The 2021 NewFronts and Upfront Calendar is here. Check back often as new presentations will continue to be added.
We welcome one of the media industry's favorite strategic gurus to MediaVillage. Rishad Tobaccowala will be penning a weekly column, Restoring the Soul of Business. Catch his first in our pages Beware the Bossy Traits!.
Don't miss this week's Legends & Leaders Jack Myers interview with Kevin McGurn, Vevopresident of sales & distribution. Watch this fun and informative interview From High School Drummer to College Athlete to Vevo Leader: A Conversation with Kevin McGurn.
This Week inAdvancingDiversity.org
This Week in The Pool, join Philip McKenzie and his guest Julliard Professor Dr. Fredara Mareva Hadley as they Celebrate the History of Black Music.
Lisa Mabry reports on how Clear Channel Outdoor is utilizing their abundant inventory of OOH to recognize and inspire with quotes from Black Americans, some well-known, some not so well-known. Get inspired and read Black History Month: How Clear Channel Outdoor is Celebrating.
There are only a few days left, but Kelly Kozakevich has some great ways to celebrate Black History Month. Watch Kozakevich's latest episode of In the Loop, Celebrate Black History Month Online.
Why do marketers continue to de-prioritize the wealthiest generation in history that control 12x the spending power of Millennials? Larry Samuel looks into this and how we can change that in Thrillionaires, Coolionaires, Realionaires, Wellionaires and Willionaires: Defining the Longevity Economy.
This Week in theMediaVillage Knowledge Exchange
And away we go...as we saw last year, even a global pandemic can't stop the Upfront process and Simon Applebaum will be your intrepid guide throughout it all. Does it seem a little early? It is and Applebaum explains why in WarnerMedia Kicks Off the 2021 Upfront Event Season.
We also got a preview of the upcoming Paramount+ as ViacomCBS presented to their Investors this week. Simon Applebaum was there to fill us in on all the details. Read: Paramount+ Will Be Very Much a Family Affair.
I had the great privilege to speak with Julie Fitzgerald, vice president, satellite engineering at Ampersand to get the scoop on how it felt to win their 2nd Emmy Ampersand Wins an Emmy for "Ground Breaking" Local Ad Delivery.
Charlene Weisler engages us with insights from A+E Networks' study that shows the power of consumer spend across all age groups. It's a clarion call for most marketers to move away from their youth bias and see that revenue can be generated from many age groups. Get the back-up data you need from "Really Talk to Me" -- A+E Networks Examines the Potential of Total Audience..
MediaVillage welcomes our new columnist John Donahue, one of the industry's leading experts on programmatic and ad tech. This week, Donahue launches the first in a series that explores the impact of RTB on the ad industry. Read Donahue's Media Buying Auctions: Going, Going, Gone only in MediaVillage.
Michael Farmer provides a strong POV around the need for drastic change in the support and toolsets that C-Levels at agencies provide to their Account Leads.in managing and optimizing scopes of work. What Farmer suggests could lead to growth versus maintenance. Find out how in Client Heads are Front-Line Troops For Agency Transformation -- But They Need Better Support.
As the former leader of Omnicom Media Group's Direct Response division, Pathway, Wendy Arnon has incredible insight into what business leaders look for when it comes to Performance Marketing. Now we all can benefit from her knowledge in As CMOs Focus on Business Results, Performance Marketing Gains Momentum.
Direct Response Hall of Famer, Dick Wechsler shares his thoughts on how to get the best results in a media test in Performance Marketing: A "Keep It Simple, Stupid" Tutorial.
Congrats to actress and activist, Zendaya (who happens to be one of my daughter's faves) on being honored with the Fifth Annual SeeHer Award by the Critics' Choice Association. Find out what made her worthy of this honor from the ANA in Zendaya to Be Honored with the ANA's SeeHer Award at the 2021 Critics Choice Award.
