Spots N Dots
The Daily News Of TV Sales
November 2, 2017
NISSAN, FORD LEAD OCTOBER ON TRUCK BOOST
OVERALL INDUSTRY SALES DOWN AGAIN
The U.S. auto industry failed to repeat September’s sales gain, leaving the 2017 count and one-and-nine, with only November and December remaining. Even so, October sales were stronger than the first nine months. Once again, trucks enjoyed strong demand, giving Ford a big boost, along with Nissan and Toyota—major manufacturers who posted sales gains as most of the industry was down.
With BMW’s report delayed by a day due to “a significant IT interruption,” industry sales were down 1.1% in October to 1.32 million units. General Motors projected that the industry SAAR would be a strong 18 million, though down a bit from September.
As Ford Motor Co. posted an overall 6.4% sales gain over October 2016 to 199,698 units, sales VP Mark LaNeve credited the F-Series truck line for the industry-beating results. “Strong customer demand for high series Super Dusty continues, and now we’re seeing the same for the new 2018 F-150. With sales up 15.9%, F-Series drove our overall truck sales to an 11.4% gain for the month,” he said. Total sales for the Ford nameplate were up 6.8%, while Lincoln was down 1.8%.
Nissan Group did even better, with sales up 8.4% to 123,012—an October record, powered by demand for pickups and SUVs. Nissan sales rose 10.2%, while the luxury Infiniti line was down 8.1%.
“The Toyota division had another best-ever for the month of October in light trucks, led by our tenth consecutive monthly sales record for RAV4,” said Group VP Jack Hollis as Toyota North America reported sales up 1.1% to 188,434 units. Toyota rose 2.5%; Lexus was down 7.7%.
While General Motors saw October sales fall 2.2% to 252,813, the Detroit giant noted that pickup sales were up 9%, led by the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra. GMC sales were up 4.6%, while all sibling brands were down: Cadillac by 0.1%; Chevrolet 3.8%; and Buick 4.5%.
With the exception of the new Alfa Romeo brand, every nameplate at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles had a down October. FCA sales fell 13.2% to 153,373. Even Ram, which reported pickup sales up 1% to an October record, was down 3.3% overall. Jeep was down only 2.5% as the best performer. Chrysler plunged 22.3%, Fiat 32.5% and Dodge 41.0%.
The comeback kid, Volkswagen, posted another up month, gaining 11.9% as the entire VW Group rose 10.0%. American Honda and Subaru also posted smaller gains.
Average transaction prices were up, but analysts disagreed on just how much. TrueCar’s ALG put the year-over-year gain at 0.9%, but Kelley Blue Book at only 0.3%.
ADVERTISER NEWS
With 125 stores in 16 Southern and Midwestern states, Havertys Furniture lost at least one selling day at 55 units during the hurricanes. For the quarter that ended on 9/30, it saw net sales down 1.9% and same-store sales off by 2.9%, but estimates the lost days at the affected locations cost it 1.2% in written and comp sales. For the current quarter to date, written sales are up about 0.4% and same-store comps are down 0.7%...... It’s been a year since the big changes in the beer business when Molson Coors took over all of the MillerCoors joint venture and the parent now says net sales in the U.S. were down 5.5% in the third quarter, although pretax income was up 5.3% in the same period. With what the company calls “challenging market conditions in North America,” it is prioritizing growth in international business at the present time……Lumber Liquidators reported a 3.8% increase in same-store sales, driven by a 3.0% increase in the average sale and a 0.8% increase in the number of customers invoiced. The chain opened three stores during the quarter and closed one, bring the roster at the end of the quarter to 387 locations……Could this be NFL related? Papa John’s same-store sales growth in the third quarter slowed to just 1%, and it has lowered the forecast for the full year to a 1.5% increase from the previous estimate of 2-4%. As we had noted in yesterday’s issue, the heavy football advertiser gets a boost from NFL fans when compared to non-fans of games……Nation’s Restaurant News says rumors are again surfacing about a possible sale of Dunkin’ Donuts (which also owns Baskin Robbins) with JAB Holding Company the most likely acquirer. It notes JAB has already shown it likes to be in the coffee and breakfast foods space with acquisitions of Peet’s, Caribou Coffee, Einstein and Stumptown Coffee Roasters, and it’s also willing to pay a high multiple to pick up a successful chain as it did when acquiring Panera earlier this year… Amazon on Wednesday launched its Black Friday deals, including free shipping on more than 100 million items for Prime members and non-Prime customers making purchases of $25 or more……Walmart and Target will battle it out in customer service during the holiday season, each big chain announcing enhancements to the customer experience once people are in the stores. Target is launching a new app called myCheckout which allows store personnel to search its website for products customers can’t find in the store, then place an online order and have it shipped directly to the customer’s address. Walmart plans to run “parties” in stores with over 165,000 product demos for toys and has brought in “holiday helpers.” “We are investing in (stores) this year more than we ever have,” Chief Marketing Officer Tony Rogers said.
