www.cablespots.net Published Daily For Subscriptions, call 1-888-884-2630 [email protected] $300 Per Year Copyright 2019 Tuesday, November 26, 2019 SURVEY: THIS WEEKEND, RETAIL SHOULD BE GRATEFUL DELOITTE SAYS CONSUMERS READY TO SPEND ADVERTISER NEWS Consumers are prepared to spend online and off between LVMH is acquiring the Tiffany & Co. jewelry business and its Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday. “unparalleled heritage” for a whopping $16 billion. “We have Seventy-nine percent of consumers plan to shop for holiday an immense respect and admiration for Tiffany and intend to gifts during the five-day period between Thanksgiving and develop this jewel with the same dedication and commitment Cyber Monday (Nov. 28 – Dec. 2), according to the Deloitte that we have applied to each and every one of our Maisons Pre-Thanksgiving Pulse Survey. [brand houses],” said LVMH owner Bernard Arnault... The average spend is expected to be $415 per household. Walgreens Boots Alliance and UnitedHealth Group’s Gen X shoppers plan on spending the most during the health insurance unit are opening “Medicare services centers” Thanksgiving period (an average of $452), inside the pharmacy chain’s U.S. drugstores closely followed by millennials at $446. Gen in select markets under a new partnership, Z consumers will spend less at an average Forbes reports. Initially, UnitedHealth’s of $335, but they lead all groups in heading UnitedHealthcare and Walgreens say they to brick-and-mortar stores on Black Friday will open 14 “UnitedHealthcare Medicare at 82 percent, followed by 60 percent of millennial shoppers services centers” effective in January 2020. Financial terms who plan to be in stores on Black Friday. of what both sides described as a “multi-year” agreement Online shopping is expected to account for more than half weren’t disclosed... Jet.com, which is owned by Walmart, (53%) of Thanksgiving period spend ($234). For those who is ceasing delivery of fresh groceries in New York City only a will shop in-store during the Thanksgiving period, 36 percent little more than a year after the service started, Bloomberg will do so on Cyber Monday. reports. The retailer will close a warehouse in the Bronx it The survey also found that 94 percent of respondents was using to prepare orders and also let some drivers go, planning to shop during the Thanksgiving period will shop resulting in the loss of 200 to 300 jobs, according to a person online, with 87 percent planning to shop in-store. Online familiar with the decision. Jet will continue to sell dry groceries retailers and mass-merchant stores are the preferred like cereal and other general merchandise... L’Oréal saw a shopping venues. 49 percent increase in e-commerce revenue year over year Almost all respondents (91%) said they planned to spend for the first half of 2019, thanks to its customer data platform, the same or more when compared to two months ago. A third Ad Age reports... BJ’s Wholesale Club is updating its value of them (38%) plan to spend more. proposition to include a “simplified” grocery assortment, More than 40 percent of all online spend for the Thanksgiving more private label products and a sharper focus on general period is expected to occur on Cyber Monday. Additionally, merchandise, Retail Leader reports. CEO Chris Baldwin among consumers who plan to shop online, 72 percent will says the company is seeing progress on these initiatives do so on Cyber Monday. but still “has a lot of work to do.” The company said its Of those who plan to shop in-store, 70 percent will do so transformation priorities for 2020 will focus on acquiring and on Black Friday. More than one-quarter of respondents retaining members (it currently has the highest percentage (26%) will do so on Thanksgiving Day. For those individuals of paid members in company history) and delivering value who plan on shopping online, one-third (33%) will do so on to shoppers through a smaller assortment, personalized Thanksgiving Day and 54 percent plan to shop online on promotions and improved services. The company said Black Friday. it expects to reduce grocery SKUs in the “double-digit “Despite retailers getting a jump-start on holiday deals, percentage range” through 2020... Foot Locker reported whether that’s announcing a pre-Black Friday sale or offering stronger-than-expected Q3 earnings amid rising same-store free shipping, we’re expecting a solid showing in stores on sales. The athletic shoe and accessories retailer reported that Black Friday this year,” said Rod Sides, vice chairman, net income fell to $125 million, or $1.16 a share, from $130 Deloitte LLP, and U.S. leader, retail, wholesale and million, in the quarter ended Nov. 2, or $1.14 a share, in the distribution. “For many groups of friends and family, Black year-ago period. Foot Locker missed earnings expectations Friday shopping is a tradition that brings them all together. for the previous two quarters. Net sales rose 3.9 percent However, online shopping continues to attract shoppers, both to $1.93 billion from $1.86 billion, just missing estimates of on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. In fact, of the folks we $1.94 billion. Same-store sales increased 5.7 percent, better surveyed, more plan on shopping online than in-store during than expected... Target, Amazon and Walmart are among the Thanksgiving period.” those aiming to clench their share of the holiday toy market, The growth of mobile shopping, meanwhile, also has an 15 percent of which went up for grabs last year with the exit upside for store retailers. According to the 2019 Holiday of Toys R Us. Among the strategies enacted, The Business Purchase Intentions survey from The NPD Group, 25 Journals report, are the forging of new partnerships such as percent of online shoppers plan to use a smartphone for Disney-Target, which brings micro-Disney stores into Target, holiday shopping, and they’re more likely than those who use and Walmart-Mattel, which is part of KidHQ, an interactive other devices to buy online and pick up in store. website that facilitates kids’ testing of toys. CABLENET CHATTER ANOTHER ROUND OF RATE HIKES FROM COMCAST AMC’s The Walking Dead: World Beyond, currently Comcast will give its TV subscribers an early lump of filming in and around Richmond, Va., is set to premiere in coal for Christmas: yet another rate increase. Starting spring 2020. The latest TWD offering will focus on the first Dec. 18, the Philadelphia cable giant’s Broadcast TV Fee generation raised in the zombie apocalypse. Julia Ormond will leap from $10 a month to $14.95, FierceVideo reports. (Gold Digger) will star as Elizabeth, the charismatic leader of At the same time, its Basic TV package — essentially, a large, sophisticated and formidable force. The series also local network channels plus public, educational and stars Aliyah Royale, Alexa Mansour, Annet Mahendru, government channels with entry-level DVR service — will Nicolas Cantu, Hal Cumpston and Nico Tortorella... The go from $30 to $35 a month. 