Spots N Dots
The Daily News Of TV Sales
January 4, 2017
BIG EXPECTATIONS AHEAD FOR KIA, HYUNDAI
Automotive News is reporting that Korean automotive giants Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motor Corporation are forecasting sales to increase worldwide by 4.7% for 2017. Both companies are counting on new model introductions to drive the increase amid intensifying competition and global uncertainties.
According to regulatory filings, both Kia and Hyundai are looking to sell 8.25 million units in the coming year, up from 7.88 million units in the previous year. The projection breaks out to 5.08 million units for Hyundai and 3.17 million units for Kia. The forecasts are in line with the estimates of five analysts from Bloomberg News.
Automotive buyers can expect to see 10 new vehicles or revamped versions of existing models annually. Hyundai is planning to begin selling a high-performance line and a small SUV in its home country. Kia will introduce a premium sports sedan and a new SUV for the China market. The new G70 midsize luxury sedan from Genesis, the Hyundai premium brand, is expected to roll out this year.
Increased investments in research and development in areas like autonomous driving technology is expected from both automakers. Hyundai will show a concept Ioniq model to demonstrate is self-driving technology at the CES expo in Las Vegas this week. The company aims to build self-driving vehicles by 2030.
Both companies are counting on increased productivity from new plants in Mexico and China as well as new models to help attract buyers globally. Of course, executives at automotive companies around the world are seeking clarity on the direction U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will adopt for the world’s second largest market. Trump has said his agenda will be based on putting America first from “producing steel, building cars or curing disease.” The higher interest rate introduced by the U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to increase borrowing cost in 2017, and could have a negative impact on new vehicle sales in the U.S.
The companies have additional growth barriers in the U.S. Relatively low gasoline prices is prompting American consumers to favor trucks and sport utility vehicles. The shift toward those vehicle types hurt Hyundai since their line-up is mostly sedans. Both automakers saw only a 2% increase in the U.S. for the first eleven months of 2016, a drop of 3 percentage points from the same period in 2015. Multiple sources familiar with the situation told Automotive News that Dave Zuchowski, CEO of Hyundai Motor America, was fired in December for failing to meet internal sales objectives. Jerry Flannery, general counsel and EVP was named interim CEO until a successor is chosen.
ADVERTISER NEWS
The latest data available for the furniture industry (for October) found retailer orders were up 1% over October, 2015, with some participants in the Furniture Insights survey reporting significant declines as some were down double-digits. The results followed an especially strong September in which there had been a 14% increase. Year-to-date for the first ten months, new orders were up 2%...... Nissan’s promotion of its Rogue model tied into the Rouge One Star Wars movie is only about half over, with sources such as Kelley Blue Book reporting search traffic rising after the movie premiered. Even before the movie debuted, the Rouge had become Nissan’s top-selling model, up 18% in November and 11% year-to-date. The Rouge replaces the Altima as Nissan’s top-selling nameplate……Although two automakers that advertised in last year’s Super Bowl (Toyota and Mini) are not coming back, Honda has committed for the second year in a row to highlight the redesigned CR-V. Honda’s VP of Marketing said “With the largest audience and reach of any single television event, the Super Bowl is a platform befitting the CR-V’s status as the best-selling SUV in America.” CR-V sales through November were up 1.6% over the first eleven months of 2015. While more are likely, so far Kia is the only other automotive brand to confirm a buy for the big game……Ford is rebranding its commercial dealer network, previously called the Business Preferred Network, now to be known as Commercial Vehicle Centers. Automotive News reports Ford has about 650 dealerships nationwide that sell commercial trucks and vans, and the new effort by the manufacturer includes expanded service and enhanced training at those dealerships. IHS Markit has reported Ford’s commercial business was up 9.6% for the first half of 2016 and it draws about a 30 share of the commercial market……The pizza segment of the restaurant business is starting the year with a war of deals: Pizza Hut has a limited-time promotion of 50% off if ordered online or by app, Domino’s is continuing its Piece of the Pie Contest, while Papa John’s, official pizza sponsor of the NFL, has a football playoffs deal for $5 cheese sticks……Checkers and Rally’s are unveiling new building designs for franchisees to choose from; the goal is both to speed franchise growth and to increase the return on investment for new and existing franchisees……Another company looking for a store redesign is Big Lots according to hometown newspaper The Columbus Dispatch. Its CEO says the chain is looking to create “more of a whimsical, fun shopping experience.” Stores won’t get bigger, though, the chain sees “a competitive edge (with) smaller stores.”
