It's kinda like a candy wrapper!
Posted on 02/21/2004 10:51:41 AM PST by PAR35
Condom ad airs on Nickelodeon
Comcast blames human error for spot running during 'Rugrats'
Think of it as a car entering the wrong on-ramp to an interstate.
But in this case, the "trafficking error" aired a condom commercial during an after-school Nickelodeon show in a small portion of Comcast cable's Dallas service area.
Because of human error, the condom ad appeared on the kids' network at 3:51 p.m. Tuesday instead of on another network, said Biff Niven, vice president and general manager of Comcast Spotlight.
The advertising and sales division of Comcast is "taking additional measures to make sure it doesn't happen again," with an extra person checking the ad schedule, he said.
The glitch, which affected programming for about 5 percent of Dallas-Fort Worth subscribers, comes on the heels of several weeks of controversy for Viacom, parent company of Nickelodeon, CBS and MTV, the cable network involved in Janet Jackson's infamous "wardrobe malfunction" during the Super Bowl halftime show.
Nickelodeon's policies bar adult products from being advertised, said spokesman David Bittler.
Mr. Niven said he knows of no similar incident in his four years with the company.
The ad clearly caught Karen Caldwell's sixth-grade son by surprise. "He came to me and said, 'Mom, there was a commercial for condoms during Rugrats All Grown Up,' " the Dallas resident recalled.
He even repeated the commercial's tagline for his mother. At the end, viewers heard, the brand was "her choice."
The question should be why the add was supposed to air at all at that time of day (or any other time of day).
It's kinda like a candy wrapper!
I dunno about that!
Is that anything like a "wardrobe malfunction?"
Bwahahahaha!...Could be a sequel to "The Tuxedo".
FMCDH
JOHN DEMPSEY
NEW YORK (Variety) --- MTV Networks, buoyed by positive talks with top cable operators, has begun stepping up the planning for Outlet, a 24-hour network aimed at gays and lesbians.
In development for more than two years, Outlet failed to launch in 2002 because MTV had brought in sister network Showtime to market it as a pay channel.
When that strategy didn't pass muster with cable operators, Showtime bowed out of the picture and MTV repositioned Outlet as an ad-supported, digital, basic cable network.
But with that repositioning, MTV has had to change its programming blueprint to lifestyle shows rather than hard-edged series and movies that push the boundaries of content. Outlet will likely become a part of MTV's the Suite lineup (consisting of MTV, VH1 and Nickelodeon).
As with the various Suite networks, Outlet's license fees would be relatively modest to cable operators. But in exchange, operators would have to place Outlet on digital basic, avoiding the limited-circulation tiers that would keep the network in too few homes to make Outlet play on Madison Avenue.
Outlet's competitor, Canadian-based Pridevision, has created a different business plan. Marketed as a pay network that would cost subscribers an extra $10 a month, Pridevision has a commitment from a few Time Warner cable systems. And it's negotiating with EchoStar for national satellite distribution to its dish owners.
But before Pridevision (which began operations in Canada in September 2001) gets a launch in the U.S., owner Headline Media Group will have to harvest enough venture capital money to cover everything from programming and marketing to office space and satellite feeds.
Well, that explains it.
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