Through the Wire
By Kent Gibbons, Mike Reynolds and Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 12/10/2006 7:00:00 PM
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Items:
As the Dish Turns at EchoStar, Again SES Invites TV Bigwigs To Come Bird Watching 'Oh My God!' — They Haven't Killed Catchphrases Yet What All the Tweens Will Wear Next Year |
Items:
As the Dish Turns at EchoStar, Again
SES Invites TV Bigwigs To Come Bird Watching
'Oh My God!' — They Haven't Killed Catchphrases Yet
What All the Tweens Will Wear Next Year
As the Dish Turns at EchoStar, Again
While DirecTV gets ready to welcome John Malone's Liberty Media as its biggest stakeholder, independent satellite-TV rival EchoStar Communications is showing some things never change.
Like turnover among EchoStar's top marketing executives.
Jody Martin, the senior vice president who got credit last year for the campaign that said cable TV “sucks” compared with Dish Network, has joined the list of marketers who didn't linger long at chairman and CEO Charlie Ergen's operation. The former Qwest executive's last day, before leaving to pursue other opportunities, was Dec. 1, EchoStar corporate communications director Kathie Gonzalez said. Martin joined Dish in May 2005.
EchoStar had recently hired Bobby Billman as senior VP of product marketing, but said Martin would still oversee branding, messaging and advertising. Gonzalez said Billman now will run all the marketing operations until a replacement for Martin is hired. That team includes at least four vice presidents.
Martin had reported to executive vice president James DeFranco but Billman reports to president Carl Vogel.
Other top marketers to come and go at Dish in recent years include senior VP John Scarborough, who left around the time executive VP of programming and marketing Michael Schwimmer left to become CEO of Sì TV in 2005. Ira Bahr, a one-time marketing senior VP, quit in 2002 to launch a Bingo TV service that Dish Network carried for a while, then shut down.
“It's a tough position to stay in a long time,” said Barbara Roehrig-Sullivan, Dish's marketing VP in 1995-96. Ergen and other top brass there “are so intense and so involved in the day-to-day business” that there's a lot of scrutiny on marketers. “The rewards are great, but the challenges are also great,” she said.
As for rewards, Martin on Nov. 27 exercised stock options for 5,000 shares. The option price was $30 and she sold them at an average price of $35.72, a gain of about $29,000.
SES Invites TV Bigwigs To Come Bird Watching
Bon voyage! Satellite operator SES Americom last week jetted several VIP customers down to French Guiana on the northern coast of South America for last Friday's launch of its new AMC-18 satellite.
On the guest list: Executives from Comcast, Cox Communications, EchoStar Communications, Clear Channel Communications and Turner Broadcasting System — but SES Americom spokeswoman Monica Morgan wouldn't surrender names. Presumably, there would have been plenty of time pre- and post-launch to talk shop. Morgan said there were “several contracts pending” for bandwidth on AMC-18, but nothing confirmed yet.
The AMC-18, which has 24 36-megahertz C-band transponders, had a launch window of 5:08 to 5:51 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Dec. 8, so if all went well it should be circling the globe right now. The satellite is scheduled to start beaming TV signals to the U.S., Caribbean and Mexico in early January.
'Oh My God!' — They Haven't Killed Catchphrases Yet
Ed McMahon's exaggerated Tonight Show introduction “Heeere's Johnny!” for his late-night meal ticket for over 30 years, Johnny Carson, ranked as the most memorable TV saying in TV Land's The 100 Greatest TV Quotes & Catchphrases.
Other notables from the five-part special that will air on the vintage TV network at 10 p.m. Dec. 11 to 15: Ralph Kramden's sign-off on The Honeymooners, “Baby, you're the greatest”; and Fred Sanford's heart-grabbing “Elizabeth, I'm coming to join you honey!” from Sanford and Son.
All told, there is one phrase from the 1940s, 10 from the 1950s, 20 from the 1960s, 26 from the 1970s, 15 from the 1980s, 19 moments from the 1990s — and nine from the current decade. Ten commercials are recounted, including “Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids!” and “I want my MTV!” — the pitch from the early days of TV Land's sister service.
Reruns notwithstanding, cable, given it's relatively late appearance on TV dials, comes up just eight other times on the countdown list that was compiled by TV Land editors and produced by Gay Rosenthal Productions (Behind the Music, Little People, Big World), with a heavy skew toward Comedy Central — “Here it is, your moment of Zen” (The Daily Show); “I'm Rick James, bitch!” (Chappelle's Show); and “Oh my God!, They killed Kenny!” (South Park). Other cable phrases breaking through include: “Bam!” (Food Network's Emeril Live); “Hey Now!” (HBO's The Larry Sanders Show); and “Tell me what you don't like about yourself” (FX's Nip/Tuck).
What All the Tweens Will Wear Next Year
What self-respecting tween girl can live without Hannah Montana apparel this holiday season?
Disney Consumer Products is about to find out, as it rolls out this month a line of products tied to the hit Disney Channel series. Starring Miley Cyrus as the title character, Hannah Montana centers on a young girl leading a secret life as a pop star, managed by Robbie Stewart and played by her real-life father, country singer and actor Billy Ray Cyrus.
Since debuting March 31, Hannah Montana has ranked as the top show among kids 6 to 11 (5.9 rating/1.17 million of those viewers) and 'tweens 9 to 14 (5.1/1.04 million) in its period in its 7 p.m. time slot Fridays through Sundays.
Disney Consumer Products said the collection of apparel, handbags and accessories are being sold at Macy's department stores nationwide. The goods are targeted toward tween girls in sizes 7 to 16.
Also available: an assortment of stationery and self-expression items, including posters, bookmarks, greeting cards, gift wrap and party goods. They can be found at retailers around the country, including Wal-Mart and Party City. Hannah devotees can buy attendant fashion dolls and a new line of cosmetics at Club Libby Lu, where girls can tap their “inner pop star” with a complete Hannah makeover.
The Hannah handbag and the like follow in the commercial footsteps of other Disney Channel series Lizzie McGuire and That's So Raven, plus the telefilm franchise The Cheetah Girls, which inspired an array of products that made their way onto retailers shelves — and into tween girls' closets and bedrooms.
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