Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.ads From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: ads Wed, Apr 1 1992 Date: Wed, 1 Apr 92 05:43:26 EST Message-ID: 04-01 0000 DECISIONLINE: Advertising USA TODAY Update April 1, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network GROUP WANTS WARNINGS ON ADS: A nationwide coalition of health professionals launched a push Tuesday for a surgeon general's warning on all alcohol advertisements telling about the dangers of drinking during pregnancy. The Coalition on Alcohol Advertising and Family Education said it is targeting Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, or FAS, an irreversible collection of alcohol-related birth defects. (For more, see special Alcohol package below.) `ROOM FOR TWO' FINISHES SEVENTH: ABC's new sitcom "Room for Two" finished No. 7 in this week's Nielsen TV ratings. "Room for Two" had the highest-rated premiere episode of any new show this season - helped, no doubt, by its lead-in show, "Roseanne," the No. 1-rated show for the week. ABC's newsmagazine "20:20" finished at No. 8. It featured a Barbara Walters interview with Leona Helmsley. ABC took second overall. CBS WINS WEEK: CBS won this week's Nielsen TV ratings. "Northern Exposure" finished at No. 3, its best performance ever and "60 Minutes" was second. Third-place NBC got its highest ranking ever from "Seinfeld" at No. 21, with the show's rating up 30% over a month ago. In the evening news race, ABC won its 64th straight week, followed by CBS and NBC. JAPAN CAMPAIGN TO BE JUICED UP: Dan Gunter, director of the Florida Department of Citrus, says it will back a new marketing effort in Japan with a $1.4 million ad campaign. Right now, Brazilian orange juice dominates the market. "Once they get a taste for it, we feel that they will like it as well as consumers in the U.S. do," he says. Wednesday, Japan will drop a limit on orange-juice imports from the USA. SCI-FI CHANNEL A GO: The number of cable channels just keeps growing and growing. Newest addition: The much-delayed Sci-Fi Channel, which is a go for fall. The channel has been acquired by basic cable giant USA Network, and USA President Kay Koplovitz says Sci-Fi will be available in 10 million homes by September. Sci-Fi has rights to reruns of series like "The Invaders" and "Dr. Who." WOLF NOT RESTING ON LAURELS: Producer Dick Wolf is out to prove his success with NBC's "Law & Order" is no fluke. Wolf's next crime show is "Mann & Machine" (NBC, Sundays at 8 p.m. EDT:PDT), a futuristic show that pairs a hard-bitten detective with a beautiful cyborg cop. On April 16, CBS will launch "The Human Factor" (Thursdays at 10 EDT:PDT), a drama with John Mahoney teaching medical students a bedside manner. HANNA GETS OWN SHOW: Jack Hanna's new syndicated wildlife show premieres Saturday (times vary). "ZooLife With Jack Hanna" is a "very fast-paced show that anyone from 3 to 80 years old can watch. No story is more than four minutes long. I try to deliver a serious message in a fun way," Hanna says. Hanna has appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America" and NBC's "Late Night With David Letterman. OSCARS GOOD FOR ABC: In the overnight ratings, ABC's Oscar awards presentation Monday night drew an estimated 76 million viewers, the highest-rated Oscars since 1989. The show got a 29.8 rating:50 share - 5% higher than last year's. Each rating point equals 921,000 TV households; shares are the percentage of sets in use. NICOTINE PATCH GAINS STEAM: A Band-Aid-sized patch that delivers undiluted nicotine to the bloodstream, is the newest medical treatment in the campaign to stop people from smoking. It's cropping up in full-page magazine ads and newspaper and TV ads. Demand has led to brief shortages in some areas. The Food and Drug Administration first approved it in November; it's been available in European nations for years. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON ALCOHOL: GROUP TO PETITION CONGRESS: At a Capitol Hill press conference Tuesday, the Coalition on Alcohol Advertising and Family Education said it would petition Congress to pass, and President Bush to sign, a bill requiring that all alcohol ads carry a surgeon general's warning about the dangers of drinking while pregnant. It would be similar to anti-smoking messages required in tobacco ads. BILLBOARDS WOULD BE EXEMPT: The bill would require print media ads to display a boxed message that says in part, "SURGEON GENERAL'S WARNING: Drinking during pregnancy may cause mental retardation and other birth defects. Avoid alcohol during pregnancy." It would give a toll-free 800 number. Broadcast ads would be required to carry similar messages. Billboard ads would not be covered. ADS COULD GIVE INFORMATION: Christine Lubinski of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence says many women don't know about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. "Broadcast advertising, where beer ads in particular are increasingly targeted toward women of childbearing age, offers the best opportunity to reach these women with information that is vital to the health of their children," she says. (End of package.) Advertising Editor: Ed Kelleher. (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