Hearst Corp launches online shopping platform

eEight media and publishing companies, including Hearst Corp, have joined together to create a common online shopping platform to help advertisers to reach consumers making purchasing decisions. The venture, titled Find n Save, will allow advertisers to reach 19 of the top 50 markets, with an expansion into 21 of the top 50 markets within a few weeks. Hearst has also been in the news for a purchase that was made in 1999. Hearst Corp purchased the New York based media conglomerate Chron. Although the property is now worth less than half of the nearly one billion dollar purchase price, there is some optimism. Although The Chronicle Building is a historic site and cannot be torn down, there is some talk of developing the area around it; creating high end condos or office spaces.

Hearst brings back "Most Wanted"

To continue coverage of my media corporation, Hearst Corporation, it was announced this week that "America's Most Wanted"" would return to cable television beginning December 2. The show will air on Lifetime Network, which is owned by A&E Television Networks, a joint venture of Walt Disney's ABC Television Group, Hearst Corporation and Comcast Corp.-controlled NBC Universal. The show plans to return the original host John Walsh, who had his son kidnapped and killed in 1981. Fox cancelled the show in the spring because of high production costs. This will be the 25th season for the show. "America's Most Wanted" has been credited with the rescue of 61 missing children or persons. The show has played a major role in the capture of more than 1,100 fugitives in the U.S. and 30 countries, including 17 on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List. Hearst Corp has alos established an office in Beijing, China. The office overseas will handle all business opportunities in Greater China. Hearst Corp has also recently announced the launch of 2 new YouTube channels. The channels will be an Automotive channel and Fashion and Beauty channel. Both are set to launch in 2012. Hearst has a state-of-the-art, digital video studio and production facility; a stake in Mark Burnett Productions; and deep relationships with other best-in-class production companies. The company’s award-winning in-house video team has produced a library of over 12,000 videos across its brands and nearly 200 hours of monthly video programming that is used on the company’s websites and tablet applications. Hearst will develop original content specifically for this platform, as well as use some of its existing video. It seems as if Hearst Corp is only extending its reach into the many available markets.

Moving on...

And so "The Playboy Club" becomes the first casualty of the Fall 2011 premieres. Even the world famous Playboy empire couldn't keep this show afloat. The soap-like story lines and sex appeal for men could not sustain the show either. NBC cancelled the show after 3 episodes and have quickly replaced it with "Rock Center with Brian Williams", a newsmagazine program aimed at showing Williams' lighter side. There is little discussion over what killed "The Playboy Club," although some fingers are pointing at the harder-to-ignore Parents Television Council. Although "The Playboy Club" may be the first show to be cancelled, it will not be the last. RIP "Playboy Club". And on to the media groups. I have chosen Hearst Corporation to evaluate. Let's start with some history. Founded by William Randolph Hearst, son of a self-made millionaire, he began his career at the San Francisco Examiner in 1887. From then, Hearst changed the world of news papering and in 1930, owned the largest chain of newspapers. This also began Hearst's involvement in magazines and radio, a new technology investment at the time. Hearst had a salacious personal life, in which he used some of his publication power to enforce his beliefs. Hearst died in 1951, but the Hearst Corporation continues to grow and prosper. Hearst Corp owns over 200 businesses in 100 countries. The Corp also owns 15 newspapers, 20 US magazines, 29 TV and 2 radio stations and the company has also branched off into real estate. Hearst Corporation is one of the largest diversified communications companies in the world. The company also has a  Green Philosophy, using raw and recycled materials in their publications.

How many hops left for the bunnies of The Playboy Club?

