Television doesn't always like to throw the Internet a bone, but that's just what will happen when CBS' (NYSE: CBS) Friend Me -- a sitcom that just got picked up for the fall -- hits the air.
Despite the name of the series, the show has nothing to do with Facebook. It's basically about two friends who move to Los Angeles to work for Groupon (Nasdaq: GRPN).
Yes, Groupon is based out of Chicago, but they do have offices all over the world for local sales teams to drum up willing merchants and script overly clever ad copy.
This should be a major win for Groupon. Even if the series flops -- like the company's IPO before this week's strong recovery on an analyst upgrade followed by better-than-expected quarterly results last night -- the daily deals leader will be able to milk plenty of publicity as it expands its brand recognition.
If Groupon wants to know about the importance of having a primetime presence, it should check in with Ancestry.com (Nasdaq: ACOM).
Shares of the leading genealogy website operator tumbled 14% yesterday after Comcast's (Nasdaq: CMCSK) (Nasdaq: CMCSA) NBC Universal decided that it would not order a fourth season of Who Do You Think You Are?, the primetime genealogy series that finds Ancestry.com helping celebrities dive deep into the roots of their family tree.
It was no surprise to see Ancestry.com come up strong during the first quarter over the past three years when the series would air. Last month's blowout quarterly results featured a 19% top-line spike, fueled mostly by a 16% increase in premium subscribers. Given Ancestry.com's truly scalable model, the increase was enough to deliver a 50% pop in profitability.
If Groupon wants to know how good it will have it -- especially when CBS could've just ordered the show to have a fictional daily deals provider or gone with smaller rival Living Social -- it may as well as accept Ancestry.com's friend request.
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