Hasta La Gadget!

It may be no surprise that people are favoring web video and streaming TV shows over regular television nowadays, but while both cable television and broadcast television are taking a hit, broadcast TV is seeing a steeper decline in ratings this season, and that’s forcing advertisers to rethink what avenues to advertise on.

According to various analysts, it’s expected that advertisers are going to spend more of their ad dollars on cable television and web video outlets like Hulu. It’s expected broadcast networks’ dollar volume could drop by 2%, while cable television’s volume could rise about 5%. Of course, these aren’t huge gains or losses, but every percentage point matters, especially when you’re facing lower ratings.

However, CBS CEO Les Moonves says that ad demand for broadcast television (at least for CBS) is growing, and Moonves expects CBS to lead in “volume and CPM increases” this season. However, ratings have taken a dive at all four big television networks (ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC) since the start of the fall season back in September.

Specifically, among viewers ages 18 to 49 ( which is the demographic that’s most prized by advertisers,) the average numbers for primetime audiences were down 23% at FOX, 7% at NBC, 3% at CBS; and 8% at ABC. However, CBS was the only major network to see an increase in overall viewership this season, with a 2% rise.

[via The Wall Street Journal]

Broadcast TV ratings continue to fall, ad sales go down with it is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Yeah, yeah, shut up and take your money. Well, it looks like HBO just might. CEO Richard Plepler told Reuters that he thinks HBO “has the right model”, but the popular HBO Go service could evolve to be paired with broadband internet subscriptions. More »

Comcast will be offering a treat to all of its Xfinity TV customers. From March 25th to March 31st, Comcast will give its TV customers an All-Access Pass to 100 TV series across all of its premium channels. There will be over 3,500 episodes for you watch all week long. So grab the popcorn, pop open a beer, and get yourself well-acquainted with your couch because it’s going to be a very long week.

You will be able to watch every episode of TV’s most popular series, including: Game of Thrones, Downton Abbey, Spartacus, Dexter, Girls, and Duck Dynasty. There will be select full seasons available for popular shows like Mad Men, The Walking Dead, Psych, Parenthood, The Americans, Revolution, Touch, and Chicago Fire. You will also be able to access all of the on-demand titles available on premium channels such as HBO, SHOWTIME, STARZ, and CINEMAX.

Comcast will make it easier for you to find a free TV show to watch. There will be a Watchathon Week website that displays a full list of all 100 TV series available for watch. You will be able to watch your TV shows through Xfinity on Demand, online via Xfinity.com/tv, or through the Xfinity TV Player App on your mobile devices. If you miss out on Watchathon Week, no worries, because Comcast will also be launching a “Catch-Up of the Week” program on April 1st. Catch-Up of the Week will offer you a select amount of free TV shows, both old and new seasons, to watch each week until the end of 2013.

Comcast says that this is the “biggest catch-up ever in TV history, offering Xfinity TV customers the opportunity to binge view the hottest shows on top networks for free.” It hopes to entice its Xfinity TV customers to subscribe to its premium channels after they get a taste of all the great content available. The Watchathon Week is also a way for Comcast to allow its TV subscribers to catch-up with Game of Thrones before its season 3 premiere.

[via Business Wire]

Comcast’s Xfinity Watchathon Week starts on March 25th is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Time Warner has just announced that it will be separating itself from Time Inc. The decision was made by its board of directors who felt that this separation is the best decision for both companies. Time Warner will cut away from the magazine business and focus all of its efforts on building its juggernaut media network comprised of a huge amount of popular TV stations as well as its movie ventures.

Time Inc., on the other hand, will be operating as a publicly traded company. It will focus all of its efforts on its publications, including very popular magazines like In Style, People, Marie Claire, Sports Illustrated, Time (of course), Entertainment Weekly, and a whole bunch of others. Time Inc. will continue to do fine on its own. It’s publications are read by half of the United States’s adult population, as well as millions of other readers all around the world.

As of right now, Time Inc.’s current CEO, Laura Lang, will continue to stay on with the company while this separation process is still taking place. Eventually, however, she will find a new CEO to replace her. She is searching for someone who is “a different kind of CEO”. Time Warner’s CEO and Chairman, Jeff Bawkes, stated, “She has been a great partner who has given Time Inc. forward momentum to make this transition possible.”

Time Warner is hoping to close this deal by the end of the year. It still has to be approved by the SEC and afterwards, the terms must be finalized by Time Warner’s board of directors. Both of the companies together formed one of the biggest, fully-fledged media companies around, so it’s a bit depressing to seem them break apart. However, they both have enough pull to survive. With Time Inc.’s huge selection of magazines and Time Warner’s TV stations like TBS, TNT, CWTV, HBO (Game of Thrones!), CNN and more, both have all of the assets they need to thrive without each other.

[via Business Wire]

Time Warner cuts itself off from Time Inc. is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Comcast will buy the 49-percent of NBCUniversal it doesn’t already own from GE for 16.7 billion clams. That’s right, Kabletown is bigger than ever now. Regulatory approval for Comcast’s purchase of 51-percent of the company cleared last year—now the cable and media giant owns the whole shebang. More »