Broadcast and cable networks are in the midst of the upfronts, where they announce their new programming and lineups for next season. But there is another place where viewers can look for original story lines and characters.

Perhaps symbolic of the current climate of converging TV and Internet usage, streaming video provider company Netflix might very well be altering the television viewing landscape. 

Harmelin Media, in conjunction with Comcast Spotlight, hosted the first annual Media Convergence Symposium at the Comcast Center to explore the opportunities that media convergence is creating for advertisers from a development, distribution and measurement standpoint.

Whether you like it or not, Reality TV was still present at most cable networks’ 2012 upfront. Whether you wanted it to end when Snooki announced her pregnancy, or if you are like me and on the edge of your trashy TV seat, reality TV is alive and well. Here are a few of the new shows released for 2012 by network:

"Your media softball team is a drag and a bore to hear about at parties. Your media softball team isn't that good at softball and don't get us started on how good you are at media, either." – Hamilton Nolan; Gawker.com; June 1^st, 2011

That’s just a smidgen of Hamilton Nolan’s rant on media softball teams that was posted on Gawker.com last June. While his rant and attempt at humor was tongue-in-cheek, he was spot on in his assessment. We are a media company and we take our softball prowess very serious. Frankly, everyone in the Philly Ad Club (PAC) league does, whether media agency, vendor or client. And you’re going to hear about it, because that’s just what we do. It’s that time of year again!

Way back when, a colleague had a framed poster in his office.  It was a photo of brain surgeons at work with a speech bubble saying, “Relax, it’s only brain surgery. It’s not like we’re doing advertising here.”  This was a humorous reminder that what we do in this industry is not really saving lives.  Well, maybe sometimes it is – it all depends on what we’re advertising.

Sometimes advertisers wish their industry could provide a few more life-saving opportunities.  We might not be able to save lives, but there’s a marketing opportunity now that lets us at least save the earth.  While it’s not on the same level as a Nobel Peace Prize, Green Marketing gives advertisers the opportunity to do good.

Labor Day, 2004. Family gathering down at the Jersey shore. Parents, aunts and uncles. Talking about the good old days. Getting older. Members of what Tom Brokaw called the greatest generation. Survived the Great Depression as teenagers only to fight the Second World War. I remember the buzz that Labor Day. They were mad. They were angry. It wasn’t about Social Security or VA benefits or fixed income problems. It was worse. Someone had pulled the plug on their music. Their favorite radio station had stopped playing the music they grew up with. And this was long after all the other stations had stopped playing Perry Como, Bing Crosby, and the rest of their favorite singers. The buzz was that since I was in advertising, it was my fault. No, I argued, I didn’t have anything to do with it. I’m in media research. I just look at ratings. I pull rankers. I can’t help it if no one has asked for an Adults 75+ ranker recently . . . in fact, no one asked for that in the 40 years I’ve been looking at Arbitron and Nielsen data. And the only ones who listen to Vera Lynn were well over seventy-five. Sorry mom, no one wants to advertise to you.

This article was first published in the Philadelphia Ad Club's print publication, Ad News, March/April 2012 issue.

As one of the first members of Harmelin Media’s Ad Ops team, I have gained a unique view of what advertising operations is and what it can be. With new technology emerging and the industry evolving, it is imperative to have people who specialize in the execution of campaigns. In other words, planners and buyers can invest hour of research, planning, and negations for a well-crafted strategic digital plan. However unless proper time and resources are dedicated to the implementation of those plans, the end result will suffer.

Much like with offline advertising, there is an advertiser and a vendor. But additionally, digital advertising also needs technology called an ad server, which is utilized to send the ad to the webpage every time the webpage is visited.

Popular programs include DoubleClick, Atlas, and Mediaplex.

Facebook marketing is all the rage these days. So much so that our agency has seen a 2,044% increase in Facebook campaign billings over the past two years! Such an increase in billings would lead one to wonder… what specifically are brands looking for when investing in Facebook advertising? That answer varies by overall goals, but there seems to be an overarching trend that cannot be ignored: Brands want “Likes.”

Does working with notable brands, seeing millions of dollars at work, and not slinging coffee sound like your kind of internship? Harmelin is now accepting intern applications for Summer 2012! Learn more and throw your hat in the ring: http://www.harmelin.com/opportunities

Our interns will learn the basic principles of media planning and buying by assisting in the research, development, and implementation of media plans and buys under the direct supervision of experienced media professionals. This is an excellent opportunity for anyone curious about the media industry.  But don’t take our word for it, check out what some of our past interns have had to say about their experience!

With the Super Bowl in the rear view mirror, advertisers are looking forward to the next big opportunity, albeit with a slightly different target demographic. ABC is airing The 84^th Annual Academy Awards on Sunday, February 26. In terms of ad revenue, The Academy Awards are second only to the Super Bowl.

After a disastrous attempt to bring in younger viewership via hosts Anne Hathaway and James Franco last year, Billy Crystal will return as this year’s emcee.