Advertising Age - MediaWorks
Media news, views, data, criticism and a few laughs too. The best media journalists and commentators, and a sprinkling of leading experts, report and analyze all the stories that matter on media planning and buying; TV advertising and programming; web publishing; magazines; newspapers; radio and out-of-home.

What ESPN's Winning of Bowl Championship Series Means

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- ESPN's high-profile $500 million bid for the exclusive rights to the Bowl Championship Series is a major coup for a network that already claimed "College Football Lives Here" as a slogan. But can the cable network recoup the investment on its latest big-budget broadcast sports property?

Marketers to Up Spending in Cable, Online, Mobile in Next 6 Months
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Over the next six months, not only will ad spending be down, but the feeling among advertisers and their agencies toward media such as broadcast TV, national newspapers and magazines is growing more pessimistic. The dreary outlook is courtesy of the new Advertiser Optimism Report by Advertiser Perceptions.

Magazines Still Push Programs Off the Page

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Despite the publishing industry's troubles, Rodale's Best Life is going ahead and taking over a Delta lounge at New York's JFK airport, while Time Inc.'s Cooking Light supplies recipes and its brand to the room-service menu at the New York Palace Hotel.

CBS's Bright Light 'The Mentalist' Slips to Third

MINNEAPOLIS (AdAge.com) -- Patrick Jane's (Simon Baker) job is to psych people out in "The Mentalist." But the show itself is doing the same thing, as last night it pulled a number on those who follow the numbers in the Nielsen ratings race.

Google Flu Trends? Cool. But What Else Can Google Predict?

As a service to real readers, Media Guy fields imaginary questions about the media landscape from nonexistent readers.

Media Guy's Pop Pick: 'What on Earth Happened?'

There's something awesomely, comfortingly retro about Christopher Lloyd's "What on Earth Happened? The Complete Story of the Planet, Life and People from the Big Bang to the Present Day," newly published by Bloomsbury.

Linking Customers to Sell More Clothes

Uniqlo wanted to sell its new Bra Top range and so recruited 300 Japanese women to represent the brand. For a more in-depth look at this Idea of the Week and other case studies, visit Ad Age and CMDglobal's Inspiration site.

All the (Fake) News That's Fit to Print -- and Broadcast

It was a very good week for the fake-news business. Liberals are apparently just downright giddy about recent events and are acting like seniors during the last week of school. Either that or suddenly everyone has a yearning to be Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert.

MediaVest Names Head of Shopper Marketing

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- MediaVest appointed Danielle Bottari as senior VP-director of shopper marketing. Previously a senior executive with out-of-home marketer Max Custom Media and a partner and group director at Ogilvy & Mather and Mindshare, Ms. Bottari will be responsible for overseeing the Publicis Groupe subsidiary's shopper marketing practice.

Nielsen's Susan Whiting Expands Role

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- The Nielsen Co. elevated Exec VP Susan Whiting to vice chairperson, a sign that the company's research capabilities are becoming even more key to its future as consumer media-consumption habits fluctuate and shift to encompass emerging digital venues.