Biggest Jumps in Seattle, Portland

Spots N Dots
The Daily News Of TV Sales
December 1, 2016

HOME PRICES BACK AT RECORD HIGH LEVELS

BIGGEST JUMPS IN SEATTLE, PORTLAND

U.S. home prices have now recovered all of the value lost when the housing bubble burst. According to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices, the National Home Price Index posted a month-over-month (MOM) gain of 0.4% from august to September—and that put the Index above the peak set in July 2006 as the housing boom topped out.

The National index reported a 5.5% annual gain in September, up from 5.1% in August. The 10-City Composite posted a 4.3% annual increase, up from 4.2% the previous month. The 20-City Composite reported a year-over-year (YOY) gain of 5.1%, unchanged from August. Seattle, Portland, OR and Denver reported the highest year-over-year gains among the 20 cities over each of the last eight months. In September, Seattle led the way with an 11.0% YOY price increase, followed by Portland with 10.9%, and Denver with an 8.7% increase. 12 cities reported greater price increases in the year ending September 2016 versus the year ending August 2016.

“The new peak set by the S&P Case-Shiller CoreLogic National Index will be seen as marking a shift from the housing recovery to the hoped-for start of a new advance” said David M. Blitzer, Managing Director and Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “While seven of the 20 cities previously reached new post-recession peaks, those that experienced the biggest booms—Miami, Tampa, Phoenix and Las Vegas—remain well below their all-time highs.” He said other housing indicators are also giving positive signals—sales of existing and new homes are rising and housing starts at an annual rate of 1.3 million units are at a post-recession peak.

Before seasonal adjustment, the National Index posted a MOM gain of 0.4% in September. Both the 10-City Composite and the 20-City Composite posted a 0.1% increase in September. After seasonal adjustment, the National Index recorded a 0.8% month-over-month increase, the 10-City Composite posted a 0.2% month-over-month increase, and the 20-City Composite reported a 0.4% month-over-month increase. 15 of 20 cities reported increases in September before seasonal adjustment; after seasonal adjustment, all 20 cities saw prices rise.

Following Seattle, Portland and Denver, Dallas home prices were up 8.0% YOY, Tampa 7.5%, Miami 6.7%, Charlotte 6.2%, Los Angeles 5.9%, Detroit 5.8% and San Francisco 5.7% to round out the top 10 gainers. Las Vegas checked in with a 5.6% YOY gain, still topping the national average of 5.5%. Atlanta, Minneapolis, Phoenix and San Diego were all at 5.3%, with Boston and Chicago each at 4.3%. New York had the smallest YOY gain at 1.8%, with Washington, DC at 2.7% and Cleveland 3.0%.

ADVERTISER NEWS

We’ve already reported that automotive dealers and furniture retailers each had good Black Friday weekend sales, but possibly appliance and consumer electronics sellers did the best of all. This Week InConsumer Electronics, reporting on numbers from credit card processor First Data, says sales for CE and majap dealers for Thanksgiving and Black Friday ran 26.5% ahead of the same two days last year, and the average ticket was up more than $41 to $163.76……The New York Post reports the Federal TradeCommission has asked Bass Pro Shops for more information on its proposed acquisition of Cabela’s, which could delay a closing on that deal for a few months……Pepsi and Papa John’s will collaborate on a promotion in which people who buy two pizzas and a 2-liter Pepsi product will get a chance to win VIP Super Bowl tickets and sideline passes to the Halftime Show, which is sponsored by Pepsi…With U.S. sales of the Ford Fiesta down 27% through October, the next generation of the model will offer more variations to appeal to a wider range of potential buyers, including “downsizing customers who want big-car quality in a small car package”……The automotive market is now running about 60/40 in favor of trucks over cars and Toyota is producing closer to a 50/50 split, so Automotive News says the carmaker is “rebalancing” its portfolio to reflect current demand. It will introduce the C-HR crossover in next year’s second quarter designed to compete with the Chevy Trax, Nissan Juke, and Honda HR-V. The small crossover segment is seen as an important entry point for young new vehicle buyers……After testing the use of fresh beef patties at some Dallas-area locations earlier this year, McDonald’s is expanding the test to about 75 locations in the Tulsa market. Restaurants in the test will cook the fresh beef only when there’s an order placed; the current system utilizes frozen patties that are pre-made and held in warming bins until needed. The downside to the plan is potentially slowing down production, especially important given the fact that about 70% of customers use the drive-thrus……Here’s a small chain looking for some rapid expansion, mostly in the upper Midwest: Illinois-based Bentley’s Pet Stuff, which specializes in natural pet food, will add nine new stores this month to reach 50 locations, and plans to double that number by the spring of 2017. Bentley’s also operates in Colorado, where it bought out an existing chain earlier this year…..Supermarket News reports Peapod had the largest average basket among food delivery services at $147 per order. FreshDirect was second at $105.

