There was a time, not so long ago, when crazy people had to go on public access shows at 3am to get their voices (and all the ones in their head) heard. Then came YouTube, and it obliterated the competition. It was cheaper (FREE!) and allowed your message to reach a wider audience than a television spot on a local station. But now media technology has come full circle with the advent of SaysMe.TV, a user-generated site that let's you pay as low as six bucks to have your message broadcast on the tele. For some zany reason, the site is currently being marketed as a political commentator soapbox instead of what its obvious purpose: an advertising boon for local businesses without the budgets to create actual infomercials. Right now, "politics" is selling a smidge better than news of half-priced avocados at the farmers market.
Now that President King Dictator Michael Phelps has won the Olympics — literraly, the whole shebang is his — what's next? Doubtful that a guy could win eight gold medals in Beijing and then go back to Maryland with his dog to swim laps in the Potomac, although that looks as if it's Mikey's game-plan. Luckily, the money from Phelp's endorsements might last him long enough to buy a place in a nicer neighborhood than Baltimore; Speedo is writing him a cheque for $1 million as part of its promise for him winning eight gold medals, and that's on top of their existing endorsement deal, his sponorship gigs for Visa, Hilton, and Kellogg's (among others).
It leaves little doubt Phelps will add "richest Olympian" to his roster of personal records. But he's going to accomplish a more incredible feat: remaining relevant after the closing ceremonies. Indeed, where other celebrity Olympians disappeared into oblivion after their medal ceremonies, we see Phelps reaching the success of pro athletes who compete in leagues identified by three-letter acronyms.
Here's how: CONTINUED »
In May, Noah Oppenheim left the Today show, where he was pulling double duty while also manning David Gregory's Race to the White House, for Reveille, the production studio that Ben Silverman just unloaded. Now, Oppenheim's replacement arrives. Today EP Jim Bell alerted staffers via email last night that Noah Kotch is taking his place, arriving from ABC News. Today was his first day. CONTINUED »
Oh noers, MTV is remaking the 1975 definitive cult favorite, Rocky Horror Picture Show. And they are adding songs (which creator/star Richard O'Brian, is not okay'ing). Maybe, maybe, if Rob Zombie was involved, fans of the original would sleep better at night. But MTV? A word of advice? If Zac Efron ends up playing Frankenfurter, all those kids who dress up for the midnight showings at the local multiplex are going to shit a brick.
Speaking of all those NBC execs who left NYC for Beijing, the network's co-chairman Ben Silverman is over there, and working! But not for NBC.
He's filing reports for Ryan Seacrest's KIIS FM radio show, and breaks news like "The Great Wall is an understatement. It's the 'Awesome Wall!'"; says borderline-offensive things about his Chinese guide like "Her name is Fun Fun, so you can imagine how much fun-fun Fun Fun is"; and, in revealing that been referring to the main Olympic stadium, the Bird's Nest, as the "Bird Cage," has shown he's living up to his likes to party reputation. [B&C]
Too much time has passed since Heidi Montag's latest assault on music, and luckily for us the "singer" decided to release a new single just in time for tonight's season premiere of The Hills. The new song is called "Overdosin" and makes us want to follow the title's lead.
It comes down to this: Nina Garcia and Anne Slowey played for separate teams under the same owner. Garcia, the former Elle fashion director who's now connected to the magazine in name only, was a protege of creative director Gilles Bensimon, who did not time to check his wristwatch for incoming Elle editor Robbie Myers, who arrived in 2000. Slowey, the fashion news editor and star of Elle's new fall reality show Stylista, is in the Myers camp, though perhaps only because she wasn't in the Bensimon camp.
