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 Tue, Nov 10 1992 Date: Tue, 10 Nov 92 05:07:26 EST Message-ID: 11-10 0000 DECISIONLINE: Advertising USA TODAY Update Nov. 10, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network ORDINANCE IS BEFORE HIGH COURT: A Cincinnati dispute that went before the Supreme Court on Monday is shaping up as a major test of how far governments can go in regulating ads and newspapers. The case could have an impact on hot issues such as the regulation of cigarette advertising, as well as more mundane questions such as whether cities can ban newspaper boxes and newsracks. (For more, see special Court package below.) DESIGNER STORES SHOOT UP: Designer stores are a good way "to create more excitement" for strong brands, says Michael Gade of Coopers & Lybrand. Some designer stores: Nike Town in Chicago; Sony Gallery of Consumer Electronics in Chicago; and Levi's, which is testing three of its stores and opening two more this winter. The latest: Barbie store at New York's FAO Schwartz replete with all things Barbie. MORNING SHOW IMPROVES RATING: "CBS This Morning" continues to show improvement in the weekly ratings battle. Last week, the show still trailed "Today" and "Good Morning America" in the ratings, but its 3.3 rating:13 share (a ratings point represents 931,000 TV homes; a share is the percentage of sets in use) was one of its best showing since May 12, 1986. VH-1 LAUNCHES CONCERT SERIES: On the heels of MTV's successful "Unplugged" music series, sister cable channel VH-1 will launch its own concert series in February called "Center Stage." Musical legends Neil Young and Keith Richards, and superstars k.d. lang, Gloria Estefan and Michael Bolton have been signed for the new program. NBC SEEKS CHANGE IN SITCOM: NBC is apparently seeking changes in newcomer "Here and Now," ranked 77 so far. The Saturday night sitcom, produced by Bill Cosby, stars ex-"Cosby" player Malcolm-Jamal Warner as a graduate student who runs a Manhattan youth center. One rumor says NBC Entertainment executives were ready to cancel the show before Cosby's intervention and another says NBC just wants more humor. SITCOM GETS A PREMIERE DATE: "The Jackie Thomas Show," a sitcom starring Tom Arnold as a onetime slaughterhouse employee who becomes the star of a top-rated sitcom now has a premiere date on ABC: Dec. 1 at 9:30 p.m. ET:PT. It replaces "Coach," which is moving to Wednesday at 9:30, replacing canceled "Laurie Hill." ROLLING STONE CHANGES FOCUS: Rolling Stone magazine was founded 25 years ago for baby boomers enamored with rock 'n' roll, but not with the Vietnam War. For more than a decade, it survived on ads for records, concerts, bongs and cigarettes. Today, it's stuffed with ads for cars, electronics, credit cards and cosmetics. Once a script for the counter-culture, it now runs military recruiting ads and courts formal-wear makers. MAGAZINE MUST CHOOSE GENERATION: Advertisers, who prize the elusive 25-to-34 age group, flock to Rolling Stone because the median age of readers is 26. But that age is deceptive: 66% of readership lies in two groups, like bookends, outside the 25-34 bracket. Critics say the magazine has to choose one generation - most suggest the younger one - or risk losing its focus and, eventually, large chunks of readers. CARMAKERS ADVERTISE PRICE: Highbrow carmakers such as BMW, Jaguar and Mercedes and even safety-conscious Volvo are going after Japanese rivals on price. Mercedes has frozen increases for 1993 models and is advertising its 190E as "the car for the people with more sense than money." Volvo's price is prominently displayed in its TV and print ads. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON COURT: DECISION WILL AFFECT HANDBILLS: At issue in a Supreme Court case is a local ordinance forbidding the distribution of commercial "handbills" on public property. Cincinnati, seeking to reduce the number of sidewalk newsracks, used the ordinance to prohibit a small segment of the publishing industry from using the boxes - distributors of strictly commercial real estate guides and adult education catalogs. NEWS BOXES WERE UNTOUCHED: The nearly 2,000 boxes that dispense local and national newspapers were untouched. But 62 boxes that carried the commercial publications would have been removed if their publishers hadn't sued, claiming violation of the First Amendment. The Supreme Court has long held that "commercial speech," such as ads, deserves less First Amendment protection than "commercial" publications. DISTINCTIONS ARE UNCLEAR: But during oral arguments Monday, several justices seemed to have a hard time distinguishing between the two types of speech. That signals that they may be ready to give more equal treatment to advertisers, making it harder to ban or restrict certain types of advertising. "If our publication is commercial, so too is a daily newspaper," Marc Mezibov argued for the commercial publishers. (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