Showtime is getting the
word out about new reality series
The Real L Word with an aggressive
marketing campaign kicked
off by Left Coast public appearances
by the show’s lesbian stars.
Cast members Rose Garcia,
Whitney Mixter and Mikey Koffman — and executive producer
Ilene Chaiken — set the promotional
wheels in motion for the
real-life adaptation of Showtime’s
The L Word with appearances at
the June 13 Los Angeles LGBT
Pride Event.
Cast members Jill Goldstein
and Nikki Weiss joined the crew
later, at a June 15 Real L Word
screening event in Los Angeles,
in partnership with the Human
Rights Campaign.
The marketing focus switched
to new media beginning after the
show debuted yesterday (June 20).
Fans can tweet comments to one
of the show’s stars before, during
and after each episode via Twitter.
After episodes, viewers can join live
video chats with the show’s stars
via the network’s “live lounge”
at SHO.com, live-streaming site
Ustream and The Real L Word’s
Facebook page.
There’s a Real L Word iPhone
application, with video clips, cast
bios and other series info, and a
Foursquare mobile application
with tips from the cast. SHO.com
will have Webisodes, cast blogs
and reactions to each episode.
To reach wine connoisseurs,
the network is teaming with San
Carlos, Calif.-based Domenico
Winery to produce Real L Word
graphics-customized red, white
and dessert wines in select stores
around the country. They debuted
at a “pouring” ceremony during
a Real L Word premiere in West
Hollywood on June 15.
Comcast, NBC Hope
Data Dump an ‘Error’
Comcast hopes the Federal Communications
Commission will realize it made
a mistake in not allowing the cable operator
to protect breakouts of “advertising
sales, financial, and operating results
by business unit” from falling into
competitors’ hands.
NBC Universal faces the same dilemma
regarding the outside research
it commissions as part of its strategic
planning.
It’s all part of the FCC’s information requests
for Comcast and NBCU in its review
of their proposed joint venture. Comcast
said it assumed the FCC’s omission regarding
keeping that data protected was
an error, as the agency has allowed it to
guard other, similar information. But it’s
no small matter if left uncorrected.
“Release of data produced at this level
would be highly valuable to Comcast’s
competitors and would place Comcast
at a severe competitive disadvantage,”
the cable company reminded the FCC.
NBC asked to be able to shield results
of third-party strategic-planning research,
but the FCC did not allow that, at least not
expressly. “NBCU presumes that this omission
was inadvertent and you intended to
grant enhanced protection,” it said.
The Wire will let you know how it
turns out.
Consumers Watch TV
Before Going to Mall
Think TV advertising is influential? It’s
certainly timely.
Almost half (48%) of shoppers watch
TV in the hour (42 minutes, to be exact)
before going to the store, according
to the Council for
Research Excellence. It was
updating a study released
in 2008, mining further data
from the big Video Consumer
Mapping (VCM) study
conducted by Ball State University.
Shoppers admitted to
some distractions once at
the mall or market: 17% were
on their mobile phones,
16% watched live TV and
7% viewed some other type
of video while in the stores.
“[T]hese particular findings
would need to be balanced
today against the significant
advances in mobile-phone technology
since the study’s completion,”
CRE confessed.
Other newly extracted findings:
most (86%) consume media with
meals and 62% do so while fixing them.
As for portion sizes, more than twothirds
(69%) of TV viewing from the
study participants was solitary.
CRE members include CBS, Comcast,
Cox, Discovery, Disney, Hearst Television,
NBC Universal and News Corp.
WFN DEVOTES DAY TO
GULF COAST CAUSE
WFN: World Fishing Network is looking to lend
a helping hand — and a day — to anglers and
the fishing industry hurt by the devastating oil
spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The 24-hour fishing lifestyle service on June
30 will dedicate its entire lineup to in-depth
coverage of the effects of the environmental
disaster on recreational and commercial fishing
along the Gulf Coast in Louisiana, Mississippi,
Alabama and Florida, making its programming
available to distributors that day as a freeview.
All commercial time that day will go to messaging
aimed at raising awareness and money for
groups in the region, including the WFN Gulf Oil
Spill Fisherman’s Fund.
Dish Network, Charter Communications and
AT&T U-verse were on board at press time. The
special is being made available to subscribers
on Comcast, Verizon, Knology and GVTC, and by
a host of providers in Canada.
