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sales@spotsndots.com Copyright 2017.The Daily News of TV Sales Thursday, December 21, 2017

VIDEO ADS DRIVING ONLINE AD REVENUEIAB: VIDEO IS A VERY STRONG GROWTH ENGINE Video ads are among the engines driving online adverting revenue. But don’t count out traditional over-the-air spots either. That’s according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau. The IAB reports digital ad revenue surged to an all-time high of $40.1 billion during the first half of the year, a 23% increase compared to a year ago. Advertisers spent $21.7 billion on mobile advertisements during the first six months of 2017 representing more than half (54%) of total digital ad revenue. How does online growth stack up to traditional media? Total traditional media revenue is estimated to have declined 2% during the first half although TV did better. Nielsen reports broadcast TV revenue increased 2% to $25.4 billion during the first half. And cable TV grew 1% to $12.6 billion. The IAB says video remained a “very strong” growth engine for digital revenue. Total video ad revenue increased 37% during the first half to $5.2 billion. That was led by mobile video’s growth with those billings soaring 65% to $2.6 billion. And working with the number crunchers at PwC, the IAB calculates online video’s share of the digital pie increased to 13%. “That’s a real strong indicator that advertisers are able to reach consumers across devices where they are consuming this content,” said Gordon Borrell, head of the media research firm Borrell Associates, during an IAB webinar on Wednesday. There is also good news for sellers of in-stream video ads in terms of CPMs. The average video ad CPM was up 5% to $24.51. That compares to an average $14.60 CPM for display ads. “The size of the growth on the internet suggests something other than share shift is happening,” said Chris Kuist, SVP of research at IAB. With growth “challenging” among the national advertisers—more than half of the Fortune 500 companies trimmed their marketing budgets last year an average of 9%—he said that leaves one answer for where the new dollars are coming from. “National ad budgets are stagnant, but what we’re seeing is the influx of smaller and medium sized business at the local level engaging in the digital marketplace,” Kuist said. Borrell said his firm’s research shows most local advertisers are using a more-the-merrier strategy. “Three-quarters of them are buying digital advertising with traditional advertising,” he said. “They’re combining search engine marketing or social media marketing with direct mail, newspaper or TV advertising.” And even though half of all local budgets may be spent on digital that doesn’t mean traditional media companies are left out in the cold. Borrell surveys show traditional media companies capture 19% of those digital dollars as they sell ads on websites, mobile apps, or offer services like social media management. “They are generating pretty significant amounts of money,” Borrell said. (Continued one page three)

ADVERTISER NEWS Kroger has announced an upgrade to ClickList, its integrated and digital shopping option, a move that coincides with the opening of the grocer’s 1,000th ClickList store. Kroger is giving customers access to relevant products and recipes, digital coupons, weekly ads and shopping lists through ClickList. Shoppers can now add digital coupons to their cart and reserve a pickup time from the site’s homepage.....Shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill were down 4.3% Wednesday after a report that California public health officials are investigating a possible illness outbreak in one

of the company’s restaurants in Los Angeles. Chipotle said the company is aware of a few online reports, but there is no clinical validation associated with them. The company also said it has not been contacted by customers directly to substantiate these claims....Fooddive.com reports that Fresh Thyme Farmers Market, the discount natural and organic chain that operates 66 stores in nine Midwestern states, will scale

back its expansion in 2018, according to Chicago’s Daily Herald. After opening 20 stores in nine Midwestern states in 2017, it will open 10 stores next year, including its first in Pennsylvania....The first pre-production models of the new BMW X7 Sports Activity Vehicle are rolling off the assembly line at the BMW Group Spartanburg, SC plant. The X7 will have standard three rows of seats and will be built on the same platform as the X5 and X6. It will be the first BMW SUV with an available V12 engine...UPS is making a big investment in all-electric big rigs by placing an order for 125 of the sleek new semi-trucks from Tesla. The auto company plans to begin producing the vehicles in 2019.

COMCAST & AT&T SHARING & INVESTING Comcast said late Wednesday it would award special bonuses to thousands of employees based on tax overhaul measures and the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to scrap ‘net neutrality’ rules. Comcast said it would award more than 100,000 eligible employees a special $1,000 bonus each, and will invest more than $50 billion in infrastructure over the next five years. Earlier Wednesday, AT&T said it would pay $1,000 bonuses to more than 200,000 employees if President Donald Trump signed a tax overhaul bill into law before Christmas. Last week, the FCC voted to roll back Obama-era regulations for internet service providers. Others on the bandwagon; Fifth Third Bancorp will raise the minimum wage for all of its nearly 3,000 hourly employees to $15, and will distribute a one-time bonus of $1,000 for more than 13,500 employees by the end of the year if the bill is signed by Dec. 25. Wells Fargo also said it would boost its minimum wage to $15 per hour, an 11% increase from its current hourly rate of $13.50, once the law is passed.

