Samurai Kittens Bloody Themselves For IFC's 'Samurai 7'

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There's a lot of different ways to promote a TV show but bloody fighting Samurai cats isn't one we think we've seen before. COG1 has created Samurai Kittens to promote IFC's anime show Samuri 7. Give it a whirl but not if you are the type that gets all weepy when a kitty is faced with certain death by decapitation or severed limb.

by Steve Hall    Apr- 7-06    
Topic: Cable, Games, Online



Strange Clip Promotes BBC Programming Block

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The Ebling Group's Convert has created a :30 promo and show open for The Underground, a new programming block on BBC America. The open tells the story of a rabbit and a mushroom which compete to see who can burrow underground the fastest. Both The Underground programming block features classic British soaps and popular new series like Footballers¹ Wives. It's weird. Very weird. See it here.

by Steve Hall    Mar-31-06    
Topic: Cable, Promotions, Strange



Weather Channel Lures Viewers With Stupid 'End of World' Show

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In one of the most idiotic, unnecessarily sensationalistic pieces of crap, The Weather Channel has launched a promotion based entirely on creating fear of highly unlikely catastrophic weather events. Riffing off the look and feel of the weather-themed The Day After Tomorrow movie, the promotion, which combines actual past weather events with sensationalistic scenarios, promotes the network's new show called "It Could Happen Tomorrow." Well, yea, the Earth could crack in two under the weight of a clan of obese, fast food-eating kids all sitting down on their fat asses simultaneously to play some stupid video game too.

more »

by Steve Hall    Mar-20-06    
Topic: Bad, Cable, Online



CBS's NCAA March Madness On Demand A Success

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CBS SportsLine and the NCAA yesterday announced that NCAA March Madness on Demand, the online video player that provided streaming live video of the first 56 games of the 2006 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship set a record, according to what, we don't know, for scheduled live entertainment or sports event with over 268,000 simultaneous streams. In total, NCAA March Madness on Demand has already surpassed 1.2 million video streams served. I guess we were wrong thinking people would prefer the couch potato method of viewing.

by Steve Hall    Mar-17-06    
Topic: Cable, Desktop, Online



USA Creates MySpace-Like Site For Viewers

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If something can attract 60 million to it, there must be something goo about it. We;re thinking that's the thinking behind the USA Network's launch of ShowUsYourCharacter, a site that features character from USA shows but also mimics the social community aspects of MySpace and other similar operations. On ShowUsYourCharacter, visitors can dig deep into the profiles of their favorite characters and then set up a profile of their own to highlight their uniqueness.

While the site is about creating a community, the network is also hoping to collect and identify profiles of unique individuals who, upon submitting a video and statement, will be selected as winners with the Grand Prize winner appearing in an on-air USA campaign. With Tagworld, Facebook, MySpace, Orkut, LinkedIn, Friendster and others, there seems to be no end to people's willingness to place themselves in front of the world for all to see. No doubt, USA will see return on this effort.

by Steve Hall    Mar-14-06    
Topic: Cable, Good, Online



HBO's 'Big Love' Campaign Hits Newspaper Wedding Pages

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CitySpecific points out an ad for HBO's polygamy-themed Big Love placed in the New York Times wedding announcement section. The ad shows Big Love star Bill Paxton in three separate wedding announcements with his three brides played by Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloe Sevigny and Ginnifer Goodwin. CitySpecific questions the Times acceptance of this ad but we think it's just another inevitable sign of things to come.

by Steve Hall    Mar-12-06    
Topic: Cable, Good, Newspaper, Opinion



Virtual Chainsaw and Nail Gun Promote Home Improvement Reality Show

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Screw all those shows that try to make us believe do-it-yourself home repair is easy. To promote Discovery Channel Canada's new show Canada's Worst Handyman, a reality show that follows group of really bad do-it-yourselfers as they attempt to do minor home repairs, Fuel Industries and Karbon Arc created a microsite that let's anyone virtually screw up home repair. There's a chainsaw and a nail gun which, as you can imagine, easily do serious damage.

by Steve Hall    Mar-10-06    
Topic: Cable, Good, Online



HBO Continues Wedding-Themed Promotion For 'Big Love'

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To promote it spolygamy-themed new show, Big Love, HBO headed down the wedding-theme promotional road placing figurines atop actual wedding cakes in actual bakeries. Now, it's sending out direct mail wedding invitations which point to a website for the Henrickson wedding, Bill Paxton's surname in the series.

by Steve Hall    Mar- 9-06    
Topic: Cable, Direct, Good, Guerilla



HBO Promotes 'Big Love' With Podcasts

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In a nod to the validity of the medium, or, at least HBO's belief in its validity, the cable giant has signed a deal with podcast ad network Podtrac to promote its new Big Love series on 31 podcasts. Ads will be produced :30s as well as live reads. The campaign, which began Monday, is Podtrac's largest since its launch

by Steve Hall    Mar- 8-06    
Topic: Cable, Podcast



MSNBC to Cancel Live Daytime Programming

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AOL gossip site TMZ has learned...yes, they have LEARNED a crucial bit of seemingly earth shattering news: MSNBC will cancel all live, daytime programming and replace it with tapes shows. TMX reports, "High-level sources connected with the cable network also tell TMZ that MSNBC President Rick Kaplan will be booted from the network when his contract is up - within a year." With ratings in the dumper, the writing may be on the wall. Nighttime programming will remain unaffected.

UPDATE: MSNBC is now denying this story saying through a spokesperson, "This is ridiculous and is wrong on every level. MSNBC, which under Rick Kaplan has seen a real uptick in ratings of late, and is by definition a news channel, is not going to abandon live news."

by Steve Hall    Mar- 2-06    
Topic: Cable