Tag: Pre-Game Meal

All the Trimmings

Brian

http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/house/articles/2010/12/16/shannon_and_ray_allen_prepare_their_wellesley_home_for_family_and_friends/

By Christopher Muther
Globe Staff / December 16, 2010
In the living room, a klatch of Celtic wives and girlfriends are lingering by Ray and Shannon Allen’s 12-foot Christmas tree. The Allen’s four children, ranging in age from toddler to teen, are either running out to practice, or looking for mom, who has been sequestered in the expansive dining room for a moment of quiet conversation. The quiet conversation is proving to be a challenge. Decorators from Winston Flowers are hanging a massive pine garland along the banister, and the occasional sound of a smashing ornament can be heard coming from the next room when the couple’s youngest child gets near the tree.
“Yes, my house is like Grand Central Station,’’ says Shannon, 36, who is casual about the chaos, especially around the holidays. “It’s always this way. We’ve got big families and there are always guests coming through.’’
The couple’s Wellesley home is slightly more chaotic on this particular afternoon because Shannon, looking preternaturally calm, is getting the large house ready for its close-up. Knowing a reporter is coming by to talk about holiday prep in the Allen household and a photographer will soon follow, the brood is particularly festive and well-groomed. The tree is perfectly coordinated with purple, pink, silver, and pale green ornaments. The dining room table is immaculately set, and could it be that the toys and games have been conveniently tucked away for the day?

Ray Allen, Steve Pagliuca in Middle of History

Brian

http://bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1146713&format=text

By Steve Buckley  |   Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Guard Ray Allen and Celtics [team stats] general partner Steve Pagliuca had what the latter called “just about perfect seats” for the inauguration of President Obama yesterday.
“We were right in the middle, about 150 yards away,” Pagliuca said. “We could see everything. It was a very emotional moment for Ray, and for myself as well.”

ESPN, ABC Court Viewers for NBA

Brian

http://www.tvweek.com/news/2008/01/espn_abc_court_viewers_for_nba.php

ESPN, ABC Court Viewers for NBA
Aim to Maintain Live Sports’ Hold on Viewers, Advertisers
By Jon Lafayette
With ratings and ad sales already up this season for their National Basketball Association games, ESPN and ABC Sports are looking to pick up the pace with some nontraditional promotions for basketball season.
The promo ideas range from a recreational vehicle that will be traveling to Sunday afternoon games being broadcast on ABC to a special version of Google Earth that lets fans find basketball hot spots, including the National Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., and Rucker Park in New York’s Harlem.
As the writers strike changes network schedules, advertisers have been flocking to live sports, where there’s also a good chance viewers will stay tuned for commercials. And the NBA games are certainly no exception.
“We are seeing new advertisers come into this sport,” said Ed Erhardt, president of ESPN and ABC Sports customer marketing and sales.
He said Hanes has signed on as the presenting sponsor of ESPN’s Wednesday night games. Wrigley also has signed on for a major multiplatform package.
Also lacing up for NBA coverage are some European and Japanese auto makers.
“When you look at sports, it tends to be about people buying a lot of scatter, and the scatter market is robust,” Mr. Erhardt said. But with the larger sponsorships and the multimedia deals, “You’re talking about someone who wants the NBA.”

Moms Find Move of ‘In the Motherhood’ From Web to TV on ABC a Hard Shift

Brian

March 25, 2009
‘Motherhood’ Viewers: Hold the Ideas
By BRIAN STELTER
The story of “In the Motherhood,” appropriately enough, began with an unusual conception.
This tale of three moms, which has its debut on ABC on Thursday, was created by a marketing company as a Web video series. After drawing millions of views online in the past two years, it was transformed into a traditional network sitcom, making it the first Web show to be remade for network television. But what made the Web series unique — an interactive style of storytelling — was quashed by the legal engine of Hollywood.
On the MSN.com edition of “Motherhood” (since discontinued), short segments about funny, frazzled mothers were inspired by the real-life stories that viewers submitted via an Internet forum. ABC, similarly, asked for story submissions on its Web site (itm.abc.go.com) and said that they “might just become inspiration for a story by the writers.”
But ABC’s call for ideas from moms drew the attention of the Writers Guild of America, which said this type of request for submissions was “not permissible” under its contract with the network. This week ABC abruptly removed the language about “inspiration” from its Web site, effectively saying that the writers may not be listening to viewers’ ideas, after all.
The last-minute changes are a telling demonstration of the differences between the Web video world — a mostly low-budget, short-form medium — and the traditional television industry. Just as most publishing companies don’t accept unsolicited manuscripts, most TV and movie studios don’t accept scripts, ideas or jokes submitted by viewers. Unless the proper waivers are signed in advance, something as innocent as a fan e-mail message with a suggested joke can provoke a copyright-infringement lawsuit later.

