TV Commercials: Too Loud

"Evidently there's still confusion in the marketplace about what works online, particularly when it comes to video advertising. Two panels at the Ad Age Digital Conference addressed the proliferation of video across different screens and the issues marketers are still grappling with on these new platforms."



"The other day someone was trying to tell me that TV commercials are much louder than the shows we watch, but I couldn't hear them over the ad that was playing on the television at the time.

In fact, it's not just on television any more. I was watching a Supernatural episode from the CW website and was assaulted with ads that were much louder than the show through my own computer - and that's what got me going on today's Screen Rant.


TV Commercials Are Too Loud, But Don't Ask The TV Stations About It

Television commercial volumes (I'm using TV as my common reference) are too loud and without a doubt, we know it, but according to your local television station, they effectively insult us by telling us we are wrong."

CBS: Jerking Us Around

Are you listening, Moonves?
+++++++++++

"Analytics will be the new Intellectual Property. CBS looked at its own traffic and saw a trend of users “catching up” on what happened previously ahead of new episodes of Jericho and Survivor.

Building communities around content drives engagement. But content producers need to take a holistic view of what a show is. Its not just 8-9pm. When you consider joining groups on Facebook, catching up on previous episodes, reading blogs, etc., a show has a much longer, broader appeal than just its timeslot."



"Today I am launching a new company from the pulver.com Incubator, PrimeTimeRewind.TV. Amit Shafrir and I co-founded this company in 2007.

PrimeTimeRewind.TV provides one click access for consumers to watch the latest episode of their favorite Prime Time TV Shows (assuming the underlying TV Network has made the show available for free online viewing.)

The 2007/2008 television season is the first one in which each of the major US based TV and Cable networks embraced the Internet since the start of the TV season by offering complete episodes of most of their prime-time programs for free to people located in the USA. While this is an exciting development for USA based consumers (access to the online TV content is restricted by geography by each of the respective TV Networks), the discovery and viewing experience on each individual site continues to be rather challenging. Until today, there has not been any single platform available for watching all of the otherwise available Prime Time TV programs; each network requires visiting and hunting through a very different site and different user experience."

Jericho: Really Good

"I have previously stated that Jericho is pretty good. Now I'd like to upgrade the show to really good. Both of the last two episodes had me on the edge of my seat, and last episode I was totally bawling halfway through.

Kung Fu Monkey says:
It's a become better plotted espionage thriller than 24 ever was on its best day.

It's also sharp commentary on the privatization of warfare, the cozy symbiosis of politicians and massive corporations, out of control contractors in Iraq, and the relationship between the US military and populations they're "administering".

Continuing Jericho

Roush on Jericho

"Question: I am under the impression that Jericho's comeback was only to conclude the series and give closure to the fans. Is this correct? I heard the network had no intention to continue Jericho, which would explain the fast pace of working through the story. I am one of those fans who felt that the premise of the original storyline was good. It needed work, but it had potential. I waited each week for each show, largely because it was a story that created great discussion based on intelligent thoughts. There isn't much to talk about with most commercial television programming other than, "Did you see the cat fight between Barb and Cindy last night?" Jericho is much better than one more crime or reality/sex/conflict show. Sex, swearing, murder, blood and gore used to be reserved for after 9 pm. Jericho has a little darker storyline, but all ages enjoy it, talk about it and don't have to be afraid of its content, at least so far. I watch very little television, and I have access to only three networks. Taking off Jericho means I will rent more movies.— Sherry "

Les Moonves: Kill American Idol

"With CBS close to losing the total viewers race for the first time in five years, CEO Leslie Moonves called Fox's ratings hit "American Idol" a "monster" and urged somebody to "kill that show."

"While we're in repeats, 'American Idol' continues to be a monster," Moonves said Thursday at the McGraw-Hill Media Summit in New York City. "It's a phenomenon. If somebody would kill that show, I'd really appreciate it. But it's a national phenomenon, and it continues to do extremely well. It's tough to compete with it."



"According to Media Life Magazine, the three big network evening news broadcasts have slipped badly in the key 18 to 34 age bracket. At the same time, though, the Cable news nets have picked up among that same demographic. All three network newscasts have lost numbers since last year, with Katie Couric having the worst slide of the three.

According to Media Life, the main reason the evening news shows have been losing so steadily is because the Internet and Cable can give news at any time the viewer is ready to take their news whereas the evening news must be specifically scheduled into the viewer’s lives. Media Life claims that the 18 to 34 age group just “never got into the evening news habit” – a pretty plausible point."

Online: CBS Ad Rates

"CBS said ad spots for TV shows it airs on its online "Audience Network" are selling for more than $20 per thousand viewers -- a higher rate than the network charges when it broadcasts the same shows on your TV in prime time.

There's two ways to view a stat like that. The first: It shows that the CBS's online audience is much smaller than its broadcast one. CPMs are a function of both price and reach. But the more positive view is that the price also reflects the fact that online viewers tend to be more engaged with the advertising and a lot younger than network TV (median age 38, compared to 53 for TV)."



The fourth Jericho blog carnival

Thanks to Amy at RemoteAccess


"Is anyone else out there a "Jericho" fan?

When I first saw this "new" flag of the "Allied States of America", I thought, "WTF?" And, for the last few episodes, every time they show it, every time they take down the flag of the United States and put up the new flag, I can't help but have a feeling of queasy unease.

I guess that's the first question I would ask if we would have to reconstitute ourselves, would we choose a new flag? The Iraqis have tried to do it twice without much success."

