Spots N Dots
The Daily News Of TV Sales
February 16, 2017
SURVEY: CONSUMERS ARE UPBEAT ABOUT 2017
YOUNG DEMOS SEE FINANCES IMPROVING
The majority of consumers see a brighter future for 2017, according the latest IRI Consumer Connect survey. The findings from the early January survey reveal that 70% of consumers feel their household finances will improve in the next six months, and they are willing to pay a premium for higher quality and highly differentiated packaged goods products. Also, they are willing to pay EXTRA for the convenience of shopping online. “Consumers are feeling optimistic about their finances but splurge-worthy priorities and money-saving strategies differ by shopper,” said IRI VP Susan Viamari.
The survey results point to a gap between younger and older consumers regarding improvements in their household finances for the first half of 2017. 33% of 18- to 34-year-olds and 38% of 35- to 54-year-olds think their personal finances will improve, while only 18% of 55- to 64-year-olds and 11% of those aged 65-plus think their finances will improve.
Meanwhile, optimism about future financial health is fairly consistent across income ranges. Among those expecting improvements: 24% are consumers who earn $35,000 or less; 24% are consumers who earn $35,000 to $54,000; 25% are consumers who earn $55,000 to $99,000; and 21% are consumers who earn $100,000 or more. This financial optimism cuts across ethnic backgrounds: 24% are African American, 3% Asian, 14% Hispanic and 62% are white consumers feeling their household finances will improve in 2017.
Despite widespread optimism, deal-seeking remains pervasive, as consumers look to spend their hard-earned money wisely. And, among the one-third of consumers who remain concerned and expect their financial position to deteriorate in the coming six months, deal-seeking is even more common. 85% of these pessimistic consumers will buy private label to save money compared to 81% of the overall population. And 61% of pessimistic consumers will compare prices on retailers’ websites to find the lowest prices compared to 50% of the overall population.
For the upbeat, though, consumer packaged goods (CPG) buyers are willing to splurge a bit for natural and organic products, food and beverage products with additional benefits such as antioxidants, and for environmentally friendly household cleaners. Consumers also are willing to pay more for the product selection and the convenience of shopping online. Overall, 33% of optimistic consumers and 20% of the overall population say they will pay more to order products online and have them delivered to their home.
“Consumers will spend more to get more, but it’s important that CPG marketers provide reassurances and encouragement throughout the year through the use of targeted messaging that reinforces the value proposition,” concludes Viamari.
ADVERTISER NEWS
Verizon Communications is close to a revised deal to buy Yahoo’s core internet business. Sources briefed on the matter say the original price for the acquisition has been reduced by $250 million to $350 million off the original agreed price of $4.83 billion. Verizon has been trying to persuade Yahoo to amend the terms of the original deal to reflect the damage done by two recent cyber attacks. Sources went on to say the deal may be announced as early as this week……Shareholders have endorsed the $85 billion cash and stock deal that allows AT&T to buy Time Warner. CEO Jeff Bewkestold a gathering at the meeting in Atlanta that “We’ve done very well today, but I think you know, the video market is changing rapidly and just producing great content is no longer enough. We have to produce great consumer experiences.” He went on to say that the union with AT&T will “dramatically accelerate our ability to do that.” The merger still needs to get approval from the Justice Department antitrust officials……. Wal-Mart has made a deal to acquire outdoor apparel retailer Moosejawfor about $51 million in cash. The apparel retailer carries such brands as Patagonia, The North Face, Marmot and Arc’teryx, and is primarily focused on ecommerce. Moosejaw also operates 10 physical stores across the Midwest. Wal-Mart is saying Moosejaw will continue to operate its website and brick-and-mortar locations as a standalone brand. CEO EoinComerfordof Moosejaw says his executive team and the company’s 350-plus employees will remain headquarter in Madison Heights, MI……Whole Foods announced during its earnings call last week that it plans to invest in three technology investments to reduce inefficiencies and boost sales. The initiatives include data-driven category management, spearheaded by the company’s partnership with data firm dunhumby, a U.K.-based customer science company. Product kiosks, which have been shown to boost the sales of prepared foods by as much as 100%, and automatic refreshment, which speeds product from the loading dock to the store shelf……Major League Soccer’s D.C. United will play in the new Audi Field. The auto brand purchased the naming rights to the stadium in an agreement that will run at least a decade. The terms of the deal were not disclosed but an unnamed source said the deal was one of the three richest naming-rights deals in MLS. That would put it close to the Banc of California’s 15-year agreement with the Los Angeles Football Club at an average of $6.6 million a year……. SodaStream, reported a fourth-quarter revenue increase of 17% to $131.8 million, compared to $112.9 million a year ago. SodaStream finished 2016 with cash and bank deposits of $57.3 million and zero bank debt. In December alone, the company sold 941,000 more sparking water starter kits than previous months, an increase of 22% from November.
