NEW YORK, Feb 8 (Reuters) – Critics and academics can complain all they want about low-brow Super Bowl commercials – but the post-game polls show why advertisers go for easy laughs when they shell out $100,000 for every second.

Nearly every post-game survey on Monday crowned Snickers, Doritos, and Bud Light as champions in the annual advertising extravaganza (and football game) that is the Super Bowl — and all three relied on slapstick.

The 30-second commercial for Mars Inc’s Snickers candy bar casts beloved and elderly actors Betty White and Abe Vigoda in a not-so-friendly football game. In a typical Super Bowl gag, both wind up on their backsides in the mud.

The ad for the chocolate-nougat-peanut-caramel confection took the top spot in USA Today’s Ad Meter, one of the polls that covers the game. Thanks to the Web, the number of polls that declare the winners and losers in Super Bowl advertising has swelled. [ID.nN07229464]

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Sidestepping the usual slapstick comedy and animal tricks, a number of advertisers tried to score during Sunday’s Super Bowl with commercials that tapped into men’s ambivalence with their everyday lives.

In the battle among advertisers, Unilever’s Dove, Chrysler LLC’s Dodge and Flo TV created early buzz with spots that clearly targeted men feeling overwhelmed by responsibility and commitment.

“All three spots delved into a similar theme — about how men are feeling and their relationship with their role in life,” said Professor Tim Calkins of the Kellogg School of Management, who oversees a Super Bowl advertising review.

Another of the most buzzed about spots came from conservative Christian group called Focus on the Family, which created a stir even before the game when it announced plans to run an advertisement.

NEW YORK, Feb 7 (Reuters) – Sidestepping the usual slapstick comedy and animal tricks, a number of advertisers tried to score during Sunday’s Super Bowl with commercials that tapped into men’s ambivalence with their everyday lives.

In the battle among advertisers, Unilever’s <ULVR.L> Dove, Chrysler LLC’s <FIA.MI> Dodge and Flo TV created early buzz with spots that clearly targeted men feeling overwhelmed by responsibility and commitment.

“All three spots delved into a similar theme — about how men are feeling and their relationship with their role in life,” said Professor Tim Calkins of the Kellogg School of Management, who oversees a Super Bowl advertising review.

Another of the most buzzed about spots came from conservative Christian group called Focus on the Family, which created a stir even before the game when it announced plans to run an advertisement.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Even the most creative media executives would have been hard pressed a year ago to conjure up a world of solid profits, soaring stock prices and cash stockpiles big enough to support higher dividend payouts.

Thanks to quarterly results from two powerhouses of the media business this week, that world is easier to picture. Time Warner Inc on Wednesday posted profit and revenue that beat expectations and raised its dividend. News Corp did the same late on Tuesday.

Investors who bought media stocks 12 months ago made a smart bet. Time Warner shares dipped about 1 percent after its report, but are up about 40 percent in the past year. News Corp shares jumped 6 percent and have doubled from a year ago. Walt Disney Co has climbed nearly 50 percent and CBS Corp and Viacom have more than doubled.

All have outperformed the Standard & Poor’s 500.

NEW YORK, Feb 3 (Reuters) – Even the most creative media executives would have been hard pressed a year ago to conjure up a world of solid profits, soaring stock prices and cash stockpiles big enough to support higher dividend payouts.

Thanks to quarterly results from two powerhouses of the media business this week, that world is easier to picture. Time Warner Inc <TWX.N> on Wednesday posted profit and revenue that beat expectations and raised its dividend. News Corp <NWSA.O> did the same late on Tuesday [ID:nN01228027].

Investors who bought media stocks 12 months ago made a smart bet. Time Warner shares dipped about 1 percent after its report, but are up about 40 percent in the past year. News Corp shares jumped 6 percent and have doubled from a year ago. Walt Disney Co <DIS.N> has climbed nearly 50 percent and CBS Corp <CBS.N> and Viacom <VIAb.N> have more than doubled.

