Spots N Dots
The Daily News Of TV Sales
May4, 2018
HIRING BIG CHALLENGE FOR SMALL BIZ
OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THE ECONOMY
Small business owners are overwhelmingly optimistic about the financial outlook of their businesses and the national economy, according to the latest quarterly Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index. But while business is good, many are facing challenges with hiring.
The most recent survey, conducted in early April, produced an overall index score of 106, nearly unchanged from January when it was 107—its highest level in more than a decade. The current Index score was driven by high readings from small business owners on their financial situation and business revenues. 80% of business owners said they are optimistic about the financial outlook of their businesses over the next 12 months, and 71% said their businesses had improved over the last year.
“Small business optimism and overall confidence in the economy remains high, largely due to an increase in sales and revenues, which suggest demand is strong,” said Mark Vitner, Wells Fargo managing director and senior economist. “We continue to see a large number of business owners struggle to find the workers they need, however, and that may ultimately squeeze profit margins.”
On that hiring front, a tight labor market is proving challenging for the 43% of survey respondents who said they plan to hire new employees in the next 12 months. 64% said finding well-qualified employees will be a challenge for the growth of their business. In addition, when asked to name their top challenge as a business owner, hiring and retaining qualified staff rose to the top of the list at 17%. This issue has been a pressing challenge for small business owners over the last year: Small business owners responding to the survey also listed hiring as their top challenge in July and October 2017 surveys.
Three-fourths of small business owners said the economy is on the right track for their businesses to grow, and 83% said their businesses are positioned to take advantage of a strong economy in the next year. More than half (57%) said the national economy has improved over the last year, and about a quarter of business owners said their businesses had benefited a great deal from the improved national economy over the past year.
59% of small business owners said they are very likely or somewhat likely to provide salary or wage increases to their employees over the next 12 months, and 52% said they are very likely or somewhat likely to provide bonuses or other benefits to employees.
62% said they are very likely or somewhat likely to purchase new equipment, and another 60% said they are very or somewhat likely to invest in new products or services to expand their businesses.
ADVERTISER NEWS
The number of Weight Watchers International members jumped close to 29% over the last year, the weight-loss plan disclosed Thursday. A record 4.6 million people were signed up for Weight Watchers meetings or online for recurring-billing programs as of the end of the first quarter of 2018, up from 3.6 million the same time the previous year. The company linked the jump in membership to the new easier-to-follow WW Freestyle program, which added 200-plus foods to the list of foods with zero SmartPoints, the Weight Watchers grading system members use to keep track of what they eat....USA Today says Southwest Airlines is launching new flight to Hawaii from four California cities: Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego and San Jose....As the chain struggles to boost sales, Subway’s CEO is stepping down. Suzanne Greco will assist with the transition and officially retire on June 30th....Fitbit beat revenue expectations last quarter, pulling in $247.9 million, up over Wall Street’s expected $247.3 million. Of course, that’s still a notable drop from this time last year, when the company pulled in $298.9 million. The company sold 2.2 million devices in the quarter, missing analyst expectations of 2.33 million.... Retaildive.com says digital revenue was up 15% for retailers in the first quarter, according to the Salesforce Shopping Index. Digital traffic was up 9% and shopper spend increased 6%. Mobile drove 60% of all traffic, while computers dropped below 50% order share and the impact of social traffic essentially stalled with just a 5% increase. Quarter-over-quarter since Q1 2017, the growth of shoppers using social media as part of their path to purchase has been essentially flat, Salesforce reported. In Q1 2018, social media channels resulted in 4.7% of visits to e-commerce sites and only 2% of all digital orders.
SINCLAIR TO CHALLENGE FOX NEWS?
Politico reports that Sinclair Broadcast Group, which for months has denied any interest in challenging Fox News, is gearing up to do just that.
The report claims Sinclair executive chairman David Smith has been holding meetings with potential future employees, including former Fox News staff members, and laying out a vision for an evening block of opinion and news programming that would compete with Fox’s top-rated lineup, according to a person familiar with the meetings.
The meetings conflict with past statements by Sinclair, denying interest in a national news platform. CEO Chris Ripley told Variety last summer, “After we acquired Allbritton [Communications] in 2014, we looked hard at launching a national cable news channel, but we decided the world didn’t need another cable news platform. Our strength is local news.”
