Former Cedar Cove regular Corey Sevier returns to the Hallmark fold this weekend with the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries premiere of Northern Lights of Christmas, starring opposite Ashley Williams.  For Sevier, last seen in the 2017 Hallmark Channel movie The Art of Us, it's a welcome return at his favorite time of the year.  "I love Christmas and have always been a fan," he said during an exclusive interview with MediaVillage.  "This is my second Hallmark movie, and a little coincidence came into play because [this one] is also based on a novel (Sleigh Bell Sweethearts) by Teri Wilson, who also wrote The Art of Us.  I didn't realize that at the time when they came to me with this project.  I just loved the script and wanted to go with it.  Then I realized it was another novel written by Teri.

Every December in New York we are given an opportunity to map out the future developments in media at the TV of Tomorrow conference.  This year the event focused on hot topics such as attribution, addressable advertising and data -- and how these three areas impact content creation and sales.  The major takeaways follow:

When you hear "live television" what's the first thing that comes to mind?  Some readers will think of the news.  Others will point to the big award shows.  Then, of course, there are the fans of live events like a reality competition's finale or the televised musicals that began popping up on network schedules a few years ago.  If you are the agency or marketing decision-maker for a brand, live sports programming is probably the category at the very top of the short list for placing spots.

This is the second installment in a multi-part series identifying the top TV programs of 2018.  As always it is what I hope to be an interesting mix; one that challenges the sameness of so many other year-end lists of this kind.  Think of these collective columns as one list of the 25 shows I found the most engaging, or have the most to say about, or both.  The many year-end lists that will be found in print and online outlets throughout the month of December will for reasons that continue to elude me be limited to ten shows only, just like they were 50 years ago when national television consisted of three broadcast networks and PBS.  There are over 1000 shows available today on broadcast, cable and the major streaming outlets … not to mention YouTube, Instagram, Rooster Teeth, Snap and many more.  Most of them are designed to appeal to one demographic or another, and dozens of them are extraordinary for one or more reasons.  Frankly, a list expanded to 25 isn’t even enough, but I need to stop somewhere.

Amazon, Netflix, Instagram and YouTube have the greatest vitality among 147 leading media brands, according to a new study of 1,200 media agency and brand marketing professionals conducted by MediaVillage.  Media brand vitality was assessed based on survey respondents’ perceptions of each media brand’s sustainability (ability of the brand to thrive in the new media world) and differentiation (magnitude of difference between the brand and its closest competitors).  Amazon has become the fastest growing ad-supported platform, generating an estimated $10 billion in ad revenues in 2018 with projected ad revenues approaching $25 billion by 2022.  Although Netflix and HBO do not offer advertising opportunities, agency executives appear prepared to support the platforms when and if they decide to open sponsorship opportunities.  Respondents to the MediaVillage survey rated Amazon 9.1 on a 10-point scale for sustainability, the highest rating assigned to any media brand in any of the five brand equity attributes measured in the survey.  Full content of this report and the executive summary are available to MediaVillage member companies only and may be downloaded with password at jackmyerstomorrowtoday.com.

"Media companies can and should have a purpose, identifying areas where the company can have a voice that makes a difference while building the business," believes Marc Pritchard, Chief Brand Officer of Procter & Gamble.  "Ten years ago, P&G; went down a purpose path, but it was too disconnected from the business.  What we've done recently, which is more effective in our view, is we've built what we call 'citizenship' into how we do business.  We've been very deliberate about making sure whatever we do is both a force for good and a force for growth."  In a wide-ranging interview with MediaVillage in advance of P&G;'s induction at CES into the Advancing Diversity Hall of Honors, Marc shared context on P&G;'s and his personal commitment to doing good for society in a way that's good for business, and to advocate for increased commitment by the media and advertising community to diversity and inclusion.