All have outperformed the Standard & Poor’s 500.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Enjoy $9.99 electronic books while you can — for they soon may be a thing of the past.

News Corp Chief Rupert Murdoch, who oversees a media empire than includes HarperCollins books, home to authors like Michael Crichton and Janet Evanovich, made clear on Tuesday his displeasure with the low price Amazon.com Inc has set for electronic books.

In order to raise prices, Murdoch wants to renegotiate the current deal with Amazon, and said the world’s largest retailer appears “ready to sit down with us again” to talk about new terms.

“We don’t like the Amazon model of selling everything at $9.99,” Murdoch said when asked about electronic books during a conference call with analysts on Tuesday.

NEW YORK, Feb 2 (Reuters) – Enjoy $9.99 electronic books while you can — for they soon may be a thing of the past.

News Corp <NWSA.O> Chief Rupert Murdoch, who oversees a media empire than includes HarperCollins books, home to authors like Michael Crichton and Janet Evanovich, made clear on Tuesday his displeasure with the low price Amazon.com Inc <AMZN.O> has set for electronic books.

In order to raise prices, Murdoch wants to renegotiate the current deal with Amazon, and said the world’s largest retailer appears “ready to sit down with us again” to talk about new terms.

“We don’t like the Amazon model of selling everything at $9.99,” Murdoch said when asked about electronic books during a conference call with analysts on Tuesday [ID:nN01228027].

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. consumers’ obsession with using smartphones to find restaurants, surf the web and navigate city streets helped propel a 26 percent rise in AT&T’s <T.N> quarterly profit — but at a cost for the operator.

The strain that wireless devices like smartphones and e-readers have placed on AT&T’s network is such that the company announced on Thursday it will increase capital spending by about $2 billion this year, targeting improvements in its wireless service.

The increase was unveiled as AT&T posted revenue and earnings that largely matched analysts’ estimates, although its addition of 2.7 million net subscribers in the fourth quarter was nearly 1 million more than expected.

Analysts did, however, point out that just 910,000 of those were the highly prized monthly bill-paying customers, compared with bigger rival Verizon Wireless’ addition of 1.15 million postpaid users.

NEW YORK, Jan 28 (Reuters) – U.S. consumers’ obsession with using smartphones to find restaurants, surf the web and navigate city streets helped propel a 26 percent rise in AT&T’s <T.N> quarterly profit — but at a cost for the operator.

The strain that wireless devices like smartphones and e-readers have placed on AT&T’s network is such that the company announced on Thursday it will increase capital spending by about $2 billion this year, targeting improvements in its wireless service.

The increase was unveiled as AT&T posted revenue and earnings that largely matched analysts’ estimates, although its addition of 2.7 million net subscribers in the fourth quarter was nearly 1 million more than expected.

Analysts did, however, point out that just 910,000 of those were the highly prized monthly bill-paying customers, compared with bigger rival Verizon Wireless’ addition of 1.15 million postpaid users.

NEW YORK, Jan 28 (Reuters) – AT&T <T.N> reported a 26 percent rise in fourth-quarter profit, fueled by wireless subscriber additions, particularly among users of e-readers, smartphones and netbook computers to the Web.

AT&T’s results reflect consumers’ willingness to pay to read newspapers online, find restaurants, text with friends or navigate city streets using mobile devices. AT&T added some 2.7 million net subscribers in the fourth quarter — nearly 1 million more than analysts predicted.

But analysts were not entirely impressed with the figure, saying they were surprised AT&T added just 910,000 of the highly prized monthly paying customers. Analysts had forecast a figure above 1 million.

Profit margins were also slimmer than some had expected, likely due to strong sales of Apple Inc’s <AAPL.O> iPhone. While AT&T’s exclusive right to sell iPhone has paid big dividends — it recorded 3.1 million iPhone activations in the quarter — it also has hurt profit margins since AT&T subsidizes the smartphone.