Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.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 Thu, Oct 22 1992 Date: Thu, 22 Oct 92 04:38:37 EDT Message-ID: 10-22 0000 DECISIONLINE: Advertising USA TODAY Update Oct. 22, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network POLITICAL ADS BRING IN BUCKS: Political advertisements have provided their biggest windfall in history this year. President Bush, Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton and Ross Perot caught ABC, CBS and NBC off-guard by buying about $40 million worth of airtime as of Oct. 15, according to Advertising Age. And spending will get more fevered days before the election. Spending: Bush, $17.9 million; Perot, $17.3M; Clinton, $3.8M. FRITO-LAY IS SOLE SPONSOR: Frito-Lay is the sole sponsor of Super Bowl XXVII's halftime show, airing on NBC Jan. 31. In September, the NFL signed Michael Jackson for the show, which is expected to deal with racial harmony. Frito-Lay also will air two 30-second commercials during halftime. Pepsi, which owns Frito-Lay, sponsored Jackson's European concert tour. PUBLISHERS REPORT EARNINGS: Newspaper publishers Times Mirror and Knight Ridder Inc. both reported small earnings gains for the third quarter, according to Bloomberg Business News. But advertising revenues were down at Times Mirror and up at Knight Ridder. Times Mirror said the lagging economy in Southern California continues to hurt ad sales at its flagship Los Angeles Times newspaper. KNIGHT RIDDER AD REVENUES GAIN: Knight Ridder Inc. reported boosted ad revenues for the third quarter, according to Bloomberg Business News. Knight-Ridder said ad sales for its Miami Herald newspaper rose because insurance companies had to rely on the paper to reach their customers following Hurricane Andrew. Overall revenues were up at Knight-Ridder. MAGAZINES RECRUIT MINORITIES: The magazine industry has taken another small step in its effort to increase the number of minorities editing magazines and selling ads. The American Society of Magazine Editors plans to send its 700 members lists of historically black colleges that have journalism programs and lists of leaders of black, Hispanic and Asian-American journalists associations to help recruiting. ADS MAY FOCUS ON CAREERS: The American Society of Magazine Editors is considering running ads about magazine career opportunities in college publications. The move is part of an effort to draw more minorities into the editing and ad-selling fields. Minorities are an under-used talent pool, says Stephen Shepard, ASME president. He says the number of minorities at magazines is an "insignificant number." MAG EXECS FAVOR CLINTON: Bill Clinton got a majority of votes in a survey of those attending the American Magazine Conference in the Bahamas. The tally: Clinton: 52%, Bush: 34%; Perot: 13%; undecided: 2%. Other conference news: Ex-Newsweek editor Osborn Elliott says the Advertising Council should address urban plight and decay in one of its public interest ad campaigns in order to raise awareness. STERN IS BACK ON THE TUBE: Radio shock jock Howard Stern is back on television: Stern will host a weekly celebrity interview show on the E! network starting Nov. 27. Stern, tops on New York and Los Angeles radio, had his previous TV show canceled by WWOR-TV earlier this year. The station blamed it on low ratings and poor response from advertisers. Watchdog groups will certainly tune in to Stern's show. INFOMERCIALS ARE REPUTABLE: Infomercials, once viewed by some as a fringe player in the high-stakes game of Madison Avenue marketing monte, have "hit the jackpot" as a $1 billion dollar a year sales tool, according to the National Infomercial Marketing Association. Members will get together at the Third Annual NIMA Meeting and Trade Exhibition Oct. 28 to 30 to ink new deals and celebrate the new found success. SNYDER WILL HOST TALK SHOW: Tom Snyder has been doing talk shows on TV for years, and late in January, he'll host yet another in prime time on NBC's cable channel, CNBC. But at 56, he's one realistic host. "If it's good, it'll stay on, and if it's not, it won't," says Snyder, the former NBC anchor. The CNBC viewer call-in show will originate from Los Angeles and will last either a half- or a full hour. `HOMEFRONT' CONFRONTS POLIO: On Dec. 10, ABC's "Homefront" begins a series of episodes confronting the polio epidemic in the 1940s, with new mom Anne Kahn (Wendy Phillips) falling victim to the disease. The show is based in wartime America. The story line hit close to home for actor Dick Anthony Williams, who plays Abe Davis. He had polio during grade school in the '40s and has spoken to the other actors about it. BET TO AIR NEW TALK SHOW: A new talk show, "For Black Men Only," premieres Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET:4:30 p.m. PT on cable's Black Entertainment Television. Panelist Tommy Duren says the show features black men from all walks of life. "White people think all black people think the same. This show dispels that." 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