Interesting Tidbits for November 29th through November 30th

Things worth reading for November 29th through November 30th:

• Jay Leno’s Tonight Show Ratings Lose To Conan’s Shows Past & Present – “Jay Leno’s Tonight Show adults 18-49 ratings again fell below those of Conan O’Brien’s Tonight Show on a calendar week basis (2010 vs. 2009), and also fell below Conan’s new TBS show for the same week.

  “Leno’s Tonight Show for the week of November 15-19 averaged a 0.9 rating with adults 18-49, while Conan’s Tonight Show averaged a 1.0 adults 18-49 rating for the comparable calendar week last year (November 16-20, 2009).

  “Conan’s new TBS show averaged a 1.0 adults 18-49 rating for the week of November 15-19, 2010.

  “Letterman’s Late Show scored a 0.8 adults 18-49 rating for the Nov 15-19 week.”

• Google in Talks to Buy Groupon – WSJ.com – “Google Inc. has been in talks to buy Groupon Inc., a fast-growing website offering daily deals at businesses in the U.S. and abroad, according to a person familiar with the matter.

  “No deal is imminent between Google and Groupon, said people familiar with the matter. One of these people said that other parties recently offered to finance Groupon at a valuation of more than $3 billion.”

• Netflix Partner Says Comcast Fee ‘Threatens’ Open Internet – NYTimes.com – “Level 3 Communications, a central partner in the Netflix online movie service, accused Comcast on Monday of charging a new fee that puts Internet video companies at a competitive disadvantage.

  “Level 3, which helps to deliver Netflix’s streaming movies, said Comcast had effectively erected a tollbooth that “threatens the open Internet,” and indicated that it would seek government intervention. Comcast quickly denied that the clash had anything to do with network neutrality, instead calling it “a simple commercial dispute.”

  “The dispute highlighted the growing importance of Internet video delivery — an area that some people say needs to be monitored more closely by regulators. Net neutrality, which posits that Internet traffic should be free of any interference from network operators like Comcast, is thought to be on the December agenda of the Federal Communications Commission.”

• Microsoft TV: A Bold Move That May Blow Up Broadcast – “For years pundits have been blathering on about the “Trojan horse” that is console gaming. The Playstation 2, arguably, was the first DVD player many of us ever had while the PS3 is probably the first Blu-Ray player many of us ever used. These devices were also some of the first to stream Netflix and, with this new deal, they’ll start replacing the cable box entirely. Imagine – a full complement of content available 24/7 from a box you already own. That is amazingly compelling and, dare I say it, kind of exciting.”
• Lee Majors looks back on the bionic man, Bigfoot and Farrah Fawcett | Hero Complex – Los Angeles Times – The complete — COMPLETE! — “Six Million Dollar Man” series is coming JUST in time for the holiday. Oy am I tempted.
• Ari Emanuel: Agency Killer – Interesting profile on Mr. Emanuel’s ambitions… the agencies he wants to kill here are ad agencies, not talent agencies.