Meanwhile, Sinclair still hopes to close on the purchase of Tribune Co. later this year. (Politico)
NETWORK NEWS
ABC has released a list of celebrities that will be guest judges on the second season of their rebooted version of The Gong Show. The list includes Alyson Hannigan, Jimmy Kimmel, Brad Paisley, and Jason Sudeikis, who will be judging the competition for the first time. They will join returning judges Will Arnett, Dana Carvey, Ken Jeong, and Rob Riggleon the revolving panel. According to the network’s release, more judges will be announced later. The Gong Show will return to ABC on Thursday, June 21st at 8 PM (ET). The series will again feature actor/comedian Mike Myers as the show’s host – British comedic legend Tommy Maitland…… The Fox Network has given an off-cycle pilot order to a new comedy from Rob McElhenney, co-creator of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Rob Roselland 20th Century Fox TV. The untitled project centers on a woman, her ex-husband, and her new wife who work together to raise a family in middle America. It’s Always Sunny’sCharlie Day and Glenn Howertonare executive producers along with 3 Arts’ Nick Frenkel. The pilot will be filmed off-cycle for midseason 2019 consideration and beyond. It joins another project from McElhenney and Rosell in consideration. Bless This Mess will also begin shooting this summer……The hip-hop family drama Empire has been renewed for Fox for a fifth season. The drama, from creators Lee Daniels and Danny Strong, Imagine TV and 20th Century Fox, was an instant pop culture phenomenon when it debuted in January of 2015. The ratings have been off for Empire now that it’s four seasons in, but it remains Fox’s No. 2 series in the adult 18-49 demo and in total viewers. It was also announced that Brett Mahoney, who stepped in to help lead the series in the second half of this season, will return as the showrunner for season five. Mahoney took over as showrunner after the departure of Ilene Chaiken. She left to develop a new drama pilot for Fox starring Katie Holmes which is in strong contention for a series pickup. Empire, which stars Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson, joins previously announced renewals for dramas 9-1-1, The Gifted, and The Orville. The network has yet to announce renewals for Star, Lethal Weapon, Gotham, and Lucifer……Christina Aguilera, a judge on NBC’s The Voice between 2011 and 2016, has slammed the show in an interview with Billboard. She told the publication, “It became something that I didn’t feel was what I had signed up for in season one. You realize it’s not about music. It’s about making good TV moments and massaging a story.” Aguilera also said that being on the show meant that she was given restrictions and didn’t have complete freedom over her appearance. She went on to say that having to look and dress a certain way for the show took a toll on her both mentally and physically. Aguilera was one of the show’s original judges with Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine, and Blake Shelton. NBC did not respond to media requests for comment....Conan O’Brien’s TBS talk show will shift to a half-hour format in January. Conan will continue to air four nights a week but will adopt a “less structured” format, with fewer celebrity interviews and more digital content from his “Team Coco” banner.
DONE DEALS
WPIX11, Tribune Broadcasting’s New York flagship station, has announced the appointment of Anna Hartnett to Digital Sales Manager. Hartnett joins PIX11 from CBS Local Media where she helped lead digital sales efforts for CBS Radio stations in NY. Previously Hartnett has served as a sales account executive at Raycom Media and Olympia Media Group.... And congratulations to Rich Engberg, who started Monday as Director of Sales for Cox Media Group’s Charlotte, NC properties. Most recently, Rich served as major accounts manager for TEGNA’s KMSB-TV and KTTU-TV in Tucson, AZ.
WORLDWIDE MEDIA CONSUMPTION UP SLIGHTLY
Media consumers around the world are spending a bit more time with media this year versus last year — an average 9.73 hours per day vs. 9.68 hours in 2017, says GroupM.
Mediapost reports that in addition to measuring time with media, GroupM predicts that by the end of this year, digital media will overtake time spent with linear TV for the first time on a worldwide basis. In 2018, online media will have a 38% share, with TV at 37%; radio at an 18% share and print at a 7% share.
GroupM says online media on a daily basis among global consumers will rise from 3.5 hours to 3.7 average daily hours, linear TV will dip to 3.6 average hours (versus 3.7 hours in 2017), and radio will remain at 1.7 hours a day, with print decreasing to 41 minutes from 42 minutes per day.
BIG NEWS FOR GOOGLE NEWS
Google is revamping Google News with a new design that will incorporate elements of the Newsstand app and YouTube, according to people familiar with the plans, says adage.com. The company is expected to unveil the new digital media destination next week at its developer conference.
Google News will incorporate the digital magazine app Google Newsstand and the news section of YouTube, and it will use the technology behind Accelerated Mobile Pages, the standard that publishers use to make sure their articles load quickly on Google’s platform. Google Newsstand is expected to close as part of the new redesign.
