Today I had the fortunate opportunity to meet George Hamilton at a fundraiser at Chez Philippe in the historic Peabody Hotel.  Mr. Hamilton is in Memphis starring in La Cage aux Folles at the Orpheum Theatre until Sunday.

He was very gracious as he spoke to the group, then he personally met and talked with everyone in attendance.  Mr. Hamilton, born in Memphis, made each one of us feel like he was visiting an old friend.  And I must say, he looks marvelous!

The 2012 Sports Illustrated NCAA Tournament Preview magazine cover featuring Anthony Davis from the University of Kentucky, is a compilation of players, coaches, mascots & cheerleaders from the college basketball teams heading to the 2012 NCAA Basketball Tournament.

Memphian Chris Crawford is the representative for the Memphis Tigers.  Do you see him?

Last year, Joe Jackson made the cover on the 2011 Sports Illustrated Tournament Preview.

After winning the Conference USA Championship, the University of Memphis is seeded #8 in the West, with a 26-8 record.  On Friday 3/16, they play 9th seeded St. Louis (25-7) at 5:50pm CDT in Columbus, OH.

Go Tigers Go!

Today the University of Memphis Tigers are being welcomed to the Big East Conference in New York’s Times Square above the American Eagle store.

According to some of the comments on the Tigers Forum, they did this for all of the new teams that have joined the conference.  It’s a very classy move by the Big East.  So glad the Memphis Tigers will be a part of it!

Lucas Stadium in Indianapolis at the start of Super Bowl XLVI between the New York Giants and New England Patriots - 2012 Reuters

Super Bowl XLVI on February 5, 2012 ended with the New York Giants beating the New England Patriots, 21-17.

According to TV by the Numbers, NBC scored a 47.8 household rating and a 71 share slightly under the 2011 Super Bowl last year on Fox.

In Memphis, the preliminary Nielsen overnight ratings show the local NBC affiliate WMC averaging a 46.6 household rating with a 67.2 share.  The beginning of the game started with a 41.2 rating / 61.3 share at 5:30pm central time, growing to a 50.6 rating / 70.2 share at the end.

Below is the trending for the Super Bowl game broadcasts over the past 5 years.

The national advertisers during the Super Bowl extend their reach with inclusion on numerous websites and links with a line-up of the commercials for post game viewing.  As mentioned in last year’s Super Bowl post, the local stations shoud have links to the local Super Bowl advertisers.

Just updated on TV by the Numbers, Super Bowl XLVI 2012 had the largest audience in the TV history.

MOST-WATCHED PROGRAMS IN U.S. TELEVISION HISTORY

1. 111.3 Million – Super Bowl XLVI, NBC (Last Night’s Game)

2. 111.0 Million – Super Bowl XLV, Fox

3. 106.5 Million – Super Bowl XLIV, CBS

4. 106.0 Million – M.A.S.H. Finale, CBS

5. 98.7 Million – Super Bowl XLIII, NBC

At 6am – WREG increased their rating and share, but have not achieved the higher ratings from 08 & 09.  WMC has their lowest rating in 4 years.  WPTY & WHBQ remained about flat year to year.

At 5pm – WMC dropped 2 rating points (over 20% of their audience) year to year.  This can probably be attributed to the new 4pm newscast lead-in that replaced Oprah this fall.  FYI…the 4pm newscast on WMC did a 3.4 rating compared to the longer running 4pm newscast on WREG with a 5.25 rating.  WREG & WHBQ have grown year to year and WPTY lost a couple tenths.

At 6pm – Again, WMC loses ground and WREG shows gains.  WPTY is flat.

At 9pm/10pm – WHBQ made the largest gains of the big 4 in both of their newscasts from 2010 to 2011.  Even though WMC is still the clear winner at 10pm their ratings are lower than previous years.  WREG’s ratings remain flat.

November 2011 sweeps were 10/27-11/23/11.  Below is the chart with the 3 previous years included.

Update 10/18/11  MEMPHIS in Memphis!