Food Network Serves Up New Shows

Brian

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118002665?refCatId=1071

Posted: Tue., Apr. 21, 2009, 1:51pm PT
Food Network serves up new shows
Cable network unveils eight at upfront
By STUART LEVINE
HOLLYWOOD — Coming off of its highest-rated quarter ever, Food Network unveiled eight new primetime shows at its upfront event in Gotham on Tuesday.
The cabler’s focus on cooking competitions continues in the upcoming programming slate. “Chefs vs. City” is a foodie version of “The Amazing Race” in which notable chefs Chris Cosentino and Aaron Sanchez take on a pair of local chefs in a different city each week, vying in a series of five challenges. Skein begins in July.
Launching in the fall is “Extreme Cuisine With Jeff Corwin.” Corwin, whose former series “The Jeff Corwin Experience” appeared on Food sister net Animal Planet, will head to foreign locales to taste native cuisines.
“We don’t want to overdo it with competition shows, but viewers like it,” president Brooke Johnson told Daily Variety. “We sort of have a bifurcated strategy. We have the ‘In the kitchen’ blocks — Saturday and Sunday morning, and weekdays — which are as important to us as primetime. We’re able to develop new shows and draw on talent from the kitchen.”
Net has done well with competition series, such as “Iron Chef America” and “Food Network Challenge.” Top-performing shows also travel far from the net’s inhouse kitchen, focusing on restaurants and cuisine from around the globe, including the Guy Fieri-hosted “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” — the net’s No. 1 show in primetime.
Food Network was up 16% in total viewers in the first quarter compared to a year earlier (982,000 vs. 844,000). “I’d be lying if I didn’t say we were helped by the writers strike,” Johnson said. “People started sampling us and didn’t go back. We’ve had that great base to build on.”
Other new primetime programming coming to the Scripps-owned cabler includes “Worst Cooks in America” and “Foods That Changed the World.” Existing series drawing renewals are “The Next Iron Chef,” “Ultimate Recipe Showdown” and “The Next Food Network Star.”

NBA Playoff Scores Ratings Records

Brian

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118003136?refCatId=1011&query=NBA+Playoff+Scores+Ratings+Records

Posted: Sun., May. 3, 2009, 2:03pm PT
NBA playoff scores ratings records
Game hits new highs for TNT
By RICK KISSELL
Chicago’s 128-127 triple-overtime victory over Boston averaged 5.35 million viewers for TNT on Thursday.
TNT set cable records for a first-round NBA Playoff contest Thursday, as its triple-overtime contest between Boston and Chicago siphoned away some of the aud for male-skewing broadcast programs.
Nielsen estimates that the Chicago Bulls’ 128-127 victory averaged 5.35 million viewers — easily standing as cable’s top program of the night in most key categories.
No National Basketball Assn. opening-round playoff game has delivered a larger cable audience to date. This season’s previous high was the 3.82 million who tuned in for the Los Angeles Lakers-Utah Jazz contest one week earlier on TNT.
Saturday’s Game 7 also figured to score big for TNT, although no preliminary numbers were available Sunday. Ditto for Disney Channel’s Saturday launch of comedy series “Jonas.”
The hoops action seemed to especially hit NBC hard, as its more male-leaning skeins “The Office” (3.7/10 in 18-49, 7.41m), “30 Rock” (2.9/7, 5.95m) and “Southland” (2.0/6, 6.66m) all declined. “Southland” dipped the most, and fell to third in its timeslot for the first time, beaten by a special repeat of “Criminal Minds” on CBS (2.3/7, 10.23m).
ABC had a solid night, winning in 18-49 from 9 to 11 with femme-leaning “Grey’s Anatomy” (5.1/13 in 18-49, 14.12m) and “Private Practice” (3.5/10, 9.70m for its season finale). Also, “Ugly Betty” may have returned to a fourth-place finish at 8 (2.0/6, 6.72m), but it performed a good deal better than previously skedded half-hours “In the Motherhood” and “Samantha Who?”
CBS won the night’s opening hour with “Survivor” (3.6/11 in 18-49, 11.73m), and its “CSI” (3.7/9, 15.54m) was the night’s most-watched program overall, despite losing out to “Grey’s” in 18-49 and 25-54.

