It's for real: Detroit papers go to three days delivery
In what's surely the most alarming development for the teetering American newspaper industry, the jointly operated Detroit dailies are confirming that indeed come March they will provide home delivery just three days a week, down from seven. The Detroit Free Press will continue to deliver to homes on Thursday, Friday and Sunday. The Detroit News will deliver on only Thursday and Friday. On those off days, readers who want a paper will either go online or hop in the car and fetch one from a news box or convenience store, where a limited number of printed editions will still be available. And they will not be full editions but single-section papers of just 32 pages. The aim is to save on paper, printing and distributions costs, and along with those cuts will come the chopping of nearly 200 jobs from the production operations of the two papers. But whether it's a workable formula is quite another matter. Some critics say one effect will be to accelerate the decline of both papers as readers and advertisers take their business elsewhere. Opine the editors of Classified Intelligence Report, which tracks the classified ad industry: "We think the changes are a way to defer the death of print for a few years, but they will hasten its demise."

Kubas: Paper ad revenue will fall 9.1 percent in 2009
At the same time Detroit was firming up its radical overhaul, newspaper consultancy Kubas Consultants was issuing its 2009 outlook, and the news is not good. In fact, it’s pretty dire. The 400 newspaper executives surveyed by the company predict that ad revenue will decline for the fourth straight year, with classified taking the biggest pounding. That category will see double-digit declines in automotive, real estate and help-wanted ads, with the latter receiving a very negative outlook even as unemployment soars. National and retail ads will decline 10.8 percent and 7.5 percent in the coming year, Kubas predicts, with overall ad revenue falling 9.1 percent. Kubas says that overall, “the severity of expected declines is remarkable.”

Ratings roundup: NBC's 'SNF' sets viewership record
There’s nothing like good drama to bring in TV viewers, even if it’s football drama. NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants, both of which have as many off-field issues as they do on the field, attracted 23.1 million total viewers, according to Nielsen, making it the most-watched game in “SNF” history. The game, which Dallas won 20-8, is also the third most-watched program on primetime TV so far this season, behind the Barack Obama “60 Minutes” interview and the season premiere of “CSI.” Meanwhile, in other ratings, Showtime’s third-season finale of “Dexter” on Sunday night averaged 1.5 million total viewers in its 9 p.m. timeslot, making it the most-watched telecast on the network since 2004. The episode was up 7 percent from the season two finale, for which 1.4 million viewers tuned in. Finally, Monday night’s sixth-season premiere of A&E’s “Intervention” averaged 2.2 million total viewers at 9 p.m., as well as 1.6 million viewers 25-54 and 1.7 million 18-49s, making it the most-watched premiere in series history. The episode was up 5 percent among total viewers, 14 percent among 25-54s and 13 percent among 18-49s versus last season’s premiere.

Nielsen: Sci Fi's 'Battlestar' leads in boost from DVR
Basic cable doesn’t get much of a lift from digital video recorders, or at least that’s long been the rap on the medium. But it turns out a few shows get a tremendous boost, bigger even than the most-time-shifted broadcast shows. An analysis out yesterday from Nielsen finds that Sci Fi’s “Battlestar Galactica” was the most-time-shifted show on television in 2008, based on percent increase in rating from DVR numbers. “Battlestar” shot up 53 percent when delayed viewing was included, while USA Network’s “Burn Notice” was second at 37 percent. The CW’s “90210” and NBC’s “Heroes,” the top broadcast shows, tied for third at 35 percent. Seven of the top nine shows were cable, including two more each on Sci Fi and USA. The most-time-shifted show in terms of household viewers added was Fox’s “American Idol-Tuesday,” which gained an average 2.15 million households per episode from DVRs. NBC’s “Heroes,” ABC’s “Lost” and Fox’s “Fringe” also made the top five.

Survey: 42 percent plan to check out new Leno show
Most of the country does not currently stay up late to catch Jay Leno, and apparently many are not interested in watching him in primetime, either. A new survey from Rasmussen Reports, the electronic public polling company, finds that 53 percent of respondents say they are unlikely to watch Leno’s new show, which will run at 10 p.m. weeknights next fall on NBC. Still, some 42 percent say they are somewhat likely to check it out, which would give him a boost over the 4.9 million viewers he averages on “The Tonight Show.” That includes 61 percent of African Americans and 40 percent of whites. Many don’t even know that Leno is moving – 45 percent said they have not followed the news about Leno, though he is generally well liked, with 70 percent of respondents saying they have a favorable opinion of him. Leno’s late-night replacement, Conan O’Brien, scored just a 46 percent favorability rating.
 

Traffic surge to British newspaper & magazine sites
Print publications may be struggling to keep up their circulation figures offline, but online readership has been booming. In Britain it has been a bumper year for the top 10 newspaper and magazine web sites. Traffic to the top 10 newspapers sites grew by 23 percent collectively in November 2008 compared to the same month the year before, according to Nielsen Online. In fact, now 10.3 million Britons – that’s almost one in three online Britons -- visit at least one of the top 10 newspapers. Meanwhile, the number of Britons who visited at least one of the top 10 magazine sites was up 30 percent to 5.5 million unique visitors in the same time period. “The growth has been pretty consistent over the last two years, and I think it shows how consumers are shifting their media consumption habits online,” explains Alexander Burmaster, communications director at Nielsen Online in London.

BCS becomes the latest sport to test 3D screenings
The NFL is doing it, the NBA already did it, and now college football is joining the 3-D game. Following a test broadcast of an NFL game two weeks ago, 3ality Digital said yesterday that it will broadcast the BCS national championship between Florida and Oklahoma. Tickets to watch the game live in 3-D at more than 80 movie theaters in about 30 U.S. cities will cost $18 to $22. That's according to Cinedigm Digital Cinema, the company that is helping 3ality deliver the broadcasts to theaters. While the NFL test 3-D broadcast wasn't without its glitches--it went black twice during the first half when the satellite signal went down--audiences said they liked the experience in general because it gives those watching the sense that they are really there. The NBA offered 3D viewing parties for last year’s all-star game and plans similar offerings this year.

E-study: Moms likely to research before shopping
If you’re a mom, it’s a good bet that you did some advance research before starting or finishing your holiday shopping this year. A study released by Mindshare Online Research finds that 61 percent of moms research holiday gifts while only 48 percent of non-moms say they do. The reason is likely simple: Moms are more time-pressed than others, and don’t want to waste time searching in vain for a certain product or bargain. No big surprise, some 64 percent of shoppers said they expect to spend less on gifts this year than in previous years. More than three-fourths of respondents said they will shop around to make sure they are buying gifts at the best prices. Even though bargain hunting makes sense in this economic downturn, fewer than 30 percent of shoppers put money aside throughout the year to pay for holiday gifts, the online survey found. BuzzBack Market Research conducted the survey of 350 adults earlier this month.

Aussie court rules it's okay to serve lien on Facebook
Talk about anti-social: An Australian court ruled Friday that a mortgage company could use Facebook to break the news that a couple was going to lose their home. The company had tried to reach the couple offline for several weeks in vain, and used Facebook to serve the lien as a last resort. While U.S. residents don't have to worry--yet--about bill collectors or being served with official documents online, privacy advocates are concerned that the Australian court ruling could lead to court-approved actions through social networks such as Facebook and MySpace. Facebook, with more than 140 million members, said it was pleased that the court views the online social network as a reliable and secure medium for communication.