NETWORK NEWS

Several programming start dates were announced by CBS on Wednesday, including a new drama for Saturday night, the first in-season scripted series for the network in several years. Ransom will premiere on Sunday, January 1st at 8:30 PM (ET) following an NFL double-header, then move to its regular Saturday-night time slot the following week. Bill Paxton and Justin Cornwell’s new drama, Training Day will premiere on Thursday, February 2nd at 10 PM (ET), replacing Pure Genius. Doubt with Katherine Heigl and Laverne Cox premieres on Wednesday, February 15th at 10 PM (ET), taking over for Code Black. Undercover Boss returns on December 21st at 8 PM (ET), The Amazing Race comes back on April 21st at 8 PM (ET), while Survivor’s new season debuts in its normal time slot on Wednesday, March 8th at 8 PM (ET)……Meanwhile, CBS has not exercised its option to order additional episodes of TheOdd Couple. The reboot of the Neil Simon classic has struggled in the ratings, but currently is not cancelled and remains in contention for a fourth season…….Retired Dallas Police Chief David Brown, will become a contributor to ABC News on January 1st. Brown received national praise for his handling of the aftermath of the July 7th shooting in downtown Dallas, when a lone gunman ambushed police officers, killing five and injuring nine others...... Although NBC News is not confirming, media reports say that Today Show anchor Matt Lauer has signed a new two year contract to continue with the successful morning show. Lauer co-anchors the program with Savannah Guthrie and both are viewed as critical to the success of the show. While the show trails ABC’s Good Morning America in total viewers, The Today Show wins in the adult 25-54 demo……Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer) and Erika Christenson (Parenthood) have signed on to co-star in a new straight-to-series drama for ABC called Ten Days in the Valley. Sedgwick will play an overworked television producer and single mother whose marriage is breaking up. Her world implodes when her young daughter goes missing in the middle of the night. Christensen plays her younger, bossier sister that rushes in to help. Ten Days in the Valley will also star Tassie Cameron,Felix Solis and Kick Gurry. The project is scheduled to go into production next year……ABC’s freshman drama Designated Survivor continues to post impressive gains when DVR viewing is added to the same day audience measurement. The November 9th episode jumped to a 3.0 18-49 Nielsen Live +7 rating from the 1.2 same day rating, a 150% gain.

WEEKLY RATINGS

The week of November 21st was a banner week for NBC Football. The top four programs of the week in the Nielsen 18-49 ratings were either NBC Football or pre-game programming. At the top with a 6.9 demo rating is the Thanksgiving night version of SundayNight Football. The actual Sunday Night Football game posted a 6.2 rating, while the Thursday night pre-game show placed third with a 3.7 rating. Sunday’s Football Night inAmerica was forth with a 3.2 rating. Coming in at number five was 60 Minutes on CBS with a 2.8, then it was NBC again with freshman drama This Is Us posting a 2.4. A Thanksgiving Rosewood special placed seventh with a 2.2 for FOX. NBC’sMonday version of The Voice was next with a 2.1, then ABC’s Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (2.0) and The Saturday Night FootballFlorida vs. Florida State game (2.0) rounded out the top ten.

AUTOMAKERS COMMITTED TO EVs

Current low gasoline prices have consumers demanding big vehicles, with pickups and SUVs leading sales this year, but automotive manufacturers are convinced that electric vehicles (EVs) will be increasingly important in the future. For one thing, governments around the globe are pushing hard for alternative fuel vehicles, but there’s a belief that consumer demand for EVs will rise when the inevitable upturn in fuel prices comes—whenever that may be.

Toyota Motor Corp. had been reluctant to embrace EV development, but Reuters reports a major change by the Japanese auto giant. Toyota president Akio Toyoda, grandson of the company founder, will now personally lead the EV planning department along with two executive vice presidents. A company spokeswoman said the move will speed up development of EVs by Toyota. “The president will directly oversee the department’s operations to enable decisions to be made quickly and nimbly,” she said.

