Spots N Dots The Daily News Of TV Sales November 2, 2016 ALL MAJOR CAR MAKERS POST OCTOBER DROP

HQ FIRE DELAYS FORD FIGURES The third straight month of sales declines for the U.S. auto industry has made it less likely that 2016 will top 2015’s record unit sales. All major manufacturers reported sales declines for October—and very few smaller brands had an up month. A fire at an electrical substation next to Ford Motor Company’s world headquarters in Dearborn, MI left the data center without power, so Ford will report its October sales later in the week—but no one is expecting anything but a negative month. Based on what is known, General Motors has estimated the October seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of sales was approximately 18.0 million units, which would be down from 18.1 million a year ago. First off, here are the car makers whose sales were up in October. Jaguar-Land Rover was up 6.9% to 8,751 units, with Jaguar up 225.8% and Land Rover down 23.2%. Subaru had another good month, up 4.1% to 53,760, and Mitsubishi gained 2.8% to 7,637. And Hyundai- Kia Group was up 1.3%, with Hyundai up 4.2% and Kia down 2.1%. Now the downers. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles dropped 10.3% to 176,609. Ram was up 11.5%, while Alfa Romeo was down 60.3%, Chrysler 44.7%, Fiat 24.3%, Dodge 16.4% and Jeep 6.6%. Toyota USA was down 8.7% to 186,295, with Toyota down 8.2% and Lexus off 6.2%—although the Lexus luxury SUVs were hot, including a 162% gain for the LX (pictured). GM was down only 1.7% to 258,626, with Buick up 7.4%, while Cadillac was off 9.4%, GMC 6.2% and Chevrolet 0.8%. American Honda was down 4.2% to 126,161, with Honda down 2.0% and Acura 20.0%. Nissan North America dropped 2.2% to 113,520, with Inifniti up 0.6% and Nissan down 2.5%. BMW Group dropped 16.5% to 27,871, with BMW down 18.4% and Mini 3.3%. Volkswagen AG was down 9.5% to 47,318, with Bentley up 157.9%, Porsche 10.7% and Audi 0.1%, but VW down 18.5%. Daimler AG slipped 2.1% to 31,801, with Smart down 42.0% and Mercedes-Benz 1.2%. Volvo was down 14.6% to 6,340 and Mazda was off 10.8% to 22,711. Wards Auto reports that FCA, Ford and Toyota have cut Q4 output plans by 139,700 units to adjust to demand. At the same time, though, GM, Honda, Kia, Nissan and Subaru have increased vehicle output by 127,000. Put another way, car output is being cut by 41,600, but truck/SUV production boosted by 39,600.

ADVERTISER NEWS The company still called MillerCoors (even though Miller is now gone and it’s now a fully-owned subsidiary of Molson Coors) recorded a 9.6% profit increase in the third quarter although volume was down and the profitability gain came from higher pricing, positive sales mix and lower cost of goods. Coors Light claims a share gain in the Premium Light segment for the sixth consecutive quarter (although shipments were down) and MillerCoors’ CEO said “Now that we are officially part of the Molson Coors Brewing Company, we are more focused than ever on getting to growth”……The Wall Street Journal says a deal is coming together to merge DraftKings and FanDuel, huge advertisers a year ago that each cut back dramatically after running afoul of legal problems in many states. The Journal notes neither company has yet figured out how to be profitable, spending heavily on marketing and dealing with legal issues. Advertising Age adds the two companies’ September/October spending this year was just 8% of what they combined to invest last year……Rent-to-own chain Aaron’s had a 21.8% quarterly profit increase on only a slight revenue gain with its Progressive financial unit providing most of the profitability gain. Same-store sales at the stores were down 4.6% as the company has already closed 56 stores this year and plans to shutter more next year, but the number of customers for the Progressive unit (which also makes loans to non-Aaron’s furniture stores) is up 12% in year-to-year comparisons……White Castle, a chain that does much of its business in the late night and overnight hours, is rolling out availability of Monster Energy Drink systemwide……There’s been a lot of consolidation activity in the convenience store business lately and this may be why: Convenience Store News reports the industry had an excellent first half of the year as low fuel prices have driven strong in-store sales. Comparing first six month totals, fuel sales are down 11.9% versus January-June 2015 (although more gas is being pumped and margins have generally gone up), while in-store sales are up by 3.1% to over $113 billion. Foodservice sales are up 5.6% on top of a 5.2% gain that was recorded a year ago— another challenge for traditional restaurants that have mostly been reporting disappointing numbers……As we enter the November/December holiday season L Brands issued some discouraging preliminary October numbers and lowered its profitability projections for the quarter. It now sees October at just a 1% blended same-store sales gain: comps at Bath & Body Works are up 6%, but Victoria’s Secret is negative at down 2%.