Quincy Smith: Diving In

"The bigger question: What does CBS plan to do with a small company - now around 16 people -- that makes web video? Digital boss Quincy Smith says that deal was meaningful for CBS -- "2006 was the year of experimentation. We're not just touching our toes in the water anymore." -- but is also clear about the big picture: CBS isn't going to shift its core focus from making and distributing broadcast TV shows. We're not quite sure where that leaves the Wallstrip guys -- there's a lot of talk about "infusing their DNA" into CBS, which confuses us a bit -- but we're happy to watch their stuff, regardless."




"The other Tuesday night SF show had much lower numbers by comparison but still showed fair ratings for the LIVE watching crowd. “Jericho” garnered a 1.8/5 share for its efforts, or close to 6 million fans tuning in. While that is nothing to hoop and holler about, this is one particular show that has shown it does much better with the TiVo/DVR crowd and it will be interesting to see what those numbers reveal. After the gripping, and quite shocking conclusion to this Tuesday’s episode, “Jericho” has proven it deserves a third season. We can only hope that CBS is sharp enough to realize that."

Jericho: CBS Numbers

Breaking News: CBS Press Release


"On-Air + Online + On-DVR = Many More Eyeballs and Double Digit Percentage Demo Increases

"Jericho" and "Big Brother" Viewer Engagement Across Multi-Platforms Is Far Greater Than Initial Same Day Ratings Indicate

On-air, online and on-DVR viewing are resulting in many more eyeballs for CBS series JERICHO and BIG BROTHER, according to Nielsen Live Plus 7-Day ratings and new data from CBS Interactive Research."



"CBS, for the first time in six years, will cede its spot as most-watched network. To Fox.

CBS, which uses a strategy of getting total viewers rather than the coveted 18-49 demo, has won the rights to call itself America’s top network many years running.

As a result of the lengthy WGA strike, CBS has suffered because its anchor scripted shows have gone missing. CSI, for example, last ran an original episode on January 10 and will not return with new eps until April 3."

Jericho Time-Shifted Numbers In

Time-Shifted Numbers are in.

Go here.



Excellent article.


"Newspaper circulation figures miss the millions of people who prefer to read news and features online. And conventional overnight and weekly Nielsen TV ratings don't capture viewers who now watch shows at their convenience online or on DVRs, VOD and portable devices.

In television, technology seems to give Nielsen Media Research a better handle on audience habits. Its People Meter boxes, installed in homes of survey participants, automatically record when a TV set is on, the channel being watched, and - when people take the trouble to push the right buttons - who's in the room.

The biggest change this year is Nielsen's decision to include viewers who don't watch a show live as it is broadcast via the airwaves or cable. Weekly ratings now also include people who watch a program any time on the same day it airs - the cutoff is 3:00 AM. And beginning with the TV season that started in September, networks cut ad deals based on the number of people who watch a program up to three days after the air date.

While this certainly provides for a more complete picture, the new statistics still don't tell us how many people watch a show or network in all of its venues."

Jericho: Moonves and Nielsen

"As the media industry ponders its efficiencies in a shaky economy, one bigwig who's not panicking is Les Moonves. The president-CEO of CBS Corp. said in his fourth-quarter 2007 earnings call to investors this morning that the TV side of CBS has not seen a recession thus far.

Earlier in the call, Mr. Moonves also addressed the gray area that continues to surround the effectiveness of Nielsen's commercial ratings in the post-strike TV market. "With the new C3 measurement system, it is virtually impossible to draw apples-to-apples comparisons," he said. "And with the strike adding more repeats there is little conclusion that can be drawn from the numbers this season. What is important is that the advertisers are generally pleased that we have a more precise measuring system."

Jericho To Sci-Fi ?

Will CBS make a decision about Jericho after Ep 3 airs this week? Carol Barbee thinks so.

"I think this next airing will probably tell the tale," Barbee said in an interview at WonderCon in San Francisco on Feb. 24, referring to the upcoming Feb. 26 episode, "Jennings & Rall." "Our numbers have been OK, [but] not great. Our [demographic] has been very good; they've been very happy with that. But we'll see. ... If we trend up this week, I think we'll look pretty good. If we don't trend up, or if we stay the same, I think we'll have to wait and see what they want to do with us. I mean, they're going to air all seven; it's just a matter of how they feel about producing more."

Barbee denied knowing anything from CBS but she wouldn't be able to tell if she did know. It is good to hear she's looking into other options.

"Just in case CBS does pull the trigger on Jericho, Barbee said she's already begun looking for a new home on cable television. "There were other people who were interested in us to begin with, and now, I think, with the whole nuts [fan] campaign, and also with the amazing reviews that we've gotten for these seven episodes, I feel like we have made this franchise more valuable to a cable network who would want to take us on as a niche market," Barbee said. (The "nuts campaign" was a successful lobbying effort by Jericho fans, who mailed tons of peanuts to CBS to bring the show back after the network canceled it after the first season.)"

Jericho:Eyeballs Online

Well, it would appear that Quincy knows there are a lot of online viewers. Let's hope he tells ClueLes Moonves that we're here.

"Generally speaking there are younger demographics online, and we have to hit them with everything we've got," said Quincy Smith, president of CBS Interactive, in an interview. "We are absolutely using this to go out and find new eyeballs who might not otherwise have seen this.

Under Smith, CBS has been determined to make its programming available on as many Web sites as possible, rather than trying to confine viewers to CBS.com or other CBS-owned sites.

People who watch 'Jericho' might also like 'Star Trek,'" according to Smith. "We pay attention to DVD sales, to broadcast requests through Nielsen and also to online information. We know from discussions on YouTube that people who like this also like that. ... On Facebook, people who join the 'How I Met Your Mother' group also like stuff on 'Big Bang Theory.'"