Fox Advertising And Marketing for The O'Reilly Factor and The New Fox Business Channel.

Huge, I mean huge, outdoor posters went up right before Thanksgiving across from the main entrance to Penn Station and Madison Square Garden in the New York City. Although they bookend each other, they couldn't be more different--and they illustrate the dualistic nature of cable advertising in the city. The O'Reilly Factor ad, filled with ratings and stats appeals to the media buyers out there who determine who goes on the schedule and who doesn't. They love numbers. Strangely, Bill O'Reilly does too. About once a week he reviews his ratings successes, always comparing them to NBC (although Keith Olbermann is no longer mentioned by name...why give the competition shout outs?).

The Fox Business Network is introductory (which launched 10/15/08). More consumer-targeted it works to build awareness while taking a swing (without naming names) at CNBC with the positioning that Fox Business is "Information Not Fear." Take that Jim Cramer...the man who has taken all sorts of blame for toppling the financial markets. The entire cast of Fox characters, are Photoshopped together (again at last). The problem I have is that I think, aside from Neil Cavuto, they're not recognizable. Including Dagen MacDowell. It's a tough task to compete for recognition given CNBC's entrenched lineup with Maria Bartiromo, Jim Cramer, Suzie Orman and even Erin Burnett (a smart, big time rising star now being burnished by frequent "Meet the Press" appearances).

More new Fox personalities have arrived...including Alexis Glick from Today and Liz Claman from CNBC (called Fox's anti-Bartiromo). And...we'll definitely see more players to be named later. And whether the all-too-familiar bad blood between MSNB and Fox News cable shows will emerge in the world of business?

Where does this leaves Bloomberg? Should be interesting. We'll see what Andy Lack does now that he's been there about a month.

Returning to marketing and advertising. OK...these posters are big and hard to miss...but I'd love to see a news network do some concept advertising in addition to Photoshopped news personalities. There's opportunity in them thar hills.

Scott Lackey
New York, New York

A&E Advertising "Manhunters" & Bravo Promoting "Top Chef" in New York City Outdoor

A&E is advertising "Manhunters" and Bravo is promoting "Top Chef" at telephone kiosks. They stand on opposite sides of Broadway and 37th St. (taken today with our i phone)--although the shows couldn't be more different.



The "Manhunters" poster is perfectly located three blocks from the Empire State Building...about the same distance as that Empire-State-looking building in the background. "Manhunters" is a new reality show about agents, mandated after 9/11, to work across federal, state and local agencies to track down the NYC really bad and the ugly. Guns like that look pretty damned serious. Starts Tues Dec. 12th at 10 ET/PT. The poster line "Welcome to the jungle" in that location is, well, ironic?

Love the positioning of the knife in Bravo's poster for "Top Chef", which premiered this Wednesday (10 ET) and focused on the ethnic food found in NY's diverse negthborhoods. The show has now come to New York. If you haven't watched, it looks like a horror cooking show. Or, quite literally, cut throat chefs. That's what I imagine. Fun.



I'll tune in.

We'll be out shooting more ads. Now, LA, you don't even need to come to town to see NYC ads for your shows.

Scott Lackey
New York, New York

Internet TV and College Students: How To Get Your TV Fix Without Leaving the Library

So, it’s a Sunday night and the computer lab is packed with kids mesmerized by their computer screens, their eyes glazed over from staring at the same document for hours. One would expect that “America’s future” would be plugging away diligently at their term paper, but it’s not the case. As I pass by the line of computers, YouTube, Hulu and other sites that stream online videos are ubiquitous while homework remains minimized.


So why is it that so many students choose to procrastinate by watching videos online? And why the library of all places? After thinking about it for awhile, it came to me: Watching TV on a computer in the library, in an “attempt” to do work allows one to guiltlessly catch up on the TV shows or other videos you have missed all week. Actually getting yourself out of your dorm room and into the library has to count for something, right?

The popularity of watching TV online is growing as students, as well as employees are forced to sit in front of computer screens for hours at a time. People actually spend 50% of their waking hours in front of the computer, and only 10-20% in front of the TV. Therefore, many online video streaming websites have brilliantly combined computer use and TV watching into one dynamic concept: online video streaming that offers the same quality TV content on demand.

Websites such as Hulu and Joost offer on-demand, high quality videos, full episodes of TV shows, and even full length movies all for FREE. How do they do it? Advertising of course. Throughout each segment you watch, the viewer must sit thorough several short commercials that last about 30 seconds. Not a bad deal since traditional TV commercial pods last several minutes. Hulu even has a sidebar on the video screen that allows the viewer to rate the ad by giving it a “thumbs up” or a “thumbs down.” Joost also serves additional interactive advertisements via overlays and short pop-ups that are clickable.




Given the nature of this blog, I guess the better question is this: How can these cable TV companies capitalize upon the growing popularity of online TV broadcasting instead of being replaced by it?

A lot of cable TV networks have taken advantage of the popularity of online TV. Hulu is NBC Universal and New Corporation’s online video joint venture, and it features a multitude of other cable programs. Joost is said to be in negotiations with Fox, CBS, and Viacom.

An upcoming online TV streaming service called TidalTV is currently still in beta testing, but could prove to be a force to be reckoned with in the online TV world. It is very similar to Hulu and Joost but it replicates the feeling of TV, especially with its TV broadcasting guide that appears on the home screen. TidalTV, like regular TV, broadcasts different segments at certain times but also allows the viewer to watch TV on demand. Already receiving approximately 555,000 unique monthly visitors, TidalTV allows cable TV networks to broadcast episodes that are featured on cable, as well as individualized segments. One of the features I find interesting about TidalTV is that it offers a variety of instructional channels that cater to one’s specific interests, such as food, travel, fitness and fashion. These interest-specific channels seem to be lost in sites such as Joost and Hulu.


Cable TV companies could use these interest-specific channels to brand themselves in a unique fashion. By uploading different segments on their TidalTV channel, cable companies can target people with specific interests in an effort to create a more dynamic audience.

Well, I just realized I missed the newest episode of The Daily Show last night. I guess it’s time to get to work.

Katie Milot
Lafayette College
Easton, Pennsylvania