Ides of March Social TV Must-Reads (March 15)

College basketball’s March Madness begins with Selection Sunday on CBS, and we are looking forward to following the social TV buzz surrounding this annual event that really illustrates the power of social media and television and live sports.

This weekend, college teams prepare for the NCAA championships with conference tournaments. But that’s not all on the airwaves, so take a look at the TV highlights articles and see what else you can watch, be it sports, or Vikings or Walking Dead.

We also have articles about ratings, the upfronts season in New York, ad campaigns for March Madness and so much more.

So, click the link, give a read and tell us what you think.

Thursday’s TV Buzz

Last night, ‘American Idol’ on Fox was tops in social buzz with 259,512 mentions by 136,000 people while ‘The First 48′ on A&E was tops on cable with 351,000 mentions by 347,000 uniques, according to Trendrr’s analytics.

See more, http://trendrr.com/tv/

TV Weekend

• ‘Cult,’ ‘Girls,’ ‘Vikings’

USA Today’s picks for weekend TV watching http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2013/03/15/bianco-critics-corner-march-15/1985269/

• From the Orlando Sentinel, a deep walkthrough of weekend TV. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/tv/os-walking-dead-bible-twitter-20130315,0,5887935.story

TV Sports Weekend

• The US plays Puerto Rico tonight (7 p.m. MLB Network) with the winner advancing to the final round of the World Baseball Classic in San Francisco and the loser being eliminated. The US lost to the Dominican Republic 3-1 on Thurdsday night.
• The Big East tournament continues in New York City, the last one ever, as the college basketball world hurtles toward selection Sunday. Our fav, the ACC Championship, plays at 1 p.m. on ESPN on Sunday. Then, the NCAA Basketball Championship Selection Show tips off “March Madness” on Sunday (6 p.m. CBS).
• Nascar races at Bristol on Sunday on Fox at 1.
• The PGA swings through Florida with the Tampa Bay Championship final round on NBC (3-6 p.m.).

TV Ratings

Fox News Leads Pope Coverage During Cable News Surge

As soon as the white smoke started wafting out of the Sistine Chapel chimney Wednesday afternoon, viewers turned on their television sets and navigated to cable news. Anchored by Shepard Smith, Fox News Channel led the pack with 2.23 million viewers in the time period (including 443,000 adults 25-54). CNN followed with 1.49 million viewers (420,000 adults 25-54).

Read the article http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/tv-ratings-fox-news-leads-428690

Upfronts

• Matt Lauer jokes about image problems at NBCU News upfront

The NBC-sponsored lunch ended with a demonstration that was part entertainment, part winking reference to the not-so-hidden agenda of all upfronts: With help from Lauer and Guthrie, famed pickpocket Apollo Robbins lifted a wallet from one of the many suit-wearing men in the room.

Read the article http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-matt-lauer-today-nbc-news-upfront-20130314,0,6478178.story

• Disney Stars Introduce What’s Next at NYC Upfronts

The Disney upfronts included sneak peeks of new movies “Teen Beach Movie” and “Cloud 9.”

Read the article http://www.clevvertv.com/ross-lynch/39861/disney-stars-introduce-whats-next-at-nyc-upfronts.html

Advertising

• Capital One’s March Madness Campaign Banks on Baldwin, Barkley and Hashtags

Capital One will dedicate a significant amount of its resources to promoting a #rallycry hashtag in the hope that it provides fans a megaphone to talk about their teams on Twitter.

Read the article http://www.forbes.com/sites/darrenheitner/2013/03/15/capital-ones-march-madness-campaign-banks-on-baldwin-barkley-and-hashtags/

• A Yelp-Like Service for CMOs to Rate Agencies Is Here

The CMO Club, a group of 700 heads of marketing, has launched what it dubs a private “vendor rating program” for the purpose of allowing marketers to share recommendations on vendors across 18 product and service categories, which includes everything from creative and media agencies to mobile and analytics firms.

Read the article http://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/a-yelp-service-cmos-rate-agencies/240335/

Facebook

Facebook’s Commercialization Driving Users Away, Analyst Says

As Facebook rolls out a steady stream of features designed to improve monetization, at least one financial analyst is arguing that the social network has begun to drive its users away.

Read the article http://socialtimes.com/facebooks-commercialization-driving-users-away-analyst-says_b121535

Samsung

Samsung shuffles: TV and mobile chiefs made co-CEOs

The Korean firm just elevated two of its top execs to the role of co-CEO, with President Boo-keun Yoon and President J.K. Shin joining Vice Chairman Oh-Hyun Kwon. The new roles are being billed as recognition of the particular inputs the divisions of the two presidents make to Samsung’s business overall.

Read the article http://www.slashgear.com/samsung-shuffles-tv-and-mobile-chiefs-made-co-ceos-15274224/

Latin Market

Miller Lite Starts U.S. Hispanic-Agency Review

MillerCoors is searching for a new U.S. Hispanic agency for Miller Lite after parting ways with Lopez Negrete Communications, which has handled the brand for seven years.

http://adage.com/article/hispanic-marketing/miller-lite-starts-u-s-hispanic-agency-review/240382/

 Social TV Daily publishes a daily roundup of news articles across the Internet. Excerpts are drawn from the content and full URLs are included.