rated shows with high DVR playback on Fridays hoping to capitalize on C3 ad rates. Some shows, like COMMUNITY and FRINGE, see almost 100% increase of viewers from live to live with DVR playback.
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING: ART AND SCIENCE. ALWAYS. A great article of a New York based start up e-tailer that has successfully used social media, word of mouth, analytics, and an eye for creativity, quirkiness and design. But the following quotes are what jumped out at me:
… social media marketing needs to be measured differently than traditional marketing. We need different ways to measure sharing.
You have to look at how you measure excitement.