Following the events of last year's social justice movement, Comcast's FreeWheel developed a guide to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color organizations that provide support and industry opportunity to diverse groups. Alli Romano looks at the list and explains why it is so powerful in To Create Pathways to More Diversity, FreeWheel Advances Industry Connections.
YouGov's International Media Report 2021 is out and Tamara Alesi provides a preview and a link for a free download of the report.
Paul S. Maxwell issues a call to action for a set of national laws and guidelines for the digital media world versus a hodgepodge of state laws. Read Maxwell's latest commentary, It Ain't "Network" Neutrality...It's "Internetwork" Neutrality.
Kent M. Harrington takes us on an Americana journey in reviewing the book, Lady Long Rider - Alone Across America on Horseback.I dare anyone who reads the review (and the book) not to feel a sense of much needed hope and optimism. Check out Harrington's review in Lady Long Rider: The Trail from Montana to Walden Pond.
This Week inTV/Video Download
Ed Martin calls BS on the idea that broadcast television cannot be as compelling and innovative as shows on Netflix or Amazon Instant Video and his case in point is Fox's 9-1-1 series. Don't miss Fox's "9-1-1" Double Feature is a Broadcast Blast.
Oriana Schwindt hopped onto Zoom with some of the most famous names in home design: Jonathan Adler, Lauren Makk, and Allison Holker Boss. Get the inside scoop on how they filmed their new show on discovery+ in the midst of the pandemic in Discovery+'s "Design Star: Next Gen" Brings Next-Level Good Vibes.
Jacqueline Cutler spoke, in an exclusive interview with actress and now Director, Elisabeth Rohm, about how she balanced telling a horrifying story with the need to make it something that audiences would be compelled to view. Read Cutler's interview in Elisabeth Rohm Makes Her Directorial Debut with Lifetime's "Girl in the Basement".
Steve Gidlow speaks exclusively with Erin Krakow who has been quite busy for Hallmark Channel with the return of her hit series When Calls the Heart and a brand new movie this weekend. Find out why Krakow was so drawn to the movie script in Erin Krakow on the return of "When Calls the Heart" and Her New Hallmark Movie "It Was Always You".
This Week in Media News
AT&T has sold off a minority stake in DirecTV to private equity firm TPG and will spin off DirecTV and U-Verse into a new company, called "DirecTV". The new company is valued at $16.25B.
Intelligent creative AdTech company, VidMob, has raised $50MM in a Series C round. Investors include Adobe and some big names from the advertising industry, including Michael Kassan, Mainardo de Nardis, and Nick Brien.
ViacomCBS held its Investor Conference with a focus on the upcoming launch of Paramount+. Not only will the service have the reboots of iCarly and Frasier, but major theatrical releases such as A Quiet Place 2 and Mission Impossible 7 will land on the service just 45 days after their initial theatrical release. Also, the service looks like a must have for soccer fans as it will have every UEFA (mens) Championship League and Europa League match; as well as over 200 Concacaf matches.
ViacomCBS announced that Pluto TV, its live streaming service, now has over 43mm active monthly viewers.
With WandaVision onDisney+ becoming such a hit that the Disney servers have a challenge keeping up on Fridays at midnight when the show is released, anticipation is high for the other MCU originals launching on the service. Disney+ announced this week that Loki will launch on June 11.
TikTok has settled a privacy-based class action lawsuit filed in 2020 for $92mm. Despite the settlement, TikTok continues to deny any wrong-doing.
Cable Operators have won an appeal keeping in place an injunction against a Maine law passed in 2019 that would have required cable operators in that state to offer a la carte options to consumers.
Facebook has launched an ad campaign touting the benefits of personalized advertising in the face of Apple's Privacy changes that adversely impact that capability.
NBCU announced that they will broadcast a record 1,200 hours of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
To all those that are celebrating, a Happy Purim! Have a wonderful weekend.
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The opinions expressed here are the author's views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillage.com/MyersBizNet.