BBDO Detroit
is shutting down
Other shorts: A big shakeup at the Washington Times
By Louisa Ada Seltzer
Nov 10, 2009
Post-Chrysler, BBDO Detroit will shut down
BBDO is planning for life after Chrysler, and that apparently does not include Detroit. The agency confirmed rumors yesterday that BBDO Detroit is shutting down after the automaker began pulling in other agencies to work on its account. BBDO Detroit gave employees an 11-week notice that the office will close in late January, as BBDO begins to "plan for a life without Chrysler from February 2010," according to various reports. Chrysler had been the lifeblood of the office, which once had some 2,000 employees and billings of nearly $2.5 billion per year for handling all of the brand's global ad duties. But after Fiat acquired Chrysler earlier this year, the Italian company signaled that it was uncomfortable depending on just one agency for its creative and began reaching out to other shops. Not unexpectedly, the internet was burning up with talk about the closure yesterday, with some posters on Mediabistro's AgencySpy blog saying that the company is offering no severance to employees with less than 13 years' experience.
A big shakeup at the Washington Times
There was a time, years ago, when the Washington Times was looked upon as a potential challenger to the city's dominant paper, The Washington Post, but that never happened, and today it lingers in the shadows of the Post. What derailed that promise was the taint over the paper's ownership by the Unification Church led by Rev. Sun Myung Moon, a shadowy figure whose church was often accused of brainwashing its followers, known as Moonies. Now the mystery of the Times deepens, as they say. Three top executives have gotten the boot, and the top editor may be out as well, reports Politico.com, the political web site. Out are Thomas P. McDevitt, president and publisher; Keith Cooperrider, the chief financial officer; and chairman Dong Moon Joo. A former vice president for the paper, Jonathan Slevin, takes over as acting president and publisher until a new management team is brought in. The paper is not saying why the men were tossed out but the Post speculates that the poor economy is behind it all. The Times has long been subsidized by the church, and to tune of hundreds of millions of dollars since its founding in 1982, but it appears the losses have gotten to such a point that the church has stepped in, the Post surmises.
Programming notes: NBC's funny business
NBC will be giving the gift of comedy this holiday season. From Dec. 28 to 31 the network will air mini-marathons of its four sitcoms: four reruns of “Community” on Monday, “Parks and Recreation” on Tuesday, “The Office” on Wednesday and “30 Rock” on Thursday. Also at NBC, on Dec. 14 at 8 p.m. the network will premiere “The Sing-Off,” a limited reality competition series. Episodes will also air on Dec. 15 and 16, with the finale on Dec. 21. Meanwhile, in other programming, A&E is bringing back “Intervention” and “Hoarders” on Nov. 30, with back-to-back premieres beginning at 9 p.m. TV Guide Network and TV Land have picked up the cable syndication rights for HBO’s comedy “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” with TV Guide Network taking the first run beginning in February. Both networks will also have broadband, mobile and on-demand rights to the show. “Real Housewives of Orange County” producer Evolution Media is working on similar series focused on males called “Boys Club: ATL,” to be set in Atlanta. There’s no word yet on if Bravo will pick up that series to go along with its “Housewives” franchise. And the CW on Jan. 18 will roll out “Life Unexpected,” which will temporarily take over “Gossip Girl’s” Monday 9 p.m. timeslot until the latter returns for 12 more episodes.
Rupe: We will sue the sites who steal from us
First Rupert Murdoch wanted to wall off all his news sites. Now he wants to punish those who aggregate content from those sites. In an interview yesterday with Sky News Australia, the News Corp. head signaled his intent to sue the BBC, Google and any others whom he accused of "stealing" content from his newspapers. "They will have to spend a lot more money on a lot more reporters to cover the world when they can’t steal from newspapers," Murdoch scoffed. He did imply he did not expect any suits to go to trial, saying, "They know the law. They will adapt." Murdoch has long preached the error of giving away content and has said that all News Corp. news sites will go behind pay walls in the next year, following the lead of WSJ.com, part of the Dow Jones properties that News Corp. purchased two years ago.
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