Monsters of Television

“Dzintra loves to twirl.”

Last week’s recap was a bit more straight-up (and thankfully shorter) than the first week’s. This week will not have a lot of the snark and pithy comments that I’ve been using (maybe next week), because we need to talk a bit more about how this show is AN AMAZING marketing device for Food Network. Because it is. The competition is painfully (obviously) secondary.

I wish this was causing me to dislike the show more (this show is pretty dull), but it just drives up my fascination as I try and guess not what the contestants will make or do or say, but how everything, and I mean everything, will synergize and cross-promote around this show. Read more »

Single sponsorship programs have been around since TV was a wee infant (why do you think they call them soap operas?) so when I read that Subway’s special deal with Chuck is difficult to recreate, it gave me pause. I’m no industry fat cat or anything, but it seems like, with dwindling audiences (some might say even “concentrating”) and better research, it might be easier to pare down the number of advertisers, distill what specific demographics look for, and match ads to the viewers accordingly.

Again, I don’t own any cigars, top hats, or monocles, but it seems like, if a single-sponsorship is too hard, maybe looking at a decreased and targeted sponsorship might be the way to go. The aforementioned Ad Age article brings up the point of “Remote-Free TV” and how Fox had to scrap it because they couldn’t charge a premium that compensated for what they got with more populated yet disparate commercial breaks. But with all the great things that happen with fewer commercials (“less ad skipping, better recall, better engagement”), to abandon the idea altogether is reckless. Somehow, with historical or even current models (Hulu — if only its legacy media owners would take advantage of the focused potential of the internet) to look to, why are single- or few-partners-sponsorships so out of the question?

What do you think, dear readers? I’m willing to learn.