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

NETWORK NEWS The Fox Network is developing a new single-camera comedy with actress Eva Longoria on board as executive producer, according to Variety. Bobby Bowman and Peter Murrieta have received a script order with a penalty attached for Bell Heights. The project follows an Eastside L.A. family with three very different adult siblings who are held together by the youngest, dutiful son. The project was previously set up at ABC last season with comedians Felipe Esparza and Dustin Ybarra to star. Bell Heights marks the reteaming of Longoria and Bowman, who previously worked together on the ABC project White People Problems in 2015……Viewership remains high for the Matt Lauer-free Today Show on NBC. For the third consecutive week, the 7-9 AM (ET) hour of The Today Show out-delivered ABC’s Good Morning America. For the week of December 11th, The Today Show clocked 4.59 million viewers, ahead of ABC’s Good Morning America’s 4.51 million. CBS This Morning’s total viewership was 3.7 million. The Today Show continued to win the race in the news demo of adults 25-54, jumping to a 1.4 Nielsen rating and averaging 1.69 million viewers in the demo. The demo rating for Good Morning America was a 1.2, with 1.4 million viewers in the demographic. CBS This Morning managed a 0.9 rating and 1.0 million demo viewers……CBS Television Studios will be developing a series based on Thomas Mallon’s novel Watergate. The series is being considered for premium and streaming networks like the CBS-owned Showtime and CBS All Access. The show has been envisioned as a limited series with a darky comedic tone and will follow the events of the political break-in and the subsequent downfall of the Richard Nixon presidency through the eyes of a collection of characters that weren’t as well known. The historical fiction novel tells the story through a collection of colorful perpetrators and investigators…….NBCUniversal Domestic Television has closed a deal with the Fox Television Stations for the national syndication rights to Dick Wolf’s NBC Police procedural series Chicago P.D. Starting September of next year, the popular series will air Monday-Friday on local broadcast stations including the Fox owned-and-operated stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Washington D.C., Houston, Phoenix, San Francisco, Minneapolis, Orlando, and Charlotte, among others……Carnival Cruise Lines and Univision Communications are teaming up to develop the first O.C.E.A.N primetime series. La Gran Sorpresa (The Great Surprise) will use the power of travel to reunite families as they overcome hardships created by illness, separation and other challenges. Award-winning television personality Poncho de Anda will host the hour-long program. For the first six episodes, de Anda will be joined by several well-known personalities including Univision Deportes’ Karina Banda, Despierta America’s Franscisca Lachapel, and Maity Interiano, and Ligia Uriarte of Univision’s primetime dramedy Mi Marido Tiene Familia. La Gran Sopresa will air on Sunday nights at 8 PM (ET) beginning on January 7th on Univision.

AVAILS WAFB, the Raycom-owned CBS affiliate in the Baton Rouge, LA market seeks a dynamic leader to serve as the Vice President and General Manager of a legacy station in a top 100 television market. A minimum of 5 years’ experience successfully performing in a senior broadcast media management position, GM experience preferred. Find out why this vibrant capital city and home of the LSU Tigers and Southern Jaguars is a great place to work and play! CLICK HERE for more info or to apply. No calls please. EOE-M/F/D/V

Cox Media Group, Tulsa OK, seeks a Local Sales Manager. CMG Tulsa is comprised of KOKI Television, KMYT, MeTV, Fox23.com, Mobile, Tablet and other digital services. The LSM will identify and drive sales strategies for CMG Tulsa in order to attain revenue and share goals through development of overall direction, product and training for all products. 5+ years of sales management experience and a proven track record of building, developing and

training strong digital sales teams required. CLICK HERE to apply. EOE. WSET ABC-13, Lynchburg, VA, is looking for a motivated Local Sales Manager to lead their local sales team in exceeding budgets on multiple platforms and coach and mentor a team of motivated sellers. This position requires an individual who has strong leadership skills and can or wants to lead a local sales team. Client engagement is a top priority. Candidate must have at least 3 years broadcast sales experience, and a passion for new business development. Let’s talk! APPLY HERE. EOE. WIVB/WNLO TV in Buffalo, NY seeks an experienced sales professional with a minimum of 2-3 years’ experience in media sales or outside sales experience. Successful candidate must have proven track record for developing new business and growing existing business. Must be able to work successfully in a multi-platform environment selling both television and Digital products. We offer competitive salaries and a standard benefit package that includes a 401K plan in addition to medical, eye and dental plans. CLICK HERE to apply. EOE/M/F/D/V

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ACCOUNT ACTIONS Microsoft’s mammoth media agency account is up for grabs in a closed review, according to Ad Age. In April 2014, Microsoft selected Interpublic Group as agency of record for advertising and global deployment and Dentsu Aegis Network to handle search advertising and media buying and planning. Microsoft continues to work with m:united//McCann, a dedicated agency within IPG, for its creative work……Long John Silver’s selected independent Baldwin&, Raleigh, NC, as its lead agency for creative, strategy and media planning. Omnicom’s Icon International continues to handle media buying for the fast-food brand……Polaris Industries has awarded creative duties for its street-legal motor brands—Indian Motorcycle and Slingshot three-wheeled roadster---to Solve, Minneapolis.

