Analyst: Local Core Advertising Stable

Spots N Dots
The Daily News Of TV Sales
July 14, 2016

ANALYST: LOCAL CORE ADVERTISING STABLE

AUTOMOTIVE UP, LOOKING STRONG

Wells Fargo Securities analyst Marci Ryvicker regularly checks with the management of the media companies she covers to get a sense of how their business is going. What she found most recently, as she wrote in an update to clients, is stability in local advertising sales. “We didn’t hear any hesitation from any company as we did our latest round of local advertising checks,” she noted. “Q2 seemed to end fine, and auto hasn’t ‘fallen off’ as some analysts have feared. In fact, a bunch of our contacts actually think auto advertising might strengthen as the seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) falls given dealerships’ greater need to move inventory off their lots,” Ryvicker said. And she suggested that auto and other large traditional advertisers might be pulling some money forward in anticipation of the crowding out that tends to happen with both the Olympics and elections.

The analyst found that core advertising remains flat—“which we interpret as mostly flattish,” she explained. Given the importance of auto, which tends to be 25% of television advertising, Ryvicker noted that Gray Television management reported that Q2 auto is pacing "flat to up slightly right now." Excluding political, Meredith said advertising was up 4% in Q1 “led by growth in auto." At Media General, “auto is pacing up for the second quarter." Auto was “flat to up” for Nexstar in Q1. And Sinclair reported that "our pace for Q2 on automotive is better than first quarter."

"We feel really good about Q2,” Scripps management said in its latest earnings call, adding “we feel like automotive remains very strong for us." Category wise, Tegna said “auto continues to be up." And from Tribune Media: "Auto is up a bit. It remains strong. It remains fertile."

In terms of political, Ryvicker said “we don’t think these companies have much visibility into the second half at this point—in fact, we were told by several management teams that visibility doesn’t get materially better until closer to Labor Day, which is obviously well after earnings.” She expects the ranges provided by company management in their next round of conference calls will be “quite wide”—but added that Wall Street expects that to be the case.

As for other local media, Ryvicker says core for outdoor, like broadcast, “feels pretty stable.” In print, magazines are getting some advertising growth by leaning on digital, but “newspapers remain challenged.” The analyst has one radio company in her coverage portfolio, Entercom, and it is pacing as well as TV, reporting that “auto looks strong for the duration of the year.”

ADVERTISER NEWS

Research firm LMC Automotive lowered its estimate of sales of cars and light trucks for the year, and now predicts 2016 will finish slightly behind 2015 sales. After having originally predicted sales of 17.7 million vehicles, LMC now sees the year ending with 17.4 million sales, about 40,000 fewer than last year. LMC cites “recent plateauing” in monthly sales amid “growing economic and political risk”……Automotive News reports the bankruptcy of a supplier could “wreak havoc” on General Motors production. Clark-Cutler-McDermott, which makes insulators and some other parts for all GM vehicles built in North America, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and among other items seeks approval to reject contracts with GM. GM has no other supplier for these parts and uses just-in-time inventory management, meaning it has no significant inventory of the needed parts……ConAgra Foods has filed plans with the Securities and Exchange Commission to split into two companies. ConAgra Brands will retain most of the established consumer brands such as Marie Callender’s, Hunt’s, OrvilleRedenbacher’s, and Healthy Choice, while Lamb Weston Holdings will have a portfolio of foods like frozen potatoes and other vegetables along with private-brand retail frozen products……General Mills is continuing to diversify product offerings as sales of cereal are no longer a growth opportunity. DrugStore News reports the Mills is now concentrating on new “wellness” products including more Yoplait varieties, Nature Valley granola bars and Oat Bites, and additional Good Natured Soups by Progresso……More activity in the pet store retail segment—PetSupplies Plus is entering three new states (California, Colorado and Oklahoma) while beefing up unit count in some existing markets, part of opening 60 stores this year. It currently operates more than 360 units in 27 states and is signing deals with franchisees to open more……Nation’s Restaurant News says the largest restaurant chains have been losing market share to smaller competitors. While the top ten accounted for 46.4% of all restaurant sales last year, that was down from a 48.4% share as recently as three years before. Three of the top ten (Starbucks, Chick-fil-A and Domino’s) have continued to show strong growth but smaller banners such as Chipotle (before its recent problems), Buffalo WildWings, Jersey Mike’s and Raising Cane’s have shown growth of 45% or more in the last three years.

