Spots N Dots
The Daily News Of TV Sales
September 5, 2017
HARVEY HAMMERS AUGUST AUTO SALES
GM, TOYOTA STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD
Forecasters had predicted that August would be the first up month year-over-year for automotive sales this year—but that was before Hurricane Harvey smashed into a heavily populated region of Texas and Louisiana just as the month was about to close. With auto dealers and just about everything else shut down by flooding in Houston, the nation’s fourth-largest metro, U.S. sales of new cars and light trucks slipped to 1.48 million units—down 1.8% from August 2016. The seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of sales dropped to 16.13 million—the slowest pace in three and a half years.
Even so, General Motors and Toyota posted significant year-over-year sales gains as other major carmakers had declines. A handful of smaller makers also managed gains. GM pointed to “robust” crossover sales at all four of its brands and Toyota’s strength was in light truck/SUV sales. But rather than crowing too much about their superior numbers, both companies focused on efforts underway to aid dealers hit by flooding and their local communities.
The Buick Encore had its best sales month ever, although the Buick nameplate was down 22.5% overall. GMC was down 12.4% and Cadillac 8.1%. The strength was in the Chevrolet brand, with sales up 11.4%, with the strongest August since 2004. All in all, GM’s sales rose 7.5% to 275,552.
Toyota’s RAV4 set an all-time monthly sales record of 43,000, having posted the first month over 40,000 just month earlier. Toyota Motor Sales saw August sales up 6.8% to 227,625, with the Toyota brand up 8.7% and Lexus down 0.4%.
With the 2018 F-150 first appearing on dealer lots, F-Series sales were up 15% for Ford, with sales VP Mark LaNeve noting that customers are tending to select high trim-level trucks, which is boosting average transaction prices. Ford Motor Company total sales were down 2.1% in August to 209,029, with Ford down 1.9% and Lincoln 5.8%.
Six FCA US vehicles recorded their best August sales ever, but the overall total was down 10.6% to 176,033. Tiny Alfa Romeo continued to ramp up sales, but all other FCA brands were down: Dodge 1.7%; Ram 2.5%; Jeep 15.4%; Fiat 22.5%; and Chrysler 32.6%.
Who else bucked the trend and boosted sales in August? Mitsubishi was up 11.3% to 8,164 and Subaru gained 4.6% to 63,215. Volkswagen AG continued to drive the comeback trail, with sales up 4.6% to 56,836, led by a 9.0% gain for its flagship VW brand. Volvo was up 4.1% to 7,994 and Jaguar Land Rover rose 1.0%, with the gain all on the Land Rover side.
ADVERTISER NEWS
Costco is one of the last large retailers to report sales on a monthly basis (possibly because their numbers are usually good). Even by its own standards, numbers were strong for August, with 7.4% comp growth including gas and 6.1% excluding fuel from the calculations. Fresh food, garden, sporting goods, tires, tablets and appliances were some of the leading categories……Nation’s Restaurant News says McDonald’s will bolster its McCafe program as it targets Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks for more beverage business, adding new expresso-based drinks to its menu. NRN says beverages have arguably fueled Mickey D’s better recent sales numbers while taking business directly from competitors. McDonald’s most recent comps were up 3.9% while Dunkin’ Donuts only saw 0.8% growth…..Nissan releases the new Leaf today, saying the new version will travel farther on a single charge and have some new autonomous-driving features while keeping the starting price at $30,000. Despite a lot of hope when Nissan introduced the first Leaf back in 2010, all electric vehicles combined account for just 1% of global automotive sales seven years later……With Volkswagen now out of the diesel business in the U.S., its brand head says the emphasis in sales will shift away from compact cars and midsize sedans to larger, domestically-built utility vehicles such as the Atlas. A plant in Tennessee is currently building about 400 Atlas crossovers a day but can be expanded to construct as many as 800 each day. Despite a 6% rise in sales through July (against scandal-reduced sales last year), VW currently has just a 1.9 share of U.S. sales but has hopes to get up to a 5 share over time……Owners of more than 16 million Hondas and Acuras may be eligible to receive up to $500 each as settlement in a class-action lawsuit based on the defective Takata airbags in their vehicles. While the problem encompassed more than 42 million vehicles from 19 automakers, Honda had more vehicles with defective airbags than any other manufacturer……Frito-Lay is introducing a new line of healthier products called Simply, and it has secured distribution at Whole Foods Market for starters. In total the eleven core brands from the PepsiCo division will be part of the Simply line, including favorites such as Cheetos, Doritos, Tostitos, Ruffles, and Lay’s……After testing its Prep+Pared meal kits at four stores in the hometown Cincinnati market, Kroger is rolling out the concept to more stores near headquarters in Cincinnati and Dayton. More locations will be added next week and within a month, 37 stores will carry the line. Prices start at $14 for a dinner for two.
