Spots N Dots
The Daily News Of TV Sales
April16, 2018
ARE AUTOMOTIVE DEALERS DOOMED?
NOT ANYTIME SOON, BUT...
Automakers, dealers and suppliers have two -- maybe three -- decades left before life as they know it is over, longtime automotive executive Bob Lutz says.
Automotive News reports that self-driving cars will disrupt the industry and make many staples of the past century -- including automotive retail, branding and design -- obsolete. Lutz first penned his thoughts last year in the Automotive News series “Redesigning the Industry” and doubled down last week during a keynote speech at the SAE International WCX World Congress Experience.
“We’re in a historic transitional phase in the automobile business,” he said. “In order for the automobile to preserve its surface function, it’s simply going to have to evolve. We all know this end state is coming. It has to come.”
That end state includes fully self-driving vehicles that take passengers from point to point without human intervention.
Lutz predicts a future of mostly bland autonomous modules that can navigate freely thanks to detailed mapping and high-functioning sensors. They’ll seamlessly slip in and out of traffic on freeways and bunch closely together without any threat of accidents.
“Are they going to be fun? Absolutely not,” he said. “There will be no joy in sitting in an autonomous vehicle …. But it’s going to be enormously efficient.”
That’s good news for passengers, who can work, sleep or do other activities while in the vehicle.
He also suggested that parents will be willing to place their children in autonomous cars to take them to day care, soccer practice or school. He said they would be able to give their children limited access to a vehicle subscription service that would let them call cars to take them to preapproved locations, and that access could be expanded as they get older.
“When you send them off to college, you won’t send them with a car, you’ll send them with a subscription to a driverless vehicle service that they can use at their leisure,” he said.
But that future is not good news for most of the industry’s traditional players.
Lutz called dealers a “threatened species” because large fleet companies such as Uber or Lyft will simply buy their autonomous pods in bulk from the manufacturers.
He said the importance of branding will shrink drastically because the modules will likely bear the name of the fleet provider instead of the badges of the automakers. He likened the modules to subway cars: Passengers don’t know who makes them, only that they get the riders to their destinations. (AutomotiveNews.com)
ADVERTISER NEWS
General Motors is cutting several hundred jobs at its plant in Lordstown, Ohio as the automaker adjusts to slower demand for cars. Chevy Cruze sales this year have fallen 28 percent. In 2017, GM sold just over 184,000 Cruze models in the U.S., which was down 32 percent from just four years ago when sales of the car topped 273,000. The plant, which employs just under 3,000 workers, builds only the Chevy Cruze....White Castle is serving a new, no-meat burger alternative called the Impossible Burger in 140 of its stores and plans on expanding that to all 380 of its locations before long. It’s the first vegan burger to hit fast-food restaurants on a large scale....Some Rite Aid Corp. shareholders plan to oppose a merger with Albertsons that they believe undervalues the struggling pharmacy chain. Rite Aid’s shares have fallen about 20% since the companies said on February 20th that they would merge. Rite Aid said last week that same-store sales fell 1.7% in its fourth quarter, the sixth straight period of declines....Fooddive.com says Macy’s sits comfortably at the top of a list of e-commerce destinations among online apparel retailers, with 55.9 million average monthly visits, according to digital market intelligence firm SimilarWeb. That’s more than double the second ranked site, JCpenney.com. Zulilydropped two spots year over year as Nordstrom and Gap each moved up one, according to the latest index....Peapod has rolled out a suite of new pricing promotions aimed at improving its value image in an increasingly competitive online grocery market. This includes lower everyday prices on thousands of products, including natural and organic items. To encourage orders during slower days of the week, Peapod has introduced a discounted version of its PodPass delivery subscription called PodPass Midweek. The pass costs $55 — less than half the price of a regular subscription — and offers free delivery for a year on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.... Cowen analyst Andrew Charles downgraded Starbucks on Friday, and cut his price target on shares of Starbucks to $65 from $68. Craft coffee competition and questionable customer loyalty are likely to hamper Starbucks sales over the next two years, says Charles.... After closing 18 big-box stores last year and shutting down its remaining 257-store fleet of standalone mobile phone shops, Best Buy is back in expansion mode. Best Buy is planning to open its first new flagship store in seven years just outside of Salt Lake City... Aflac made their newest TV spot in 48 hours, a task that normally takes two to three months. The commercial, which aired during Sunday’s Academy of Country Music Awards Show, features musician Chris Young and the recipient of the new Aflac ACM Lifting Lives Honor award, according to AdAge. Dick Clark Productions made the new spot.