NETWORK NEWS

After 22 years at ESPN, Heather Cox has jumped to NBC Sports Group. She will serve as volleyball reporter at the Rio Olympics and report from the sidelines for Thursday Night Football this fall on NBC……José Díaz-Balart has been named full-time anchor of Saturday editions of NBC Nightly News effective August 6, making permanent a role he has shared with a rotation of anchors since November 2015. Díaz-Balart will continue to lead his two Telemundo programs, Noticiero Telemundo on weeknights and Enfoque con José Díaz-Balart on Sunday mornings……Rather than a rerun of The Flash, The CW is going to run back-to-back reruns of Whose Line Is It Anyway?—a sketch comedy series—as the lead-in to the premiere of the new sketch comedy series MADtv on Tuesday, July 26, at 9:00 pm (ET)……Entrepreneurs with revolutionary and disruptive business ideas that are primed to explode into the next game-changing innovation will compete for up to a $1 million investment in NBC’s new alternative series Funded (working title).In each standalone episode, start-up companies will be paired with one of three mentors: maverick entrepreneur and venture capitalist Rob Dyrdek, brand ambassador and media tycoon Tyra Banks or iconic brand-building guru and investor Rohan Oza……Boxeo Telemundo Ford presents the fourth and final fight of its Summer Season from Kissimmee, FL, this Friday, July 15, at 11:35 pm (ET) when Puerto Rican champion Orlando “el Fenómeno” Cruz will defend his NABO Super Featherweight title against Mexico’s Alex Valdez. The 10-round fight will be narrated by René Giraldo and Edgar López.

TUESDAY RATINGS

FOX’s shorter primetime schedule worked to its advantage on Tuesday night. While America’s Got Talent on NBC beat the MLB All-Star Game on FOX for the 8:00 and 9:00 (ET) hours, NBC then went into Maya & Marty for the final hour of its primetime—so FOX’s two-hour average beat NBC’s three-hour average. According to the Nielsen Fast Nationals FOX had an average 2.0 in Adults 18-49 and 4.8 in Households, with an average audience of 7.881 million viewers. NBC was at 1.9 18-49, 5.2 HH and 8.819 million; ABC, with the season finale of To Tell the Truth, 1.0 18-49, 3.0 HH and 4.566 million; CBS, with Zoo, 0.7 18-49, 3.4 HH and 5.154 million; Univision 0.6 18-49, 0.9 HH and 1.648 million; Telemundo 0.6 18-49, 0.9 HH and 1.533 million; and The CW 0.3 18-49, 0.5 HH and 0.789 million.

SYNDIE SNIPPET

Chevrolet has cut short its sponsorship of the “Hot Seat” segment of The Wendy Williams Show. Chevy didn’t give a reason, but Ad Age attributes it to controversial remarks she made about historically black colleges and universities and the NAACP.

ADDRESSABLE TELEVISION GETS A BOOST

Cadent and TiVo Research announced a partnership to enhance ad targeting on addressable TV. Perhaps more importantly, Modi Media—part of WPP’s GroupM, the world’s largest ad buying agency group—has signed on as the first client.

Cadent—which provides media, advertising technology and data solutions for the pay-TV industry—is used by Comcast, Charter, Rogers Communications (Canada’s largest cable TV provider) and others, so the footprint available to advertisers is huge. The national footprint in the U.S. is estimated at 80 million households. The partners say the new offering enables marketers to go beyond age and gender to reach specific audiences, in an anonymous, privacy-protected manner.

Using anonymized, single-source data from TiVo Research, Cadent says it can optimize TV campaigns across networks and dayparts to deliver impressions against a brand’s strategic target. The new TV solution for marketers is powered by TiVo Research’s 2.3 million household sample, comprising of second-by-second set-top box data from TiVo and six other TV providers. The aggregated and anonymized TV data is married with first- and third-party data sources, allowing Cadent to help marketers “build campaigns that more effectively reach high indexing audiences and strategic targets.”

The partners provided an example of how an advertiser might use the new offering. “Using the joint solution, a travel and booking company is able to focus its spend on adults, age 25-54, with a household income of over $75k, who have taken at least one domestic trip in the last 12 months, and are categorized as adventurous and interested in arts and culture.”

Modi Media has made a commitment to be able to deliver targeted TV at scale. According to Modi Media President Mike Bologna, “The application of TiVo Research’s set-top box data aligned with third party data sets will enable meaningful audience targeting across Cadent’s network portfolio.” Added Nick Troiano, CEO of Cadent: “Working with Modi to utilize this solution is a great example of how we are engaging with our partners on a deeper level to help them achieve real and measurable goals with advanced advertising.”

“By enriching the data for specific media buys we are helping advertisers eliminate waste and increase ROI.” said Tara Maitra, GM and SVP, Content and TiVo Research.

TWITTER ADDS BLOOMBERG STREAMING

Twitter has partnered with Bloomberg Media to live stream select Bloomberg Television programs, including Bloomberg West, What’d You Miss?, With All Due Respect and the network’s markets coverage. “We continue to invest aggressively in innovative distribution models in order to deliver the most critical business and financial news and information to our audience of busy, on-the-go, global executives,” said Bloomberg Media CEO Justin B. Smith.

“Partnering with Bloomberg will give people on Twitter the best way to see live financial markets performance combined with the live commentary on the underlying drivers and implications,” said Twitter CFO Anthony Noto.

HACK OUR CARS, PLEASE

Rather than viewing software hackers as the enemy, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is trying to befriend them—with cash. The Detroit News reports that FCA is offering $1,500 bounties to hackers and software gurus who identify vulnerabilities in the software used by its cars. FCA is working through Bugcrowd Inc., a crowdsourced security testing company that has about 32,000 users who attempt to identify holes in software.

