Initiative Media North America

Buoyed in part by the "dot-com" advertising surge, Initiative Media North America reported a $300-million increase in billings during the first quarter. Initiative Media, which buys advertising time and space for such companies as Walt Disney Co., Home Depot and Unilever, added such new accounts as Albertsons.com, Cheap Tickets, Baskin-Robbins and HealthCentral.com during the quarter.

Recognizing the waning clout of television's 30-second commercial spots, Initiative Worldwide, a major Madison Avenue ad-buying firm, has hired a former network marketing chief to pursue new venues for advertising. The firm plans to announce today that Alan Cohen -- who spent two decades working for Walt Disney Co.'s ABC, General Electric Co.'s NBC and News Corp.'s 20th Century Fox film studio -- will head the U.S. division of Initiative Innovations, a unit to be based in Los Angeles.

Western Initiative Media Worldwide said Friday it has changed its name--but that the media-buying company won't be changing its Los Angeles address. In a speech broadcast live from the company's U.S. headquarters in Los Angeles to 1,500 employees nationwide, Chief Executive Louis M. Schultz said the company will be known as Initiative Media North America.

Buoyed in part by the "dot-com" advertising surge, Initiative Media North America reported a $300-million increase in billings during the first quarter. Initiative Media, which buys advertising time and space for such companies as Walt Disney Co., Home Depot and Unilever, added such new accounts as Albertsons.com, Cheap Tickets, Baskin-Robbins and HealthCentral.com during the quarter.

Recognizing the waning clout of television's 30-second commercial spots, Initiative Worldwide, a major Madison Avenue ad-buying firm, has hired a former network marketing chief to pursue new venues for advertising. The firm plans to announce today that Alan Cohen -- who spent two decades working for Walt Disney Co.'s ABC, General Electric Co.'s NBC and News Corp.'s 20th Century Fox film studio -- will head the U.S. division of Initiative Innovations, a unit to be based in Los Angeles.

New York-based Western Initiative Media Worldwide has named Louis M. Schultz chief executive for its Western Initiative Media North America unit. Schultz will report to Western Initiative Media Chairman and Chief Executive Larry Lamattina. Dennis Holt, currently chairman and chief executive of the North American unit, will remain with the company as a consultant.

* Los Angeles-based TelePacific Communications named Richard L. Kimsey president and chief executive, succeeding founder David Glickman. Glickman will remain chairman of the telecommunications company. Kimsey joins TelePacific after five years at Sprint PCS, where he was president of the wireless company's Southeast region. Kimsey was also an executive director at Cox Enterprises, and spent eight years with BellSouth's cellular unit.

Carolyn Bivens has been promoted to president and chief operating officer of Initiative Media North America. Bivens, 48, joined the media-buying company in 2000 as managing director of its Los Angeles-based Western region. She previously served as associate publisher of USA Today. Bivens will report to Initiative Media Worldwide Chairman and Chief Executive Louis Schultz. Initiative Media, part of Interpublic Group of Cos.

NBC finalized a deal Monday that will secure another season of "Friends," with the cast of prime time's top-rated series signing for an additional year at a salary believed to exceed $1 million for each cast member per episode. Although NBC, a unit of General Electric Co., will be hard pressed to make money on the show at that high a fee, its renewal seemed increasingly imperative as ratings for the series have soared this season, weathering a challenge from CBS' "Survivor."

At Manhattan's famed Radio City Music Hall, home of the high-stepping Rockettes, NBC Entertainment President Jeffrey Zucker took a hard kick at his ratings rivals. "We're No. 1 in the morning, No. 1 in daytime, No. 1 in late night and No. 1 in prime time 47 of the last 56 weeks," he boasted to a packed house of advertisers, agents and studio executives this week. "The momentum is all with us."

Western Initiative Media Worldwide said Friday it has changed its name--but that the media-buying company won't be changing its Los Angeles address. In a speech broadcast live from the company's U.S. headquarters in Los Angeles to 1,500 employees nationwide, Chief Executive Louis M. Schultz said the company will be known as Initiative Media North America.

Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf made a crucial visit to Washington last week and CNN and Fox News Channel carried his many appearances throughout the day live. MSNBC? It was airing the women's biathlon competition from the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. That hardly sounds like the way for the third-place cable news network to build viewer loyalty, but MSNBC, as a key component in NBC's strategy to amortize its $545-million Olympics rights fee, had little choice.

The calendar says it's September, but the majors are long over and the professional golf season still goes on, with 11 more official PGA Tour events still to be played ... and that's before the Silly Season kicks off with a full month of low-pressure, money-making fun. It's not too early to take a sneak peak at 2006, which promises to be an intriguing campaign, and not only because Tiger Woods will actually play it as a 30-year-old.