www.cablespots.net Published Daily For Subscriptions, call 1-888-884-2630 [email protected] $300 Per Year Copyright 2019 Friday, May 7, 2021 NADA: NEW LIGHT-VEHICLE SALES AGAIN TOP 18M SAAR BEST MONTHLY SALES RATE IN NEARLY 16 YEARS ADVERTISER NEWS April’s new light-vehicle sales saw an 18.5 million-unit Clorox and the National Hockey League are entering SAAR — the second straight month (following a March revi- a multiyear North American partnership. The deal includes sion) of sales above 18 million units and the highest monthly Clorox being named the official cleaning and disinfecting sales rate since July 2005 with a 20.6 million SAAR. product partner of the NHL and features some product inte- That’s according to a post this week by Patrick Manzi, the grations at the league’s stadiums. The agreement is similar chief economist for the National Automobile Dealers As- to one the brand struck with the National Basketball As- sociation. sociation and Women’s National Basketball Associa- The April 2021 SAAR is also up 112% from April 2020 — tion in March. That multiyear pact made Clorox the official which experienced the weakest sales of the COVID-19 pan- cleaning partner of the NBA and WNBA. The brand sup- demic — and up 12.1% from April 2019. Though pent-up plied disinfecting products to the 2021 NBA All-Star Game demand from the pandemic played a role this April, sales in Atlanta on March 7. The NHL agreement starts with the were also likely pulled forward by consumers’ uncertainty 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs and includes marketing and about being able to find the vehicles they want in the coming product integrations in support of the league’s COVID-19 months. protocols… In an effort to get more employees and shop- While final month-end inventory data for April is not yet pers vaccinated against COVID-19, Target is offering a available, inventory levels will likely end up at a decades- $5 coupon for those getting inoculated at any one of more long low. And unfortunately, the shortage will continue. than 1,700 CVS at Target pharmacies. The retailer began According to Auto Forecast Solutions, the administering vaccines in March and is also semiconductor microchip shortage has caused donating $6 million to vaccine access initia- a worldwide production falloff of some 2.29 mil- tives around the globe... Tapestry, parent of lion vehicles. Current forecasts put projected Coach, Kate Spade and other luxury brands, total vehicle production losses from the global saw sales return to pre-pandemic levels in chip shortage at 3.36 million units, with 1.11 North America in its third quarter, the com- million from North American production. pany said. The growth was driven in part by OEMs continue to prioritize production for re- digital sales, which increased by triple digits tail customers over fleet customers, with sales in April driven and accounted for 30% of total revenue… Home goods re- by strong retail sales gains. Retail sales in April, says Wards tailer At Home Group is going private in a sale to private Intelligence, are estimated to be up 114% from April 2020 equity firmHellman & Friedman. At Home had 219 stores and up 23% from April 2019. in 40 states as of the end of the most recent fiscal year, and Meanwhile, fleet deliveries increased by 88% from April the retailer is looking to eventually expand to more than 2020 but fell by 42% from April 2019. Amid burgeoning de- 600 stores, CEO Lee Bird said… Walmart is betting on its mand for travel, rental car companies and other fleet buyers third-party marketplace to help grow its e-commerce busi- have had to turn to the used-vehicle market to source inven- ness, which makes up less than 10% of its sales. Walmart tory. has added about 80,000 third-party sellers since 2017, Demand for used vehicles from both fleet and retail custom- when its roster included fewer than 7,000, per Marketplace ers has caused used-vehicle values to skyrocket. The Man- Pulse, and the company recently expanded its marketplace heim used-vehicle value index is expected to set records to sellers outside the U.S., CNN reports… Toshiba is pre- through June, says Jonathan Smoke, chief economist at paring to roll out its C350 smart TV lineup at Amazon and Cox Automotive. Used prices will likely stay high through Best Buy, packing Dolby Audio and UHD 4K support into the summer, remaining so until new-vehicle production can five bezel-free models of different sizes. The TVs will also be normalized. offer picture and audio control via Alexa… Retailers who Because of such strong demand, OEMs have relied less sell camping and other outdoor gear continue to face stock- on incentive spending. According to J.D. Power, average ing and shipping challenges as consumers get ready to incentive spending per unit in April will probably total $3,191, spend another summer outside. L.L. Bean expects triple- off $1,762 from the highs of April 2020 and down $382 from digit rises in demand for outdoor furniture, paddleboards April 2019. Incentive spending is expected to remain lower and adventure duffel bags, with sales of outdoor furniture than in previous years as long as new-vehicle inventories in the first four months of the year already exceeding all remain tight and new-vehicle demand is high. of 2019’s sales… Volkswagen raised its earnings outlook It’s now clear that the microchip shortage will continue for after a strong start to the year, while cautioning that the the rest of the year, with the biggest impacts to production semiconductor shortage rippling through the industry will and sales likely coming in the next few months. become more pronounced in Q2. Operating return on sales Still, Manzi writes, NADA remains confident that new-ve- is forecast at 5.5% to 7% this year, compared with a previ- hicle sales will remain robust in 2021, with a total of 16.3 ous range of 5% to 6.5%, Europe’s largest automaker said million units for the year. yesterday. VAB SEES INCREASE IN REPORTED TUT VIEWING SURVEY: IN-STORE GROCERY SHOPPING REIGNS Networks and distributors