12/21/2017

Conan O’Brien

If the Christmas carolers at my door are really good, I turn my red swivel chair dramatically toward them.

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

SATISFACTION INDEX HOLDS STEADY The national level of customer satisfaction stabilized in Q3, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). Overall U.S. customer satisfaction was steady at an ACSI score of 76.7 (on a 0-100 scale). While customer satisfaction grew consistently throughout 2016, this year has been volatile, with the ACSI score up in Q1 2017, down in Q2 and now flat in Q3. For a long period after the Great Recession, the ACSI analysts note that consumer spending growth was positive but weak, and so was ACSI growth. By the end of 2013, consumer spending rebounded strongly, causing service and quality glitches and a decline in customer satisfaction. But the pent-up demand was so strong that a decline in customer satisfaction had little impact on demand. As the pace of spending growth slowed, customer satisfaction recovered. For the U.S. economy to be strong, consumer spending, two-thirds of the GDP, needs to be strong as well. Greater customer satisfaction last year did not translate to rapid contemporaneous economic growth, but the ACSI analysts say it seems to be paying dividends for the economy this year. GDP growth topped the 3.0% mark in both the second and third quarters of 2017—a first since the middle of 2014.

COMPETITIVE INFO Google has advised website operators that the Chrome browser will start blocking ads from sites that violate the Better Ads Standards beginning February 15, 2018. The standards were developed by the Coalition for Better Ads and Google announced in June that it planned to implement them. Violations of the Standards are reported to sites via the Ad Experience Report, and site owners can submit their site for re-review once the violations have been fixed. The desktop standards prohibit pop-up ads, auto-play video ads with sound, prestitial ads with countdown and large sticky ads. For the mobile web environment, violations include pop-up ads, prestitial ads, ads with density greater than 30%, flashing animated ads, auto-play video ads with sound, poststitial ads with countdown, full-screen scrollover ads, and large sticky ads.

VIDEO DRIVING ONLINE AD REVENUE(Continued from page one) ...Digital ad revenue has grown every quarter since Q2 of 2010 and over the past 40 quarters it’s had growth rates of at least 20%. Yet Pivotal Research Group analyst Brian Wieser thinks television will be particular “resilient” to the onslaught of digital. In a report to clients he said it’s a good bet there will be a “gradual deceleration” in digital’s growth rate. At the same time he thinks that digital media companies are gradually approaching the point of saturating available digital budgets. “This helps explain why digital media owners—and Facebook in particular—have become more aggressive in finding ways to capture television advertising budgets,” he said. It’s also why he says Google is “counting on” YouTube to capture TV ad dollars.

HOME SALES REACHING IMPRESSIVE LEVELS U.S. home sales increased more than expected in November, hitting their highest level in nearly 11 years, the latest indication that housing was regaining momentum after almost stalling this year. Reuters reports that existing home sales surged 5.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.81 million units last month amid continued recovery in areas in the South ravaged by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, and solid gains in other parts of the country. Meanwhile, a survey by Zillow and MetroStudy (a HanleyWood Company), notes that new construction

homebuyers exhibit some surprising behavior. The demographics of new construction homebuyers are spread across all generations: 36 percent are millennials, 30 percent are Gen Xers, 28 percent are Boomers, and only 6 percent are 73 years old or older — with the median age falling at 42 (compared with a median age of 40 for all home purchases). New construction buyers are more educated than existing home

homebuyers — with 55 percent holding a four-year college degree or higher, compared with 42 percent of existing home homebuyers. Nearly half of all new construction homebuyers purchased their home from out of town, out of state, or out of country; only 53 percent of new construction homebuyers purchasing their home in their current city. The search for a new construction home can be a lengthy one, with the average new home builder taking 4.8 months to make their purchase. And they do their research too, with 76 percent looking online for a new home, 65 percent using a real estate broker, and 60 percent using a homebuilder’s sales center to find their new home. In fact, homebuyers looked at an average of four sources before making their purchase. Although the Internet is a top research tool for new construction homebuyers (with 86 percent using online resources to research a new home or homebuilder), 39 percent said their top contact preference with their builder is to meet in person, with 29 percent preferring a phone call, and 25 percent preferring email.

12/21/2017

Jim Gaffigan

I used to exercise to lose weight. Now I exercise so

I can fit in cars.

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