TRACTA :: 4eyes

I must have had a good Friday last week!  So good it’s already Monday and I’m still typing this post!

Today I’m going to ask you to cast your mind back to previous posts, as we feature a few continuing stooooriiieeeeesss…

Remember the outpouring of outrage when Kraft announced the name of their new spread (iSnack 2.0)?  They now have a new name chosen by the public – Vegemite Cheesybite.  Stars out of ten for originality??

And remember how I was hyping the wider reach of radio brands to their loyal audiences?  The Edge radio station are at the forefront of this development, giving their young and tech-savvy audience multiple access points to the brand.  They have just launched their own iPhone app, allowing users to listen live through WiFi or 3G.

Speaking of WiFi and connectivity – you may have seen ads for TVNZ’s iPhone app, giving access to news, weather and TV schedules and allows video viewing through WiFi.  It’s the most popular iPhone app in NZ!  What is this WiFi and where do you get it?  How about on your next flight with United Airlines?!  They promise it won’t interfere with flight communications or navigation!

On a completely different tangent, recent figures show US magazine advertising is in freefall – down 26% for Q3 2009 compared to the same period in 2008.  Meanwhile, Australian TV networks are reporting an increase in spend for the month of November compared with last year.  NZ’s media spend seems to be continuing to track down year on year across all media, except online (Q2 online spend in NZ was up 5.5% from 2008).  Looking forward to the market reigniting in 2010!

As usual I’ve included some interesting campaigns to make you smile… or at least mutter to yourself.  Stephen King is launching a new book soon, but if you’ve got the time you can search the web for clues to put the story together, line by line.  That story, and this one about Telecom’s new logo that isn’t, are on www.techday.co.nz – a new site by Action Media that brings together content from all of their tech titles (Netguide, The Channel, MacGuide, IT Brief and Telecommunications Review).  Read more about Telecom’s new logo here and here).

Finally, this ad has recently been doing the rounds and is touted as The Best Story Ever.  I like!

Catch you next week!  And someone please tell me why men want Snow Caves?!?!

Prime TV is now available on Freeview.

Expect this to have an impact on Freeview’s subscription numbers over the next few months.  And expect Prime’s ratings to improve (slightly) as a result.  Prime is the one Free-to-Air channel that a number of consumers still can’t receive with standard UHF reception, so its inclusion in Freeview gives consumers a chance to access their programming.

The expected increase in Freeview subscribers will also bring us closer to the 75% penetration of Digital TV required before the government switches off analogue TV altogether.  The switch-off won’t be all plain sailing though… what to do with the 25% of the population who won’t have Digital at switch-off time, and what about regional channels?

Regional channels outside of main centres face uncertain future under Digital

How do you watch TV?  Do you use Freeview, Sky, analogue, online or a combination?  Comments can be posted below (you will need to log in).

Cheers!