Description
Book SynopsisA media and advertising CEO explains how his world shapes ours
The TV program coming into our living rooms isn''t free. It''s a simple Faustian bargain consumers have made but one with enormous implications. It means that David Verklin, CEO of one of the world''s largest ad-buying companies, and his clients-the world''s largest advertisers-control what TV programs get aired, what magazines get published, and how Google and Yahoo stay in (very healthy) business. In Watch This, Listen Up, Click Here, Verklin and Kanner expose the inner workings of the media, marketing, and advertising industries. Readers will learn why their favorite shows get cancelled, why Oprah gives away cars, and how money, people, politics, and new technologies are transforming TV, the Internet, radio, magazines, and other media Americans consume every day.
David Verklin (New York, NY) is CEO of Carat Americas, the world''s largest independent media buying operation. He frequently speaks to executives i
Table of ContentsPREFACE David Verklin/Bernice Kanner ix
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xiii
SPECIAL ACKNOWLEDGMENT xv
PART ONE THE LAY OF MEDIALAND
1 You Watched 33 Hours of TV Last Week, Didn’t You? 3
2 What Revelations Revealed . . . and Narnia Confirmed 17
3 Why Advertisers Have Stopped Laughing at Sitcoms 25
4 Why Ratings Are Overrated: The Weirdness of Sweeps, A. C. Nielsen, and the Upfront 33
5 Why Newspapers Hate Craig and His Infamous “List” 45
6 Why Outdoor Companies Pray for Traffic Jams 55
7 Why the Super Bowl Is Still Super 61
PART TWO A WHOLE NEW BALL GAME
8 Why Google Has Upset the Apple Cart 69
9 Why Wikipedia Ticks Off the Other Media 79
10 Why a Killer Video Game Is the U.S. Army’s Best Recruitment Tool 89
11 Why Howard Stern Is Earning Sirius Money 99
12 Why Oprah Gave Away Pontiacs 107
13 Data Mining: Why Your TV May Think You’re Gay 117
14 Search: How Aubuchon Bested the Hardware Goliaths 127
15 Why Honda Hates the Internet . . . and Those Who Haunt It 135
16 Why Grown Men Visit Legoland 143
17 Why You Can’t Find a Cell Phone Just for Talking 153
18 Why, Though You’ve Signed Up on the Do-Not-Call Registry, You’re Still Besieged by Telemarketers 163
19 Why You Won’t Have a Clue That General Motors Is Behind That Blog 171
20 Why The New Yorker Was Trashed for Teaming with Target 181
21 Why Our Eyeballs Stopped Counting 187
22 Why the Smart Money Moved Its Chips from Poker to Bulls 193
PART THREE TOMORROW
23 What’s Really Sexy about Porn? (A Peek at What’s to Come) 201
INDEX 213
