As the world embraces a new Pope, and arguably a new papal brand, the coincidence of religion, branding and social media have reached new heights.

The History Channel’s 10-part miniseries, "The Bible," garnered 14.1 million viewers last week, more than any other show on cable television in 2013. Produced by Mark Burnett, ("Survivor," "The Apprentice," "Shark Tank") and his wife Roma Downey (who portrays the Virgin Mary), the miniseries looks to target those with general knowledge of Scripture. 

"It’s also packaged with enough bloodlust to capture channel surfers," notes Business Week. "In that regard, the series resembles Mel Gibson’s 2004 film, The Passion of the Christ, a movie bloggers called The Jesus Chainsaw Massacre—and which raked in more than $600 million at the box office."Continue reading...

Syfy’s upfront event for advertisers, held yesterday at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, celebrated a cohort its research team is calling Igniters — “those highly imaginative people who shape the world in which we live and move brands forward faster,” and the key audience that has made the brand a top media destination for imagination-based entertainment.

The brand's on-air/online pitch to media buyers and brand marketers on the Syfy Igniters microsite: "Syfy sparks the imagination, inspiring curiosity and creativity among an influential audience who believes the world is full of possibility. By opening doors to new ideas, and opening eyes to thrilling new perspectives, we make the unbelievable...believable."

The NBC Universal-owned Syfy, which launched in 1992 as the Sci Fi channel (and shortened to Sci-Fi from 1999-2009), has held steady as a top 10 cable entertainment network among adults 25-54 for 16 consecutive years, and its bumper crop in original programming, digital and gaming media portend many more years to come.Continue reading...

McDonald’s pulled in more than $24 billion in revenue in 2010, but it is always looking to sell more Big Macs. The company is introducing a new in-store television channel in California that will spread nationwide if it succeeds, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Restaurants with the channel will have large-screen televisions that are visible from 70 percent of the seats, airing content that is “customized to specific communities around the individual restaurants, and will include local news and entertainment features, such as spotlights on upcoming films, albums and TV shows,” the Times reports.Continue reading...

Students have been turning to CliffsNotes since 1958 to cut corners on study time, as promised by the tagline: ‘learn faster, study better, score higher.’

In a fitting match, the man who gave us Survivor, The Apprentice and Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, Mark Burnett, is teaming up with AOL, publisher John Wiley & Sons and indie film company Coalition Films to produce a series of video shorts based on the CliffsNotes Literature Guides.

“Video is core to AOL’s consumer strategy and our goal is to build and partner to produce the best video experiences online,” commented AOL chairman and CEO Tim Armstrong in a statement. Now, Mark Twain, William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens stories will be produced as "humorous, irreverent" animated shorts for the content-voracious AOL.Continue reading...

BP oil spill fund offers fast-track payments.

eBay and BBH part company after marketing changes.

ESPN buys PVI intellectual property from Cablevision.

Gawker Media resumes publishing, serves as object lesson in password security.

Google launches site for teaching tech to parents; Google Mobile searches grew 130% in Q3.

Lions Gate loses Carl Icahn as a bidder.

Microsoft joins Expedia, Kayak to block Google acquisition; fends off Twitter rumors.Continue reading...