NETWORK NEWS
CBS announced today that Me, Myself and I will be bumped from its Monday night 9:30 PM (ET) time slot. Next Monday, November 6th, freshman series 9JKL will move from 8:30 to 9:30 PM (ET). Man With a Plan will make its second season premiere at 8:30 PM (ET) on Monday, November 13th with 9JKL taking the 9:30 PM (ET) slot for the time being. Since there’s no new time announced for Me, Myself and I, it’s most likely the series will be canceled by the network. The freshman series stars Bobby Moynihan, Jack Dylan Grazer, and John Larroquette as the same character at different stages in his life. It was created by Dan Kopelman, who is executive producer alongside Aaron Kaplan and Dana Honor……Fox has put into development a series from actress Emerald Fennell. Variety is reporting that Spacebound is a single-camera comedy is about an alien who goes on an intergalactic coffee run and finds herself stranded on Earth, “the worst planet in the universe”. Fennell will write the script for the project and will be executive producer. Brian Bradley and Steven Cragg will also executive produce and serve as showrunners if the project moves forward at Fox. The Jackal Group will produce with the company’s Gail Berman and Joe Earley also onboard as executive producers……. Fox is also developing a new incarnation of its Emmy-winning drama series 24. This project would have a female lead and take the real-time format from the terrorism-themed original and apply it to a different arena, criminal justice. The project has a script commitment from Fox and will be executive produced by Howard Gordon and Brian Grazer, as well as Jeremy Doner (The Killing). 24’s original showrunners Donor and Gordon will write the script with 20th Century Fox TV and Imagine TV producing. The idea is in line with the plans for 24 outlined by Fox executives during the summer TCA tour in August…… A television series based on the Bad Boys movie franchise has picked up a pilot production commitment from NBC. Gabrielle Union (Being Mary Jane) will star as Syd Burnette, her character from Bad Boys 2, in the pilot and will also be one of the executive producers. The drama will be written by Brandon Sonnier and Brandon Margolis, who worked together on NBC’s The Blacklist. Jerry Bruckheimer, who produced the Bad Boys films, will be an executive producer alongside Jonathan Littman, Kristie Anne Reed, Jeff Gaspin, Jeff Morrone, and Doug Belgrad. Union is also working with LeBron James as executive producers of a project called White Dave at ABC, which is based on the life of series creator David E. Talbert……A new multi-camera comedy co-written and starring standup comedian Taylor Tomlinson has been put into development at ABC. The untitled project is inspired by Tomlinson’s life as a young woman attempting to stay close to her very religious parents while trying to figure out her own life. Casey Johnson and David Windsor (The Real O’Neals) are executive producers on the project.
KAGAN: DEAL MARKET COULD BREAK LOOSE
Outside of the mega deal between Sinclair Broadcast Group and Tribune Media, 2017 has been one of the slowest years on record for U.S. TV station M&A. However, consolidation in the sector could get a jump-start if Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai is successful in eliminating and modifying media ownership rules, writes Kagan Senior Research Analyst Justin Nielson.