"The Playboy Club" premiered on Monday, September 19. The rating came in at 1.6 for adults 18-49 (live plus same day). Rather dissapointing for NBC in the 10-11pm time slot. And I can understand why such low ratings. As a viewer, or at least a student assigned to watch this program, I was excited for the premiere episode and all of the retro fashion and the "throw back" to a time that was. The episode began and introduced all of the characters that will be playing a part in this series. Of course you have the love story between main man Nick Dalton (Cibrian) and head bunny Carol-Lynne (Benanti) with the added implied mistress and most envied bunny Maureen (Heard). Dalton and bunny Maureen get themselves involved with each other and also possible trouble with the mafia in the first 15 minutes of the show. We learn the club dynamics, who's who and see that other bunnies have secrets they are keeping (one bunny and her husband are secretly gay and hold meetings in their home for the Chicago chapter of the Mattachine Society, an underground gay-rights group from the ’50s and ’60s). I have to admit that even with all of these pieces and of course the tension between bunnies, I was bored. I did not feel like the show went anywhere. It did not make me want to tune back in the following week to see where everything ended up or how it would pan out. The show seems predictable and I think predictable means a lack of creativity. And I was not alone in questioning tuning in for week 2. According to Reuters.com, ratings for the second episode dropped 19 percent with a rating of 1.3. The outlook is bleak that the show will make it to midseason. Any news published about the show is not good news. And NBC is mum about the life of the show. No official statement has been made and no one has come out in defense of the program. Probably not a good sign.

Money + Sex + Murder = A hit show for struggling NBC?

Bunny suits...men in suits...the ambiance of a club atmosphere...a murder. These are the images shown in the pilots and previews for "The Playboy Club", premiering on NBC on Monday, September 19, 2011. Of course, with a name like "The Playboy Club," one can expect a lot of backlash and it has come mainly from the conservative viewers. The show centers on main character Maureen, who comes from a small town and moves to the big city of Chicago. Maureen lands a job at The Playboy Club, a chain club owned by none other than Hugh Hefner.There she meets fellow bunnies and also the patrons who frequent the club. This is a network television show, so the allusion of sex is more important than actually showing the act, well, because they cant. But as soon as the promos hit the web and on-air, the critics began their protests of the show. Hollywood.com (http://www.hollywood.com/news/Is_The_Playboy_Club_Too_Sexy_for_Network_TV/7839742) describes the backlash:
"First, the Salt Lake City NBC affiliate refused to air the series on grounds that it went against their morals and next, acclaimed writer and activist, Gloria Steinem, called for a boycott of the series since it’s based on the string of clubs she once cried out against. Finally, the Parents Television Council requested that NBC remove the buzzy series from its lineup.The argument seems to be wrapped up in the fact that Playboy magazine is technically part of the pornography industry. Which, at face value is an understandably incendiary notion, but that term, which enjoys a rather broad definition these days (you know, “I know it when I see it”) also lends a level of filth to the series that simply isn’t there. The women of the series aren’t prostituting themselves or making sex tapes, they’re wearing tiny outfits and getting into a bit of old fashioned Chicago-style trouble – some of which is more dangerous than sexual. The bunnies may be trotting around in itty-bitty outfits and playing on men’s depraved desires, but isn’t that the same thing we see yearly on The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show or the Miss Universe Pageant? (Don't fool yourself -- it is.)"
As I go into watching this show for the season, granted it isnt quickly cancelled, I am not interested in the references to sex and "Mad Men." I am interested in the way that the women are portrayed. A blog on http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2011/09/the-playboy-club-an-insult-to-womens-rights-advocates.html refers to the "insult to women:"
"The San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women has issued a non-binding resolution urging NBC and its affiliates to 'replace the program with a series that, instead, depicts women's substantive achievements." The organization is a publicly-funded entity dedicated to securing equal economic, social, political and educational opportunities for San Francisco women.
The resolution, issued in late Aug., says the show "represents a major step backward for women who have struggled to earn an equal place in the workplace, in the community, and at home.'"
I am not totally convinced. I know I mentioned in class that my father told me that this was a time where women were beginning to make more money than the male figures in their life (fathers, brothers, etc.). I think there is some validity to that. Think as you may about women's liberation and women's rights, there is power in money. And there is power in sex. I hope that the show focuses on this topic in some aspect, not just the salacious details that seem to haunt the show. I hope that there is some take-away value in this program so it doesn't become another cliche show that is cancelled within 2 episodes.