NETWORK NEWS
NBC picked Valentine’s Day to introduce its new eight-episode observational documentary series called First Dates from executive producer Ellen DeGeneres. The program will look at a variety of real first dates over one night at the same restaurant in Chicago. Actress Drew Barrymore is set to narrate. First Dates premieres on NBC Friday, April 7th ……Tribune’s multicast network, Antenna TV celebrates the 40th anniversary of the 70’s sitcom Three’s Company. Joyce Dewitt (Janet), Richard Kline (Larry), Priscilla Barnes (Terry) and Jenilee Harrison (Cindy) gathered in L.A. to do an interview with Tribune Broadcasting’s anchor TamsenFadal, featuring behind-the-scenes memories, as well as emotional stories about series star John Ritter. Excerpts of the interview will air during Antenna TV’s Three’s Company 40th Anniversary Rendezvous marathon the weekend of 3/11……Genevieve Angelsonstar of Amazon’s Good Girls Revolt has been cast in the lead for a new NBC multi-camera comedy called Happy Peppers. The show comes from Will & Grace creator Max Mutchnickand Jeff Astrofof Friends. Happy Peppers is being eyed as a possible companion piece to a new season of Will & Grace in the fall……Veteran actress Annie Potts will co-star opposite Chris Distefanoin the new comedy pilot on CBS from How I Met Your Mother creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas. Potts will play a passive-aggressive yet vulnerable Irish Catholic mother in Distefano, a series about a 20-something couple raising their newborn daughter and merging their meddling families……. Hugh Grant, Keira Knightly, Coin Firth, Liam Neeson, Bill Nighy, Andrew Lincoln and Rowan Atkinson – all cast members from the romantic feature film Love Actually – are reuniting to help raise money for NBC’s Red Nose Day. The cast will star in a short film from the movie’s director Richard Curtis, and will be called Red Nose Actually. NBC airs Red Nose Day in the U.S. on May 25th…… Sitcom veteran James Burrows will direct a new comedy for CBS. Brothered Up, a buddy cop series will feature the return to CBS of AdhirKalyan(Rules of Engagement) playing an emotionally available Pakistani cop partnered with an emotionally guarded African- American, as they are forced to find a way to connect while on patrol on the streets of Detroit. Kalyan played Russell’s (David Spade) assistant on Rules of Engagement.
CABLE IS TOUGH SALE FOR MILLENNIAL MALES
Findings from a new Videologysurvey of male Millennials show that more than half of respondents have already stopped paying for cable packages in light of new streaming services. It’s not just about saving money, though, since more than one in four respondents plan to upgrade their Internet service speed this year.
Faced with a choice, 75% of the Millennial males said they would rather give up cable than streaming services. 53% are already without an MVPD and 14% plan to cut the cord in 2017, leaving only 33% planning to subscribe to pay- TV through this year. 61% primarily stream movies through a connected TV, computer or mobile device. And 11% plan to buy some kind of wearable technology in 2017.