COMPETITIVE INFO
Clear Channel Outdoor has introduced CCO RadarView, a platform that gives advertisers the power to optimize their OOH campaigns by entering campaign specific information like demographics, audience segments or locations to reach consumers along the pathways most traveled. With CCO RADARView, marketers can better understand where to invest OOH dollars to achieve maximum engagement with their desired audiences.
SINCLAIR AND PLAYSTATION AREN’T PLAYING
PlayStation Vuehas removed Sinclair-owned local stations from its channel lineup. Sinclair released a statement about the removal, claiming it was their choice.
A Sinclair statement says, “The impasse affects all of Sony’s PlaystationVue subscribers who are located in Sinclair markets, although because of the very small subscriber base that PlayStation Vue has this event will have no material impact on Sinclair.”
SEARCH ADS EATING TEXT AD REVENUE
Shopping campaigns are eating into text ads on Google and Bing, according to Merkle’slatest digital marketing report for the first quarter of 2018. According to the report, which looks at Merkle’s clients in the United States, search advertising spend increased 21 percent from first quarter of 2017, and 13 percent from fourth quarter of 2017. Google Shopping had the greatest successes though — with a 40 percent increase year-over-year.
THE MOST LOVED BRANDS IN AMERICA
According to the rankings by Morning Consult, Google, Hershey’s, and Pillsbury came in as the top three most-loved brands, followed by Amazon, UPS, Kellogg’s, Sony, Betty Crocker, YouTube, and Campbell’s Soup.
“There are brands that are loved universally and there are brands that outperform in key demographics. Morning Consult looked at which brands stood out among young adults, financial elites, men and women, and different residential communities compared to their national ranking.”
Among women, the top brands were Revlon, L’Oreal, Pinterest, Shea Moisture, and Aveeno. Men favored Playboy, Sports Illustrated, Fox Sports, Castrol, and Caterpillar.
Among the “financial elite,” the top brands were Fidelity Investments, Williams-Sonoma, Westin, Hyatt Hotels, Ritz-Carlton, Charles Schwab, DoubleTree Hotels, Mayo Clinic, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, and Boeing. Financial elite was defined as making $75,000 or more a year, with at least $50,000 invested in the stock market. Younger customers (between 18 and 29) named Red Bull, Snapchat, Instagram, Spotify, Monster Beverage, Starbucks, Philip Morris, SoundCloud, MTV, and Wells Fargo as their favorite brands.
Morning Consult based their rankings on 250,000 interviews conducted Jan-Mar, with 18+ U.S. adults. The study covered 1,000 different brands and companies.
MEREDITH TALKED DIGITAL VIDEO AT NEWFRONT
Meredith Corp. announced a number of new digital video series at its NewFront presentation, focused primarily on its entertainment and lifestyle brands, such as People and Shape. Meredith announced it would extend its sales guarantee to video. Advertising will lead to a sales lift for advertisers or they get money back. Details at Mediapost.
AVAILS
One of our top sellers is being promoted to LSM, which creates a rare opening at WIS for a seasoned Multi-Platform Consultant. WIS is the dominant Broadcast Station in Columbia, SC and also has the top digital platforms for News, Weather, & Entertainment. So, would you like to work with a progressive market leader and have fun, while making money? Excellent customer service is our benchmark and you will have an opportunity to work with one of the largest support staffs in the country to grow your business. Qualified applicants, please APPLY ONLINE. No phone calls or emails will be returned. EOE.
KIII Corpus Christi, TX is looking for a driven, solutions-based Local Sales Manager. The LSM must be results oriented, innovative and a dynamic leader. This person must possess an entrepreneurial mindset and a competitive spirit and exhibit passion for marketing sales, both broadcast and digital. This individual must exhibit the ability to motivate, teach and lead by example. A minimum of 3 years of successful local TV or media sales experience and/or creative digital is preferred. CLICK HEREfor more details or to apply now. EOE.
KCTV5 in Kansas City seeks an account executive to solicit new advertisers and increases share of business for existing advertisers. The account executive achieves assigned revenue goals through sale of airtime, internet or other products and services to new and existing clients. This position also serves as an important station representative within the local business community. Minimum two years media sales (TV, radio, cable) background preferred; other business-to-business outside sales considered. CLICK HEREto apply. EOE.
Facebook is coming out with their own dating service. So now you can meet someone on Facebook before dating them, breaking up, and then stalking them on Facebook.–Jimmy Fallon
Yale University has taken back the honorary degree it gave Bill Cosby. It’s particularly embarrassing because it was a Ph.D. in chemistry.–Conan O’Brien
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SPOTS N DOTS
The Daily News Of TV Sales
May4, 2018
Phone: 888-884-2630