Food Brands Compete to Stretch your Buck

Brian

By STUART ELLIOTT
ANYONE who doubts that consumers are still worried about the Great Recession need only leaf through the May 18 issue of People magazine.
Turn to Page 118, where an advertisement for Oscar Mayer Deli Fresh meats proclaims how they taste “deli fresh. But without the deli counter price.”
Three pages after that, an ad for Lean Cuisine frozen foods declares, “We believe in food that’s good for you and good for your wallet.”
And five pages later, Chips Ahoy cookies and Capri Sun juice drinks team up for an ad centered on serving two snacks “for about a dollar,” a concept that gets its own coined word (“Why snackrifice?”) and Web site (whysnackrifice.com).
Kraft and Nestlé, which make those products, are among the growing ranks of marketers playing up the perceived value of packaged foods. They are seeking to capitalize on the opportunity presented by consumers’ dining out less.
But shoppers eager to save money are trading down from full-price, brand-name fare to cheaper private labels and store brands. That means advertisers concerned about losing market share must make persuasive arguments about the value propositions of their wares.
The list of value-mongers is to grow on Monday when Reckitt Benckiser begins a campaign for French’s condiments, promoting larger packages to be sold at lower prices. For instance, a 20-ounce bottle of French’s Classic Yellow mustard will cost less than a 14-ounce bottle.
“The consumer is telling you something: ‘I want to see value. I want you to demonstrate value,’ ” said Elliott Penner, president at the French’s food division of Reckitt Benckiser in Parsippany, N.J.

ESPN Slowly Introducing Online Brand for Women

Brian

In its three decades of existence, ESPN has built a vast sports empire that has aimed to attract nearly every slice of the American sports audience, from teenagers to Hispanics to college students to baby boomers. But it has done little to cater to one group that makes up a quarter of its television audience: women.

That is about to change. This fall, the network is gradually introducing espnW, a brand marketed to women that will begin in the spring as a digital presence and could eventually expand to television. Today, it is little more than a Twitter account and a Facebook page, but already the idea has been warmly received by leaders in women’s sports, who have long been pining for news media coverage. ESPN courted an A-list of women’s sports figures at a retreat earlier this month, including executives like Stacey Allaster of the Women’s Tennis Association and star athletes like the softball player Jennie Finch and the snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler.

She’s the power behind food shows

Brian

http://www.jsonline.com/features/food/103893759.html

Peek behind the scenes of hundreds of cooking shows and you’ll likely find JoAnn Cianciulli.

From Food Network to Bravo’s “Top Chef Masters,” Cianciulli has helped create a new genre known as food television. Most recently, she was the supervising culinary producer of Fox’s “MasterChef,” starring Gordon Ramsay, Graham Elliot and Joe Bastianich. She also authored the companion “MasterChef Cookbook” ($24.99, Rodale).

After studying film and television at New York University, she headed for California and the movie business. Always a food lover, she learned the language of chefs at her father’s restaurant in Queens, New York. That passion for food, and the ability to communicate with chefs, helped her create a unique career in food television and cookbooks.

She’s collaborated on cookbooks with Tyler Florence, Aaron Sanchez and Michael Mina. Now she’s co-authoring “Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink” with James Beard Award-winner Michael Schwartz. Next up, she’s producing “Marcel’s Quantum Kitchen,” a look at molecular gastronomy expected to air in February on SyFy Channel.