Which isn't to say these two never got along — they did — but in the end, it explains why we've heard handfuls of stories, about both sides, trading gossip about each other. CONTINUED »
Much like the rich, snotty girl on the top of the hill, Madonna's big Five-Oh bday was celebrated in the company not of her friends, but the hired help. Miffed at the lack of celebrity A-listers (David Blaine showed up, but was part of the entertainment, which is sad on about five different levels), Miss Madge used the party as a dance rehearsal for her upcoming Sticky & Sweet tour. She also gave a thirty minute thank you speech to all her adoring paid employee-fans. Def. not in attendance? Axel-Rod — seeing as how Guy Ritchie footed the 100,000 pound bill.
"The CW and our studio partner CBS Paramount Network Television have made the strategic marketing decision not to screen "90210" for any media in advance of its premiere. We're not hiding anything . . . simply keeping a lid on 90210 until 9.02, riding the curiosity and anticipation into premiere night, and letting all our constituents see it at the same time." [The CW Statement, photo]
It's as if Lou Dobbs is writing the website's "news" headlines. [CD]
Emotional advertisements are proving to be the most memorable during the Olympics, because viewers were already primed to get all teary-eyed thanks to NBC's endless "Michael Phelps is an American hero" storyline.
Coca-Cola found great success with its animated "Bird's Nest" ad, which showed birds creating a nest out of drinking straws; Oreo scored points with two girls (one American, one Chinese) eating cookies on different trains as they passed by each other; and General Electric, which owns NBC, got propped up by its ad featuring a dragon that heats a village pool with its fire-breathing snout, reminding viewers that we're entirely dependent on fantasy to wean us off oil.
SRSLY, Brian Williams, we all have a crush on Michael Phelps, you don't need to rub it in our face that you guys are both lovin' it:
All he wanted after yesterday’s race was McDonalds. Before our interview, a producer asked him for his order. He initially wanted a cheeseburger, Big Mac and fries. Then I stepped in (having done the research) and told him that the double cheeseburgers here were good, better than in the States. I told him there was no mustard on them, and that the minced onion was kept to a minimum. I could see in his eyes that he realized he was in the company of a fellow aficionado. He changed his order – so excited at the thought of McDonalds for the first time since arriving here in Beijing — and the interview began.
You are such a dork, Williams. You sound like Barbara Walters whenever she starts in about Gabriel Byrne. But to be fair, Matt Lauer is worser.
In a move that can definitely not be taken back, NBC bulldozed Tim Russert's office to make way for a new conference room, and demolished his belongings so that they wouldn't be able to be sold on eBay by an unscrupulous employee. What kind of people are they hiring at NBC that their biggest concern in preserving the legacy of a journalist is making sure no one goes grave-robbing at the site of his office memorial? Are the majority of NBC staff that aren't on-air personalities composed of the Thénardiers? (And yes, the best social commentary can (and often does) involve references to musicals. )
McCain's camp was all whine-whine-whine to NBC News president Steve Capus over some comments Andrea Mitchell made on Meet the Press. On the subject of Saturday night's faith forum, Mitchell relayed Team Obama sentiments that there was foul play involved in the event — "that McCain may not have been in the Cone of Silence and may have had some ability to overhear what the questions were to Obama. He seemed so well prepared." Someone call someone a cheater?
McCain campaign manager Rick Davis sent a very strongly worded letter to NBC, which so often receives this sort of thing, chiding them for "abandoning non-partisan coverage of the presidential race."
This, even though Mitchell was doing that thing that journalists do — reporting — on what had already been stated by the Democrats, and gave full context to the quote. Except, whoops, now it looks like McCain wasn't in that Cone of Silence after all. Their bad, yo. So what is this magical cone that McCain was not in? CONTINUED »
No wonder Fox News spends its days sounding like your racist grandpop: he's the network's target audience. Fox's median age is 63.9, according to Nielsen. Hysterically, that must have been the demographic that Greta Van Susteren was gloating about in her blog yesterday.
But now that it looks like young people might be voting in huge numbers this year, you would think Fox News would cater some programming toward a younger demo to get those delicious, advertiser-friendly viewers during the election coverage. You would be wrong. CONTINUED »
Editorial Director