NETWORK NEWS
Megyn Kelly will be leaving Fox News Channel to take on a broad new role with NBC. Kelly will join the broadcast network in 2017 and will anchor what NBC calls “a new one hour daytime program that she will develop closely with NBC News colleagues.” Its expected the show will air Monday – Friday at a time that will be announced later. In addition to the daily show, Kelly will also anchor a new Sunday-evening newsmagazine and contribute to the network’s coverage of breaking-news, political and special-events coverage. Andrew Lack, chairman of NBCUniversal News Group said in a prepared statement regarding the announcement that Kelly has “demonstrated tremendous skill and poise, and we’re lucky to have her.” Kelly joined Fox News 12 years ago, and rose to be one of the cable network’s top personalities……The reports of a Will & Grace revival on NBC appear to be pre-mature. Debra Messing, star of the hit comedy, replied to a fan on Twitter saying that “Sadly Leslie was Wrong. Nothing beyond talks”. Messing was referring to Leslie Jordan, a former costar of the series who said in a radio interview that NBC “has ordered 10 episodes.” NBC has not confirmed new episodes, but a revival seems likely. Will & Grace costars, Messing, Eric McCormack, Megan Mullally and Sean Hayes reunited for an election-themed video, which debuted just before the first 2016 presidential debate. The extended scene, which was released to encourage voter turn-out, brought back a sense of nostalgia and immediately went viral. Rumors of a revival of the sitcom soon surfaced……CBS This Morning is making steady progress toward the same viewing levels enjoyed by its competitors on NBC and ABC. The morning show remained in third place, but finished Q4 up 6% over the same period last year with 3.69 million total viewers. By comparison, NBC’s Today Show was down 1% from Q4 2015 and ABC’s Good Morning America was off by 6% from its 2015 total. The gaps were even tighter in Nielsen household ratings. GMA has a 3.38 rating, The Today Show posted a 3.43 and CBS This Morning delivered a 2.65 rating. CBS pointed out that five years ago, This Morning was 3 million viewers away from number one. In the fourth quarter of 2016 it was within one million viewers of the top spot……CW will debut DC’s Legends of Tomorrow on January 24th at 9 PM (ET). The fantasy series will feature a young George Lucas in an episode called Raiders of the Lost Art. Lucas will be played by Matt Angel of Grimm.
ACCOUNT ACTION
In the first big media account move of the year, Walmart, which had already announced it was going to drop Mediavest, will move to former Target shop Haworth Marketing & Media in April. Target had left Haworth (which is 49% owned by WPP) to move to WPP’s GroupM, which has set up a unit called Arrow Partners to handle that account. Haworth will handle media planning and buying, strategy for brand integrations, and strategic partnerships in marketing, media, and entertainment. The new shop has offices in Minneapolis and Los Angeles.
AMERICANS UPBEAT ABOUT FINANCES
Despite increased stress levels in 2016, Americans remain optimistic about their personal finances for the coming year according to the 8thannual New Year’s Resolution Survey by Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America. According to the survey, 42% of Americans reported being more stressed in 2016 than in 2015, an increase from last year when only 36% reported being more stressed heading into the new year. Reflecting on 2016 and the main issues that kept them up at night, most respondents cited the election outcome as their top worry—above terrorism, identity theft or stagnant wages. Furthermore, the presidential election was 2016’s most worrisome topic for respondents both before (53%) and after (47%) the outcome was decided.
In contrast, when asked how the respondents thought the election results will affect finances after the results were in, the majority had a positive or neutral outlook (55%). Nearly one third (32%) were optimistic that they will make money in the near future and 23% believed their finances will not be impacted at all by the election outcome. The rest of the respondents reported a negative outlook—24% were pessimistic, thinking they will probably lose money in the near future and 21% were terrified the market will crash leading to another great recession. A separate Wells Fargo/Gallup survey finds that 37% of investors think the election outcome will have a major impact on their net worth. 57% are optimistic about the 12-month outlook for growth, compared to 45% in the Q3 survey. Only 27% are pessimistic, down from 35% in the previous quarter. Despite the optimism, 74% of investors expect the stock market to be volatile in 2017.
ECONOMIC RATINGS
The economy is expected to grow at a 2.3% rate this year, according to a survey done by Blue Chip Economic Indicators. The number is the average forecast coming from 53 economists who participated in the survey. While the 2.3 number isn’t much above the 2.1 average that’s been the result since the end of the last recession in 2009, it would be an encouraging increase over 2016, which is likely to have shown just a 1.6% growth when the final numbers are in.
The economists also expect job growth of 160,000 per month. That’s down from about 180,000 in 2016 and 229,000 in 2015, but it’s also a result of the currently low unemployment rate of 4.6%. And with the labor market tight, it’s expected average earnings will rise by 3-3.5%.
We reported last week the Consumer Confidence Index was at its highest level since the month before 9/11, and the survey estimates consumer spending to rise 2.6% this year, slightly ahead of an expected consumer price rise of 2.4%.
NOT EVERYONE SHOPS ON AMAZON
While Amazon had a very strong holiday season (helped perhaps by a much stronger TV ad schedule) and while it may seem that everyone shops there, there are still millions of Americans who have never done so.
The number has declined through the years, but the latest estimate from Kantar Retail ShopperScape is that about 22 million households did nothing with Amazon last year. Compared to the total U.S. shopping landscape, non-Amazon shoppers tend to be older (57 versus 49 for the average shopper), somewhat more downscale ($45,700 average income versus $62,800) and less likely to have kids or live with kids.
Looking at the total frequency of shopping at Amazon, 17% said they never shop there, another 30% use it less than once a month, 25% use it 1-3 times a month, and 28% said they shop weekly.
THIS AND THAT
The Consumer Electronics Show has started in Las Vegas, and with cord-cutting becoming more common, TV antennas may be getting more attention than in past years as some viewers re-investigate ways to get live signals from local stations. This Week In Consumer Electronics reports one company, Antop, which has been manufacturing antennas for 35 years, is heading to CES for the first time, bringing more than 40 products to display. Among its options are antennas that can get signals as far as 80 miles from the signal origination point, and others than include filters that block 3G and 4G signals from wireless phones and networks.....Pivotal Research Group’s analysis of Nielsen data shows only 35 of 118 measured U.S. TV networks showed some traditional pay TV subscriber growth. New January 2017 estimates says that networks that showed growth include Crown Media Holdings (3.4%); AMC Networks (2.0%); CBS (1.3%); Fox (0.4%); and independent network groups (2.0%). Individual networks that gained viewers year-over-year are FXX (7.3%) and FX Movie Channel (6.2%); Discovery’s Velocity (7.8%); NBCU’s Sprout (4.9%) and AMC’s BBC America (4.5%).
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