Motorola poised to trump satellite radio with wireless mobile radio offering
Just when you think satellite radio’s beginning to heat up. In the U.S., Motorola announced plans to launch iRadio later this year. The subscription-based radio service – to be made available via mobile phones – will hold 435 commercial-free radio channels for about half the price of the monthly fee of satellite radio providers. Content providers signed on to iRadio include Clear Channel, which is slated to provide 75 channels as well as syndicated programming. Heck, (actor and Angelina Jolie throwaway) Billy Bob Thornton will even produce an indie artist channel. iRadio uses wireless technology and, as such, folks can use their cells to download content for home or car stereo playback.
Nielsen Media Research Spend Trend: Federal, provincial, and municipal governments
Where do all the tax dollars go?
Not surprisingly the federal government is the biggest advertiser with the provinces and regions registering outlays commensurate with size and population. Three-quarters of total government ad spending is roughly split 50/25 between TV and dailies. Radio experienced slight gains year over year while magazines and OOH had increases in 2002 and 03 but landed with 2004 percentages on par with 2001. Overall spending peaked in 2003 but then dropped almost 27% to a four-year low in 2004.
Family Net debuts two; seeks brand sponsors for online and events properties
Family Channel is set to turn preschoolers into baby Einsteins. New preschool series Disney’s Little Einsteins will preview on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 6 p.m. before it drops into its regular timeslot – weekdays at 8:45 a.m., beginning February 13. The show takes little viewers on fun, musical missions using 2D animated characters. On Friday, March 17 at 6:30 p.m., the net will intro Life with Derek, a weekly 13-episode, half-hour live-action comedy targeted at 8-14s. Manager of communications Marcia Andreychuk says production on season two is about to start. ‘A great opportunity for brands to be attached to Family are [via] our off-network sponsorship opportunities [such as] Spring Break Out and Summer Chill. Last year’s Spring Break Out promo involved a cross-Canada mall tour (sponsored by Nintendo). [On our last] Summer Chill (sponsored by Kisko and Mattel) we sent a Family-branded ice cream truck across Canada, giving away freezies and ‘tester’ water toys for games of water tag at each stop,’ she says. Andreychuk also says that brands can align themselves with specific series to co-brand games or microsites. She says that past contests on family.ca have yielded more than 100,000 online entries. The site boasts one million uniques per month.
Decoder Ring preps original podcast series
Last fall, Toronto’s Decoder Ring Theatre brought a regular original audio drama series to podcasting in the form of The Red Panda Adventures. Now the company is debuting its second original series for podcast. Black Jack Justice debuts Jan. 7 and runs for six episodes. The noir-style pulp detective series is based on the play-within-a-play featured in Decoder Ring Theatre’s Fringe Festival hit of the same name. Following this run, Black Jack Justice will return in July for a further six episodes.
The programs are done in the style of the golden age of radio and therefore have a break in the middle, which Decoder Ring is hoping to fill with a sponsor, says creator Gregg Taylor. ‘What we’d really love to do is find a sponsor who’d like us to create original ‘old-timey’ advertisements, to let us do for them what Sam Spade did for Wildroot Hair Cream. But we’d certainly be interested in any sort of advertiser participation.’ Taylor says the audience comes from all over Canada and the U.S. and ranges from comics-loving university students to the original fans of old-time radio before it became old-time.
Since the launch of The Red Panda Adventures, Decoder Ring’s eps have been downloaded by more than 10,000 listeners.
http://decoderring.libsyn.com
History Channel commemorates Holocaust victims
Jan. 27 is the First Annual International Day of Commemoration to Honour Holocaust Victims, and History Television is taking part with three days of themed programming. Auschwitz: The Nazis & ‘The Final Solution’ airs Jan. 25-27 at 8 p.m. with two back-to-back hours nightly. The six-part series takes an in-depth look at the inner workings of the infamous camp where one million people died, and the mentality of its creators.
Bingo jingo. YTV gets Captain Flamingo
Among YTV’s highlights for February is a new series for younger kids. Captain Flamingo is a little-kid-turned-superhero who helps other children navigate the ins and outs of grown-up rules like eating liver. The new YTV original Canadian animated series premiers in The Zone block on Tuesday, Feb. 7 at 4:30 p.m. It also airs Saturdays at 3 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.
TSN tees up
It’s golf, golf, golf at TSN this year with the specialty net devoting more than 500 hours of coverage to the game in 2006. The season gets underway tomorrow with all four rounds of the Mercedes Championships. Highlights include TSN and CTV once again teaming up for the Bell Canadian Open – the only Canadian stop on the PGA Tour – and available in HD for the second year running. There will also be all four Majors – the British Open, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship, and the first two rounds of the Masters, as well as three Senior Majors and two Women’s Majors, the made-for-TV TELUS Skins Game, and the biennial team tourney, the Ryder Cup.