NETWORK NEWS Jay Leno made a surprise appearance on his old NBC Tonight Show, “tagging in” to complete the monologue for Jimmy Fallon. Most of the jokes were about the election, of course. We have a couple of Leno’s lines in this issue…… Bachelor in Paradise fan favorite Nick Viall has landed another chance at love. ABC has announced that Viall will be the main man in the 21st season of The Bachelor. Viall is very familiar with the territory with stints on The Bachelorette, as well as Bachelor in Paradise. The next season of The Bachelor will premiere on ABC Monday, January 2nd at 8 PM (ET)……Ed Weeks of The Mindy Project and the series creator, executive producer and lead, Mindy Kaling have teamed up to produce a new comedy for ABC. The untitled single-camera comedy will be about a lesbian couple that move to a conservative Kansas town with their teenage son. The series will be written by Weeks and Hanna MacKay of Peep Show……NBC has extended its time-travel drama, Timeless to 16 episodes. In a statement, NBC Entertainment president Jennifer Salke said “we are thrilled to be ordering additional episodes so that we can run the final six hours of the season in a row with no pre-emptions after the New Year.” Also, NBC has set a premiere date for the TV adaptation of the Liam Neeson action films. Taken will debut on Monday, February 27th at 10 PM (ET), immediately following The Voice’s spring return……The TV remake of the 1999 cult film, Cruel Intentions will not make it NBC’s schedule. The network announced that it will opt out of adding the series to its lineup. Sony Pictures Television plans to shop the project elsewhere…… Parks and Recreation alum Adam Scott and his wife Naomi, have landed a new comedy series at NBC. The unnamed project will star J.J. Totah, the fifteen-year-old star of Other People, a breakout hit film from the Sundance Film Festival. David Monahan and Danielle Hoover will write the series; the pair is also working on a new comedy for FOX called Manhood……Modern Family vets Paul Corrigan and Brad Walsh, along with writer Chris Garcia, are developing a potential comedy for FOX. The series will be based on Garcia’s real- life story when his Cuban immigrant parents lie about their home address, to give him a chance at a better public education. Andy Samberg of the FOX comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone and Billy Rosenberg are listed as executive producers of the project……Juliana Harkavy of The Walking Dead and Constantine, is joining the cast of Arrow on The CW. Harkavy will have a recurring role as Tina Boland, a former detective of Central City. MONDAY RATINGS Several network prime shows hit series lows on Halloween Night, including the NBC Nielsen ratings champ, The Voice. The singing competition was down seven tenths of a point from last week with a 2.0 18-49 rating. The 10 PM (ET) drama, Timeless checked in with a 1.1 rating. On FOX, Gotham and Lucifer posted a 0.9 each, both going under 1.0 for the first time. For CBS, the freshman comedy, Kevin Can Wait was down two tenths to a 1.4 in the 8 PM (ET) slot, followed by Man with a Plan (1.5), 2 Broke Girls (1.5), The Odd Couple (1.2) and Scorpion (1.4). ABC’s Dancing with the Stars was down only a tenth to a 1.5, while the All Access Nashville: Celebrating the CMA special delivered a 0.7. CW’s Supergirl posted its lowest rating ever with a 0.6 and Jane the Virgin managed a 0.4. Historically, viewing levels are lower on Halloween, and the CBS affiliate in Minneapolis preempted prime programming for Monday Night Football, which may influence the final adjusted ratings.

WEEKLY RATINGS The World Series is scoring big ratings for FOX. Of the top ten programs for the week, six were World Series Games or the World Series Pregame. Gave 5 on Sunday night, featuring the Chicago Cubs win over the Cleveland Indians had the highest 18-49 Nielsen rating for the week with a 6.7. NBC’s Sunday Night Football Eagles/Cowboys game was second with a 6.5 in the demo. Game 1 of the series was fourth with a 5.2, Sunday’s pregame was fifth posting a 5.0 rating and Game 2 got the sixth highest rating with a 4.8 in the demo. The Big Bang Theory on CBS was the first entertainment program in the top ten tying with Football Night in America on NBC with a 3.4 rating. The new NBC hit, This Is Us, was the best performer of the new programs with a 2.4, while the premiere of The Great Indoors on CBS took a 1.9. Speechless on ABC did a 1.7 and the premiere of the new Matt LeBlanc comedy, Man with A Plan, on CBS managed a 1.6 demo rating, tying with ABC’s American Housewife.

COMPETITIVE INFO Gannett has walked away from talks to acquire Tronc, the owner of the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and other major dailies. Gannett said the terms were not acceptable. Tronc claimed that Gannett ran into financing problems. The Chicago Tribune reported that the parties had agreed on a price of $18.75 per share, a little over $1 billion, including debt. With no deal, Tronc’s stock plunged over 12% yesterday to $10.54.