NETWORK NEWS
The Wednesday installment of Law & Order: SVU will feature a guest appearance by Stephanie March as she returns to her role of Assistant District Attorney Alex Cabot. She will cross paths with Lt. Benson (Mariska Hargitay) in the search for an abducted woman and her young daughter……The series end date for ABC’s Once Upon a Time is set for Friday, May 18th. In addition, the network has scheduled the series finale for The Middle on Tuesday, May 22nd. The series finale of Scandal will air on Thursday, April 19th with the season finale for Modern Family airing on Wednesday, May 16th and the season finale for American Idol set for Monday, May 21st……Disney-owned networks ESPN and ABC will combine to televise up to 44 games of this year’s NBA Playoffs, including the NBA Eastern Conference Finals presented by ExxonMobil on ESPN and the NBA Finals presented by YouTube on ABC…… Entertainment Weekly is reporting that Paul Reiserand Helen Hunt have both signed deals with Sony Pictures Television to reprise their roles as Paul and Jamie Buchman in a Mad About You reboot. The reboot is being pitched to a network and it’s likely it will be picked up quickly considering the massive success of ABC’s Roseanne and NBC’s Will & Grace revivals. Mad About You aired for seven seasons on NBC from 1992 to 1999 and followed a newlywed couple living in New York City…… CBS has announced that actor/comedian Kevin Hart will host the upcoming competition series TKO: Total Knock Out. The show is from producer Mark Burnett and will feature people from all walks of life where one player races through obstacles while the other contestants are manning battle stations along the course. The three contestants fire projectiles from the battle stations to knock the racer off and slow them down. The top two players advance to the final showdown and face off for a cash prize. Hart is joining the series just two months after it was announced that Dwayne Johnson is set to host and executive produce The Titan Games on NBC. The 10-episode run of TKO: Total Knock Out will air on CBS this summer……The contestants for the 26th season of Dancing with the Stars on ABC were revealed Friday morning on Good Morning America. They include Josh Norman, ArikeOgunbowale, Chris Mazdzer, Johnny Damon, MiraiNagasu, and Kareem Abdul-Jabar. They will join the previously announced cast members Olympians Adam Rippon, Jamie Anderson, Jennie Finch, and Tonya Harding. Lindsay Arnold is returning to defend her title after winning last season with musician Jordan Fisher. The professional dancers joining the show are Sharna Burgess, Witney Carson, Emma Slater, Jenna Johnson, Gelb Savchenko, Artem Chigvintsev, Keo Motsepe, Alan Bersten, and Sasha Farber. Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli, and Len Goodman return as judges with Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews coming back as hosts……The 29th Annual GLAAD Media Awards were handed out last week and NBC’s This Is Us took home the award for Outstanding Drama Series, while Fox’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine was TV’s top comedy.
NETFLIX MOST POPULAR: TV RERUNS
Eighty percent of Netflix viewing in the U.S. comes from licensed content -TV shows - compared with 20% from original shows and movies, reports BusinessInsider.com.
The data found that 42% of U.S. subscribers watch mostly licensed content (95% or more of their total streaming), while just 18% of U.S. subs focus on Netflix originals.
Further, upon joining, 58% of new Netflix subs in the U.S. watched licensed programming first. For comparison, on Hulu, 97% of subscriber streams were from licensed content, and 89% of first-streams were licensed content.
The findings signal that even as exclusive original content may drive sign-ups, it may be only partially responsible for them, as SVOD subscribers still gravitate toward shows they are familiar with.
For Netflix, balancing the ratio is important as it grapples with the reality that programmers are beginning to retract key shows and movies as they launch their own IP-delivered, DTC services, including the expected Disney-branded service set to launch in 2019, which some have speculated could become a “Netflix-killer.”
THIS AND THAT
Martin Sorrell is stepping down as chief executive of WPP, the world’s largest advertising agency, following allegations of personal misconduct. Sorrell had been accused of misuse of company assets. The company announced the inquiry on April 3, saying the allegations do not involve amounts that are material to WPP. Sorrell had been CEO since 1986, and through a series of acquisitions transformed the UK maker of wire shopping carts and animal cages into a modern advertising holding company that today has over 200,000 employees across its businesses. Acquisitions included famous agency names like J. Walter Thompson, Ogilvy, Young & Rubicam, Grey, 24/7 Real Media, and Taylor Nelson Sofres .Chairman Roberto Quartahas assumed the role of executive chairman....Ad Age says Weight Watchers International, which has been gaining subscribers as it hypes the weight lost by Oprah Winfrey and DJ Khaled, is on the hunt for a new agency approach. Over the past few years, Weight Watchers has worked with agencies including Havas, DiMassimo Goldstein, Wieden & Kennedy Portland and McCann New York.... About 48% of 3,000 U.S. consumers surveyed in an online Harris Poll from voice security company Pindropsaid they would be willing to use voice recognition as a method of personal verification. Many survey participants said they often access their accounts with retailers and other types of companies by phone, but are sometimes frustrated by the numerous questions they need to answer to verify their identities, an issue which the survey findings suggest voice recognition might help solve.
