July 12, 2012

DISH is looking more and more like a digital advertising operation, according to Warren Schlichting, svp DISH media sales & analytics. The MVPDs ad ops team has begun to target households with addressable advertising, he said, by sending ad files with specific targeting instructions straight to the DVR over IP, essentially bypassing the satellite. “The advantages of digital don’t have to do with the viewing itself,” he said. “A video view, especially in an advertising sense, is a video view. The advantages of digital lie in the backend.”

Also in the July 12 issue of CableFAX Daily:

Lot of mudslinging between DirecTV and Viacom the day after the DBS provider lost 17 Viacom nets (or 26, if you count HD feeds). Biggest news may be that both sides were talking Wed afternoon. Also generating lots of press was the fact Viacom pulled some full-length episodes of shows that it offers free online. This affects all consumers—not just DirecTV subs. Meanwhile, CEOs Philippe Dauman and Mike White were spied at the Allen & Co conference.
 
Round one went to Aereo, with a federal judge rejecting broadcasters’ request for a temporary injunction against the online streaming service. Based on Cablevision’s remote DVR case, the judge felt plaintiffs are unlikely to succeed on the merits of their public performance case.
 
TNT booked a 3rd season of “Falling Skies,” from Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks. Season 3 is slated to air ’13 with 10 episodes. The series, which airs Suns at 9pm, currently averaged 5.9mln viewers.
 
Could society use handheld devices to provoke good manners? Steve Effros, former President of CATA and advisor to the cable industry, discusses the idea.