Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.ads,americast.usa-today.ads From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: ads Wed, Nov 4 1992 Date: Wed, 4 Nov 92 05:08:35 EST Message-ID: 11-04 0000 DECISIONLINE: Advertising USA TODAY Update Nov. 4, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network NEW SIGN GOES IN TIMES SQUARE: Neon-lit Times Square in New York City is home to a new billboard. A 13-foot high mug of Eight O'Clock Coffee has joined the 40-foot Coca-Cola bottle and the 40-foot bottle of Suntory whiskey on giant signs overlooking Broadway. The mug began steaming Thursday when James Wood, chairman of A&P, the grocery chain that makes the coffee, threw a switch and steam wafted from the rim. (For more, see special Sign package below.) OAKLAND TRIBUNE HIRES EDITOR: Pearl Stewart takes on the top editing job at the Oakland(Calif.) Tribune Dec. 1. Stewart will be the first black woman to edit a metro daily newspaper in a major city, according to new owner Alameda Newspaper Group. Alameda bought the Tribune's name, circulation and advertising client lists last month. The 118-year-old Tribune's circulation is 107,407 daily, 105,926 Sunday. MET HOME HAS A NEW OWNER: For an undisclosed price, Meredith Corp. is selling Metropolitan Home, the urban interior design magazine, to Hachette Magazines, where it will join Home and Elle Decor magazines. Met Home will be published just six times a year. The circulation guaranteed to advertisers will be cut from 700,000 to 600,000. Through November, Met Home ad pages are down 19% from the 11 months in 1991. FOX IS IN A QUANDRY: The Fox network's loss of chief programmer Peter Chernin to the movies as chairman of 20th Century Fox couldn't come at a worse time for the fourth network. Fox planned to expand to seven nights this year, but low ratings on Wednesday forced the network to delay programming Tuesdays until 1993. Worse, of Fox's new series, only "Martin" and "The Ben Stiller Show" have been renewed. ABC PROGRAM GETS GOOD RATINGS: ABC's "Nitecap" is at the midway point of its test run as a network home shopping program. Ratings on the 51 affiliates airing it "are pretty good," says executive producer Earl Greenberg. "Product sales are OK," but for competitive reasons, he can't release figures. Some of the products that have sold: An electronic tie rack by Sharper Image and lingerie by Natori. SEGA USES INTERACTION: Sega launched its compact disc player, the Sega CD, in New York City by allowing guests to play the new "True Video" games on the 750 square-foot television located in Times Square from a hotel window facing the giant TV. Sega says the display mirrored its goal: to make Sega CD play like being in a movie theater controlling characters on the screen. PAPER LAUNCHES AUTOLINE: The Seattle Times has launched the Seattle Times AutoLine, a free used car and truck shopping service, accessible by touch-tone telephone at 206-624-2255. A voice information system leads calers through prompts to learn their preferences regarding vehicle type, make, model, year range, and maximum price, then callers hear a description of vehicles fitting the specifications. NETWORK COMPUTING NAMES EDITOR: Network Computing magazine Tuesday announced the promotion of Gary Bolles to the position of editor-in-chief, effective Jan. 1. He replaces David Strom. Bolles has been with the publication since its inception in October 1990. Network Computing is a monthly magazine about computing products used in a network environment. DEBATES HURT TNT: One election loser: TNT. The cablecaster drew an 8.2 rating for its Washington Redskins-New York Giants game Sunday to finish its 1992 NFL coverage with an average rating of 6.9 - about 4 million TV homes. By comparision, TNT averaged a 6.4 rating last year and a 7 rating in 1990. This year, TNT got its two lowest game ratings, 4.4 and 4.5, when its NFL games ran opposite presidential debates. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON SIGN: TIMES SQUARE IS A POPULAR SPOT: The past year, Benetton, Jockey International, Suntory and Samsung have unveiled signs in Times Square. Coca-Cola, which has been advertising on Broadway since 1920, unveiled its ninth sign - it cost $3 million - New Year's Eve. A&P's new Eight O'Clock Coffee sign cost $30,000 to build. A&P brewed coffee in Times Square in teh 1940s and from 1978 to 1980. SIGN SMOKES LIKE OLD CAMEL AD: A&P's sign also harks to a Camel cigarette sign, of a man blowing smoke rings, that puffed from 1941-1966. The prestige and high profile of a Times Square sign draw advertisers more than calculations of how many see it. Cost averages $30,000 a month, but precise foot-traffic figures don't exist, says Jason Perline, of Van Wagner Communications, which leases most Times Square signs. CORPORATIONS PICK THE SIGNS: "Every single sign on Times Square has been approved or bought by the chairman of the company," says Perline. Corporate chiefs may cede the intricacies of buying TV time to ad agencies, but when it comes to putting a billboard in Times Square, "my opinion is as good as yours on whether this is a good spot." (End of package.) Advertising Editor: Martin Baucom. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM