Category: media

One of the hottest new ads on TV isn’t an ad at all, say its creators, it’s a short “indie” film. The Budweiser spot is riding high on a website devoted to commercials – Adcritic.com. Something about the site has traditional ad agencies anxious. – New York Magazine 02/07/00

Turner Broadcasting and the Cartoon Network have been banned from Chinese television. “Their actions violated relevant Chinese rules,” an official with the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television said of the network, which airs cartoons by day and old Hollywood classics at night. “They know very well what they did.” – Times of India 02/04/00

— make deals with NAACP to increase minority hiring on their programming. – Boston Globe 02/04/00

A  US Senate subcommittee hears that not only did the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy gave back to TV networks ad time worth millions of dollars for anti-drug messages in sitcoms and dramas, but also for shows about drugs: to music-channel VH1 for bios of drug-addled rock stars, for Fox’s “America’s Most Wanted” and ESPN’s coverage of baseball player Darryl Strawberry’s cocaine woes. – Washington Post 02/04/00

Pat Mitchell, a veteran of ABC, CBS and NBC, and currently with CNN, will be the public TV network’s first woman president. Announcement expected Monday. – Philadelphia Inquirer 02/03/00 

National Public Radio will launch a new satellite pay-radio service later this year as a means of raising money. – San Antonio Express-News 02/03/00 

A new series of ads for Benetton features pictures of American Death Row inmates. The words “Sentenced to Death” are stamped across the ads, and the company’s logo is featured alongside the condemned person’s image as well as the prisoner’s name date and place of birth, and crime. It’s just a joke, says the ad-maker. – National Post (Canada) 02/03/00

— between media giants Bertelsmann and Sony. – BBC 02/03/00

The artists who work at keeping people guessing and stood up to the suits from Etoys are victorious. – Wired 02/02/00

There are too many films showing in a Sundance Film Festival to really get a grasp on which way the programming is really going. The NYT’s Elvis Mitchell weighs in with a few highlights from this year’s edition. – New York Times 02/02/00