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sales@spotsndots.com Copyright 2018.The Daily News of TV Sales Monday, September 30, 2019

SAAR EXPECTED TO REMAIN STRONG AT 17M September’s U.S. new light-vehicle sales will take a hit this year with lucrative Labor Day weekend volume coming in August, according to analysts, though total third-quarter deliveries are expected to be roughly flat from 2018. The lower results expected in September will snap two straight months of gains — an estimated 1.6 percent in July and 10 percent in August, according to the Automotive News data center, and the industry’s only advances so far this year. Most automakers are scheduled to release September results tomorrow. The Detroit 3 now report U.S. sales quarterly, with Ford Motor planning to release third-quarter figures on Wednesday. September has 23 selling days, two fewer than it did in 2018, due to Labor Day being earlier this year. The loss of nearly 250,000 holiday weekend sales led to declines across the board this month, with double-digit drops expected at Toyota, Ford, Nissan and FCA, among others. Cox Automotive predicts a 14 percent decline in this month’s sales, while J.D. Power and LMC Automotive foresee a 13 percent dip. Edmunds expects a 12 percent decrease. For the third quarter, Edmunds forecasts a 0.8 percent rise for the industry, while Cox sees a 0.4 percent decrease. J.D. Power/LMC, TrueCar’s ALG, Cox and Edmunds predict seasonally adjusted, annualized selling rates ranging from 16.8 million to 17.4 million. That compares with 17.07 million in August and 17.42 million in September 2018. There’s potential for “a lot of volatility” entering the fourth quarter due to uncertainty over tariffs, fallout from attacks on Saudi Arabian oil fields and product availability issues stemming from the UAW’s strike of General Motors, said Cox Automotive senior economist Charlie Chesbrough. Shopping website CarGurus said in-market car shoppers have been showing the same level of interest in GM vehicles as before the strike. CarGurus said dealerships should have a “robust supply on several key General Motors products for the next 45-60 days,” though the Chevrolet Malibu, Traverse and Equinox, GMC Sierra and Cadillac XT5 could run into inventory problems if the strike persists. Chesbrough said automakers could get more aggressive on incentive pricing in the fourth quarter. Incentives rose 4.9 percent this month to $3,975, with average transaction prices jumping 2 percent to $34,709, according to ALG. The largest incentive hikes came from Subaru, GM and Honda, although the

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DESPITE SEPT. DROP, FLAT Q3 SEEN FOR AUTO SALESADVERTISER NEWS Walmart, Kroger, Tesco, Ahold Delhaize and other retailers have joined the 10x20x30 initiative in an effort to help cut food waste in half by 2030, Supermarket News reports. The initiative has retailers working to reduce in-store food loss and waste, in addition to supporting upstream suppliers to reduce their own loss and waste...

In 2020, GM is integrating the Amazon Alexa app into millions of its 2018 and newer cars, trucks and crossovers for its Cadillac, Buick, GMC and Chevrolet vehicles. Consumers will be able to tap into “tens of thousands” of Alexa skills, including playing podcasts and adding products to their shopping carts, and the two firms will reportedly share data

gleaned from the voice commands, according to CNBC... Gap says it plans to hire more than 30,000 seasonal workers for the upcoming holiday season, lower than the 65,000 target the apparel retailer had set for 2018, Reuters reports. The holiday season, which includes Black Friday, Christmas and New Year, is the busiest time of the year for retailers and brings in a majority of their total sales. Gap says total seasonal hiring is lower this year to give current employees the opportunity to pick up more hours... DoorDash has announced the discovery of a data breach in May that could have exposed the private information of roughly 4.9 million customers, drivers and businesses. USA Today reports the delivery service has said it will contact affected parties... McDonald’s is testing its P.L.T. (plant, lettuce, tomato) burger in 28 restaurants in Toronto and the province of Ontario, CNN says. The pilot program, which will test a meatless burger from Beyond Meat, is scheduled to run 12 weeks... McKinsey is now a brick-and-mortar retailer. The consulting firm is opening a store at Minnesota’s Mall of America, to test out how receptive shoppers are to gadgets like smart mirrors and paying with cryptocurrency. Products from Kendra Scott and Third Love, among other fashion brands, will be sold.

PAGE 2 The Daily News of TV Sales @ www.spotsndots.com

AVAILS KCRG TV9, a Gray Television station in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has an immediate opening for a Digital Sales Manager. The DSM will work directly with KCRG’s Sales department to help prospect, develop and maintain digital advertising accounts. The DSM will also work closely with local businesses to provide unique marketing solutions and will be responsible for achieving KCRG’s digital advertising budget. Must have at least 2 years’ experience with managing and/or selling digital marketing solutions. CLICK HERE for more info or to apply. EOE.

