| NEWS 07.22.09 2:17 PM |
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In the News: Magazine Builds Revenue With Events, White House Disapproves of Destination Meeting Blacklist
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Small Market Magazine Turns Profit With Events: Smaller titles are getting into event marketing, and for one Columbia, Missouri-based magazine, a recent focus on events has generated $400,000—30 percent of its annual revenue. Inside Columbia, a regional magazine with a circulation of only 12,000, has generated the impressive sum through ticket sales and local sponsorships for events such as food festivals, a speaker series, and show houses. Of the magazine's 14 staffers, one is devoted to special events. [Folio]
Industry Reflects on Comic-Con's Commercial Shift: On the eve of San Diego Comic-Con 2009, many are wondering how exactly the niche trade show became such a public spectacle, and Variety attributes responsibility to Angelina Jolie. The actress reportedly wanted to make a grand entrance to the event in 2002, when she was promoting the sequel to Tomb Raider, and though the city wouldn't approve her plans for arriving at the venue on horseback or by helicopter, she did stage a chopper stunt at the airport. The image didn't just make it onto blogs and industry Web sites, it was on the front page of the following Monday's USA Today. [Variety]
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Inside Columbia, Comic-Con International, Angelina Jolie, British Open, Hugo Boss, ABC, White House |
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| EVENT REPORT 05.11.09 1:33 PM |
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Warhol-Style Portraits, Serpentine Modern Lounge Highlight Jam-Packed Correspondents' Dinner Pre-Parties
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 | The Thomson Reuters cocktail party prior to the White House Correspondents' Association dinner
Photo: Tony Brown/Imijination Photography for BizBash |
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FROM WASHINGTON
Members of the White House press corps, Washington elite, and A-list celebrities literally rubbed shoulders in a steamy mass of humanity at the cocktail parties preceding the White House Correspondents' Association dinner Saturday night at the Hilton Washington. Hosted by media organizations and taking place from 6:00 to 7:45 p.m., the pre-parties went from mellow and civilized at the start to decidedly uncomfortable as guests surged into the concourse leading them to security checkpoints and the black-tie dinner. More than one guest muttered “Where’s the fire marshal?” as the likes of Kerry Washington, Al Sharpton, and Donatella Versace fought their way through the crowd.
Secret Service agents, on hand for the arrival of President Barack Obama, and Hilton staff members maintained order the best they could, given the 2,600 dinner guests and hundreds of extras who came solely for the cocktail receptions. Otherwise, there were few decor surprises at the individual parties and the usual smoked salmon and roast beef bites were on offer.
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White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, Barack Obama, Newsweek, The Washington Post, Thomson Reuters, Atlantic Media, National Journal Group, The Atlantic, ABC, Time Magazine, People Magazine, CNN, Fortune |
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| NEWS 05.05.09 1:47 PM |
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Hosts Gear Up for White House Correspondents Weekend Parties
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FROM WASHINGTON
With the approval rating high for the new administration, it appears that a tsunami of V.I.P.s will be in town for this weekend’s line up of brunches, cocktail receptions, dinners, and after-parties surrounding Saturday night’s White House Correspondents Association dinner at the Hilton Washington. (The only big name not mentioned, thus far, appears to be British reality TV sensation Susan Boyle.)
The once-sleepy insider’s dinner and joke fest, traditionally attended by the President of the United States, has never been the same since that day in 1987 when Baltimore Sun reporter Michael Kelly escorted the Iran-Contra scandal’s Fawn Hall. One hot guest still in the paddock is Sir Elton John, reportedly in town this weekend attending the Land Rover America’s Polo Cup, according to the Washington Times.
Few details have emerged ahead of Friday night’s Time Inc. joint party for Time and People at the Astor Terrace of the St. Regis or the joint fete Bloomberg News and Vanity Fair are teaming up to host Saturday night for 300 guests at the residence of French Ambassador Pierre Vimont. Other media organizations, however, are sharing details.
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White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, America's Polo Cup, Barack Obama, The McLaughlin Group, Time Magazine, People Magazine, The Atlantic, ABC, Creative Coalition, Haddad Media, Capitol File, DC Magazine, National Journal Group |
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| NEWS 04.17.09 1:53 PM |
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People and Time Team Up for White House Correspondents Weekend Party
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FROM WASHINGTON
Cohosting, it appears, is the order of the day for media companies throwing parties before and after this year’s White House Correspondents' Association dinner Saturday, May 9, at the Hilton Washington.
Time Inc. publications Time and People will jointly host a cocktail reception Friday evening at Astor Terrace at the St. Regis. Expected to attend are some of the entertainers who will be at the People table the following night: Sting and his wife, Trudie Styler, along with Miranda Cosgrove, Kevin Bacon, Forest Whitaker, Jon Hamm, Eva Longoria Parker, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, and Brooke Shields and her husband, Chris Henchy. Time has not released its dinner guest list.
