CMT brings Canadians the best in country music (live)
Country music’s only awards show as chosen by the fans is coming live to Canadians this April on CMT. Online voting will determine the winners of the 2005 CMT Music Awards, the first round of which has already started in the U.S., with the final nominees to be announced on March 16. The winners are revealed Monday, April 11 at 8 p.m. Video Of The Year, voting will be opened worldwide at the beginning of the telecast with the winner being announced at the end of the show. Canadians can vote for their choice on www.cmtcanada.com.
Hosted by comedian Jeff Foxworthy, the awards will feature a wealth of talent from the world of country music. Nominees include Shania Twain, Tim McGraw and Loretta Lynn and the likes of Reba McEntire, Alan Jackson and Toby Keith will perform.
OJ who? Michael Jackson case takes celebrity trial coverage to the next level
Because of the trial judge’s ruling, cameras will not be allowed in the courtroom as Michael Jackson defends himself against grievous charges of child molestation. Thanks to E!’s new show Michael Jackson: The Trial, airing six days a week on Star! and MuchMoreMusic, the letter of that law will be strictly upheld, but its purpose will be completely disregarded. Monday to Friday at 7 p.m., MuchMoreMusic will broadcast half-hour re-enactments of the previous days events, starring famed MJ impersonator Edward Moss (Scary Movie 3). Sundays at 7 p.m., Star! will air a one-hour recap of the previous weeks circus featuring commentary from legal experts and polls. If found guilty, MJ can expect to lose millions of dollars from civil suits, and will also likely lose the custody of his three small children.
40th Annual Crystal Awards
March 3, 2005
Fairmont Royal York Hotel, Toronto
www.cmw.net/crystalshtm
The Crystals, hosted by the Radio Marketing Bureau, recognizes the best in Canadian radio advertising. A morning seminar with Terry O’Reilly, Pirate Radio & Television, will host ’10 Best Radio Spots of All Time’. The Crystal Awards gala hosted by Sean Cullen with musical guests Matt Dusk and David Usher starts at 12:30 p.m. A post-gala keynote address will be given by Dr. Jackie Freiberg, co-author of Guts!: Companies that Blow the Doors Off Business-As-Usual.
Magazines Canada Seminar Series
March 9
Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar, Toronto
Geared to media planners, MC will discuss how regional and national mags complement one another, and deliver an engaged audience.
For more info, contact Magazines Canada prez Gary Garland: 416-596-5318
ggarland@magazinescanada.com
PMB Factoid
Teens are more than twice as likely to eat flavoured popcorn
Message in a bottle (Sending out an SMS)
Odds are that if you are sitting in front of your computer right now, you have MSN Messenger running; a claim supported by the fact that MSN has 10 million registered Canadian users among the 18 million regular Internet users in all of Canada. MSN unveiled its latest incarnation of its Search engine in early February and just days ago released Messenger 7.0 with several software upgrades including a new in-message-window search feature that has performed extraordinarily well with test markets. The initiatives are cementing MSN’s position on the global Internet ad market, where it has recently gone up against the likes of Yahoo and Google.
CanWest launches new mag for young Canadians, by young Canadians
CanWest is set to launch a new free daily magazine complete with comprehensive interactive services dubbed Dose, April 4, 2005. The new pub will distribute 320,000 magazines every weekday spanning five major Canadian cities (Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver) and will be complimented by an online service (www.dose.ca) as well as a wireless portal. The target for Dose will be urban, intelligent and fun 18-34 year-olds and will offer news and ‘other relevant information’. The on-line version of Dose will provide breaking news and in-depth coverage as well as a local search tool and an easy-to-use music channel. The wireless portal will offer movie listings, contests, polls, images, ring tones and games. Published by Harvard Business School grad and former media investment banker with Salomon Smith Barney, Noah Godfrey, Dose will available through select retail outlets and strategically located publication boxes.
Pepsi towers over Yonge-Dundas Square
Pepsi-Cola Canada has unveiled a 50-foot high ‘Pepsi Tower’ at the southwest corner of Yonge-Dundas Square. Atop the tower rests a 7-foot high, backlit and rotating ‘Pepsi Globe’. The ‘Pepsi Tower’, built as a permanent structure, is situated at the top of the Hard Rock Café between two large video screens. The concept was developed by Titan Outdoor and executed by BBDO Toronto and OMD Toronto.