DONE DEALS
Nexstar Media Group has named Gary SoapesVice President and General Manager of WCBD (NBC/CW) and associated digital services including CountOn2.com in Charleston (DMA #94). Most recently, Soapes was General Sales Manager at WMBF, Raycom’sNBC affiliate in Myrtle Beach-Florence....Byron Grandyhas been appointed by Nexstar Media Group to the position of Vice President and General Manager of WNCN (CBS) and associated digital properties including WNCN.com in Raleigh-Durham (DMA #24). Grandy will report to Doug Davis, SVP and Regional Manager for Nexstar. Previously, Grandy was VP/GM at KMGH (ABC) Denver, and part of the team that launched the market’s new Spanish Language channel, KZCO (Azeteca Colorado).
AUTO SALES JUST MISS PER STORE RECORD
As Fiat Chrysler Automobiles talks about adding hundreds of new dealerships this year, an annual report from Urban Science says the total number of auto dealerships held pretty steady last year—but sales were strong and the industry just missed setting a new per-dealership sales record.
As of January 1, 2017, there were 18,170 dealerships (rooftops), a 0.5% increase from January 1, 2016 total of 18,087. The number of franchises, or brands a dealership sells, also experienced a period of stability, slightly increasing from 31,776 on January 1, 2016, to 32,011 as of January 1, 2017.
“The sales throughput for 2016 was 965 per dealership. This throughput missed setting another record level by one unit due to the stable but increasing count of dealerships in 2016,” said Mitchell Phillips at Urban Science’s.
Over the past six years, Phillips says 96% of local markets had virtually no net change in the number of dealerships (flat or +/- 1 dealership). The most significant (net) dealership increases occurred in Texas (+15), Florida (+14), Arizona, (+9) and Massachusetts, (+8),
THIS AND THAT
The Commerce Department had good news for the retail industry. Sales in January were up 0.4%—easily beating the expectations of private forecasters. Electronics was one of the hot areas for retail sales, and the total was up despite the biggest drop in motor vehicle purchases in 10 months……comScoreannounced accreditation by the Media Rating Council (MRC) for its mobile viewable impressions and related viewability metrics for display and video ads, in mobile web and in-app, in comScore’s validated Campaign Essentials....Shares of Grouponskyrocketed more than 23% on Wednesday after the daily-deals company said it paid virtually nothing for former rival LivingSocialand increased sales and earnings well beyond expectations. Groupon had 52.7 million active users at the end of the fiscal year, compared with 48.9 million in the year-earlier period. That includes roughly 1 million incremental active customers from the LivingSocial acquisition.
AUTOMOTIVE UPDATE
Ford is investing $1 billion during the next five years in Argo AI, an artificial intelligence company, to develop a virtual driver system for the autonomous vehicle that Ford says is coming in 2021. The two partners also hope to license it to other companies. Argo AI founders Bryan Salesky, CEO, and Peter Rander, COO, were former leaders on the self-driving car teams of Google and Uber, respectively……German auto giant Daimler AG announced that its subsidiary Daimler Financial Services is making an investment in AutoGravity, a California startup that has created a smartphone app for vehicle shopping and financing. In conjunction with Daimler Financial Services, AutoGravity has launched a national rollout across 46 states.
