Spots N Dots
The Daily News Of TV Sales
November 9, 2016

MARKETING BUDGETS TO RISE AGAIN IN 2017

DRIVERS: DIGITAL COMMERCE, DIGITAL ADS

Marketing budgets are continuing to rise, according to a survey of marketing executives by Gartner, Inc. The survey showed that marketing budgets increased to 12% of company revenue in 2016, from 11% in 2015. 57% of marketing leaders surveyed expect their budgets will increase further in 2017. However, 14% of marketers say they are bracing for budget cuts, up from 3% just two years ago.

The latest Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Spend Survey included responses from 377 marketers at companies with more than $250 million in annual revenue in North America and the U.K. The survey took place in July and August 2016 and marks the fifth year that Gartner has surveyed marketers on spending priorities and marketing operations.

"Marketing is now responsible for critical customer-facing, revenue-generating systems and applications," said Jake Sorofman, research vice president at Gartner. "As the marketing leaders' mandate broadens, we are seeing the CMOs' marketing tech spending approach the levels of the CIOs' technology spend."

Although marketing budgets have, on average, increased, marketing leaders have many demands on their resources. The top three categories in 2016 marketing spend identified in the survey—Internet, digital commerce and digital advertising—illustrate how critical digital marketing has become. The Gartner analysts say digital commerce, in particular, is a recurring theme in this and last year's CMO Spend Survey, signaling the continued importance of these initiatives to marketing leaders.

The marketing leaders surveyed said they spend at least 8% of the budget on digital commerce—and those investments remain a high priority with marketing leaders as an important way to meet company growth objectives, particularly in consumer packaged goods (CPGs). Without digital commerce efforts, CPG marketers have limited ability to develop direct relationships with customers, drive loyalty and advocacy, or collect immediate insights. Spending on digital commerce gives CPG marketers the building blocks to complement their indirect channel strategies with direct-to-consumer (DTC) engagement.

Despite concerns over ad effectiveness, opaque industry practices and the increasing use of ad-blocking tools by consumers, digital advertising remains resilient as 65% of marketing leaders surveyed said that they plan to increase their spending in this area. Contributing to the increase are a continuing and consistent shift of offline media spending to digital channels, a decline in organic social in favor of paid social and the rising importance of video, which is considerably more expensive than other digital techniques, stated the Gartner survey.

ADVERTISER NEWS

We reported last week that AutoNation was planning to open a string of used-vehicle-only stores, and now CEO Mike Jackson says that strategy will deter the number one car seller in the country from acquiring other dealerships the way it has done in the past. “We certainly don’t have the desire or the capital” to enter new markets, Jackson told Automotive News, although he noted AutoNation would continue to look for dealerships in existing markets that could offer the company brands it doesn’t have in those markets……It was only a test in a few stores in 17 markets, but Nation’s Restaurant News reports the demand for venison was so great that some of the Arby’s locations in the test ran out of the product within as little as 15 minutes. The locations were all within states where deer hunting is popular……In another Arby’s note, Parikh Network, a company with a heavy roster of Popeye’s franchises, announced a deal with Arby’s to build 50 new restaurants as well as buy 18 company-owned Arby’s in the Baltimore and Harrisburg markets……Add J.C. Penney to the list of retailers staying open all night on Thanksgiving—it will open its stores at 3PM on Turkey Day and keep them open until 10PM on Black Friday…….Dollar General wants to get more holiday dollars also, and is announcing promotions for 11/20-11/23 including some buy-one, get-one offers and buy-one, get 75% off deals on some toys……CVS same-store pharmacy sales were up 3.4% for the third quarter, with prescriptions up 3.0% on a 30-day equivalent basis, but says results were held down by recent generic drug introductions. Front-end comps were down 1.0%--the company says softer customer traffic was partially offset by an increase in the average sale……Of course, CVS has been seen as a possible buyer for some of the 700-1,000 stores that will be needed to be sold off in the proposed merger of Walgreens and Rite Aid, and recent reports that Kroger is showing little interest in picking up locations are considered as a possible negotiating tactic. BNL Finance is saying there are many other potential buyers for the locations, and not all of them are currently in the pharmacy business. Among potential buyers according to BNL are Publix, Meijer, Medicine Shoppe,Diplomat Pharmacy, Dollar General, Five Below, and Fred’s. BNL also points out that Walgreens must make the divestitures to get the merger approved, so “there is no reason to believe that Walgreens will push an acquirer too hard on price.” BNL still believes there’s an 80%+ chance the deal will go through.

NETWORK NEWS

Academy Award nominee and Emmy, Grammy and Golden Globe Award winner Queen Latifah, from the new FOX series STAR, and entertainment icon Snoop Dogg will host Pitbull’s New Year’s Revolution, airing New Year’s Eve, Saturday, December 31, at 11 PM (ET) live on FOX. The special returns for the third annual New Year’s party, broadcast live from Miami’s Bayfront Park. Pitbull will start the year off right with epic surprises and this year’s biggest names in music to ring in 2017 Miami-style. Performers to be announced……CBS will rebroadcast the series premiere of Man with a Plan on Monday, November 28 at 8:30 PM (ET), coming out of the Thanksgiving weekend. The new series stars Matt LeBlanc as Adam, a contractor who starts spending more time with his three kids when his wife, Andi, goes back to work and discovers the truth all parents eventually realize—their little angels are maniacs……Empire star Taraji P. Henson is back with her second annual music and variety special Taraji’s White Hot Holidays, airingThursday, December 8 at 8 PM (ET) on FOX. The one-hour special will feature renditions of classic holiday songs by entertainment superstars, including Jussie Smollett, Taye Diggs, Pharrell Williams, Missy Elliott, Alicia Keys, Darryl McDaniels of Run-DMC, Snoop Dogg and TLC.

