The past season of American Idol saw many changes; with Paula gone and Ellen joining the cast, the show’s ratings dropped 9 percentage points. FOX executives have taken note of the decline in viewership and are listening to what the Idol audience wants in order to save their most profitable TV show.

FOX’s research has shown that viewers are tired of the long drawn out results show and are interested in shorter programming. Next season, producers are hoping to spark interest again by shortening the Wednesday results show to 30 minutes while keeping the entertainment portion focused on Tuesday’s 90 minute performance shows.

Now with Simon leaving, Idol’s fate could be in greater jeopardy. Executives are currently looking to see who would be a good replacement. This summer, finding a judge that exudes industry expertise with the shock and awe factor will be their main priority to ensure that Idol’s ratings do not dip any lower.

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As a recovering Farmville addict, I am keenly aware of my friends’ social gaming activities. It seems like half of my Facebook news feed posts are about friends needing respect for Mafia Wars or a wheelbarrow to build a yard in Petville.

eMarketer recently reported that over half of social media users play social games, making it the fifth most popular social media activity.  Not only is this a large group, but one that advertisers frequently target. Here are some quick stats on this audience from a study done by PopCap:

• 55% of players are women
• The average age is 48
• 26% of all players are above 50
• 68% play at least once a day
• 29% have purchased virtual currency with real-world dollars
• Over 95% play multiple times a day.

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Back when we only consumed video content through our televisions, no one bothered to count screens.  But the last time I checked, we’re now up to four.  Televisions, computers, mobile phones, and out-of-home video screens are not only how we consume video, but they’re increasingly how we interact with it.

Along with our four-screen world comes the concept of lean back vs. lean forward media.  Initially, it may sound like “degree of focus” (which you’ve most likely heard of), but it’s also impacted by factors like engagement, ability to immediately respond, and time spent.

Probably the best way to understand lean back, lean forward, and the implications of each is with a chart:

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Congratulations to Sue, Tracy and the whole Butler/Till team for receiving the Chairman’s Award from the Rochester Ad Council.  The Chairman’s Award is presented to an “individual or business that has performed remarkable acts to support the Ad Council”.

We were able to join the Ad Council at their annual luncheon to celebrate their 60^th anniversary and hear from some great speakers.  Butler/Till has been a proud supporter of the Ad Council, we are big fans from way back and were thrilled to accept this award.

Special kudos to our George Heissenberger, Ann Fisher and Susan Cregan for all their work with the Ad Council.

Last night, many of us fell witness to a remarkable event in sports that has only happened 20 other times in major league baseball history – a perfect game.  Well… almost.  The Detroit Tigers’ Armando Galarraga came as close as it gets to baseball history (2 outs in the 9th inning) before being snubbed by a horrific call by the first base umpire.  In what should have been the last at-bat of the game, the Indians batter was clearly thrown out at first base.  However, MLB umpire Jim Joyce saw it differently.  He called the runner safe, thereby extending the game and ruining Galarraga’s shot at baseball immortality.

At this point, you’re probably wondering what a sports story like this is doing on a blog devoted to media and marketing.  It’s not just because I’m a big sports fan and want to talk more about it in true “water-cooler” fashion with our readers.  The real purpose for this post is to highlight the way the situation was handled by all parties involved.

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