Via Business Week:

Where TV Ads Really Resonate

By Ben Levisohn

The screen may be smaller, but the payoff for broadcasters and advertisers is bigger. People who go online to watch a TV show are more engaged with the program—and its ads—than their couch-potato counterparts, says Simmons Market Research Bureau. Simmons surveyed 17,000 people to assess their involvement in the last TV show they viewed—asking, for example, how “inspiring” or interesting it was. The answers showed computer watchers to be 25% more involved than TV set viewers. “People watching online,” says John Fetto, a Simmons product manager, “are going to a Web site to find a specific program.” The online crowd was also 47% more likely to find ads “useful” than TV watchers—and more inclined to make a purchase. Web TV watchers “only click on [an ad] if they’re interested in it,” says Darcy Gerbarg, a senior fellow at the Columbia Institute of Tele-Information. “That’s more valuable to an advertiser.

This week’s nod goes to Alex Zalben’s recap of an article featured in Entertainment Weekly discussing the nose-dive Heroes took in season two. Let’s hope they can recover from the sophomore slump.

as seen on Pulp Secret

08 November 2007
Kring Apologizes for Heroes, Season Two
By: Alex Zalben

Don’t like Heroes, Season Two? Neither does exec. producer and creator Tim Kring.

Speaking ridiculously candidly with Entertainment Weekly, he outlined the faults with the second season, including:
THE PACE IS TOO SLOW ”We assumed the audience wanted season 1 — a buildup of intrigue about these characters and the discovery of their powers. We taught [them] to expect a certain kind of storytelling. They wanted adrenaline. We made a mistake.”

THE WORLD-SAVING STAKES SHOULD HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED SOONER The premonition of nuclear apocalypse created a larger context that unified every story line last season. Kring now sees that Volume 2 (the first 11 episodes of season 2) would have been better served if Peter’s vision of viral Armageddon had appeared in the season premiere rather than episode 7. ”We took too long to get to the big-picture story,” he says.

THE ROOKIES DIDN’T GREET THEMSELVES PROPERLY New Heroes Monica (Dana Davis), Maya (Dania Ramirez), and Alejandro (Shalim Ortiz) ‘’shouldn’t have been introduced in separate story lines that felt unattached to the show. The way we introduced Elle (Kristen Bell) — by weaving her in via Peter’s story line — is a more logical way to bring new characters into the show.” (That said, Kring says a few newbies won’t make it beyond this second volume, which wraps Dec. 3.)

HIRO WAS IN JAPAN WAY TOO LONG Hiro’s (Masi Oka) time-bending adventure in 17th-century Japan — where he mentored samurai hero Takezo Kensei (David Anders) — finally came to an end on Nov. 5. But Kring says it ‘’should have [lasted] three episodes. We didn’t give the audience enough story to justify the time we allotted it.”

YOUNG LOVE STINKS Kring regrets sticking Claire (Hayden Panettiere) with a super-dud boyfriend and forcing Hiro to moon over a cutesy princess. ”I’ve seen more convincing romances on TV,” he admits. ”In retrospect, I don’t think romance is a natural fit for us.”
Cool. Now, if we could get him to apologize for Season One, as well…

Corinne and Rob from ThreadBanger made their network TV debut today on the second episode of this season’s Rachael Ray show, as part of the show’s new YouTube Stars Competition.

We’re in incredibly good company with our friends William Sledd, Madeline Merced, and Adrienne Nelson. Viewers can vote on who they’d like to return and be featured in a future Rachael Ray episode. As of right now, we’ve got a nice lead, but remember that despite all of Rob and Corinne’s charms, the others have a lot of YouTube friends, too… we’ll only win if our friends turn out in force.

Let’s get out all the ThreadBanger and Next New fans and swamp those polls! Watch their segment and vote here now, and please vote often! Competition ends in one week, September 18.