News Round-up: GL, Sweeney, $1B Online Ads

Where will the GUIDING LIGHT point next?
BNET's Catharine P. Taylor writes: "While P&G could put the show on cable, I’m wondering if online will be a key part of its strategy going forward, in whatever form the GUIDING LIGHT takes from hereon in. The reason is that P&G, in addition to being one of the world’s biggest advertisers, is also one of its smartest, particularly in the digital realm. It has craftily used digital to build vast consumer databases and is sponsoring other types of content online."

DAVID HINCKLEY: GUIDING LIGHT leaves a lasting glow
Along the way, the GL story changed course, from a drama about a preacher to a drama about doctors and lawyers. Only a few real old-timers today would recall the original "guiding light" from which it took its title.

No matter. Change happens. The show's life has been well-lived and its legacy is secure. If the world and the media have shifted out from under GUIDING LIGHT, well, it would be far more surprising if after 72 years the world and media had not undergone profound changes.

Or, to put it another way, imagine talking to someone in 1937 about nuclear weapons, the Internet, polio vaccine or a Big Mac.

Like the comic strip "Peanuts" or the recently deceased radio commentator Paul Harvey, GUIDING LIGHT lived long enough to become a respected anachronism, a pop-culture landmark that for years was on the same corner whenever we drove through town.

It's not the cackle of the Grim Reaper. It is the whisper of time.

TRISTAN ROGERS:
GUIDING LIGHT was the show that had literally written 'the book' for soaps. GL had been ground breaking in its contribution to this genre and the thought that it will not be around simply lends credence to the notion that, 'nothing lasts forever'.

2009 Cable Show: Disney's Iger Challenges Cable Industry to Find Online Model
Walt Disney Co. CEO Robert Iger told the cable industry in a roundabout way Thursday that it must find an online model that works sufficiently for both programmers and distributors, appearing to dismiss a subscription model proposal "TV Everywhere" made earlier this year by Time Warner chairman and CEO Jeff Bewkes.

In his keynote speech at Cable Show '09 open general session here Thursday, Iger praised the cable industry, but also warned that nitpicking on the issue of online video could be devastating for the industry.

"Let me state the obvious: Cable television is vitally important to our company, Iger said. "It provides us with a crucial connection with consumers. And it is a critical creative engine that drives value across a number of our businesses and across markets and territories around the world."

Actress and Mom Alison Sweeney Teams Up With the American Pharmacists Association to Help Fellow Allergy Sufferers Find Relief This Spring
Mom, actress and allergy sufferer Alison Sweeney knows first hand how symptoms like congestion can make juggling a busy career and family life even more challenging. That's why she's teamed up with the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) and McNeil Consumer Healthcare Division of McNEIL-PPC, Inc. to launch Behind the Counter Counts, a new campaign designed to inform nasal congestion sufferers about treatment options located behind the pharmacy or service counter, or "BTC."

The new campaign features an online resource, www.BTCcenter.com. The site offers Sweeney's personal tips, a new tool to help people figure out if allergies or colds are causing their nasal congestion, and general information about medicines available behind the pharmacy or service counter, or "BTC."

Broadcast TV hits $1 bil in online ads
Broadcast TV stations reached the $1 billion revenue mark for online advertising sales for the first time in 2008, a 36% rise over 2007. And while in the majority of markets newspapers are still outstripping the TV outlets with unique visitors, the broadcasters are gaining ground. Last year, local TV sites surpassed newspapers in 22 markets out of 80 markets, in terms of unique visitors, compared with only 16 markets last year.

Discovery unveils OWN slate
Discovery Communications on Thursday offered media buyers their first look at what's being touted as the biggest idea since MTV, taking the wraps off the inaugural programming slate for the start-up OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network. Speaking at Discovery's New York upfront presentation, OWN CEO Christina Norman revealed that the channel's programming is being constructed around three organizing principles: Best Life All Stars, Best Life Experiences, and Best Life Inspiration. (The Best Life concept is Winfrey's catch-all for OWN's mandate to offer empowering, transformative programming.