For the first three quarters of 2017, U.S. TV station deal volume was $4.48 billion, with an average TV station deal multiple of 7.6x two-year-ahead average seller’s cash flow. However, those figures are skewed by the Sinclair and Tribune Media merger, with an estimated $3.76 billion out of the $6.60 billion announced transaction value attributed to Tribune Media’s station group. At that time, Kagan, a media research group within S&P Global Market Intelligence, valued the Tribune Media TV station portion of the deal at 7.5x two-year forward cash flow.
That compares to $13.84 billion in deals from 2014 to 2016 at an 8.3x two-year-ahead average seller’s cash flow multiple. That’s despite the fact that most of 2016 was a quiet period for deals during the FCC incentive spectrum auction.
Sinclair, Nexstar, and Gray Television have been the most active buyers in 2015, 2016, and year-to-date 2017, with nearly $10 billion of deals combined out of $11.06 billion in total TV station deals over the same period.
Pai wants to eliminate local newspaper, TV, and radio cross-ownership caps; drop the rule making joint sales agreements attributable to ownership; and remove the restriction against duopolies in markets that would be left with fewer than eight independently owned stations. He also supports allowing for M&A in some cases where a station in the deal is rated among the top four. He is also pushing for the approval of the ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard, which is expected to roll out with the TV station spectrum repack process in mid-2018.
Kagan suggests the TV deal flow long held back by regulatory uncertainty will break loose in 2018, with prior active buyers and others lining up to see what is available and what potential mergers make economic sense.
And this could begin shortly after the FCC’s November 16 meeting, although most station group owners and investors will be looking to see if the Sinclair and Tribune Media merger is approved and what, if any, spinoffs will be announced as a result.
THIS AND THAT
EchoPoint Media, a highly-influential media planning and buying agency based in Indianapolis, has signed a new measurement agreement for local television ratings and qualitative insights from Nielsen. EchoPoint also renewed its license for Scarborough qualitative.... During a conference call with Wall Street analysts, Sinclair Broadcast Group CEO Chris Ripley fielded a question about recent press accounts that the company has been negotiating with former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly. “He did approach us. We do not have any interest in hiring him.”
AVAILS
Account Executive: WWSB TV, in sunny Sarasota FL, is seeking a dynamic, self-motivated individual to join our winning sales team! This is an outside sales position covering the Tampa DMA. The AE is responsible for growing existing accounts and developing new business by providing excellent customer service and offering multi-platform advertising solutions including digital, banners, pre-roll, google ad words and websites. CLICK HERE to apply. Be prepared to attach resume with cover letter. No calls please. Pre-employment drug screen and MVR check. EOE-M/F/D/V
WJCL 22, the Hearst Television owned ABC affiliate in beautiful Savannah, GA, seeks a Digital Sales Manager to lead our team in developing, selling, and executing successful online marketing solutions. The ideal candidate possesses a passion for digital media and has the abilities to develop and monetize both local and agency relationships, plan strategically, and provide continual training to our Account Executives. Qualified applicants can CLICK HERE to apply online. EOE
WUSA-TV, the TEGNA owned, CBS affiliate in Washington, DC, is seeking an experienced Transactional Account Executive to join our sales team. The successful candidate will be a dynamic seller, who will manage a high-volume account list. You will be responsible for growing revenue and share by effectively negotiating, packaging and recommending solutions that utilize our broadcast and digital assets. Must be detail-oriented and able to multitask in a fast-paced environment. A minimum of 5 years of broadcast television sales experience. CLICK HERE for info or to apply. EOE.
The FOX affiliate in Kansas City, WDAF Fox4, seeks an experienced and highly motivated Multi-platform Account Executive to grow our core broadcast business, interactive platforms and digital TV. The AE must develop new business across all platforms. The AE will negotiate rates, prepare and present avails and sales packages to agencies and direct advertisers. Use of Wide Orbit, Excel, Microsoft Word, Power Point and other technology is a plus. Media sales experience and college degree preferred. CLICK HERE to apply (job # 2017-46257). EOE M/F/D/V