AVAILS
Winter is here! If you would prefer to be selling where summer never ends, WPBF 25, the Hearst owned ABC Affiliate in sunny West Palm Beach has an opportunity for you! WPBF 25 is looking for a dynamic sales superstar to join our fantastic sales team. The ideal candidate must have Broadcast TV sales experience and possess the drive and ability to thrive on multiple platforms in a fast paced, highly competitive market. Your creativity, originality, and passion for developing New Business will be encouraged and rewarded! CLICK HEREto apply. EOE
WMBF News, the Raycom-owned NBC affiliate in Myrtle Beach, SC seeks a dynamic General Sales Manager. This individual will have experience coaching, training and leading team members to consistently grow market share and new revenue streams. The candidate must be an innovative leader who knows how to maximize revenue on TV, Online and Mobile. A successful track record driving local and digital revenue and selling creative solutions and revenue projects is required. Great station & company! To apply, PLEASE CLICK HERENo calls. EOE-M/F/D/V
WECT-TV, Wilmington, NC, seeks a successful Account Executive. As a division of Raycom Media, our sales team helps local businesses to grow through advertising on WECT, WECT.com and WECT’s mobile apps, Bounce Wilmington and niche and extended reach digital products. If you are a quick learner, energetic, results-driven, and thrive on working in a competitive, fast-paced environment, CLICK HEREto apply or to learn more about this position. Be prepared to upload your cover letter/ resume. EOE-M/F/D/V
WRAL-FM in Raleigh, NC, seeks experienced Radio Local Sales Manager to achieve revenue goals by creating and implementing winning sales strategies. Responsible for all aspects of managing team of AEs. Heavy focus on new business development, growing existing accounts through new ideas and increasing shares of transactional business. Three+ years radio sales management experience with proven track record and fervent desire to win required. All candidates must APPLY ONLINE. EOE M/F. Tobacco free. CBC participates in E-Verify.
Digital Sales Manager: Tribune Media / WGN-TV, Chicago’s Very Own has an immediate opening for an innovative leader and revenue generating catalyst. You would be joining a highly successful sales team that sells some of the most powerful second screens in Chicago: wgntv.com, TheWeatherChannel.com, and a multitude of audience extension / marketing services opportunities. If you have successful digital sales experience and you love to lead, coach, create, sell and help businesses grow, send a cover letter/resume to: OE.
Do you like telling a story and digging into numbers and demographics? WNCN, Nexstar Broadcasting’s CBS affiliate in Raleigh-Durham has a Research Associate position available. This person will be a resource for the local staff and clients on the retrieval and massaging of research data. Candidates must possess the ability to format data and effectively present station in a sellable / advantageous position in a fast-paced environment. 2-3 years of working with NSI/Nielsen products and services WideOrbit Media Sales/Traffic and Kantar preferred. APPLY HERE. EOE.
KMTR TV, an NBC affiliate in beautiful Eugene, Oregon, is looking for a Station Manager with a strong focus on local sales. If you’re a person of integrity who knows how to build team, we should talk. Our #1 job is to bring customers to our clients. When we do that, we become indispensable to them. And when we consistently follow-through with what we promised, then we become partners with them. So if you’re all about putting the client first, send your resume to: . EOE
KELOLAND, (Sioux Falls), one of the top CBS affiliates, seeks an experienced, high performing, multi-platform media seller who is interested in a rare opportunity to join the best team and sell the best platforms in the KELOLAND market. Candidate must be willing to move at a fast pace and be capable of successfully contributing to all revenue streams with both new and existing clients. Our AEs are well compensated and perform at market leading levels. CLICK HEREfor more information or to apply now. (Job ID: KLO-000048)
CBS 5 and 3TV, Phoenix, AZ is looking for Account Executives to join their successful sales team. We need dynamic, motivated individuals who will present, develop, manage and solicit new and existing business accounts. The Account Executive will assess the market and meet with local businesses and learn about their marketing and advertising needs. You will achieve assigned revenue goals through sale of airtime, digital or other products and services. CLICK HEREfor more info or to apply now. EOE.
I bought a brand new Porsche 911 Turbo. I really couldn’t afford it, but I figured - I’d just pick up some extra hours at work. So, I’m working 137 hours a week now. –Gene Pompa
All the hotels where I stay have the television set bolted to the desk, like that’s going to keep a guy. If you’re that desperate, you’ll take the desk, too. –Brian Haley
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SPOTS N DOTS
The Daily News Of TV Sales
February16, 2017
Phone: 888-884-2630