CW midseason:
'Hellcats' moves to Tuesday
Other shorts: Rothenberg named Time Inc. chief digital officer
By Louisa Ada Seltzer
Dec 14, 2010
CW midseason: 'Hellcats' moves to Tuesday
The CW is taking the training wheels off of "Hellcats." The network is moving the first-year cheerleading drama from its cushy post-"America's Next Top Model" timeslot to Tuesday nights, where it will replace "Life Unexpected." "LUX" will air an early two-hour season finale on Jan. 18, and "Hellcats" will then slide into the 9 p.m. slot behind "One Tree Hill" the following week. How "Hellcats" performs on the new night without the lead-in support from "Model" will likely determine whether the show is picked up for a second season. Taking "Hellcats'" place starting Feb. 23 is the new reality show "Shedding for the Wedding," in which brides try to whittle down for their nuptials. Otherwise the CW's midseason schedule is largely the same, with Monday, Thursday and Friday returning intact.
Rothenberg named Time Inc. chief digital officer
Anyone who's been around media for any years knows the name of Randall Rothenberg, be it from his days covering advertising and media for The New York Times, or writing columns for Ad Age, or heading up the Interactive Advertising Bureau, his most recent position. Now Rothenberg is moving on to another high-profile position, heading up all things digital at Time Inc. Rothenberg has been hired away from the IAB by new Time Inc. CEO Jack Griffin and given the freshly created title chief digital officer. As the title suggests, Rothenberg will be charged with wrapping his arms around all of Time Inc.'s various digital efforts and bringing them together under one roof. He's also charged with growth opportunities through acquisitions. But Rothenberg's biggest challenge will be figuring out ways to get consumers to pay for Time Inc. content that's now largely free. It's a thorny issue for both magazine and newspaper publishers, and there's no one model anyone really agrees on. And the questions are many: How do you lure consumers to pay in the first place? Then what do you charge?
Metrodome collapse messes with Monday ratings
The collapse of the Metrodome in Minneapolis—insert joke about the Minnesota Vikings' similar collapse this season—will impact Monday's overnight ratings when they are released later today. The Vikings were scheduled to host the New York Giants on Sunday at 1 p.m., but the game was moved to Detroit and pushed to Monday at 7:20 p.m. after the Metrodome roof collapsed and tore in three places following a severe snowstorm in the Twin Cities. The rescheduled game will likely lead to at least a slight primetime ratings bump for Fox, which aired the game in local markets in New York and Minnesota. In those markets Fox will no doubt perform better with football than it did in every other market in the U.S., where it aired repeats of "House" and "Lie to Me."
Study: People spending equal time on web and TV
Proving perhaps more than anything that we are a nation of couch potatoes, people are for the first time spending as much time watching television as they are surfing the internet, devoting a considerable 13 hours per week to each activity. That's according to the latest edition of an annual study from Forrester, which finds that internet usage has soared 121 percent over the past five years, catching up to TV viewing, which has been flat. The study finds that online shopping has been one of the biggest growth areas on the internet, with the percentage of people shopping online doubling from 33 percent to 66 percent in the past three years. Social networking visitors have more than doubled as well, though to a still-modest 35 percent, despite all the hype about Facebook.
GroupM partners with City College to woo students
Media agency GroupM isn't just waiting for fresh college talent to come its way. The agency has partnered with City College of New York for the GroupM Professional Development Initiative, which will be available to students in CCNY's advertising and public relations program, particularly those with ethnically diverse backgrounds. There are two components to the program, and one is 10 annual $1,000 scholarships to be awarded to full-time juniors and seniors who have a GPA of 3.0 or above. The other component is called the GroupM Student Enrichment Fund, which will allow eligible students to take part in professional development opportunities. For example, the program will send two students to the 4A’s Transformation Conference in Austin, Texas, next March. The enrichment fund will select students based on their GPA and level of intent to enter the ad industry once they graduate.
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