SCENE & HERD: The Sights, Crowds, Random Happenings and Odd Observations at The National Show
BIZARRE MARKETING IDEA #1
You expect clever and interesting marketing tactics at The National Show, but Mav TV has taken the cake. Or, I guess, delivered it. In the men's restrooms, the network has installed talking urinal cakes. Yes, I said TALKING URINAL CAKES. You know, those things that are supposed to keep bathrooms fresh. Every time a restroom patron, shall-we-say, visits, the urinal replies with a blurb about Mav TV. It's the first time I've gone and gotten a reply. Anyway, this tactic raises some big questions. Who thought of this? Who wants to change the cakes? Where did they find a company to do this? Could this be a metaphor for what the industry is doing to their channel? You can thank me now for sparing you the accompanying photo. Tuesday, 1:35 p.m.
ODD JUXTAPOSITION
Everyone's noticing the irony of positioning the Gospel Music Channel booth right next to the Hustler TV booth. Giving showgoers the chance to "sin ... repent, sin ... repent," perhaps? But, really, it's a true demonstration of the diversity of what cable has to offer— there's something for everyone on cable. Tuesday, 11 a.m.
(VERY) RANDOM CELEBRITY SIGHTINGS
In an apparent effort to soothe National Show attendees' pain of having to miss at least one of this week's two episodes of "American Idol," Fox Cable Networks brought in two former "Idol" contestants: season one's Ryan Starr and season three runner-up Diana Degarmo. Surprisingly, both attracted rather large and enthusiastic crowds. Go figure. Monday, 4:00 p.m.
TARGETING 'TWEENS
The cast of the Disney Channel’s hit movie "High School Musical" was on hand at the Disney booth to take photos and sign autographs. The movie, which premiered on the Disney Channel in January, drew 7.7 million viewers and was the No. 1 movie of the month against basic cable networks. The show's success can be attributed to an efficient marketing campaign focused on the ‘tween demographic: children too old for "The Wiggles" and too young to be watching MTV. Monday 2:45 p.m.
POPULAR GUY Instead of the expected "please silence your cell phones" message, attendees at the show have been encouraged to leave them on—at least in general sessions where the devices are being used for poll-taking. In this morning's session, the question was, which of his five fellow panelists has Comcast CEO Brain Roberts' personal phone number on speed dial. The audience chose Time Warner head Richard Parsons as the most likely speed dialer. But the real answer was "all of the above" (in addition to Parsons, there was John Chambers of Cisco, Gary Forsee of Sprint Nextel, Anne Sweeney of Disney-ABC, and Edward Zander of Motorola.) Monday, 11:00 a.m.
MOCA MAKING NEWS
Panasonic is displaying a technology that allows set-top boxes to communicate with each other and allows the transfer of video to one room or another using existing coaxial cable in the home. It has been trialed in Japan and has just received certification in the states. The technology was developed as a part of the Multimedia over Coax Alliance, and its certification ensures interoperability among the products using the MoCA standard. The alliance consists of Comcast, Cox Communications, EchoStar Technologies, Entropic Communications, Linksys, Motorola, Panasonic, Radio Shack, Toshiba, and Verizon. Monday, 2:20 p.m.
SEPARATED AT BIRTH?
Malcolm Gladwell, best-selling author and today's keynote speaker/opening session moderator (The Tipping Point and Blink), and "American Idol" season-one runner-up Justin Guarini—coincidental resemblance or separated at birth? You decide. Sunday, 3:00 p.m.
A BEAUTIFUL NIGHT FOR WINE & SONG
With the compressed schedule, there's basically two nights to pack in dozens of group dinners. Lucky for National Show attendees that Atlanta has tons of excellent restaurants. We hear there were some great dinners tonight. Certainly one of the best—if not the best—had to have been The Weather Channel's fest at the exquisite Rathbun's. A champion sommelier was on hand to discuss the fragile connection of wine and weather (naturally) and to choose a fine array of wines for dinner and dessert, which was enjoyed on the patio as talented up-and-coming singer-songwriter Josh Ritter performed. Sunday, 10:20 p.m.
IN THE ZONE
Apparently, NCTA feared you may forget where you are, so they left little room for any confusion by plastering C-A-B-L-E in huge letters all over the place. The magic letters are particularly inescapable in general sessions. From the podium, to the monitors, to every corner and wall of the room, it's clear you've entered the C-A-B-L-E ZONE. Sunday, 2:45 p.m.
BECAUSE MARCIA BRADY HAD ALREADY CLAIMED DAVY JONES?
At today's opening session, Oxygen Chairman, Founder & CEO Gerry Laybourne told the audience she wants to be president of the Malcolm Gladwell Fan Club. A sincere sentiment, surely, but one diminished a bit by her revelation that she actually was president of the Pat Boone Fan Club in the 5th grade—a fact she admitted to cable colleagues a few years ago and hasn't lived down since. Sunday, 1:15 p.m.
At the Cable Positive Gospel Brunch, Cable Positive's Steve Villano (left) joined co-chairs of the Atlanta Chapter, Ann Hart from Weather Channel and David Grabert (far right) from Cox Communications, to present a $16,000 check to Steve Balfour, Interim Executive Director of AID Atlanta, the Southeast's largest AIDS services organization. Sunday, 12:10 p.m.
The powerhouse Voice of Atlanta Choir gives the National Show an appropriate Southern Sunday—Palm Sunday, in fact—kick-off at a Gospel Brunch staged by the Atlanta Chapter of Cable Positive and sponsored by the Gospel Music Channel. Sunday, 11:30 a.m.
Posted on April 11, 2006 01:45 PM
