MediaVest's Speciale
jumps to Turner Networks
Other shorts: Cuba bashes Twitter over Fidel death hoax
By Louisa Ada Seltzer
Jan 6, 2012
MediaVest's Speciale jumps to Turner Networks
Madison Avenue is losing another big name to the content side. Just
weeks after Time Inc. poached Laura Lang from Digitas, Turner Networks
has hired Donna Speciale, the well-regarded president of investment and
activation and agency operations at MediaVest USA, as president of
Turner Entertainment and Animation Ad Sales. She will head up sales for
TBS, TNT, TruTV, Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, in addition to
co-leading Cartoon Network Enterprises with Stu Snyder, currently
president and chief operating officer of Turner’s Animation, Young
Adults & Kids Media division. The move is part of a broader shakeup
of Turner's sales department following the departure of Linda Yaccarino
last October. Yaccarino jumped to NBCUniversal to head up cable
entertainment and digital advertising sales. Turner also announced that
Greg D’Alba will take over the newly created position of president of
news and Turner digital ad sales, and Michael Salerno has been promoted
to executive vice president of strategic planning and operations.
Salerno adds ad sales operations to his oversight of strategic planning
for Turner’s linear and digital networks and platforms.
Study: Cord-cutters could hit 20 percent
Yet another report suggests that
cord cutting is poised to rise. Deloitte's annual State of the Media Democracy survey found that 9 percent of respondents have already cut the cord, or stopped subscribing to traditional TV service, while 11 percent are considering doing so. These cord cutters say that their change was prompted by the fact that they can access nearly all of their favorite shows online, whether through network sites or other services like Netflix. Indeed, there's a lot more TV and movie watching going on online. Forty-two percent of respondents said they have streamed a movie on their computer, up from 28 percent two years ago, and 15 percent say they will probably watch movies, TV shows and videos on the web in the future.
Cuba bashes Twitter over Fidel death hoax
Never mind the fact that seemingly every celebrity has been the subject of a death hoax on
Twitter. The Cuban government is objecting strenuously to a recent Fidel Castro death rumor, using a state-run media site to accuse the social network of allowing the story to grow by letting the hashtag #fidelcastro trend. It eventually reached No. 4 worldwide. The site, Cubadebate, claimed that the rumor was started on Monday by an account from an Italian server that was deactivated shortly after posting a joke about the Cuban dictator's death, which was retweeted by dozens of Twitter users. The Cuban site also accused Twitter of censoring pro-Cuba content in the past. Twitter did not comment on Cubadebate's accusations, though the social media site did note that it does not mediate content on its site.
NBC Sports Network readies for MLS debut
NBC Sports Group picked up the rights to
Major League Soccer matches to bolster the lineup of its newly renamed sports network, and it now knows when its first game will air. MLS released its 2012 schedule yesterday, with 38 regular-season games scheduled to air on NBC Sports Network, the most on any outlet, and another three airing on NBC. The first game on NBC Sports Network will air on Sunday, March 7, at 3 p.m., a match between New York Red Bulls and FC Dallas. ESPN and ESPN2 will air a total of 20 regular season games, beginning with a March 12 matchup on ESPN2 between Philadelphia Union and Portland Timbers. Those 20 games will also be available in Spanish on ESPN Deportes and online on WatchESPN. ESPN Deportes will also air an additional game on May 4 between Chivas USA and Chicago Fire. Finally, Univision will air 27 MLS matches across its networks (TeleFutura, Galavision and Univision Deportes), as well as Spanish-language coverage of the MLS All-Star game and MLS Cup.
Programming notes: CW orders 'L.A. Complex'
The CW's reboot of
"Melrose Place" lasted just one season, but the network apparently thinks that a show about good-looking young adults in a Los Angeles apartment complex can work. The CW is in talks to acquire the Canadian series "The L.A. Complex," which premieres on the music network MuchMusic next week. Like "Place" the show is about a group of people living in an apartment complex, with these youngsters trying to make it in Hollywood. CW is hoping to pick up the six episodes of the show that have already been produced, as well as seven more should CTV extend its run. That would likely lead to a 13-week summer run, when the CW airs mostly repeats. Meanwhile, in other programming, Discovery Channel on Jan. 24 will premiere "All Star Dealers," a reality series set in the baseball memorabilia shop Grey Flannel Auctions. On Jan. 30 Style Network will premiere "The Amandas," about a group of organizers who help people clean up their apartments. And Animal Planet will air the Super Bowl alternative "Puppy Bowl VIII" on Feb. 5 at 3 p.m., the eighth straight year the network will air the special. This year's event will once again feature the Kitty Halftime Show, as well as the "piggy pep squad" cheerleading team.
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