Toronto Star gets its weekly star Scoop
The Toronto Star is getting into the celeb rag biz. Joining the ranks of People, In Touch and the relaunching TV Guide will be the Star’s own glossy Celebrity Scoop. The top of the masthead will have Kathryn Swan as publisher (formerly of Money Sense) and Vivian Vassos (of Flare) as editor-in-chief. Celebrity Scoop will be available across the country on newsstands every week beginning Oct. 3.
Nielsen Media Research Spend Trend: Outdoor living
With winters being what they are in most of the country, Canadians start spending much of their time outdoors as soon as the snow melts. The passion to optimize our short summer season has spawned a steadily growing outdoor living category that more than doubled its media spending between 2001 and 2004. Dailies are the hot medium for the category, growing from 58.0% of the spending in 2001 to capturing 83.5% in 2003 and 80.7% last year. The biggest spenders are in the doors/windows/glass enclosure/greenhouse/garden building businesses.
ComBase Market Focus: High weekday readership for community newspapers in the Vancouver CMA
* 75% of Vancouver CMA (central market area) adults report reading any community newspaper weekday. This represents more than 1.2 million community newspaper readers.
* 57% of Vancouver adults report reading any weekday daily newspaper (909,400).
* 23% of Vancouver adults are exclusive community newspaper readers. 367,900 people report reading only their community paper and not a daily newspaper.
Weekday readership of community newspapers vs. dailies in all Vancouver municipalities:
* In Burnaby – 63% report reading community papers compared to 57% reading dailies.
* In Coquitlam – 82% report reading community papers compared to 68% reading dailies.
* In Delta – 82% report reading community papers compared to 51% reading dailies.
* In Langley – 79% report reading community papers compared to 48% reading dailies.
* In Maple Ridge – 88% report reading community papers compared to 51% reading dailies.
* In New Westminster – 73% report reading community papers compared to 46% reading dailies.
* In North Vancouver – 81% report reading community papers compared to 66% reading dailies.
* In Pitt Meadows – 75% report reading community papers compared to 48% reading dailies.
* In Port Coquitlam – 67% report reading community papers compared to 37% reading dailies.
* In Port Moody – 65% report reading community papers compared to 33% reading dailies.
* In Richmond – 76% report reading community papers compared to 65% reading dailies.
* In Surrey – 77% report reading community papers compared to 55% reading dailies
* In the city of Vancouver – 71% report reading community papers compared to 58% reading dailies.
* In White Rock – 87% report reading community papers compared to 30% reading dailies.
Source: ComBase 2003-2004 Study
ComBase, the Community Newspaper Database, is a syndicated consumer-media survey of more than 400 Canadian markets that provides market-by-market information. It is an initiative of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association and its nearly 700 members across the country. For more information, contact Kelly Levson, senior project manager, kellylevson@combase.ca.
Research Watch: PMB wraps doc study
PMB has released the 2005 Medical Media Study. The study, conducted by PMB since 2000, uses a random sample of 3,000 GPs and other physicians to measure the readership of 31 publications, and also covers medical activities, including drug prescribing patterns. For instance, Canadian physicians prescribe on average 12.3 non-narcotic analgesics per week, 11.7 antibiotics and 10.1 anticholesterols. Plus, physicians write 3.3 prescriptions per week for erectile difficulty drugs.
Kelley taps into reality with Law Firm
CTV has a new series premiering tonight at 8 p.m. The Law Firm is a David E. Kelley (The Practice) offspring and features 12 cutthroat lawyers arguing real court cases with real judges and juries. The attorneys work as teams, which is sometimes difficult as each has a strong personality. Each ep at least one legal beagle gets the boot, based on their performance and not whether they won the case. The last solicitor standing gets (shock) big bucks. Target aud is CTV’s usual mass 18+.
(Prison) Breaking news
Prison Break, which got some good buzz in the up-fronts is debuting Monday, Aug. 29 on Global with a two-hour premiere. The drama follows a man who schemes his way into prison to help his brother plot their way out. The show unveils at 8 p.m. in Ontario/Quebec/British Columbia; 7 p.m. in Manitoba/Saskatchewan and 9 p.m. in the Maritimes/Alberta.
Mystery, mentv preem two
Two of the Global Specialty Networks are unveiling some new fodder. Mystery is featuring Legends and Lore: The North Atlantic, which mines the rich vein of folklore and epic tales from that region of ghost ships and furry mermen. The program debuts Saturday, Aug. 6 at 8 p.m.
Meanwhile mentv has hired The Office Temps, a hidden camera series looking into the world of temporary employment. Three temps get assigned to an office that is actually a staged work environment at a phony company with, one supposes, hilarious results. The office opens Saturday, Aug. 6 at 10 p.m.
http://www.canwestglobal.com
John st. spreads ’em
You’re not crazy – that billboard for a law firm is covered with butter. Toronto-based agency john st. created a unique media campaign for butter brand Gay Lea touting the product’s spreadability.
The tagline ‘You’ll want to spread it on everything’ is illustrated in TV and outdoor executions; the latter features faux billboards – hawking sleazy lawyers and plastic surgeons – covered in butter, running over from adjacent Gay Lea billboards.
Notes from the media landscape: new OOH planning software; and will engagement trump frequency?