WTAT-TV FOX24 in Charleston, S.C., seeks an energetic and experienced Creative Services Director. The director is responsible for on-air promotion and packaging of the channel’s marketing content and material. This position is both creative and strategic and works closely with station management to develop brand strategy and launch content and create brand identity and packaging. At least five years of creative professional in broadcasting and/or cable on air

production required. Please email your resume to jobs@foxcharleston.com, and include your salary requirements and a link to your latest work. EOE. WLBT-TV in Jackson, Miss., seeks a dynamic Digital Sales Manager to work with our entire sales team and Local X (Gray’s in-house digital agency) to develop and grow digital sales. The DSM will lead the station’s efforts in developing new and incremental digital business and will accompany sellers to presentations and assist directly in closing business. Candidates must be able to demonstrate a consistent and successful track record of leadership and revenue development. CLICK HERE for more details or to apply now. KCRG TV9, a Gray Television station and the ABC affiliate in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has an immediate opening for a National Sales Manager. Candidate must possess strong leadership, the highest level of customer service and sales skills, in addition to a proven track record of success with negotiating and servicing national agencies. The NSM will manage national and political sales activity and grow share utilizing available research and building strategic relationships. Two or more years of National Sales preferred. CLICK HERE to apply.

See your ad here tomorrow! CLICK HERE for details.

THIS AND THAT Social influencers are failing to resonate with many shoppers. According to the new Connected Consumer Index, a global survey of 5,000 consumers from marketing automation company Selligent, only 41 percent of respondents said at least one purchasing decision within the last six months had been influenced by social media ads... The Grocery Manufacturers Association is renaming itself as the Consumer Brands Association as it seeks to recover following the exodus of some of the nation’s largest food marketers. The trade group’s rebrand takes effect in January.

SINCLAIR CEO SEES STREAMING ‘SEA OF BLOOD’ Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley has looked out upon the incoming streaming wars, and has seen a landscape where media conglomerates will struggle to strive, FierceVideo reports. In an interview with NBC News, he said his company has focused in on news and sports as a long-term sustainable business strategy, and consciously avoided wading into the SVOD market with Amazon and Netflix and soon Disney, Apple, WarnerMedia and NBCUniversal. “We think that’s going to be a sea of blood,” said Ripley. “It’s going to be losses for many years to come for many of those companies who are going to be engaged in a major share battle.” Sinclair’s streaming strategy is largely anchored by STIRR, its ad-supported service that features channels with curated live local news, local and regional sports, entertainment and city-focused lifestyle programming. In sports, Sinclair has a rapidly growing stable of regional sports networks. The company is launching a new RSN in partnership with the Chicago Cubs, and recently closed a $9.6 billion deal to buy 21 RSNs from Disney.

NETWORK NEWS Locast, the service launched in 2018 that enables viewers to access free internet streams of local TV stations’ signals, has filed a counter-suit against ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox, alleging “classic copyright abuse,” Deadline reports. The two sides have clashed over the service, which bills itself as a “signal booster” fully compliant with copyright laws. Broadcasters maintain it is a phony not-for-profit supported by satellite operators looking for a work-around in the increasingly pitched battles over retransmission consent. Even though broadcast signals are beamed free over the air, under laws revised in the 1990s, pay-TV operators are forced to negotiate retransmission consent, paying fees for broadcasters’ programs... NBC has launched Squadroom, a podcast hosted by Law & Order: SVU insider Anthony Roman and featuring interviews with the cast, producers and writers. The debut episode featured an interview with star Mariska Hargitay, SVU showrunner Warren Leight and Peter Scanavino... Linda Porter, a character actress who appeared in dozens of TV series and feature films and was perhaps best known for her role as Myrtle in NBC’s Superstore, died last week from cancer. She was 86. Porter’s TV credits included guest roles in Childrens Hospital, Togetherness, 2 Broke Girls, Bunheads, The Mindy Project and How I Met Your Mother.

ACCOUNT ACTION Omnicom Group has ended its relationship with embattled e-cigarette maker Juul Labs, Ad Age reports. The move comes amid a growing backlash over vaping, which has been blamed for a mysterious lung injury causing hundreds of cases of illness and 12 deaths. Last week Juul announced it would suspend all broadcast, print and digital advertising in the U.S. Omnicom’s DDB began working for Juul about a year ago, with media buying reportedly handled by Omnicom Media Group.

