Olympics Give \'Today\' a Big Lift, Just When It Needed One

By BILL CARTER

The Olympics are continuing to provide NBC's “Today” show with the lifeline it desperately needed after squandering all its historical advantage over ABC's “Good Morning America.”

The surge for “Today” hit a high point on Friday, when the NBC program soared to 6.5 million viewers, its best total in more than a year.

More important, at least in terms of the competition between the two morning shows, “Today” beat “GMA” by 2.4 million viewers, which was its biggest margin over the ABC show since Aug. 21, 2008, when, not coincidentally, NBC was in the midst of broadcasting the last summer Olympics from Beijing.

The numbers, which are based on fast national ratings from Nielsen Media Research - so they could adjust slightly later this week - indicate that “Today” has been growing as the Olympics have gone on. That could be a sign that some of the momentum “GMA” had built up in the preceding m onths may be wearing off.

This year, “GMA” ended the 17-year weekly winning streak “Today” had set, and the week before the Olympics started, “GMA” also ended the “Today” winning streak among the viewers most prized by news advertisers, those between ages 25 and 54.

But on Friday, “Today” attracted 2.65 million viewers in that age group, besting “GMA” by a huge margin: 1.15 million viewers.

ABC has been noting that, in general, the numbers for “Today” have not been quite as large during this Olympics as they were in 2008. NBC, meanwhile, is comparing the percent gain the show is getting from the Olympics against the previous non-Olympic week. By that measure, the London bounce has been bigger than the Beijing bounce. Friday's show eclipsed the week-over-week number from the same Friday in 2008 by 34 percent.

NBC has one more week to try to build up “Today” to take on “GMA” when the Olym pics come to an end.

Bill Carter writes about the television industry. Follow @wjcarter on Twitter.

Bleacher Report, Online Sports Site, Sold to Turner Broadcasting

By RICHARD SANDOMIR

Bleacher Report, a voice-of-the-fans sports site that is focused intensely on local professional and college teams, was acquired Monday by Turner Broadcasting to expand its portfolio of digital sports properties.

The companies would not discuss the sales price, but a person briefed on the deal but not authorized to speak publicly said it was $180 million.

“We've looked at it for the past three years, just watching it grow, and in the last two years doubling its unique users, which was a telltale sign that I felt it would be a great part of our organization,” said David Levy, the president of Turner Sports. According to comScore, the Web measurement service, Bleacher Report's monthly unique users have grown from 5.6 million to 10.1 million since 2010, ninth among sports sites.

“They've established a position in the smartphone and tablet areas,” Mr. Levy said, “and their coverage of team sports truly a ttracted us. I saw nothing like this in the marketplace.” He cited its alert services that let fans receive news alerts and other information about their favorite teams.

Brian Grey, the chief executive of Bleacher Report, said, “You don't get too many opportunities to get on a platform like this, and get into a big ecosystem like Turner's.”

Mr. Grey and Mr. Levy would not discuss whether Bleacher Report, which started in 2008, is profitable.

Bleacher Report will be used in tandem with the other sports sites, like nba.com, ncaa.com and pga.com, that Turner manages. “Think of the coverage that Bleacher Report does for the N.C.A.A. tournament,” Mr. Levy said. “There are 68 teams and when something dramatic happens, it can not only send out alerts that Syracuse won on a game-winning shot, it can also send out clips.”

Turner will also use its sportscasters, like Charles Barkley and Cal Ripken, to help Bleacher R eport.

The site's content is written primarily by about 2,000 passionate fans, most of whom do not have journalistic training or attend games. They all must be approved to write for the site and receive training and evaluations. Recently, it has added about 25 writers with traditional journalistic credentials.

The rise of Bleacher Report can be traced in part to the enormous success of Bill Simmons, a once-obscure Boston sports blogger who did not want to cover games from the press box. He eventually became a major force in sports commentary and podcasting at ESPN where he now has a separate site, grantland.com.

“It's a good analogy,” Mr. Grey said. “For us, it's lawyer by day, Giants fan by night. People have a passion and want their voices heard.”

Video: A Web Series Made by Latinos That Tells Latinos\' Stories

By THE EDITORS

The English-language television networks have had trouble connecting with the growing Latino audience, as Tanzina Vega and Bill Carter describe in Monday's newspaper. The Latino characters that do appear in network shows often represent stereotypes - the trophy wife, the immigrant. In this video, Ms. Vega follows the production of the online series “East WillyB,” that one of its creators, Julia Ahumada Grob, says can be seen as a “Latino ‘Cheers' set in gentrifying Brooklyn.” A Kickstarter campaign has come up with $50,000 in financing for new episodes.

Comparing Credit Cards\' Auto Rental Insurance

By ANN CARRNS

Many credit card companies offer accident insurance when the cards are used to pay for a rental car. But details of coverage vary depending on the network behind the card, a report from CardHub.com finds.