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White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, Time Inc., Time Magazine, Bloomberg, Vanity Fair, Haddad Media, National Journal Group, People Magazine, The Atlantic, ABC, Capitol File |
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| NEWS 01.30.09 12:09 PM |
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This Year's Upfront Week Falls Into Place, Starts at Super Bowl
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 | The 2008 Fox upfront party
Photo: Jessica Torossian for BizBash |
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FROM NEW YORK
The economy and the television industry may not be in the most stable position at the start of 2009, but The Hollywood Reporter noted that this year's upfront sales pitches—slated for May 18 through 21 in New York—won't look much different from the pared down, more businesslike presentations seen during the 2008 Upfront Week.
NBC still plans to forgo its old presentation at Radio City Music Hall for intimate "in-front" meetings with advertisers in April, and there definitely won’t be a return of last year’s carnival-like “NBC Experience” at Rockefeller Plaza.
The network actually plans to get an early jump on advertiser wooing at this Sunday’s Super Bowl. "They would never show you programming," a media buyer told The Hollywood Reporter, referring to past sporting events where networks entertained buyers. "I think the NBC plan is smart because they have a larger percentage of clients at the Super Bowl than they would at the upfront."
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Upfront Week, Upfronts, CBS, NBC, The CW, ABC, Super Bowl |
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| NEWS 11.04.08 1:33 PM |
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Networks Bank on Big Election Night With Outdoor Broadcasts
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FROM NEW YORK
Over the past two decades, election coverage on the major television networks has gradually moved from the newsroom to street-side studios and open-air stages. This year proves to be a culmination of sorts, with ABC, Fox News, and NBC all making a big push to incorporate the streets and people of New York into their national broadcasts.
ABC News takes over Good Morning America’s Times Square headquarters this evening, with reporters stationed outside, interacting with the public. In addition to using its own marquee screen above the studio, the network rented electronic signs from Reuters, Nasdaq, and the Hard Rock Cafe to broadcast live feeds of its coverage.
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Election '08, Barack Obama, John McCain, ABC, ABC News, NBC, CBS, CBS News, Fox, Fox News |
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| COAST TO COAST 09.30.08 11:32 AM |
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ABC Hands Out Free Pie in 10 Cities to Promote Pushing Daisies
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 | The pie mobile parked in Times Square
Photo: BizBash |
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FROM NEW YORK
With the sophomore season of Pushing Daisies premiering nine months after its first outing was shortened by the writers strike, ABC’s marketing team needed a way to reacquaint the public with the network’s quirky comedy. The result was a 10 city, cross-country pie giveaway that reached the end of its road trip in New York this week.
Winding its way through Anaheim, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Denver, Dallas, Chicago, Philadelphia, and New York, ABC's “Touch of Wonder Tour” spent the past month evangelizing Pushing Daisies. Operating out of an Airstream trailer designed to look like the Pie Hole—the fictional pie shop that serves as the backdrop for much of the series—staffers treated visitors to complimentary slices of apple and blueberry pie and peach cobbler.
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ABC, Pushing Daisies |
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| Q & A 09.25.08 12:39 PM |
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ABC's Darren Schillace on Using Events to Launch the Post-Strike TV Season
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 | ABC's Darren Schillace
Photo: Craig Sjodin/ABC |
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ABC, like most networks, finds itself in an interesting position this fall. Not only has the departure from the traditional television schedule changed the way audiences think about the new season, the lengthy break in programming caused by the writers’ strike forced some shows off the air for almost a year.
Promoting the fall lineup demanded a different strategy, so ABC vice president of advertising and marketing Darren Schillace and his team focused on ways to reacquaint the public with ABC's returning series. The onslaught included a mobile pie shop for comedy Pushing Daisies (whose main character is a pie maker), buying all of the ad pages in a September issue of TV Guide, and creating a seven-day celebration in honor of ABC's new programming. On the eve of the network’s big week, we asked Schillace how he is bringing the many initiatives together.
ABC is calling its big fall campaign "National Stay at Home Week." What are some of the elements you're incorporating into that program?
In light of our world today—people not getting on planes or driving as much—we wanted to have some fun in announcing the week of great TV. Stay home, save the gas money, and just enjoy some great ABC television because we’re premiering pretty much our entire network in a week and a half. We wanted to concentrate it all into one pretty package.
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ABC, Pushing Daisies, Opportunity Knocks, Dirty Sexy Money |
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| NEWS 02.27.08 11:30 AM |
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Oscars a Ratings Bomb (Host Stewart Still Laughing)
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FROM LOS ANGELES
By now, the ratings have revealed that Sunday's Oscars telecast on ABC was the least watched in TV-ratings history. Chalk it up to fallout from the writers strike, or to the slate of pictures up for awards that were critically acclaimed but unpopular at the box office, says The Washington Post. But Jon Stewart, widely seen as a successful host working under a tough set of circumstances, managed to find humor in the event's ratings bomb on his Tuesday-night episode of The Daily Show, during which Stewart assented to a litany of jokes at the hands of Daily Show correspondent John Oliver regarding the Academy Awards' failure to garner viewers. (Oliver quipped that the ratings demonstrated that even Stewart's own mother hadn't watched.)
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Oscars, Award Season, Jon Stewart, ABC, The Daily Show |
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