For James Murdoch,
a week of reckoning
Other shorts: Meredith offers advertisers a ROI guarantee
By Louisa Ada Seltzer
Jul 25, 2011
For James Murdoch, a week of reckoning
The buzz surrounding the News Corp. phone hacking scandal in the UK has died to a dull roar, at least for now, but the speculation over who will be the next to go at the company continues, and the person receiving the most scrutiny is undoubtedly James Murdoch, Rupert's 38-year-old son and until recently the heir apparent to his father's empire. This week the younger Murdoch faces two tests that will prove crucial to whether he can still effectively lead in the UK, where he is chairman of BSkyB and the top remaining executive at News International. His first test comes Thursday at the first BSkyB board meeting since News Corp. abandoned its bid to fully acquire the British broadcaster, in which it already has a controlling stake. BSkyB is undoubtedly concerned about allegations that surfaced last week that James knew more about the hacking scandal than he let on, and there is speculation that could lead the BSkyB board to remove James from his position, to guard against any future taint from the hacking scandal. If that happens, it's seen as an indicator that News Corp. shareholders will demand similar changes. Also this week, Ofcom, the British communications overseer, is considering whether News Corp. is still "fit and proper" to hold a broadcasting license for BSkyB in light of the hacking scandal. If James did indeed lie to Parliament last week about what he knew and when he knew it, that will surely come under scrutiny by Ofcom.
Meredith to advertisers: Here's a ROI guarantee
Call it a money-back guarantee for advertisers. At a time when return on investment is of greater importance than ever, with lingering worries about the recession prompting advertisers to scrutinize every dollar they spend more closely, Meredith is offering a new program that guarantees an increase in sales for products advertised in the company's magazines, or their money back. The so-called Meredith Engagement Dividend was announced this morning by the company. Meredith employed analytics from Nielsen's Homescan and data from 85 million consumers collected by the company to find that advertisers in the beauty, household goods, OTC drugs, and food categories saw a 10 percent increase in sales over a 52-week period by using high-frequency campaigns in Meredith magazines. There are, of course, some caveats. To receive the guarantee, advertisers have to commit to at least 12 months of advertising across several titles. The number of participants will be limited this year as Meredith perfects the system.
Jones for junk: 'Storage' sets A&E record
Seeing people vie to buy the junk left in storage compartments has proven more interesting than anything Gene Simmons ever did. The season two premiere of "Wars" on Wednesday at 10 p.m. averaged 4.5 million total viewers, according to Nielsen, while a second episode at 10:30 drew 5.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched series telecast in the history of the network that was previously best known for airing Simmons' reality series. That episode also averaged 2.9 million viewers among both 18-49s and 25-54s, also network records. The combined 4.8 million viewers "Wars" averaged throughout the 10 p.m. hour made it A&E's top season-opening performance for any series in the history of the network. And records weren't just set on TV. On July 20, the day of the premiere, AETV.com had its highest trafficked day of the year so far, and the No. 2 day ever in both page viewers and visits.
Milk board waters down PMS-themed campaign
It's apparently never a good time of the month to poke fun at PMS, even if the goal is to be educational. The California Milk Processor Board found that out last week when it received complaints about its microsite EverythingIDoIsWrong.org, which aimed to tout the health benefits of milk for PMS symptoms, but from a male point of view. The site, created by the board's San Francisco agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, went up on July 11 but was pulled last week after the group received complaints. Those who try to visit the site now will instead be directed to GotDiscussion.org, which states, "regrettably, some people found our campaign about milk and PMS to be outrageous and misguided." The board, best known for the Got Milk? slogan, says some people found the campaign funny and educational, but it ultimately pulled the site because of a large number of people who thought it was misogynistic. Billboards that promoted the site showed men saying things such as "I'm sorry I listened to what you said and NOT what you meant" while offering milk to their girlfriends. The milk board may still pursue a PMS-themed campaign in the future.
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