NETWORK NEWS
Lynn Collins (True Blood, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, John Carter, Covert Affairs) has been tapped for a recurring role on the FOX primetime reboot of Lethal Weapon. The actress will play Molly, a likable, radiant woman with an edge and childhood friend of Martin Riggs (Clayne Crawford) from the time they grew up together in Texas. Collins is one of the several new actors with recurring roles in the second season of Lethal Weapon. She joins Michelle Hurd (SVU), Rex Linn (CSI: Miami) and newcomer Andrew Creer. The new season of Lethal Weapon kicks off on FOX Tuesday, September 26th……. A former Chicago Justice cast member is set to reprise her role of Assistant State’s Attorney Anna Valdez in the fifth season of Chicago P.D. on NBC. Monica Barbaro is scheduled to appear in the fourth episode of the new season and will reunite with her former Chicago Justice co-star Jon Seda. Seda is returning to Chicago P.D. as a series regular. Barbaro’s other credits include UnReal, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and Hawaii Five-O. Chicago P.D. returns for season five on NBC Wednesday, September 27th at 10 PM (ET)……Variety is reporting that Vacation co-writers and co-directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein are developing a new one-hour sci-fi drama for FOX. The project is currently called Proxy and will center on a technology that allows online followers to live voyeuristically through the experiences of hedonistic young “Proxies” on a remote island paradise. Fox has ordered a script for the project with a penalty attached. The project is a continuation of Daley’s longstanding relationship with FOX. The actor has appeared in the long-running Fox series Bones as well as the short-lived comedy series Kitchen Confidential and the high school drama Boston Public…….Brian Teta has been promoted to executive producer of the ABC daytime talker The View. Teta will share the role with the show’s other executive producer Candi Carter on the show started by Barbara Walters in 1997. Both will continue to report to Hilary Estey McLoughlin, a senior executive producer at ABC News…….Black Rose Anthology is a new horror project being developed by The CW. The series will be written and directed entirely by women and will explore some of humanity’s deepest fears as told from a woman’s perspective. Drew Barrymore, under her company Flower Films, is on board the project as executive producer along with Jill Blotvogel, who will also write the script. CBS TV Studios is among the producers.
35 MILLION TO BOOK HOLIDAY HOTEL STAYS
Holiday preparations are already on many people’s minds. 8 million U.S. adults have already made hotel reservations for the November/December holiday season and 6 million have purchased holiday airline tickets, according to a new Bankrate.com report. Approximately 35 million American adults anticipate staying in a hotel during the holidays (or another type of overnight lodging that they have to pay for, such as Airbnb) and about 31 million plan to fly, according to the survey. As August came to a close, 23% of those expected travelers had arranged paid lodging and 20% had their plane reservations.
Among those who hadn't booked yet by the end of August, the most common expected completion date is sometime in September. By the end of this month, 48% of holiday fliers say they will have bought their tickets and 44% think they will have secured a hotel or other paid overnight accommodations. Roughly 1 in 7 travelers—including twice as many women as men—won't be done until December.
According to Hopper, an airfare tracker, the early birds probably didn't get the best deals. They say the best time to buy Christmas tickets is in early October andThanksgivingprices typically remain stable throughHalloween.
ECONOMIC NEWS
The U.S. economy added 156,000 new jobs in August, a bit behind prior months and also several thousand lower that what economists had been expecting. Marketwatch does note however that the government’s preliminary estimates are often too low in the summer as many people are on vacation and the numbers are subject to revision a month from now. Manufacturing, construction and health care combined to account for more than half the hiring during the month. The unemployment rate ticked up by a tenth of a point from 4.3% to 4.4%.
BUSINESS BYTES
Despite a lot of publicity a couple of weeks back about Chinese automakers looking to buy either all of Fiat Chrysler or perhaps just the Jeep brand, CEO SergioMarchionne said no offer is on the table nor is the company working on any “big deal” at the moment. He also denied other speculation that Fiat Chrysler might spin off the Maserati and Alfa Romeo brands, saying those two need to become self-sustainable first.
The gecko may get a bit shorter based on Warren Buffett’s estimate of GEICO’s potential payouts in the Texas markets devastated by Harvey. The head of Berkshire Hathaway told CNBC that GEICO insures about a half million cars in the impacted area and about 70% of them would likely have comprehensive coverage that covers flood damage. Buffett estimates about 50,000 cars are likely to be total losses—and if the average value of those was just $10,000, that would amount to $500 million—a half billion dollars—that GEICO will need to pay out. Berkshire Hathaway also owns Star Furniture, with several stores in Houston and some other Texas markets.
We reported last week that Campbell Soup had alluded to a failed negotiation with a major retailer that would impact upcoming sales. Not surprisingly, according to The Wall Street Journal, that retailer is Walmart, which sells about 20% of all Campbell’s annual business. The dispute was over promotional pricing and shelf space. The Journal adds that all of “Big Food” is facing pressure from retailers demanding bigger discounts, adding pressure to the manufacturers’ bottom lines as they also need to deal with declining top-line sales. “The retailer landscape is changing dramatically,” Campbell’s CEO Denise Morrison told analysts. Among those who agree with her: Warren Buffett, an investor in and board member of Kraft Heinz. “Right now, the retailers, they’re doing better in this round of the fight,” he told CNBC.
