Hop Aboard Big Easy Ad Train

Want to help New Orleans in its continuing recovery from Hurricane Katrina? Cox Communications has got an offer cable operators are already finding as tasty as Emeril’s seafood gumbo.

Cox officials plan to meet with fellow cable companies this week at The Cable Show to see if they want to run public-service ads promoting tourism in New Orleans, where Cox is the incumbent operator.

Already 10 cable companies and Adlink, the Los Angeles interconnect, have joined with Cox to donate $12 million worth of ad time to the effort.

“We’re ready to talk about this in Las Vegas,” said Greg Bicket, vice president and regional manager for Cox in the Big Easy. “We’ll explain the program.”

Participants so far include Bresnan Communications, Bright House Networks, Cable One, Cablevision Systems, Charter Communications, Comcast, Insight Communications, Mediacom Communications, Suddenlink Communications and Time Warner Cable.

Once word got out about the initiative last week, additional cable companies immediately made contact — and programmers also are interested in donating ad time, Bicket said.

Cox Enterprises-owned radio and TV stations also want to donate time for “Come Back to New Orleans” spots, featuring such favorite sons and daughters as Allen Toussaint, the above-cited Emeril (Lagasse), Patricia Clarkson and John Goodman, who plays the role of a conductor on the streetcar named Desire.

With the additional commitments, Bicket believes the amount of donated ad time could double — to $24 million — and could mean a $2.6 billion economic boost for New Orleans. “This puts payrolls in local businesses and paychecks in people’s pockets right now,” he observed.

As they (kind of) say in the Quarter, let the good spots roll!

Now DirecTV Has $260K Worth of Useless Handouts

Here’s an odd tidbit out of the false-advertising case Time Warner Cable filed against DirecTV: Apparently, the satellite-caster has some $260,000 worth of marketing brochures lying around that became useless after a federal judge ordered it to stop claiming that “for an HD picture that can’t be beat, you’ve got to get DirecTV.” The tagline was part of ads featuring Jessica Simpson and William Shatner, which DirecTV stopped airing before the injunction was issued anyway.

But DirecTV may still get reimbursed for those brochures and other expenses — if a court or jury later finds that it was “wrongfully restrained” by the injunction. DirecTV requested that Time Warner Cable post a $1 million bond to cover such out-of-pocket marketing fees plus costs for developing new ads that are allowed under the terms of the injunction. Time Warner countered that it should be no more than $50,000.

On May 2, Judge Laura Taylor Swain of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York went halfway on the DBSers’ number, ordering Time Warner Cable to post a $500,000 bond, to cover the $260,000 in brochures, $80,000 in “tear-out sheets,” $4,000 for Web site changes and other “reasonable costs associated with changes in DirecTV’s advertising campaigns that may be necessitated by compliance with the preliminary injunction order.”

Whatever ends up happening here, we certainly hope DirecTV properly recycles those brochures.

Sportsman Channel LetsShowgoers Hunt a Trip

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then NBC executives should blush at the homage paid one of its top game shows at The Cable Show this week.

At its booth in Las Vegas, The Sportsman Channel will feature its own version of Deal or No Deal. No million dollars will be at stake playing (wait for it!) “Deer or No Deer” (or should we say, no “doe” is at stake), but a conventioneer could win a fishing trip to the Bahamas.

Instead of about 30 leggy gals, women dressed as deer will be on hand to help pass out the scratchers that will help qualify contestants.

Helping Fight AIDS, One Pricey Dinner at a Time

A&E Network partnered with the star of its reality show Gene Simmons Family Jewels to recently raise $76,770 for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.

The proceeds were earned when the Kiss front man auctioned off a dinner with himself and life partner Shannon Tweed on eBay. The auction was staged from March 25 through April 4 and became the most watched transaction on the auction site during that time.

The auction attracted more than 200,000 unique bidders. The package includes round-trip airfare to Los Angeles and two nights’ accommodations, in addition to the VIP dinner with the reality stars.

The winning bidder was Richard Craven, a fan from the United Kingdom, who will fly in with three friends to enjoy his auction victory.

Turner’s Hall Induction: No Junior Achievement

Cable favorite son Ted Turner has added another honor to his impressive bio: he’s been inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame.

Turner was lauded April 26 for building an unrivaled portfolio of media brands, originating the “superstation” concept and creating the Turner Foundation, which had donated more than $1 billion to children’s health and environmental initiatives, as well as opposing the threat of nuclear weapons.

His latest venture? His bio notes he recently partnered with a solar energy company to create DT Solar, a Turner Renewable Energy Company. The venture creates on-site solar energy solutions for commercial clients.