51st NAACP Image Awards will air on BET Networks for That nearly 50 percent jump in the broadcast fee — an the first time ever. The NAACP and BET Networks have unavoidable surcharge on Comcast’s TV service, but one announced an exclusive broadcast partnership for the that’s routinely left out of Comcast’s advertising — follows two-hour telecast, which air live from earlier increases to a line item that first Pasadena, Calif., on Feb. 22 at 8 PM (ET). began appearing on Comcast bills in The event honors the accomplishments of January 2015. Then, it debuted at $3.25 people of color in the fields of television, Dear People magazine: I’ve a month before more than doubling to music, literature and film and also honors noticed that your ‘Sexiest $7.75 in January 2018 — so starting individuals or groups who promote social Man Alive’ is always a man a week before Christmas, it will have justice through creative endeavors. The who is sexy. Why not switch increased by 460 percent in just under awards previously aired on TV One... it up? Thanks in advance! five years. Freeform has put into development Comcast blames rising retransmission Demo, a music drama from writer Joy fees charged by broadcasters. “Rising Gregory (Madam Secretary, Switched Conan O’Brien programming costs — most notably for at Birth). Demo follows a 20-something broadcast TV and sports — continue musician who dares to leave behind her to be the biggest factors driving price struggling indie rock band and her working- increases for all content distributors and class family to try writing pop songs in Los Angeles. Though their customers,” the statement read. “While we absorb at first she’s eager to shed her past, she soon discovers that some of the increased programming costs, they have a the best songs tell the deepest truths — if only she can find significant impact on the cost of our services.” the strength to tell hers. CHARTER CEO: CORD-CUTTING WILL SLOW PENSKE: AUDI E-TRON’S SLOW START WORRISOME Despite the accelerating rate of cord-cutting in recent Since it went on sale in April, the Audi e-tron — the first times — and the advent of new streaming services from EV from Volkswagen Group’s premium brand and the tip major players — Charter CEO Tom Rutledge says he of the spear in the automaker’s $66 billion, multibrand global expects the rate to slow in the months ahead. electric offensive — hasn’t exactly electrified the market, and While high fees and password sharing have hurt the pay- that has at least one big name in auto retailing worried about TV business, and the college and second-home markets the industry’s battery-powered future. are nearly gone, the damage is mostly done now, and what Electric vehicles “have not had the lift that [the industry] remains is a viable market, he tells CNBC. expected,” Roger Penske, CEO of Penske Automotive “I think in aggregate they’re going to slow down,” he said. Group, told analysts last month, specifically calling out the “Because I think most single-family homes have big TVs in Audi e-tron’s slow retail start, Automotive News reports. them and that’s where you get sports, that’s where you get Penske said there had been “significant cancellations” of news, that’s where you get live TV like this. It’s still going to e-tron preorders, with affordability the main issue. Through be under price pressure. I’m not saying the category isn’t October, the Audi e-tron had rung up 4,002 U.S. sales. under pressure. But I think the rate of decline will slow.” While Charter lost 75,000 cable subscribers in the third THIS AND THAT quarter, according to Leichtman Research, that was CBS Corp. and Viacom say their pending merger is modest compared to Comcast’s 245,000 loss in the expected to close after market hours on Wednesday, Dec. period. 4. Immediately after, the combined company will be renamed The top pay-TV subscribers representing 93 percent of ViacomCBS Inc. and will begin trading on the Nasdaq on the market lost a combined 1.74 million net subscribers Thursday, Dec. 5... Contract talks between the UAW and in Q3 — up from a net loss of about 975,000 in Q3 2018. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles continue, but it remains unclear how quickly a deal might be reached, the Detroit Free BLOOMBERG’S $37 MILLION AD BLITZ HAS BEGUN Press reports. UAW Vice President Cindy Estrada, who Michael Bloomberg made his presidential run official this leads the union’s FCA Department, issued a letter Monday weekend, and it’s supported by a massive advertising buy. highlighting the state of talks, which have been center stage CNN reports that, according to data from Kantar Media/ in Detroit Three bargaining for a week following ratification CMAG, Bloomberg has placed at least $37 million worth of the UAW’s tentative deal with Ford. Estrada said talks of television advertising over the next two weeks, with with FCA have “intensified” since the ratification of deals with 60-second spots across some 100 markets, representing General Motors and Ford, but that difficult issues remain. “more than the entire Democratic field has spent on TV advertising in the race so far.” PAGE 2 A total of $15 million is spread across just five states — California, Florida, Texas, New York and Pennsylvania Tuesday, November 26, 2019 — so viewers in those states should be prepared to be www.CableSpots.net bombarded with Bloomberg ads, Ad Age reports.