Competitors VNU (owner of Nielsen Media Research) and Arbitron have joined forces on new outdoor media planning software called Outdoor Navigator. The software was developed by IMS, a VNU subsidiary and the largest supplier of media planning software to the ad industry. VNU and Arbitron are still considering their own outdoor media measurement plans. The two companies have a complex relationship of competition and co-operation. They have most notably worked together on Apollo, a project to develop a single-source media and marketing measurement system; as well, NMR has supported Arbitron’s efforts to expand portable people meters. Meanwhile, Arbitron has bowed out of its competition with NMR to develop global positioning satellite technology for use in outdoor audience measurement.
In other measurement news, a task force comprised of members of the Association of National Advertisers, American Association of Advertising Agencies and the Advertising Research Foundation are pushing an initiative that replaces frequency (number of ad exposures) with engagement, a way to measure (they hope) how the public is consuming mass media choices such as cellphones, the Internet, video games and podcasts. The first step? Defining what ‘engagement’ is. The committee is also proposing a large-scale research project to validate ‘engagement’ as a planning, tracking and ROI metric. The initiative, cheekily called MI4, was intro’d at an ANA conference on marketing accountability last week.
Rogers puts a headlock on round-the-clock wrestling
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is joining the Rogers Digital Cable lineup. The new, video-on-demand channel WWE 24/7 will air fare such as Extreme Championship Wrestling and Old School, among many others. The service, available now, can be found on channel 400 for $9.95 per month.
BBM Media Snapshot: Heavy consumers of sports energy drinks
* 1.3 million Canadians (5%) are heavy consumers of sports energy drinks (at least once per week).
* 43% of heavy consumers are under 24 years of age.
* They are predominantly male (71%).
* BC stands out as the region with the highest incidence of sports energy drink consumers (1.4 times more than the national average).
* Their top activities are hiking (61%), swimming (61%), home exercising (58%), and cycling (55%).
* 21% are members of a health club (1.4 times more than the national average).
* Among their top purchases during the last two years are: a car stereo (1.7 times more than the national average), console video system (1.7 times more than national average), motorcycle (1.5 times more than the national average), and a MP3 player (1.5 times more than the national average).
* Compared to national averages, heavy consumers of sports energy drinks are twice as likely to have piercings and 1.8 times more likely to have a tattoo.
* In terms of yesterday’s exposure, the top three media for Canadians who are heavy consumers of sports energy drinks are: TV (86%), radio (82%) and the Internet (64%).
* Movies (76%) and hockey when available (58%) are their top TV program types watched in an average week. However, their preference for sports stands out from the average. They watched 2.2 times more basketball, 1.9 times more NFL, 1.7 times more golf, and 1.5 times more auto racing.
Source: BBM RTS Canada Fall ’04/Spring ’04
The preceding information is from BBM RTS, a syndicated consumer-media survey of over 60,000 Canadians, conducted twice a year by BBM Canada. For more information contact Craig Dorning of BBM Canada: cdorning@bbm.ca.
New Life this fall
Alliance Atlantis’s Life Network is preeming three series this fall in a battle for viewers interested in lifestyle fare. First up is Martha, featuring Emmy Award winner Martha Stewart in a new hour-long daytime syndicated talk show. Stewart has teamed with Survivor‘s Mark Burnett to produce this offering, which will be filmed with a studio audience and feature celebrity guests and segments on entertaining and decorating. The show airs weekdays at 10 a.m., beginning Sept. 12.
Renovate My Wardrobe (Sundays at 8:30 p.m., beginning Oct. 9) brings together an image consultant and closet organizer to analyze an individual’s lifestyle and body type. They get a new wardrobe and a new dream closet to put it in. Meanwhile, The Mom Show should tap into the yummy mummy phenom weekdays at 2 p.m., beginning Oct. 3. The program offers advice on everything from parenting concerns to keeping the spark with your partner alive. Experts are on hand to field calls from viewers. Life reaches 5.6 million households with 55% of viewers adults 18-49 and 53% adults 25-54, skewing 62% female, according to Nielsen Media Research.
A new program Showcase
AAB’s specialist in ‘Television Without Borders,’ Showcase continues its edgy programming with a batch of quirky new offerings. Six-parter The Grid targets terrorism and stars Dylan McDermott (The Practice)and Julianna Margulies (ER). The show preems Aug. 31 and runs Wednesdays at 10 p.m.
State of Play has an ambitious MP stunned when his research assistant and lover dies mysteriously in London’s underground. The thriller begins Sept. 3 and airs Saturdays at 5 p.m.
It’s Me…Gerald finds a documentary crew following the exploits of an unsuccessful-but-determined Canadian director, Gerald L’Ecuyer. A Showcase original series, the six eps start Sept. 4 and run Sundays at 9:30 p.m.
Showcase has picked up the Showtime cult hit Dead Like Me in which a group of dead people get afterlife jobs as Grim Reapers. Airs Mondays at 10 p.m., beginning Oct. 3.
And Weeds finds a suburban mom battling financial woes by becoming a pot dealer. The Showtime pickup will air Wednesdays at 10 p.m., beginning Oct. 12.
Showcase scores well against adults 18-49 and 25-54, with a slight male skew. It reaches 6.2 million subscriber households, according to Nielsen Media Research.
D-List hits Toronto1
Comic Kathy Griffin (Suddenly Susan) heads up her own reality show with Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List. The new hour-long, six-episode program hits Toronto1 beginning Wednesday, Aug. 24 at 9 p.m. and targets women 25-54.
