Video Monitoring Services of America

Last updated

Video Monitoring Services of America [1] [2] [3] [4] collects and distributes information about TV news broadcasting and its viewership. [2]

Contents

History

Robert J. Cohen founded VMS. [5] [6]

The New York Times described them as "a company that tracks news programs in major cities." [2] Their coverage includes news about the industry. [2] News sources use their transcripts [7] [8] and statistics. [9]

They bought a Phoenix-based clipping service in 1998. [1]

Their "VMS DOES!" ads in Advertising Age used time-pressured "Do You Know" captions (Do You Know How To Get A Reel Of All Commercials Featuring 7 Guys In Flowered Hats ... By Noon Tomorrow?, [10] Do You Know Your Competitor Broke Their New Coffee TV Campaign In Seattle Last Night? [11] ) appearing with unusual images.

Controversy

Their operation involves recording 24/7 and then selectively reviewing broadcast. It was proven in court that they sold a 30-minute CNN segment. CNN then attempted to get an order blocking all future recordings. Video Monitoring countered that this was over-reaching, especially since future broadcast do not exist; by law, something that does not exist cannot be copyrighted. [12] From prior cases it was clarified that "The primary objective of copyright is not to reward the labor or authors, but '[t]o promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts.'" [12] : 18 

References

  1. 1 2 "NewsCount sold to N.Y. firm, dumps print clips". BizJournals.com (Phoenix). January 4, 1998.
  2. 1 2 3 4 David Barstow; Robin Stein (March 13, 2005). "Under Bush, a New Age of Prepackaged TV News". The New York Times .
  3. ↑ "On The Move". AdWeek . August 10, 1998.
  4. ↑ "Profiles, Executive Moves". Crain's New York Business . September 15, 1997. for Adbank, a division of Video Monitoring Services of America, New York.
  5. ↑ "Robert J. Cohen, philanthropist". NJ Jewish News. July 6, 2011.
  6. ↑ "COHEN, Robert J." New York Times . June 23, 2011.
  7. ↑ Mike Allen (January 18, 2003). "Rice: Race Can Be Factor In College Admissions". The Washington Post .
  8. ↑ "Systems & Information Technology Job Fair". The New York Times . 1997.
  9. ↑ Terence O'Hara (January 9, 2006). "Checking-account customers are traditionally reluctant to switch, but banks are fighting hard for their business. Checking-account customers are traditionally reluctant to switch, but banks are fighting hard for their business". The Washington Post .
  10. ↑ Image: four sitting, three standing behind them, hats as described "Do You Know How To Get A Reel Of All Commercials Featuring 7 Guys In Flowered Hats ... By Noon Tomorrow?". Advertising Age . October 14, 1996. p. 61.
  11. ↑ Image: contortionist sitting at a table, holding cup of coffee in her hands, with feet over shoulders "Do You Know Your Competitor Broke Their New Coffee TV Campaign In Seattle Last Night? VMS DOES!". Advertising Age . October 14, 1996. p. 63.
  12. 1 2 "Cable Network News .. v. Video Monitoring Services of America". September 4, 1991.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.