DIGITAL VIDEO AD $$$ SOARING The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) reports that U.S. digital advertising revenues were up 19% in the first half of 2016 to an all-time high of $32.7 billion, based on data compiled by PwC US. The second quarter was up 19% year-over-year to $16.9 billion. As impressive as those figures are, digital video on all platforms and mobile advertising led the advance with huge increases. Mobile shot up 89% to $15.5 billion, representing 47% of total Internet advertising in the first half. Within mobile, video on smartphones and tables saw triple-digit ad revenue growth—up 178% to $1.6 billion. Total digital video, which includes both mobile and desktop/laptop, rose 51% to $3.9 billion. Total social media ad revenues were up 57% to $7.0 billion. Desktop/laptop search was down 12% year-over-year in the first half, but mobile search shot up 89%, so total search was up 19% to $16.3 billion—half of all Internet ad revenue. IAB has been tracking Internet ad revenues since 1996. Back then the total for the first half of the year was $82 million.

ACCOUNT ACTIONS General Mills has completed the creative agency review it began in the summer and named 72andSunny, Los Angeles, and Redscout, New York, to handle its $700 million account. A company spokesperson told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that the two MDC Partners agencies exhibited a “refreshing commitment to diversity,” which had been specified by The Mills with a target of 50% women and 20% people of color. The account shift ends a decades-long association of The Mills with Saatchi & Saatchi and McCann……Independent Wieden + Kennedy, New York has been appointed agency of record for Duracell, succeeding MDC Partners’ Anomaly. The first creative work is due out in early 2017.

THIS AND THAT NBC Boston announced that it will launch January 1 on Channel 10 on most MVPDs, as the network moves from Sunbeam’s WHDH to become an O&O. The over-the-air signal on WBTS will be on virtual channel 8 or 8.2, depending on location within the DMA. The new NBC O&O announced plans for seven newscasts daily, with the earliest at 4:30 am and the latest at 11:00 pm……Facebook has been sued over its admitted error that inflated the average time spent viewing video ads by 60-80%. MediaPost says three marketers are seeking class action status for their lawsuit claiming that Facebook induced them and other advertisers to buy video ads through misrepresentation. They’re seeking monetary damages and attorney’s fees…… Comcast-owned STRATA announced a deal with Hulu to integrate STRATA software to overcome ad skipping and viewability challenges……Meanwhile, Hulu has signed deals with Disney and 21st Century Fox to add more networks to its OTT service launching next year— including ABC and FOX in many markets, along with ESPN, Fox Sports, FX, Fox News Channel and others……Uber has teamed with GM’s short-term leasing program, Maven, for its drivers, despite GM’s investment in rival Lyft.

AVAILS

KTVO-TV (Missouri/Iowa) seeks a Local Television/Digital Sales Manager. The LSM will lead the local sales department to maximize all sales opportunities, with an emphasis on new business development. At least 2 years broadcast sales experience, with television/digital sales and management experience preferred. Will work with direct clients, train staff and help them exceed revenue goals for all platforms, and must have the ability to create plans that will help the station reach revenue goals. CLICK HERE for more info or to apply. EOE/Drug Free.

Comcast Spotlight, the area’s top media sales organization is looking for a talented Director of Sales for our Baltimore market. The ideal candidate will have a successful and proven track record in television & digital sales with 5+ years in related experience. The DOS will execute multi-platform sales strategies, tactics and action plans to drive our Regional/National line of business and achieve company financial targets. Qualified candidates can CLICK HERE for more info or to apply now. EOE/Veterans/Disabled/LGBT employer.

WNCN CBS 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 www.mediageneral.com/careers, job ID NCN-000435. EOE. Background check and drug screen required.

The Networks of Mid-Missouri is seeking a highly motivated, competitive professional to lead its KQFX (FOX) and NMIZ (MyNetwork) team as Local Sales Manager. The LSM will implement the company’s plan to cultivate new local business, grow long lasting relationships with clients and shape a productive sales team through training and management. The position leads the revenue generating effort of the company through selling television air time, internet and special events. Cover letter and resume to: [email protected]. Tell us where you saw this ad! EOE.

Researchers say the smell of pumpkins can cause sexual arousal in men. Guys, a word of warning. Before you act on impulse, blow out the candle first. --Jay Leno

President Obama was at a big fundraiser in Beverly Hills last week where people paid $100,000 a plate—to hear the president talk about income inequality. --Jay Leno

I don’t want to toot my own horn, so I pay a visiting foreign student named Raf to do it for me.

--Conan O’Brien

------SPOTS N DOTS The Daily News Of TV Sales November 2, 2016

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