As many know, Memphis the Musical is kicking off their international tour right here in Memphis at the Orpheum Theatre.  Last Saturday, I saw the performance and it’s a must see for all Memphians.  The story is familiar, the music is terrific and Memphis is front and center.  This is another great thing going on in Memphis.

The Orpheum has a special offer for students and teachers this Thursday, October 20, called Student Rush.  For both the 2:00pm matinee and the 730pm evening performance, students and teachers can buy a ticket for $25 cash.  And bring a parent, friend or spouse….they also get a $25 ticket.  You just have to show a student ID and bring the cash for admission.  You can get more information at www.orpheum-memphis.com

10/20/09    Memphis starring Montego Glover and Chad Kimball opened on Broadway last night at the Shubert Theatre with the Peabody Ducks walking the red carpet.  Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau along with others are partners in the Broadway production of Memphis.

Some of the people in attendance at the October 19th opening were David Bryan (writer), Joe DiPietro (writer), Richie Sambora, Tico Torres, Patrick Wilson, Judith Light, John Glover, Gina Gershon, David Johansen, Will Chase, Patrick & Gina Neely, Jill Zarin, Steve West, Michael Urie, Harriett Harris, Freddie Jackson, and Danny Aiello.  Check out the pictures from the opening night here and here and here.

On the backdrop in these pictures is the 901 logo with the Memphis and Memphis CVB logos.  In case you are curious,  901 Tequila is Justin Timberlake’s brand.  The number 901 represents the Memphis area code, which is Justin Timberlake’s the hometown.

Follow this link to The New York Times review of Memphis.

With The Oprah Winfrey talk show gone, WMC will now have a 4pm news.  This gives Memphians 2 options for local Memphis news at 4pm.  WREG began their local 4:30pm in 1996 and a full hour from 4-5pm in 2002, according to this story in the Commercial Appeal. 

Scheduled to begin Monday, August 22, WMC decided to begin Friday, August 19 to cover the release of the West Memphis 3.  Jarvis Greer the long time WMC sportscaster, Lindsey Brown who’s new to Memphis news and John Bryant, WMC weatherman for about 10 years will inform viewers of news and weather from 4-5pm. 

See the full story from the Commercial Appeal here by James Dowd.

Beth Graber - Photo by Alan Howell

Look who’s profiled in the Memphis Business Journal today!  To see the whole profile on the MBJ website  click here.  If you’re not a subscriber, you can still get a morsel.

This is the beginning of the profile:

Graber, born and raised in Memphis, started her media career at William B. Tanner Co. She then moved to Nashville for about seven years and worked at WZTV and later at Eric Ericson & Associates. In 1988, she moved back to Memphis for good. Graber spent a couple of years as media director at Walker & Associates, then worked for 12 1/2 years at Sossaman + Associates (formerly Sossaman Bateman McCuddy) as vice president of Media Services & Promotions. Before starting Graber Partners: Media & Advertising, she also worked at WMC-TV (Channel 5) where she handled advertising for businesses across all industries. Many times, these clients posed questions and requested guidance to help navigate through the seemingly endless media and advertising options. Graber found she had a unique talent and passion for guiding clients through these complex decisions. Therefore, in 2005, she founded Graber Partners.

The Memphis Commercial Appeal website, commercialappeal.com has posted the current temperature for Memphis at 4:20pm on June 13th, 2011 at 149 degrees.  Most people would think that the storms that just blew through here would have cooled it off a little!  Thanks to Molly Okeon for bringing this to my attention.

May 2011 brought many unique news stories to Memphis and the Mid-South which became national news.  The severe weather, deadly tornadoes and the massive Mississippi River flood led the newscasts many days.  President Barack Obama spoke at Booker T. Washington’s high school graduation.  The Memphis Grizzlies and Oklahoma City Thunder went 7 games in Round 2 of the NBA Playoffs after the Grizzlies beat the San Antonio Spurs in Round 1. 

WMC won the news ratings at 5pm and 6pm.  WREG won the 6am ratings. And at 10pm, WMC and WREG were tied.

May 2011 Sweeps:  4/28-5/25/11