TSN extensive golf coverage continues to draw steady viewership growth. In 2005, TSN attracted an average audience of 174,000 viewers for its golf coverage – an 11% increase over 2004. (Nielsen Media Research; All audience figures 2+).
Events
Feb 7-8
Canadian Digital Signage Summit
The Liberty Grand
Toronto
416.944.9200/866.298.9343
www.strategyinstitute.com
An overview of the benefits of digital signage. Speakers include Hugh Dow, president of M2 Universal and Peter VanSickle, director, merchandising, BMO Financial Group.
March 1-3
AAAA Media Conference and Trade Show
Royal Pacific Resort
Orlando
212.682.2500
www.aaaa.org
Topics range from nontraditional media to branded entertainment to advanced communications vehicles. Speakers include Brad Santeler of Kimberly-Clark on strategic total communications planning and Jim Poh of Crispin Porter Bogusky on how to sell non-traditional media ideas to your clients. Presented by the American Association of Advertising Agencies.
PMB Factoid
Internet purchasing of CDs; by province
CDSA unveils new industry Web site
The Canadian Digital Signage Association has launched a new Web site (the-CDSA.org) designed to be a central resource for signage network operators, media buyers and planners, hardware and content suppliers, and real estate owners. The association views the site as a major step towards defining a media category for private digital signage networks in the minds of media buyers and planners, and features useful tools such as a company directory, glossary of terms, definitions, and Canadian specific articles.
In the future, the Web site will also give the industry access to CDSA Fund research providing both quantitative and qualitative data; established best practices for association members in order to set standards that will promote credibility of the industry as a whole; educational seminars to help ad industry professionals keep abreast of digital signage developments in a timely and efficient manner; annual conference information showcasing the value of the Canadian Digital Signage industry to the marketing community at large; and education and networking opportunities.
Global National aligns across Canada
Global National with Kevin Newman is moving to 5:30 p.m. across Canada starting Feb. 6. The move is part of a new Global brand strategy that aims to position the network as Canada’s best source for news and entertainment programming. The new positioning will included a revamped identity for the whole network and a new logo. The newscast recently introduced online (www.globalnational.com ) and wireless initiatives including blogs from political columnists, Global National podcasts, info and video sent to cellphones and the capability for viewers to submit photos and video for inclusion in the newscast. Global National will be followed by the local news at 6 p.m. In the Maritimes, Global National will air at 6:30 p.m., following the local news.
Notes from the media landscape: radio that chats to billboards around you
Know all the words to that sixties song playing in your car radio? Chances are, your fm radio is reading you. Sacramento, CA-based Smart Sign Media produces outdoor digital signage with technology that detects radio signals from passing motorists. So while you’re listening to that Beatles song in the car and you pass a digital billboard touting anti-wrinkle cream, don’t think it’s a coincidence. The company’s ‘smart’ boards read radio signals, targeting ad messages to specific demos. Next up is the Smart Sign network’s ability to go one step further, enabling consumers to receive ad promo offers and coupons on to mobile phones. The company also has plans to expand throughout western U.S.
http://www.smartsign.com
Top TV advertisers: Eloda ad analysis
Retail continues its big push to clear out merchandise, nabbing the number one spot for category with the largest variety of TV commercials last week. Entertainment and drugs take the number two and three posts, respectively. New to the chart are TV network ads (media: television), tying with food for last place at 4.9%. Check out others topping the charts, and which brands had the most new spots. This info was gathered through Montreal-based ELODA’s online TV ad tracking, auditing and viewing services. All data supplied is based on the ELODA recording grid.
http://www.eloda.com
Top radio advertisers: Media Monitors ad analysis
Telecommunications brands once again scoop the top three spots in the number of radio ads on rotation in Toronto last week. Telus Mobility takes the top spot, followed by Bell Canada, leaping from the number 72 spot previously. Rogers Wireless nabs bronze. New entrants to the list are Toronto Star (at number nine) and – cashing in on New Year’s resolutions – is fitness club chain Premier & Mademoiselle (at number 10). The categories list told a different story with gold going to cars and light trucks, followed by home furnishings. Check out others topping the radio charts by category and brand in the Toronto market for the week of December 25-31.
http://www.mediamonitors.com
Cute, cuddly and vicious: Meerkats on Animal Planet
Love, power, intrigue, murder. Has Animal Planet started running soaps? No, it’s Meerkat Manor a new series that dishes the dirt on a community of the delightful, if diabolical, creatures that look like tall, skinny prairie dogs when they stand on their hind legs. Meerkats are probably best known from the motormouth character Timon, voiced by Nathan Lane, in The Lion King. But these guys are the real thing and live in Africa’s Kalahari Desert where life is probably more dangerous than even Hollywood. Here we watch members of the colony mate, search desperately for food and decide whether to kill some pups so their own have a better chance of survival. Fun for all ages. The show airs Mondays at 8 p.m. beginning Jan. 30 and runs for 13 eps.