MONDAY RATINGS

NBC had the top two shows on Monday night, with The Voice at a 2.3 Nielsen rating in Adults 18-49 (up 0.3 from a week ago), followed by an SNL Election Special at 2.1. That gave the Peacock Net an average 2.2 18-49 and an average audience of 9.26 million. Kevin Can Wait registered a 1.7 18-49 for CBS, which averaged 1.3 18-49 and 6.27 million. Dancing with the Stars had a 1.6 18-49 as ABC averaged 1.3 18-49 and 8.58 million. FOX, led by Gotham at 1.2, was at 1.1 18-49 3.51 million; Telemundo 0.7 18-49 and 1.68 million; Univision 0.6 18-49 and 1.80 million; and The CW 0.6 18-49 and 1.80 million—with Supergirl up a tenth from a week ago at 0.7.

WEEKLY RATINGS

The final two games of the World Series led Week #7 of the TV season, with Game 7 scoring a 12.6 Nielsen rating in Adults 18-49 and Game 6 6.6. Sunday Night Football on NBC also claimed a 6.6, with the pre-game Football Night in America at 3.4. The top scripted show was The Big Bang Theory on CBS, claiming 5th place with a 3.1.

ELECTION WINNERS: PICKUPS & SUVs

Strategic Vision not only surveys new car buyers about satisfaction, but also asks about their political preferences. The latest survey of 170,000 new car buyers finds clear vehicle preferences based on politics. The top five choices for Republicans are all pickups and four of the top five for Democrats are SUVs and crossovers.

For Democrats the list is Subaru Outback, Honda CR/V, Honda Civic (the lone sedan), Toyota RAV4 and Subaru Crosstrek. The GOP prefers the Ford F-150, Chevy Silverado 1500, Ram 1500, Ford F-250/350 and Ram 2500/3500.

Independents were found to prefer the Subaru Forester, Honda CR/V, Kia Sorento, Toyota Tacoma and Toyota Highlander. There was also a “none of the above” political classification. They like the Toyota Camry, Chevy Malibu, Chevy Silverado 1500, Nissan Sentra and VW Jetta.

UNIVISION ADDED TO DIRECTV NOW

Univision Communications Inc. (UCI) announced a multiplatform distribution agreement with AT&T for its networks and stations to be included on the soon-to-launch DirecTV Now streaming service. The OTT offering will include the Univision Stations, Univision Network, UniMás, Galavisión, UDN (Univision Deportes Network) as well asthe Fusion network. Univision will continue to distribute its content on AT&T’s DirecTV and U-verse platforms.

NEWSON UP TO 83% COVERAGE

A year after launching, NewsON says it is delivering local newscasts digitally from 170 local TV stations. That puts coverage at 83% of the U.S. population. The NewsON app is free to consumers and ad-supported.
AVAILS

The FOX affiliate in Kansas City, WDAF Fox4, seeks an experienced and highly motivated Multi-platform Account Executive to grow our core broadcast business, interactive platforms and digital TV. The AE must develop new business across all platforms. The AE will negotiate rates, prepare and present avails and sales packages to agencies and direct advertisers.Candidate must have previous media sales experience.Use of Wide Orbit, Excel, Microsoft Word, Power Point and other technology is a plus. College degree preferred.CLICK HERE to apply (job # 2016-44911). EOE M/F/D/V

Coastal Television in Anchorage, Alaska (Market #148) is looking for an up and coming AE to work as our Local Sales Manager. The ideal candidate will have vast and strong demonstrated experience in broadcast and digital sales. We have multiple stations and products to sell, and Anchorage is a nearly a top 100 market in Ad Revenue! If you’re serious about putting yourself in a situation to make a high profile leadership opportunity happen for you, send resume and a cover letter to . EOE.

Passionate about your career? Ready for some southern charm? CBS46 / WGCL-TV in Atlanta is seeking a bright, enthusiastic Account Executive to join our dynamic sales team. We are looking for a person who is currently a star with developmental and digital sales, and a person with a renewal rate that proves their solutions are profitable for their clients. Employees enjoy a great work environment and flexible benefits. The station is located in Midtown Atlanta– a great place to work, shop, and live. CLICK HEREfor immediate consideration. E.O.E.

WTOK-TV, the dominant ABC affiliate in Meridian, MS seeks a news leader who loves news, loves to teach, loves to produce and loves to innovate. The WTOK News Director will be responsible for continuing the tradition of market leading standards, goals, and tactics for newsroom operations and content. The News Director will also be responsible for recruiting, hiring, coaching, mentoring, supervising and evaluating newsroom personnel.Applicants should have newsroom management experience, and a 4 year college degree is preferred. Send cover letter/resume to: .

WNCNCBS North Carolina, Media General's CBS affiliate in Raleigh, NC has an immediate opening for a goal oriented senior level sales professional. The company has all the sales tools and resources needed for you to succeed. Must grow existing client billing, cultivate new business, and generate digital and non-traditional revenue. Applicants must have 3-5 years’ experience selling broadcast television, be driven, and self-motivated. Apply online at job ID NCN-000435. EOE. Background check and drug screen required.

Microsoft announced a free update to Windows that allows users to take photos and edit them in 3D. Critics are calling it the most exciting thing you’ll ever explain to your grandma.

--Seth Meyers

------

SPOTS N DOTS
The Daily News Of TV Sales
November 9, 2016

Send your job openings to:

Editorial comments/promotions:

Payments or Invoices:

Phone: 888-884-2630