In 1987, the first full year that Fox was on the air, the News Corp.-owned broadcast TV channel offered around $1.3 billion to the NFL to take over “Monday Night Football” from ABC. While the NFL didn’t want to sign on with a network that hadn’t established itself yet, the precedent had been set that Fox was unafraid to make bold moves on the sports programming front.

Since then, Fox has made deals to broadcast the NFL, NHL, MLB, NASCAR, UFC, the World Cup and several NCAA divisions. It also has launched 22 regional sports networks. Now News Corp. is doubling down and has announced the U.S. launch of a new 24-hour all-sports network that will go live in August and compete against the likes of ESPN and NBC Sports’ new channel.

“We are not trying to beat ESPN,” News Corp. COO Chase Carey told investors in Florida, according to Variety. “Sports is a big, huge arena. We’ve proven we can do some interesting and exciting things. We can enlarge the category and bring a new dimension to it. The key to success for us is to build an attractive business that resonates with consumers.”Continue reading...

Banking has become more consumer-friendly, particularly through sophisticated ATMs and mobile banking applications, but banks are still hampered by the stereotype that they are largely impersonal. TD Bank's new branding campaign, "Bank Human Again," makes the most of that deficiency.

New TV and web spots, supported by newspaper and digital media including a microsite, show a variety of consumers in what appears to be a cold, gray unwelcoming bank. Each consumer attempts a simple action only to be thwarted by a robotic-sounding voice that spouts bank policy.

In one spot, for example, a customer finds that the chain on the bank's pen is too short for him to write. When he asks about it, a disembodie voice says, "Here's the thing, Martin, banks can't have people taking their pens." TD Bank's answer: plenty of pens with no chains. Not to mention no rope lines, free coin-counting, and a focus on the little things that add up to the big things in customer service.

While a chained pen may seem insignificant, it's a remnant of banks' traditional (inflexible, impersonal) way of doing business. "The new marketing campaign viscerally communicates TD's attributes of unparalleled service and convenience, and our customer-first culture," stated the bank's Chief Marketing Officer Vinoo Vijay.Continue reading...

The Big Game doesn't kick off until Sunday, but brand marketers' "reveals" of their Super Bowl campaigns are intensifying this week.

Whether they're "teasing" their actual Super Bowl spots such as Century 21, or letting everything hang out there like Hyundai (which today released all five of its Game Day commercials, and a barrage of video extras) and Honda and others, there's a torrent of Game Day spots like never before.

Will there be anything actually new to watch once the Big Game comes on? Remember when the idea was to save the reveal for during the game and be the talk of the office water cooler on Monday morning?

Here's a look at some of the latest revelations:Continue reading...

A fixture of daytime TV is stepping down. Regis Philbin announced he is retiring from daytime television, and will step away from his 28-year-running talk show at the end of the summer. The former Who Wants to be a Millionaire host will no doubt continue his lucrative side-career as a pitchman. A few of his many endorsements, after the jump.Continue reading...

Apple's Tim Cook steps into the spotlight as Steve Jobs goes on his second cancer-related medical leave.

Blockbuster seeks more cash from creditors.

Cheezburger Network raises $30M from investors.

Citigroup appears to have turned the corner.

Discovery resurrects former health channel that made way for the Oprah Winfrey Network.

Facebook suspends phone and address-sharing feature, spurs ad spending to est. $3B this year.Continue reading...