Ad Week ’06: Trying To Engage No Matter The Screen

I’m still not sure what the description of this panel hosted by USA Today meant — “A look at High Definition and Narrowcasting and its impact on the future of entertainment, sports and advertising in the U.S.” — but it was an entertaining session and the shwag bag came with a miniature of SKYY Vodka. (One sponsor of the reception; the other, Miller Beer, didn’t provide any potent potables.) The gist was really that of the whole week: lots of ways to engage and no sure-fire bets. I can’t provide the exact quote just now but one comment that stuck — and drew laughs — was YES CEO Tracy Dolgin’s rejoinder that roller hockey on broadband is still roller hockey. He also said of ESPN 360’s broadband simulcast: “ESPN doing that is a stunt to try to prove a point of theirs that they’re everywhere.”
— Yahoo’s Patrick Barry spoke of the company’s acqusition today of video tool site Jumpcut, adding, “The next Martin Scorsese is going to come from the internet and it’s going to be interesting to see.”
— Asked by moderator Kevin Maney about IN2TV, Lisa Judson, AOL SVP-marketing, talked about creating a new window with In2TV and then creating around the programs. Kareoke Wonder Woman, anyone?
— Panasonic’s Gene Kelsey said the company created a Facebook group called “My shot is hot” to promote the use of digital still cameras.
— Dolgin also suggested people are missing the point when they say teens don’t watch TV anymore — “They don’t watch television doing nothing else.” He also said statistics show that when the Yankees are leading a game, viewership goes up 17 percent in later innings, suggesting that people hear about the score by IM, alerts, phone calls, etc. and tune in.

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