RECORD SETTING NBA SEASON
The National Basketball Association set several attendance records this year, but it didn’t end there. B&C reports that digital subscriptions to NBA League Pass were up 63% from last season. They were helped by new features including in-arena coverage during breaks, a new season-long virtual-reality subscription packages, monthly pricing options and Spanish-language video for some games.
In social media, video views were up 43% to 11 billion. Since the end of the 2016-17 regular season the NBA added 8.7 million follower to its social handles, up 9% The league said it has more than 1.5 million likes and followers across league, team and player social platforms worldwide.
NBA basketball has been popular on TV as well. viewership was up 17% on ABC for the regular season, averaging 3,818,000 viewers over 17 games.
Ninety percent of NBA playoffs ad time was sold as of Saturday afternoon, as the NBA had its highest ratings season in 2017-2018. According to AdAge, the combined viewership across all NBA channels (ESPN, ABC, TNT, and NBA TV) was 1.28 billion viewers, up eight percent over the 2016-2017 season. TNT and ESPN/ABC also sold presenting sponsorships for the playoffs this year, with Hulu as the TNT sponsor and PepsiCo’s Mountain Dew Kickstart as the ESPN and ABC sponsor for the first round. Second round sponsors include ExxonMobil and YouTube.
CONTENT MARKETING GROWS ON YOU
Consumer content marketing has quickly become an industry that marketers should be looking at. PQ Media’s Global Branded Entertainment Forecast says the content marketing industry is now worth $15.61 billion globally, and $7 billion in the US. alone, up 14.5 percent in 2017 (year-over-year). Content marketing includes native advertising, custom publishing, or any form of paid marketing message.
“The continued growth of branded entertainment marketing is in sharp contrast to the weaker growth of traditional advertising & marketing platforms, such as live television, newspapers and direct marketing.
In addition, PQ Media’s consumer time spent with media data indicates that younger demographics are moving away from traditional media platforms, while major brands are proactively seeking alternative media channels to engage these more mobile, tech-savvy younger audiences,” said PQ Media President Patrick Quinn.
“The strong desire to gain brand awareness among target consumers, create positive brand associations and, ultimately, produce sales lift will continue to favor branded entertainment marketing over the next five years.”
Digital content marketing, including social media and video production, also rose 24.7 percent. Global product placement was worth $15.68 billion in 2017, with television product placement accounting for $10.50 billion of that.
REAL ESTATE DISRUPTION ON THE WAY
Real estate has been ready for “disruption” by technology for years. The early days of the internet brought online listings and ways for buyers to browse and research before hitting the road to see available homes. But the innovation stalled at that phase – until now.
Zillow, an online real estate database company, announced plans to start buying and selling homes directly, a step that analysts believe could finally change the way Americans shop for homes, after years of mere tinkering at the edges.
You may have already seen the ads; Zillow’s initiative is called the Instant Offers marketplace, and it’s been in a test phase since mid-2017. Homeowners who want to sell receive offers from investors and an analysis of their home’s value, if the home were to be listed on the traditional real estate market instead. Zillow says it will aim to buy, renovate, and then re-sell homes in 90 days or less.
AVAILS
WFTS, the ABC affiliate owned by E.W. Scripps in sunny Tampa, FL (#13) seeks an Integrated Account Executive to join a winning team where culture is king! We’re looking for a value creator who can produce results for direct clients by utilizing all of our broadcast and digital assets. Candidates must have a proven track record in new business development, and excellent presentation and negotiation skills. Equivalent work experience in TV or Radio is preferred. CLICK HEREfor more info or to apply. EOE.
WHNS-TV/FOX Carolina (Market #37) in Greenville, SC is searching for a Local Sales Manager. Greenville, Spartanburg, Asheville is a unique market, with multiple states and metros. Greenville, SC has a vibrant and growing downtown that recently hosted its first NCAA basketball. The SC side of the market includes the BMW and Michelin plants. Asheville is a beautiful mountain community; home to the world famous Biltmore estate. Fox Carolina has a strong local news presence, strong NFL numbers, and a commitment to the community. CLICK HEREto apply. EOE.
9NEWS Denver (KUSA & KTVD-TV) a TEGNA Media Company, seeks an Integrated Account Executive. The ideal candidate will showcase strategic and entrepreneurial expertise by building collaborative relationships and providing customer solutions through an integrated suite of media platforms, including television, Internet, mobile and other emerging products. The Integrated AE will use a consultative selling approach to build relationships. CLICK HEREto get more info or to apply now. We are a drug free, EOE employer committed to a diverse workforce.
Paul Ryan is retiring. He said that after 20 years in Congress, it’s time to let someone else get nothing done.–Jimmy Fallon
Heard at the doctor’s office: All our records are electronic now! Just fill out these 12 forms. Here’s a pen.–FunnyTweeter.com
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SPOTS N DOTS
The Daily News Of TV Sales
April16, 2018
Phone: 888-884-2630