9/30/2019

Conan O’Brien

Wal-Mart has stopped selling guns and e-cigarettes in its

quest to make sure everyone dies of diabetes.

The Daily News of TV Sales @ www.spotsndots.com PAGE 3

CONSUMER SPENDING SLOWS IN AUGUST U.S. consumer spending barely rose in August and business investment remained subdued amid lingering trade tensions, prompting economists to slash their economic growth estimates for the third quarter, Reuters reports. The report from the Commerce Department, however, likely doesn’t signal a recession is looming as consumer spending remains supported by solid income growth, thanks to the lowest unemployment rate in nearly 50 years and a huge savings buffer. But the data also showed underlying inflation perking up by

the most in seven months on an annual basis in August, which economists said could put the Federal Reserve in a difficult position as it seeks to keep the longest economic expansion on record, now in its 11th year, on track. Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, edged up 0.1 percent last month as an increase in outlays on recreational goods and autos was offset by a decrease in spending at restaurants and hotels.

Data for July was revised slightly down to show consumer spending increasing 0.5 percent instead of the previously reported 0.6 percent advance. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast consumer spending gaining 0.3 percent last month.

SURVEY: FURNITURE ORDERS RECOVER IN JULY New orders for furniture rose in July for the first time since January, increasing 6 percent from July 2018 levels, according to the Furniture Insights survey of furniture manufacturers and distributors from accounting and consulting firm Smith Leonard. Along with the first order increase in five months, more than half (53%) of survey participants reported increases after several months when the majority of those queried said orders had fallen, FurnitureToday.com reports. “Last year, new orders in July were up 5 percent over July 2017, so the increase in July 2019 compared to decent results last year,” noted Smith Leonard Managing Partner Ken Smith in the survey report. After July’s increase, the year-to-date decline in orders was reduced to 2 percent, compared with a 3 percent decrease reported through June. Still, new orders year to date remained down for 67 percent of survey participants, about the same as reported last month.

9/30/2019

George Carlin

The reason I talk to myself is that I’m the only one

whose answers I accept.

SATURDAY NIELSEN RATINGS - LIVE + SAME DAY

59% OF BABY BOOMERS ARE DIGITAL BUYERS Boomers are not indifferent to the benefits of digital shopping, eMarketer says. However, their reluctance to use smartphones for any and everything tends to limit the digital proportion of their overall shopping — as does their worry about digital privacy. Repeating the pattern evident in other forms of digital usage, the research firm’s estimates peg a majority (59%) of boomers as digital buyers. That’s a smaller majority than among younger consumers. According to the 2018 edition of GfK’s annual FutureBuy report, boomers are more apt to use the home computer than a mobile device when shopping digitally. Some 79 percent of boomers said they shopped via a PC in the previous six months, while 33 percent reported doing so via smartphone and 22 percent via tablet. In an August 2019 eMarketer poll conducted by Bizrate Insights, fewer than half of 55- to 65-year-olds said they used a mobile retail app in the past month to research a possible purchase.

PEW: 29% OF U.S. HOUSEHOLDS ‘LOWER CLASS’ Nearly one-third of American households, 29 percent, live in “lower class” households, the Pew Research Center finds in a 2018 report. The median income of that group was $25,624 in 2016. Pew defines the lower class as adults whose annual household income is less than two-thirds the national median. That’s after incomes have been adjusted for household size, since smaller households require less money to support the same lifestyle as larger ones. The share of U.S. adults considered lower class varies depending on where you live, Pew notes: “The metropolitan areas with the largest shares of lower-income adults are located primarily in the Southwest.” The metro with the highest share is Laredo, Texas, where almost half of households (49%) are considered lower class. More than half of U.S. households (52%), are considered middle class, Pew reports, while 19 percent are upper class.

FLAT Q3 EXPECTED FOR U.S. AUTO SALES(Continued from Page 1)two Japanese manufacturers still have the lowest spending levels in the industry. Thomas King, SVP of the data and analytics division at J.D. Power, said it makes sense to evaluate the industry from a quarterly perspective because of “noise in the monthly results.” GM, Ford and FCA US have stopped reporting sales monthly. King, in a statement, called the flat third quarter a “remarkable improvement from the first half of the year.” It would be the first quarter in nearly two years without a year-over-year sales decline. King said the improvement has been accompanied by record levels of incentive spending. J.D. Power’s incentive estimates are slightly higher than ALG’s forecast. J.D. Power is projecting incentive spending to reach $4,159, the highest level ever for the third quarter and just $28 short of the all-time high set in the fourth quarter of 2017.