Ford revs its engines for new hi-tech OOH campaign
Ford is touting two downtown Toronto billboards that are making the company’s new Mustang campaign stick out. The first billboard, located at the corner of Richmond and Peter (12 x 4.5 metres), flashes 125 different colors at three-second intervals to promote the 2005 Mustang’s new feature of a dashboard that can be set to shine in 125 shades of color. The second billboard, located at the corner of Adelaide and John (8 x 6 metres), features a speeding Mustang and invites consumer interactivity by instructing passersby to, ‘tune into FM 88.3 and hold on’. The station broadcasts the sounds of the Mustang’s 330 HP 4.6L V8 engine as it changes gears at high speeds. The low-frequency broadcast reaches about a one-kilometer radius from the sign. Young and Rubicam, the campaign’s AOR, worked with Roar Media.
DAN plans to market content transmission services worldwide
Digital Advertising Network and their Montreal-based partner PIXNET have announced plans to market their satellite transmission services that place and monitor advertising campaigns on multiple display boards and video screens to markets around the world. The DAN/PIXNET services provide secure transmission, monitoring, booking and scheduling of advertising content in the company’s 66 shopping mall food courts in Canada. The marketing push comes just days after DAN announced a $1.4 million plan to upgrade its entire network of large format video displays. DAN’s advertising partners include Nike, Mastercard, Chrysler and Sony Playstation. Already signage companies in the U.K, the U.S. and Australia have expressed interest in acquiring the tech.
Research shows newspaper readers also listen to news
The latest findings by The Media Audit indicate a link between heavy newspaper readership and radio format choices, showing that heavy newspaper readers also gravitate towards news and talk formats when they switch to radio. More than 50% of those surveyed in 80-plus metro U.S. markets say they listen to news, news-talk, news-talk-sports, and sports formats and are heavy newspaper readers (someone who spends at least one hour a day reading a newspaper).
The 24 million adults surveyed that fell into the heavy newspaper reader category is pretty evenly split between males, 51.1% and females, 48.9%. Amongst women who are heavy newspaper readers: 43.4% listen to the news-talk format; 41.1% choose the news format; 39.8% news-talk-sports; and 20.0% listen to the sports format. When it comes to men, 80% of heavy newspaper readers listen to the sports format, 58.9% tune to the news format, and 60.2% choose news-talk. The Media Audit is a multimedia, qualitative audience survey from International Demographics of Houston, Texas.
Fore! Corus swings into Golf Town
Corus Custom Networks, Hitachi and Club Media have teamed up with Golf Town to become a formidable foursome in the digital signage world. The partnership have brought custom advertising content to digital signage networks in Golf Town retail outlets and premier golf resort destinations in Canada. Flat-screen Hitachi visual displays have been installed in 16 Golf Town locations as well as renowned courses such as Copper Creek, Angus Glen and Golf Links PEI.
Nielsen Media Research Spend Trend: Income Tax Time
The tax man cometh – and advertises
It’s been said that the only sure things in life are death and, well, you know. Traditionally income tax services have been the biggest spenders at this time of year but 2004 really closed the spending gap between the services and tax software manufacturers.
TV is the main media vehicle used but radio picked up a good chunk of the business in 2002 and 2003 but slipped in 2004. Both newspaper and out-of-home made nice showing last year while magazines final made an appearance on the radar screen.
To see the charts click
ComBase Market Focus: Alberta
More than three-quarters of Alberta adults read community newspapers:
· 78% report reading any community newspaper (weekday or weekend) compared to 58% who report reading any daily newspapers (weekday or weekend).
· 30% are exclusive community newspaper readers. They only read the community paper and not the daily newspaper.
· Exclusive Alberta community newspaper readers tend to be women between the ages of 25 to 34.
And when it comes to other media in Alberta:
· 28% of adults admit they didn’t listen to any radio yesterday.
· 8% report listening to non-commercial CBC stations.
· 43% of adults report watching less than 9.5 hours – less than an hour and a half a day – of television in the past week.
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.
Sisters are doin’ it for themselves on The Comedy Network
In conjunction with International Women’s Day on March 6, The Comedy Network is premiering the first six all-new episodes of the hit Brit-com French & Saunders at 6 p.m. The series stars Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders, who team up again after an eight-year hiatus for their sixth season of the series. The original BBC series’ format combines satire, slapstick and celebrity guests.