represented by the VAB, after A recent poll by Survey Monkey found that 86% of adults complaining that Nielsen under-reported TV usage during in the U.S. want to buy groceries themselves at the store, the pandemic, said that reported TV usage has turned up despite e-commerce’s boom during the pandemic, Grocery noticeably since Nielsen resumed at-home servicing of its Dive reports. sample homes, Next TV reports. Survey Monkey’s findings build on other recent polls and The VAB said that during the pandemic, Nielsen’s estimate research that show shoppers still prefer in-person shopping of total homes using television dropped because 9,400 by a wide margin. The Survey Monkey poll was conducted homes in Nielsen’s sample weren’t properly supervised. April 28-29 with a sample of 1,040 adults. The results were Nielsen said the changes in the sample resulting from weighted for age, race, sex, education and geography us- COVID disrupting how it interacts with homes didn’t have a ing data from the U.S. Census Bureau. significant impact on its numbers. Beyond the main finding, the survey results dug deeper The VAB said the new data proved its into shoppers’ preferences across chan- claims about impaired measurement were nels and formats. While other surveys justified. have indicated that pickup will continue “For months, Nielsen has both denied Eighty-six percent of U.S. to dominate over delivery, the Survey and delayed the VAB’s repeated calls adults want to buy groceries Monkey results suggests the two e-com- for reviews and transparency,” VAB CEO themselves at the store, merce options can each target different Sean Cunningham said. “While this despite e-commerce’s boom demographics. recent reversal of its exaggerated 2020 during the pandemic. People ages 18 to 34 showed the most TUT declines are an important start, it is enthusiasm for delivery, with 9% in that only one piece of a much larger issue. age group saying they prefer it, while the same percentage of people ages 65 and The MRC audit that is currently underway Survey Monkey is the right next step toward providing the older said they favor pickup. advertising marketplace with meaningful Ten percent of female respondents said insights and remedies to Nielsen’s 2020 they prefer delivery compared to 3% of COVID TV currency audience estimates.” male respondents.

VIACOMCBS STREAMING SUBS RISE 6M TO 36M FOX: SUBCRIBER FEES HELP OFFSET AD DROP... ViacomCBS reported higher Q1 earnings as its streaming Fox Corp. reported sales and earnings that beat estimates businesses, including Paramount+ and Pluto TV, reported after a bump in TV subscriber fees offset a Super Bowl- gains in subscribers, users and revenue. related decline in advertising spending, Bloomberg reports. A significant majority of those new subscribers were Though sales in fiscal Q3 fell about 6.5% to $3.22 billion, to Paramount+, and of those a significant majority were that was better than the $3.12 billion analysts projected. domestic customers, the company said. Conversion rates The media giant benefited from an 18% jump in fees that and churn improved in April from March and a year ago. pay-TV distributors pay for the Fox broadcast network. ViacomCBS said it increased its global streaming revenue Fox ad sales took a hit vs. the prior year, when the by 65% to $816 million, as it topped 36 million total streaming company’s namesake network hosted football’s Super subscribers, up 6 million, and its Pluto TV AVOD unit added 6 Bowl, which is always one of the most-watched events of million monthly active users to reach almost 50 million. the year. Streaming subscription revenue rose 69%, driven by Fox News also faced headwinds. The cable-news industry “significant momentum” for Paramount+, the company said. has seen ratings suffer since the drama of the 2020 election subsided, and activists have led boycotts against Fox THIS AND THAT News’s advertisers. Ad sales at the division that includes The Attorney General’s Office in Maine is no longer Fox News declined almost 7% to $283 million. seeking to enforce a state law requiring cable companies to offer a la carte programming options, the Portland Press ... AS TUBI AVOD PURCHASE KEEPS ON SHINING Herald reports. Courts had previously ruled that the First Free ad-supported streaming television platform Tubi Amendment protects providers’ “editorial discretion,” and both keeps paying dividends for Fox Corp. — a year after being issued and upheld injunctions against the law... Mediacom acquired for $440 million. The AVOD service contributed to plans to expand its broadband network to serve 500,000 Fox generating $915 million in advertising revenue for fiscal new locations by 2024 but warns that legal, regulatory and Q3. That compared to ad revenue of $1.26 billion in the COVID-19 concerns could prolong the project. The cable previous-year period when Fox hosted Super Bowl LIV. company reported a 16% year-over-year rise in broadband Current-quarter ad revenue topped the previous non-Super revenues... Paramount+ content (9%) is in a close race Bowl period in 2019 by 11% at $812 million. with HBO Max (10%) and Peacock (8%) in demand share, Fox doesn’t break out Tubi revenue separately, but the according to year-to-date data from Parrot Analytics. company expects the FAST platform to generate $1 million Parrot’s proprietary metric called Demand Expressions in incremental ad revenue in the fiscal year. Through nine measures demand for TV content in a given market through months of the fiscal year, ad revenue is tracking at $3.4 a wide variety of data sources, including video streaming, billion, compared with $3.7 billion a year earlier. social media activity and photo sharing. Tubi’s viewership increased more than 30% and now reaches 40 million monthly active users. Tubi generated more than 275 million hours of total viewing in March, a PAGE 2 monthly record for the platform. It also set a quarterly record for total view time with nearly 800 million hours streamed — www.CableSpots.net Friday, May 7, 2021 up more than 50% year-over-year.