WILL GAS PRICES HURT RESTAURANTS?
The restaurant business has been having tough times for more than a year, and now has another thing to worry about—after Hurricane Harvey shut down oil refineries in Texas which resulted in a (likely temporary) spike in gas prices, past history has shown there is a correlation between gas prices and restaurant sales. The expected decline may not be huge--Nation’s Restaurant News says at current gas prices, a consumer would spend just under $12 a month more with 40 gallons of usage, about the same as a meal at a fast-casual restaurant or two at a quick-serve restaurant. Still, for a segment that has had customer count problems even at low gas prices, even a short period of higher gas prices will cut into business and have an impact.
THIS AND THAT
You’d probably guessed this already—but don’t expect to get any more ObamaCare government advertising.Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) officials announced that funding for advertising and other outreach for ObamaCare enrollment will be cut from $100 million last year to $10 million this year……A report from Current says U.S. teens (13-16) with debit cards spent$31a week on average fromJune 1 through August 26. Average weekly spending increased steadily with age, with 16-year-olds spending$38.98a week. Cash accounted for a very small percentage of overall spending, with ATM withdrawals accounting for only 2.8% of all transactions, even though teens were four times more likely to spend money at brick and mortar retail (79.7%) than online (17.5%)……Byron Allen's independent TV production company, Entertainment Studios, has signed a long-term agreement with Nielsen for linear and digital measurement services. The agreement includes measurement for TV programs and commercial content in broadcast syndication, plus all seven Entertainment Studios HD cable television networks……The new deadline for Raycom and DirecTV to come to terms on continued carriage of 54 Raycom local stations is today. The temporary extension was announced as the old deal expired on Friday.
AVAILS
WTAT, the FOX Affiliate in Charleston, SC, has an immediate opening for an experienced Account Executive well versed in both broadcast and digital sales. If you have a successful background of developing new business, as well as solid negotiating skills, we have a great opportunity for you in one of the most sought-after markets in the country! Must have at least 3 years Broadcast, Cable and/or Radio sales experience.Send resume and include “WTAT-Account Executive” in the subject line.No calls please.EOE.
KMSB/FOX 11 and KTTU/My18, the TEGNA-owned /managed stations in Tucson, AZ are looking for a highly motivated, driven, and creative Major Accounts Sales Manager who is up to the challenge of setting new records across multiple platforms.The MASM will lead, motivate and inspire the national sales team to exceed revenue goals and assist the LSM with local sales.This a terrific opportunity in one of the best lifestyle markets in the country.CLICK HERE for more info or to apply now. EOE.
WROC-TV8, the CBS affiliate in Rochester, NY seeks a Local Sales Manager. The LSM is responsible for leading the day to day operations of the sales department, including development and achievement of new business revenue goals.This person will be active in the community, building business and strong relationship and knowledge of the local economic landscape.Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing, Advertising, Communications, or related field, plus a minimum three year experience in sales required. CLICK HERE for more info or to apply now.EOE.
Are you interested in working in the “It City” of Nashville, TN? WKRN, Nashville’s fastest growing television station and #1 News website, is actively searching for an account executive to implement marketing strategies, develop new business and grow market share on existing accounts. WKRN is home of the CMA Awards on ABC, the Tennessee Titans Pre-Season, as well as the Nashville Christmas Parade, the local 4th of July and New Year’s Eve celebrations. CLICK HERE for more info or to apply now.EOE.
KOIN 6, a Nexstar Media Group Inc. television station in Portland, Oregon, is looking to hire a full time Digital Account Executive. We offer a competitive salary, attractive benefits and exhilarating work environment. The Digital AE is responsible for generating and growing digital marketing service revenue for the company by professionally and effectively selling Amplify, Nexstar’s Digital suite of digital marketing services/products.1+ years of digital marketing or media sales preferred.CLICK HERE for more info or to apply now.EOE/M/F/V/D
WOOD TV, WOTV and WXSP in Grand Rapids, Michigan seeks a Digital Sales Manager to lead an experienced, high performance sales team in selling our suite of internet based marketing products. The ideal candidate will have the ability to multi-task and communicate effectively. Responsibilities include developing large-scale solutions and growing digital revenue from our existing accounts. Candidates should also have 3 years digital sales experience; management experience is a plus.CLICK HEREto apply now.No calls please.EOE/M/F/V/D
In Saudi Arabia, a 14-year-old boy was detained for dancing to the Macarena. You know, I don’t say this often but I’m going to side with the Saudi government on this one.
--Conan O’Brien
New Jersey's oldest resident, whose secret was whiskey, died at 112. He was cremated Monday and .... is still burning.
--Larry the Cable Guy
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SPOTS N DOTS
The Daily News Of TV Sales
September 5, 2017
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