Many people end up buying extra insurance when they rent a car because they are confused about whether their own auto policies cover them while driving rentals, as well as what sort of protection their credit cards may provide, the report says.

According to the Insurance Information Institute, an industry group, most automobile insurance policies cover a policyholder driving a rental. Details vary, though, and there are sometimes exclusions; some policies don't cover a driver, for instance, who is renting while on business. So you should check with your insurance agent or company.

Similarly, there's a great deal of variation in the coverage that credit cards provide. All four major card networks - American Express, Visa, MasterCard and Discover - provide some form of insurance coverage. (MasterCard, the report found, is the only network that does not provide coverage to all cardholders; a cardholder has to check the agreement to determine eligibility.)

CardHub ranked the networks on likelihood of coverage (maximum points: 55), quality of coverage (35 points maximum) and logistics of using the insurance and filing a claim (10 points). Visa ranked at the top over all, in part because of its coverage of towing and because it covers the charges imposed by the rental car company for the loss of use of the damaged car. Discover, American Express and MasterCard followed in the rankings.

Odysseas Papadimitriou, CardHub's chief executive, noted that all networks require that the driver decline the rental car company's supplemental insurance coverage for a card's coverage to apply. So do not take the rental company's coverage unless you are sure you nee d it, because in effect you'll be declining your card's policy, he said.

He noted that all networks generally exclude very expensive cars or antique models from coverage. But consumers should be aware that American Express also excludes popular sport utility vehicles like the Chevrolet Suburban, Lincoln Navigator and Toyota Land Cruiser.

MasterCard and Visa, furthermore, do not cover accidents on dirt or gravel roads. So beware if you are driving in rural Vermont, say, or overseas in Greece.

And again, if you're going overseas, American Express, Visa and MasterCard exclude coverage in certain countries. MasterCard, for instance, excludes the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Israel and Jamaica. Discover, which is the least accepted card network internationally, is the only network that does not have any country-specific exclusions, the report found.

Do you rely on your credit card's rental car insurance coverage? Have you ever had to file a claim under the policy?

Ad Executive Makes Leap to Comcast\'s El Rey Network

By TANZINA VEGA

Antionette Alfonso Zel, an advertising executive, has been named the chief executive of El Rey, the English-language cable television network aimed at second- and third-generation Latinos.

Prior to taking the job at El Rey, Ms. Zel was president, partner and chief executive of the independent advertising agency La Communidad, where she worked with clients including the Walt Disney Company and Coca-Cola. Ms. Zel has held executive positions at Telemundo, now part of NBC Universal, and MTV Networks.

El Rey was created out of a series of conditions mandated by the Federal Communication Commission last year that Comcast had to meet prior to finalizing a deal to take control of NBC Universal. To get approval for the deal, Comcast promised to create several channels owned by minorities. El Rey was founded by the Latino film director and producer Robert Rodriguez, who will lead the network's creative focus. Mr. Rodriguez may be best known for his 1992 film “El Mariachi” and its sequel “Desperado.”

Other networks include Revolt, owned by Sean Combs, Aspire by Magic Johnson, and BabyFirst Americas by Constantino “Said” Schwarz.

“This was something that really needed to happen,” Mr. Rodriguez said. “I have 5 kids. Even though they are bilingual, they converse in English, but they don't see themselves.”

In addition to pulling in big-name Latino talent to work on the programming, Mr. Rodriguez said the network represented an opportunity to bring in Hispanics who have struggled in Hollywood.

“For all the reasons you couldn't get into Hollywood as content creators, as actors, as performers, that's the reason we want you at El Rey,” he said.

The network comes at a time when traditional network television is struggling to connect with Latino audiences, especially those that are young, bicultural and bilingual.

“It 's really an important moment in time when the complete story of a Latinos can be told,” Ms. Zel said. And marketers, she added, “'are really clamoring for innovation and for solutions.”

In addition to her new role as chief executive of El Rey, Ms. Zel will remain a minority owner of the La Communidad and on its board of directors.

Why Your Family Should Talk About Money More Often

By CARL RICHARDS

Carl Richards is a certified financial planner in Park City, Utah, and is the director of investor education at BAM Advisor Services. His book, “The Behavior Gap,” was published this year. His sketches are archived on the Bucks blog.

It's no secret we're uncomfortable talking about money. Talking about money often ends in arguments about money. So we avoid it, and that leads to all sorts of problems.

The discomfort is often at its worst with those we love the most: family. When was the last time you discussed money in any meaningful way with your kids (or your parents)?

For most of us, we probably haven't sat down and had even the most basic of conversations about what money may mean to our family. If you own a business or have significant investments or other assets, at some point these money issues will have an impact on your family, even if it's only a question of inheritance.

