Any time you can get competitors to agree upon anything as simple as “it’s raining outside” in this climate, it’s newsworthy. One only needs to look at the sh-tstorm that unfolded in real time in the House of Representatives’ chambers last week as evidence of that unfortunate truth. So when an item like this one … Read more
The first major celebrity death of 2023 was reported yesrerday, an inevitability that I was hoping–and still piously hope–would be less frequent than last year. That still may be true, but the sting of this one will haunt me for a while. Like way too many in my age group during my college years, I … Read more
I still have a few friends who are invested and proactive enough to forward me articles that will potemtially inspire my own takes. The nature of such support with people whose lives are far busier than mine is typically when a headline or a first graf catches their eye and then invites me to parse … Read more
I didn’t exactly grow up around royalty, but I did have a few celebrity connections in my youth. Paul Simon grew up two blocks away from me in a small garden apartment; his mom Belle was a teacher in my grade school. His mom and my teacher were close, so when he had just split … Read more
On August 24th, The Nielsen Company will celebrate its centennial, making it far and away the most experienced measurement platform in all media. Many veteran observers, and a few senior executives, will barely be in a celebratory mood when that occurs, and privately, many of them would have expressed surprise that the company was indeed … Read more
No less a genius than Albert Einstein once defined insanity as this graphic denotes. And for the first two days of the 118th U.S. Congress, we have seen exactly that process play out, to an increasingly eye-rolling but, sadly, none too surprised nation. Although the actual Groundhog Day is next month, yesterday sure seemed like … Read more
Full disclosure: I’ve not yet met Andrea Zapata, Warner Brothers Discovery’s head of Ad Sales Research, Measurement and Insights. But I’ve done my homework, as any good researcher would, and I’ll freely admit I’m now a huge fan. There’s a great profile interview of her that recently dropped on Duane Varan’s LEGENDS OF MEDIA RESEARCH … Read more
On what will be the first full workday of the new year, just as many of the blissfully still-employed are grudgingly finding their way back to offices after vacations and, in many cases, overreactions to conflated and outdated virus “recommendations” that have had millions not even wearing pants for the last couple of years, good … Read more
It’s a new year, which used to mean that the tech world and fascinated consumers would flock to Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show. For years this event announced the kickoff to a year of progress, partnerships and eventual campaigns to urge consumers to adopt the latest gadget, trend or status symbol, and many … Read more
As Barry Manilow once peppily crooned, “Looks Like We Made It”. Yep, if you’re reading this, we’ve somehow all slogged through 2022, and now can skidoo into ’23. What, you’ve never heard of Manilow? As my new bestie often eloquently says, “Google him”. You might be surprised how much of his work you recognize that … Read more