Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.ads From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: ads Mon, Aug 10 1992 Date: Mon, 10 Aug 92 04:17:59 EDT Message-ID: 08-10 0000 DECISIONLINE: Advertising USA TODAY Update Aug. 10, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network BERTELSMANN TRIES PAY-PER-VIEW: German media giant Bertelsmann is tuning in to pay-per-view TV. Analysts expect the venture to boost the fledgling business. Bertelsmann and New York-based Thursday Night Concerts formed Semaphore Entertainment to develop pay-per-view events. Programs can be ordered by cable-TV subscribers. The first event: a Sept. 25 battle of tennis stars Jimmy Connors and Martina Navratilova. RJR CUTS 4TH QUARTER BUDGET: R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. is cutting back its fourth-quarter media advertising budget, shifting the fund to consumer promotions and point-of-purchase efforts, Advertising Age reports. But magazine publishers and outdoor advertising executives affected by the move believe it's actually cost-cutting measure designed to shore up parent RJR Nabisco's bottom line. RJR denies the charge. (For more, see special RJR package below.) `PRIME TIME PLUS' DEBUTS: With the help of the local Senior Advisory Board and guest senior columnists, the Fort Collins Coloradoan has produced "Prime Time Plus, A Guide to Living Longer & Better," a monthly flysheet and annual tabloid geared toward the paper's senior readers. Some advertisers in the special section, sold by a telemarketer, include an employment agency, restaurants and various medical services. JONES MAY BRANCH OUT: NBC News may have bigger plans for Star Jones, the feisty New York prosecutor hired as a legal affairs correspondent in February. Jones taped three pilots of a legal affairs show last week in New York. The show would have Jones interviewing guests on legal issues. Working title: "Star Jones for the People," which could end up as a daily daytime offering or weekly prime-time fare. `BUDDIES' MIMICS `STUDS': The former executive producer of "Studs" has come up with an entertaining show about relationships. It's called "Bedroom Buddies" and it premieres Monday in a dozen cities in a test run. If it succeeds, says executive producer Howard Schultz, it will roll out nationally in January. Hosted by ex-VH-1 VJ Bobby Rivers, "Buddies" details the lives of people in relationships. ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE PROFITABLE: The Lansing State Journal has created a special entertainment-oriented visitors guide that's available throughout the year at restaurants, visitors centers and entertainment establishments. Modular ad sizes were sold for "Around Town" at pre-determined rates. Since its first run in April, "Around Town" has generated over $17,000 in revenue. PAVILION SET FOR MANHATTAN: The world's largest billboard may go up in midtown Manhattan. Spectacolor Inc. is courting sponsors for a nine-story interactive multimedia structure. Sponsors would pay about $6 million to $7 million to construct the America's Exposition Pavilion, and also pay rent to Spectacolor. Cutting-edge technology will be emphasized. Construction is scheduled to begin in 1993. MARY KAY, MCA:U JOIN FORCES: Mary Kay Cosmetics and MCA:Universal Home Video are teaming up in August for a promotion offering a free Mary Kay lipstick and beauty makeover to consumers who buy a used videocasette of "Fried Green Tomatoes." The movie goes on sale Aug. 20. MCA:Universal will back the promotion with TV and print ads created in-house and placed by Focus Media, Studio City, Calif. A-B NEW SPONSOR OF LIGHTNING: Anheuser-Busch has signed a two-year agreement as a charter sponsor of the National Hockey League's Tampa Bay Lightning. The Lightning begins play this fall. The deal - signed with Sunshine Network, which holds broadcast rights, and Dorna USA, the team's marketing company - covers TV, radio, in-arena signage and promotion and gives A-B malt beverage category exclusivity. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON RJR: MEDIA OUTLETS CONTACTED: R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. has contacted media outlets to cancel the bulk of its fourth-quarter ad commitments, Advertising Age says. It is the latest bad news media companies have received from the tobacco marketer. Late last year, RJR said it would cut its 1992 ad budget and abandon long-term media commitments. RJR WANTS NO PENALTIES: Outdoor companies were told by RJR that they would still get 12-month contracts, but RJR wanted 60-day cancellation clauses without penalties. Peggy Carter, manager of media relations, would not give the size of RJR's fourth-quarter budget or the percent of reduction but said that not all of the out-of-home or print media for the fourth quarter is being eliminated. 1991 AD TOTALS WERE $100M: RJR spent about $11.9 million in magazines and $12.3 million on outdoor ads in the fourth quarter of last year, according to LNA:-Arbitron Multi-Media Service. It spent more than $100 million on the two media combined for the full year. Carter indicated at least a portion of the funds will be shifted to other areas, but she was not more specific. CAMEL ADS WILL BE DECREASED: RJR's moves mean the campaign for Camel cigarettes will be less visible, at least temporarily. Tobacco has been sharply declining as an ad category for magazines in recent years, due in large part to shifts in RJR's marketing strategy. In addition to the cuts announced last year, RJR shifted 25% of its magazine budget to outdoor ads in 1989, saying it was more regionally oriented. (End of package.) Advertising Editor: Kate Coughlin. (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