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Broadband Growth Slows for Fourth Straight Year

DURHAM, N.H. — Major cable operators gained 2.3 million net broadband subscribers
in 2010 — representing a 68% share of annual broadband additions
— but overall, the industry’s growth rate cooled for the fourth year in a row, according
to statistics compiled by Leichtman Research Group.

The 19 largest cable and telephone providers, which account for about 93%
of the U.S. market, acquired 3.4 million net high-speed Internet subscribers last
year. That’s compared with 4.1 million in 2009, 5.4 million in 2008, 8.5 million
in 2007 and a peak of 10.4 million in 2006, according to LRG.

As of the end of 2010, those providers had 75.1 million subscribers. Cable
companies had 41.5 million broadband subscribers — holding a 55% share —
and telcos tallied 33.5 million.

Comcast is the biggest U.S. wireline broadband provider, with 16.99 million
subscribers at the end of 2010, followed by AT&T, with 16.31 million; Time
Warner Cable, with 9.8 million; and Verizon Communications, with 8.39 million.
LRG estimates that Cox Communications had 4.37 million high-speed Internet
subscribers at the end of 2010.

— Todd Spangler

Kmart Pins Official WWE Sponsorship

STAMFORD, CONN. —
After working together
on select events and
promotions the last
two years, WWE and
Kmart will tag team on
the grappling group’s
largest ever sponsorship/
advertising pact
in 2011.

The retailer will
serve as the exclusive
presenting sponsor of
all WWE live events in
the U.S. this year. The
partnership, described
by WWE officials as
the outfit’s largest ever, encompasses promotional rights to WrestleMania in
the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on April 3, as well as exposure at all of the circuit’s
pay-per-view events and the more than 250 WWE live shows held around the
nation. Financial deal terms were not disclosed.

As the exclusive presenting sponsor of WWE’s “Live Tour,” Kmart will be incorporated
into all promotional elements of the live events, notably marketing
materials, tickets and digital platforms. The partnership will also include inprogram
exposure, as well as commercials during WWE’s flagship Monday Night
Raw on USA Network and Friday Night SmackDown on Syfy.

— Mike Reynolds

McDowell: FCC to Dismiss Indecency Complaints

WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission has quietly dismissed
indecency complaints against TV stations and more than 6,000 programs,
which should clear the way for some of the 315 pending TV license renewals,
most of which are being held up by the complaints,
to be processed, said commissioner Robert McDowell.

McDowell told an audience of broadcasters at the
NAB State Leadership Conference in Washington last
Monday that after his staff had been in touch with
the Enforcement Bureau about how some of those
license issues could be resolved, “we discovered
that the bureau has actually been quietly dismissing
complaints that fall outside the scope of our authority.”
That includes complaints against programming
that had aired between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., when
the FCC’s indecency rules do not apply, and ones
dealing with violent content, over which the FCC has
no authority. FCC sources in the past have also pointed to the dropping of
some complaints due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.

There were more than 1 million complaints in the pipeline, McDowell had
said previously. At the NAB event, he did not talk in terms of complaints, but
programs, saying that about 15,000 broadcasts were the subject of those complaints
as of last year, and that those had now been whittled down to 8,700 by
last month.

— John Eggerton

Cox Names Greatrex Chief Marketer

ATLANTA — Cox Communications has named industry veteran Mark Greatrex
as its new senior vice president and chief marketing officer, replacing Joe
Rooney, who was named senior vice president of brand marketing, social media
and advertising last year.

As CMO, Greatrex will be responsible for overseeing all marketing activities,
including customer value management, branding and advertising, research,
pricing and bundling, product and competitive marketing, business-to-business
marketing, acquisition and retention marketing and marketing communications.

Greatrex is also charged with ensuring strategy alignment with Cox’s strategy,
product and technology leaders. He has more than 25 years of marketing experience
for consumer brands, most recently as senior vice president of Global
Still Beverages at The Coca-Cola Co., where he was responsible for a $7 billion
portfolio of beverages.

Prior to Coca-Cola, Greatrex was executive vice president of brand marketing
at America Online, where he was responsible for marketing AOL’s broadband
and dial-up Internet access services across a portfolio of brands comprising
more than 30 million subscribers. Prior to AOL, he was a part owner and company
officer who led marketing and sales operations for Eagle Family Foods.

— Mike Farrell

TV Land Picks Up ‘Hot in Cleveland’ for a Third Season

NEW YORK — TV Land has picked up its hit sitcom Hot in Cleveland for a 22-episode
third season, the network announced Monday.

The sitcom, which will begin production on its new season this summer, has
become the highest-rated
and most-watched series
in the history of the
network, according to TV
Land officials.

It most recently garnered
a 1.6 among adults
25- 54 (TV Land’s target
audience), a 2.0 among
women 25-54 and an average
of 3.2 million total
viewers.

— Mike Reynolds

4As, ANA, IAB Start Cross-Media Study

NEW YORK — Three advertising industry trade associations announced that they
are trying to create a new currency for online media and a better measurement
system for cross-platform marketing programs. The initiative is called “Making
Measurement Make Sense” and is being undertaken by the Interactive Advertising
Bureau, the Association of National Advertisers and the American Association
of Advertising Agencies.

The trade groups have hired Bain & Company and MediaLink to support the
initiative.

The goals of the program are to define metrics and measurement systems to
simplify planning, buying and evaluating digital media; come up with common
currency for measuring online exposures; and develop a methodology for crossmedia
measurement.

— Jon Lafayette, Broadcasting & Cable

Carriage Fees, Ads Top Drivers for Time Warner

NEW YORK — Time Warner Inc. chief financial officer John Martin told an investor
conference Wednesday that affiliate fees, advertising opportunities and international
cable networks will be the top drivers of cash
flow for the foreseeable future.

Speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology,
Media & Telecom conference in San Francisco, Martin
said affiliate fees are expected to grow in the high
single digits at its networks, which include TNT, TBS
and Cartoon Network. Time Warner has been able to
drive operating margins at its networks consistently
over the past five years. And though 2011 may be a
bit of an anomaly — it will have higher costs in the
first year of its NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament
deal with CBS — Martin still expects the networks to
grow.

“I would suspect over the next three to five years,
if you look at what’s happening in margins at our networks, you will continue to
see that steady ramp up,” Martin said.

— Mike Farrell