Learning to talk about money in a way that's productive is important, and you may not even need to divulge your income or net worth to succeed. For wealthier families, however, it may be part of the discussion. Last week, Paul Sullivan outlined several examples of how unprepared some heirs felt when they received an inheritance. No one had talked to them or explained what was coming.

Jason Franklin, now 32, said he received a call from his grandfather's secretary asking if he wanted to serve on the board of the family foundation. He was 21 at the time, and up until that point, he said he thought his parents were just affluent professionals like his friends' parents. The invitation prompted questions.

“If your family has enough money to create a family foundation, that means you have to ask about issues of wealth,” said Mr. Franklin, who works for a philanthropic consultancy.

This may seem like a great problem to have, but it's a problem just the same. I've written before about a friend who was determined that his kids wouldn't felt entitled. From an early age, he met every request his kids made to buy something with, “We can't afford that.” One evening when his oldest was a teenager, my friend's son came to him concerned and said, “Dad, between homeless and Warren Buffett…where are we?”

My friend realized that he had not communicated his intention clearly. He had avoided having discussions about money because, like most of us, he didn't know how.

If you don't take the time to talk about money, how will your family understand money's real value? Have you talked to your kids about the relationship between hard work and money? Have you talked about the financial sacrifices, delayed gratification and the need for financial discipline? Have you talked to your kids about the only way to buy happiness?

You owe it to yourself and your family to get past the uncomfortable part and talk about the role of money in your family. Getting it out in the open can go a long way towards avoiding problems later.

The Breakfast Meeting: Sticking the Mars Landing, and TV\'s Latino Woes

By NOAM COHEN

While incredible feats were being accomplished in London, another example of human excellence was occurring millions of miles away: the Curiosity rover landed in a 96-mile-wide crater on Mars at 1:32 a.m. Eastern time. The Mars mission's final stage was a thriller - the rover, the size of a small car, was lowered at the end of 25-foot-long cables from a hovering rocket stage, Kenneth Chang writes. One wit on Twitter noted that the 14-minute time delay for images from Mars to reach Earth was nothing compared to the hours of delay from NBC in showing Usain Bolt's Olympic-record-setting dash in the 100-meter race.

• The NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., which operates the Curiosity rover, is close enough to Los Angeles that many celebrities made the trip, Space.com reported, including the actor Morgan Freeman; the host of “Jeopardy,” Alex Trebek; and June Lockhart of “Lost in Space.”

The la rge TV audience for the Olympics has been a pleasant surprise for NBC; so much so, that the network's executives say there is a chance the event will actually turn a small profit, Bill Carter writes. Ratings have improved from the Beijing Olympics four years earlier and Thursday night's program reached 36.8 million viewers.

• The beleaguered “Today” show has seen its ratings balloon because of its Olympics coverage, though it is unclear if that increase will persist when the show competes with “Good Morning America” on equal footing, Mr. Carter writes.

• The BBC, which has the advantage of reporting events in its own time zone, has covered the Olympics in a way that gives maximum control to the viewer, Eric Pfanner reports. With their remote controls, viewers can choose among as many as 24 live feeds of various events: “We wanted to give people every venue, from first thing in the morning to last thing at night,” said Roger Mosey, director of BBC's Olympics coverage. Of course, the BBC gets most of its funding from the public, Mr. Pfanner notes; NBC, which paid nearly $1.2 billion for the rights to show the Games, gets most of its revenue from advertising.

English-language TV executives recognize reaching the growing Latino audience in the United States is vital to their success, but thus far they have made few gains catering to it, particularly in scripted shows, Tanzina Vega and Bill Carter write. Top shows like “Modern Family” or “Two and a Half Men” will typically draw half the Hispanic audience you would expect, while Spanish-language television is proving much more popular. They write:

The issue, many viewers and critics argue, is that there still hasn't been the Hispanic equivalent of “The Cosby Show,” meaning a show that deals with Latino culture in a way that doesn't offend viewers with crude stereotypes.

With streaming radio any station ca n be listened to anywhere - such potential, but such cacophony, Ben Sisario writes. Into this world come aggregators like TuneIn, a start-up in Palo Alto, Calif., and IHeartRadio, owned by the broadcasting giant Clear Channel Communications, which can direct users to stations based on location or music style. It is still a confusing landscape, he writes, as broadcasters fret over the rising costs of online royalties; the plans of the companies behind the apps; and how to stick out at the aggregation sites.

• Lucky magazine is hoping to aggregate its readers' shopping experience on its own site, to be called myLucky.com, Christine Haughney writes. When it directs shoppers to store sites to buy items it suggests, a shopper never has to leave the Lucky site and can keep items from multiple stores in a shopping cart.

 

Monday Reading: August Checklist for Rising High School Seniors

By TARA SIEGEL BERNARD

A variety of consumer-focused articles appears daily in The New York Times and on our blogs. Each weekday morning, we gather them together here so you can quickly scan the news that could hit you in your wallet.