Nielsen: Financial services spending off 10 percent
The imploding housing market is having a dire effect on ad spending, according to numbers released yesterday by Nielsen. During the first three quarters of the year, mortgage and loan companies, including web-based business, spent 62 percent less than last year, falling to $778 million. That has dragged down spending in the financial services industry by 10 percent, from $5.9 billion to $5.3 billion, according to Nielsen. The category’s No. 3 sector, banking services, has also fallen, off 4.5 percent year to date. Still, there are some sectors and companies upping their spending. Credit services has grown 22 percent year to date, led by Experian, parent of FreeCreditReport.com, at $300 million spent. And spending by investment services, the biggest financial services sector, has risen 6 percent over last year.
Online newspaper advertising declines again in Q3
As newspapers continue to face mounting newsprint costs and suffer from drops in circulation and ad revenue, they have looked toward the internet to help offset those losses. But there’s little comfort in online lately. According to the Newspaper Association of America, online advertising for U.S. newspapers dropped 3 percent, to $749.8 million, in the third quarter compared with 2007. It’s the second consecutive quarterly decline with online ad sales for newspapers falling 2.4 percent in the second quarter this year. Before that, newspaper internet ads had grown each quarter since the NAA began measuring them in 2004. Meantime, print ad sales are down 19 percent. The combination translates into an 18 percent decrease in ad revenue for newspapers during third quarter.
CBS decides time isn't up for drama 'Eleventh Hour'
The clock won’t run out on CBS’s “Eleventh Hour” anytime soon. The network yesterday ordered five more episodes of the new 10 p.m. Thursday drama, which has averaged a 3.3 rating among viewers 18-49 and 12 million total viewers so far this season. That leaves the comedy “Worst Week” as the only new series that CBS hasn’t made a decision on. The network has give full-season orders to comedy “Gary Unmarried” and drama “The Mentalist,” while it canceled “The Ex List” earlier in the year. CBS did order three additional episodes of “Week,” despite the fact that it has dragged down its Monday night comedy lineup, losing more than a third of lead-in “Two and a Half Men’s” audience. “Hour” hasn’t fared much better, also surrendering a good portion of 9 p.m. Thursday lead-in “CSI’s” numbers.
Study: Mass media can have massive effects on kids
A new study of studies (yep, you read it right) finds that mass consumption of mass media could have long-term detrimental health effects for kids. The U.S. National Institutes of Health, Yale University and the California Pacific Medical Center looked at nearly 175 studies concerning kids and media conducted in the U.S. since 1980, and they concluded that increased media exposure also means kids are more likely to become obese, smoke and become sexually active, as well as use alcohol and drugs and do poorly at school. Most of the studies focused on TV, though a handful included video games and internet use. Researchers concluded that TV can have a profound impact on how kids see the world, leading them to make poor decisions, though it's important to note that the kids in the studies generally consumed much more television than guidelines recommend.
NPR crew narrowly avoids car bombing in Baghdad
Iraq remains a deadly place for journalists covering the ongoing U.S. conflict, and two days ago four National Public Radio staff members narrowly escaped becoming the latest casualties. NPR reports that a sticky bomb was hidden underneath the foursome’s armored BMW, and it exploded while NPR correspondent Ivan Watson and three Iraqi staff members were conducting interviews out on the streets of western Baghdad. The explosion came on Rabiye Street, the location of bloody fighting during the height of the conflict from 2005-’07. The NPRers were approaching the car after finishing their interviews when several Iraqi soldiers warned of the bomb, which they’d received a tip on just moments before. Roughly 160 people were killed in 108 bombings in Baghdad last month, according to NPR.
The 'X Factor:' Britney boosts British show to record
With a new album due out, pop star Britney Spears is busily staging her comeback after a period of high drama. This past weekend the singer performed her new song, “Womanizer,” on Britain’s hit reality show “X Factor.” While the performance helped the episode pull in 12.8 million viewers – a record for “X Factor” – Spears’ performance received mixed ratings from fans and critics. On the positive side, there were plenty of fans happy to see Spears on the stage again, and the performance was generally considered to be a step up from her disastrous outing at the MTV “Video Music Awards” last year. However, many have criticized Spears’s “X Factor” performance, accusing her of miming the words on what is a live-singing talent show.
Nielsen Online sees surge in Black Friday shoppers
Despite the official confirmation yesterday that the nation is indeed in a recession, combined with the announcements of even more job losses, many people are still hitting the stores, online and off. Nielsen Online is reporting that online traffic from home and offices to the Holiday eShopping Index rose 10 percent year over year on Black Friday, or growth from 28.8 million unique visitors in 2007 to 31.7 million unique visitors in 2008 across more than 120 online retailers. The fastest-growing product category was consumer electronics, which rose 219 percent compared with Black Friday in 2007. Shopping comparison/portals and toys/videogames grabbed the No. 2 and No. 3 spots, with 83 and 73 percent online traffic growth. Home and garden products rose 53 percent while the computer hardware/software category was up 30 percent year over year.
Study: Using a cell while driving slows reaction time
If you’re driving and talking on your cell phone, you might as well be drunk. That’s the finding of a new study published by the Journal of Experimental Psychology. Talking on your cell phone is also more distracting than having a talkative passenger in the car. And don’t fool yourself into thinking that using a hands-free device is better; you’re still distracted if you’re talking on your cell phone and driving, the study finds. Talking on a cell slows reaction time to that of a senior citizen for those ages 18-49, and a series of driving-simulation tests found that hands-free gadgets such as a Bluetooth headset are just as distracting as holding a phone to your ear, according to University of Utah researchers quoted by Reuters. Chatty passengers, on the other hand, are less distracting because they will quiet down when driving conditions change and can also point out hazards.
Yep, she did it again: Britney spears top search spot
Britney Spears may have ended the year on a comeback, but she started out 2008 as a trainwreck tab queen. Those two extremes lifted the pop princess to a familiar place atop the year-end Yahoo search rankings, the company said yesterday, marking the seventh year in the past eight that Spears has been the most popular search term. She edged actress Miley Cyrus, online game RuneScape, actress Jessica Alba and Japanese cartoon series “Naruto,” who rounded out Yahoo’s top five searches. “American Idol” was the only U.S. TV show to make the top 10. President elect Barack Obama led the politicians category, followed by GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. The year’s most popular news story was the Obama presidential victory, while articles on hurricanes, Patrick Swayze, Iraq, Afghanistan and the pregnant man also made the top 10.
