ESPN tops primetime cable ratings during November
November was a big month for both sports and politics on cable TV. According to Nielsen data analyzed by Turner Networks, ESPN led the ad-supported cable networks in primetime for the month among both total viewers and 18-49s, followed by USA. Among total viewers, those two were followed by Fox News Channel, TNT and TBS, while TBS, TNT and FX rounded out the top five among 18-49s. The elections boosted the three cable news networks in November, with Fox News, CNN and MSNBC all finishing in the top eight in primetime among total viewers. All three also showed gains of at least 114 percent versus November 2007 among viewers 18-49. Meanwhile, among total day audiences, Nickelodeon was the top network for the month, followed by Nick at Nite, USA, Fox News and ESPN. But the sports network led in total day among 18-49s, with Nick at Nite, USA, Nickelodeon and TNT making up the rest of the top five.

Forrester: Some print subscribers plan to cut back
The current economic downturn looks likely to increase the pain for print publishers. A new study has found that consumers plan to cut back on subscriptions to print magazines and newspapers to help save money, according to Forrester Research. Forrester asked 5,000 US online households if they planned to maintain, increase or cut their subscriptions to consumer or business titles that they currently subscribe to. The findings suggest bad news ahead for publishers, particularly magazine publishers. Of the respondents, 72 percent said they had at least one magazine subscription. While 77 percent said that they won’t change that in the next year, some 18 percent expect to cut back. Only 4 percent expect to increase the number of magazines they subscribe to. Meanwhile, looking at newspapers, 58 percent of these surveyed said they subscribe to one newspaper or more. Some 88 percent said they would maintain their subscriptions in the next year. However, 10 percent plan to cut back, while only 5 percent said they would increase the number of titles they subscribe to.

Credit company predicts newspaper closings in 2009
Here’s some news that newspapers, already battered by declining advertising and circulation and thousands of layoffs this year, won’t want to hear: A number of papers and parent chains are expected to go out of business in 2009. That’s according to a report out yesterday from Fitch Ratings, the Chicago-based credit ratings company, which predicts that several cities “could go without a daily print newspaper by 2010.” The root of the problem is that several newspaper groups are likely to default on their debt, combined with a generally sour economic outlook for 2009, when Fitch warns of a “severe global recession.” Fitch forecasts that advertisers will continue to be hit hard at both the local and national level, with spending in five of the top 10 ad categories overall expected to decline. Fitch has an especially negative outlook on McClatchy and Tribune Co., rating the debt of both as junk and saying default is a serious possibility.

Programming notes: More 'Californication' is on tap
David Duchovny’s off-screen sex addiction treatment apparently isn’t scaring Showtime executives. The network has ordered a third season of Duchovny’s “Californication,” in which he plays a sex addict. Twelve additional episodes will debut sometime next year. Meanwhile, in other programming, the CW will introduce a new horror/reality series, “13: Fear is Real,” on Jan. 7 at 8 p.m. The competition show, in which contestants confront their deepest fears, will lead into repeats of “90210” on Wednesday nights. Sci Fi has greenlighted a prequel to its about-to-end series “Battlestar Galactica.” And ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” will return March 9 at 8 p.m., with the results show joining the schedule on March 17.

Poll: Most adults unconcerned about digital transition
Media people may be concerned about what happens on Feb. 17, the day the country switches from analog to digital TV signals, but the rest of the population is not. A new poll from electronic publishing firm Rasmussen Reports finds that only 25 percent of adults say they are at least somewhat concerned about the transition, with 11 percent very concerned and adults over 65 having the highest concentration of concerned respondents. Women (30 percent) are more concerned about the transition than men (19 percent). But 36 percent of respondents say they are not at all concerned. Ten percent of respondents said they did not know about the requirements, despite millions of dollars spent on campaigns to inform them. Two-thirds of respondents said they’d followed news stories about the transition at least somewhat closely, and 85 percent are aware of the steps they need to take to ensure they will still receive a TV signal when the transition occurs in February.
 

ComScore: Cyber Monday spending rises 15 percent
Ecommerce spending is down compared with this time last year, but there is something for online retailers to be cheerful about. Shoppers spent $846 million online on Cyber Monday, up 15 percent from 2007, according to online measurer comScore. That makes it the second-heaviest online spending day on record, eclipsed only by a day in 2007 that saw $881 million in spending at e-retailers. Ecommerce spending for the first 31 days of the November-December 2008 holiday season is at $12.03 billion, a 2 percent decline versus the corresponding days in 2007. But the four days from Black Friday through Cyber Monday saw spending jump 13 percent as both weekend days and Monday all achieved double-digit gains. ComScore attributed the increases to retailers’ aggressive online discounts.

OPA: Still, time spent with ecommerce hits new low
Internet users spent a record amount of time online in October, though apparently they weren’t shopping for early holiday gifts. According to the Online Publishers Association’s Internet Activity Index, time spent with online content reached a 2008 peak, while during the same period time spent with ecommerce hit an all-time low. Since the beginning of the year, time spent with ecommerce has fallen 20 percent. Since early 2006, content has led all categories, but the election and the U.S. economic crisis helped push October’s data to a new high, with more than 45 percent of consumers’ online time spent with content. That’s up more than 6 percent since the beginning of the year. The index measures the amount of time consumers spend online each month with commerce, communications, community, content, and search. OPA has been assessing this data, which is compiled by Nielsen Online, for four years.

For on-the-go networkers, it's MySpace mobile video
MySpace is going mobile with video clips. The online social networking giant is making video clips on its members’ pages accessible via mobile phones and other devices including the Palm Centro, LG Voyager and BlackBerry Bold, among others, though notably not the iPhone. MySpace, which is owned by News Corp., is offering the new ad-supported streaming video service for free. The goal is to get a foothold in the expanding mobile ad market. In addition to having the ability to look at video on their own pages, MySpace mobile users will be able to access videos on their friends’ pages as well as professional clips from the celebrity news and gossip web site TMZ, The Onion newspaper, the National Hockey League and National Geographic magazine, among others.

Google searches out another TV partner in Hallmark
Google has signed another cable client for its television advertising service. Hallmark Channel yesterday said it has reached an agreement with the online giant to sell inventory for both Hallmark and Hallmark Movie Channel through its auction-based model, which allows advertisers to pay for only the impressions that are delivered. The deal comes three months after NBC Universal became the first major cable outlet to partner with Google for sales on Sci Fi, Oxygen, MSNBC and more. Like the NBC Universal deal, financial details for this one were not released. The deal goes into effect next year.