Industry analysts tell Bloomberg that General Motors will losing $9,000 on each Chevrolet Bolt it sells—but that isn’t stopping the largest U.S. carmaker from shipping them to dealers. Many of them will be sold in California, which is requiring that over 15% of vehicles sold by 2025 produce zero emissions. No pollutants. Nada. None. That’s more than five times the current sales level, so EVs will be increasingly important to GM and other makers. They’re willing to take a loss on the non-polluting vehicles to be able to sell other models. And California is not alone in its stringent standards. So far nine other states have adopted similar emission targets—about 30% of the U.S. market in all.

The Bloomberg article says it won’t make much difference if the Trump Administration loosens federal rules for fuel efficiency and emissions. California didn’t vote for Trump and Democrat Governor Jerry Brown still has two years left on his current term.

ONLINE HOLIDAY SALES NEARING $30 BILLION

Through the first 28 days of the November-December holiday retailing season. comScore reports that $29.7 billion has been spent online. That’s a 12% increase versus the corresponding days last year.

Cyber Monday reached $2.67 billion in desktop online spending, up 17% from a year ago, representing the heaviest online spending day in history and only the second day ever (the other being Cyber Monday 2015) to surpass $2 billion in desktop sales. The weekend after Thanksgiving also proved to be strong, as it marked the second straight year in which both Saturday and Sunday individually had billion-dollar online shopping days, combining for nearly $2.5 billion for a year-over-year increase of 15 percent. For the five-day period from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, comScore says online buying from desktop computers totaled $8.41 billion, up 17% versus last year.

As you would expect, Amazon was the most-visited online retail site on Cyber Monday, followed by eBay, Walmart, Kohl’s and Target. comScore says 130 million Americans visited online retail properties on Cyber Monday using a desktop computer, smartphone or tablet, representing just over half of the total digital population.

FACEBOOK LIVE BANKS ON TV

Facebook may be a fierce competitor to television in trying to win ad dollars from brands, but the social media site is spending its own dollars on TV to build brand recognition for Facebook Live.Digiday reports that Facebook has launched the largest TV advertising campaign in its history to promote the live video streaming feature.

Not only is Facebook spending heavily on television—it is buying some prime inventory. Digiday notes that Facebook Live ads have run in NFL Sunday games, nationally televised college football games and previously ran during the World Series on FOX.

Tracking by iSpot.tv puts TV sending for the campaign at $16.4 million thus far. That vaults Facebook into the top 70 TV ad buyers for the period which began in October.

WCVB FOUNDER BOB BENNETT DIES

WCVB Boston reports that its founding General Manager, Bob Bennett, has died after a long illness. He was 89. Bennett’s career in television dated back to 1952, when he began as a salesman at KTTV Los Angeles.

“Bob was beloved by all, with an infectious personality and unparalleled leadership ability. In launching WCVB in 1972, Bob’s vision was one of a truly local television station, a blueprint which has been dutifully followed for 45 years,” said Bill Fine, WCVB President and General Manager.

THIS AND THAT

Virginia’s Department of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Richard Holcomb has overturned a decision by a hearing examiner in his department and ruled that Tesla can open a second store in the state……Americans’ incomes grew by 0.6% in October, the Commerce Department reported. That’s the best monthly gain since April and follows a 0.4% gain in September. Also, personal consumption spending was up 0.3% in October……The creator of the Big Mac, Jim Delligatti, has died at age 98. The Pittsburgh area McDonald’s franchisee came up with the idea for the sandwich in the 1960s……The government reports November job growth on Friday. Ahead of that, ADP reports that U.S. employers added 216,000 jobs in the month. That was well ahead of expectations by private analysts. The Bloomberg consensus number for Friday’s report by the Labor Department is only 180,000 new jobs.
AVAILS

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Today is Cyber Monday, which means tomorrow is ‘Russia has your credit card info Tuesday.’

--Jimmy Fallon

Donald Trump is giving key positions in his cabinet to people who were loyal to him early on. So congratulations, Defense Secretary Scott Baio!

--Conan O’Brien

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SPOTS N DOTS
The Daily News Of TV Sales
December 1, 2016

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