ABC.COM ADDS NEW FREE STREAMING

ABC announced a major reworking of its streaming service, adding new content along with full seasons of 38 “throwback” series to attract viewers to the advertiser-supported free service. No sign-in is necessary to watch the seven original ABC digital (ABCd) short-form series and classic shows via ABC.com and the ABC apps for mobile and connected TV devices. ABC also introduced a redesigned user interface exclusively for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Apple TVthat improves discovery and navigation.

The seven ABCd short-form series are comedy and lifestyle series developed in-house by ABC Comedy Development, ABC Daytime and ABC Digital Media. More than 40 additional series are in development and will roll out monthly. These series, along with all library shows, are available without signing in with a pay-TV service.

AIR BAG RECALL AWARENESS LACKING

Readers of this publication and anyone involved in any way with the auto industry has been inundated with information about the record recall of more than 32 million vehicles because of faulty airbag inflators from Japan’s TakataCorporation. But for the public at large it’s a different story.

New research by Kelley Blue Book finds that consumer awareness of this potentially deadly issue is low compared to other national and global issues. The study found that the Takata airbag recall has the lowest general awareness of current events and issues among all respondents, at just 52%, compared to Zika virus (84%), Hillary Clinton's email issue (87%) and the presidential election (95%), among others. Furthermore, only a quarter of respondents said the Takata airbag recall is “very” or “extremely important,” which also ranked lowest among these other national and international issues.Even among those familiar with the Takata recall, only 31% described themselves as “very” or “extremely” concerned about the Takata recall, falling behind the Zika virus (49%), the presidential election (78%) and terrorism (79%).

"Consumer opinions on the Takata airbag recall seem to be another unfortunate case of people thinking 'it won't happen to me,' but this is easily the largest, most expensive automotive safety issue in U.S. history. In fact, 1-in-8 vehicles on the road are affected by this massive recall, yet 33% of those surveyed don't know if they are impacted," said Karl Brauer, senior analyst for KBB.

There’s also misinformation. The study found that Americans believe the major Japanese automakers, Toyota (58%), Honda (46%) and Nissan (35%) are affected by the recall, when in fact it cuts across 33 different auto brands. The survey numbers were 34% for General Motors, but only 28% for Ford Motor Company.

THIS AND THAT

Federal antitrust regulators have cleared Rovi Corporation’s pending acquisition of TiVo Inc. The $1.1 billion deal still needs shareholder approval and is expected to close in Q3……In a voluntary move, major U.S. brewers including Anheuser-Busch InBev and MillerCoors announced they would start to provide information on calories, carbohydrates and protein on the web and cardboard packaging. Consumer advocate critics were unimpressed, renewing calls for the information to be available on bottles and cans.
AVAILS

WHAG in theHagerstown, MD market seeks a Local Sales Manager. We need an individual with creativity, leadership skills, high energy and the ability to hire, train and motivate the sales team. Multi-platform sales experience and a solid understanding of OSI, Matrix and Strata a plus. Must be an excellent negotiator with the ability to manage multiple sales projects and lead by example. If you’re ready to take the next step in broadcast television sales, APPLY HERE, or send a resume to . No phone calls.EOE.

WAVY-TV10/WVBT Fox 43, Norfolk, VA market seeks a Digital Account Executive. This person is responsible for aggressively pursuing digital media ad sales with local direct clients and with interactive and traditional advertising agencies. Must demonstrate an ability to think creatively, sell strategically, and communicate effectively internally and externally. 5+ years of sales experience, and 2+ years of Digital Marketing sales required. Candidates must APPLY ONLINE; click ‘MORE’, then ‘WORK FOR US’. Be prepared to upload your cover letter/resume. No calls! EOE.

WLNE-TV in Providence, RI is seeking a highly motivated Promotion Manager. Candidates must have a proven track record of strong leadership skills, exceptional marketing skills, brand management, and innovative ideas. Promotion Manager will be responsible for on-air, off-air, and digital promotion. Candidate will work closely with Operations Manager, News Director and General Manager in developing brand and marketing strategies for the station, internet properties including web and mobile apps and social media. Please send resume and cover letter to:. EOE.

Account Executive: WPBF 25, Hearst Television’s ABC affiliate in West Palm Beach, Florida is seeking a dynamic individual to be a part of our already successful team.Candidate must have Broadcast TV Sales experience and the ability to thrive in a fast paced, competitive, multi-media environment.We will encourage your creativity and enthusiasm to generate new business revenue and cross platform sales.Please submit your resume ONLINE.EOE M/F/D/V

KFOR-TV/KAUT-TV, Oklahoma City’s market leader and one of the top NBC affiliates in the country has an immediate opening for an Account Executive to enhance our strong sales team! Ideal candidate will have previous television/digital sales experience. The AE must identify the needs of local businesses and prepare custom sales presentations with solutions to address those needs, and develop strong relationships with both advertising agencies and local clients. Apply by CLICKING HERE then filter the job search by location (US-OK-Oklahoma City).EOE.