Spots N Dots The Daily News Of TV Sales April 22, 2016 VOLKSWAGEN COMES TO TERMS WITH THE EPA
DIESEL OWNERS TO GET FIX AND MONEY Owners of Volkswagen “clean diesel” cars that were actually rigged to cheat on government emission tests are going to receive “substantial” compensation and have their cars either fixed or bought back by the automaker. Exact details are still being ironed out, but VW told a federal judge in San Francisco that it has reached broad outlines of a deal with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California Air Resources Board to settle civil lawsuits consolidated in the San Francisco court. VW still faces a federal criminal probe. VW now faces a June 21 deadline to file specifics of the settlement and a hearing, since the deal will require court approval, is set for July 26. Consumers won’t have to make any decision until they have an opportunity to fully evaluate the details, the judge said. “Volkswagen is committed to earning back the trust of its customers, dealers, regulators and the American public. These agreements in principle are an important step on the road to making things right,” the company said in a statement.
ADVERTISER NEWS General Motors’ quarterly profit more than doubled to $2 billion with strong truck (including SUVs) sales in the U.S. a major contributor. The Wall Street Journal noted, however, GM’s decline in share caused by its decision to reduce fleet sales……Major appliance retailers appear to be stocking up as factory shipments of majaps were up almost 7% last month per numbers from the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers. Shipments of air conditioners showed the biggest year-to-year growth with a 13.5% increase while gains were also seen in clothes washers, dishwashers, and refrigerators……More regional banks are struggling with problems of small net interest margins and loans to the energy sector. BB&T did manage to get net interest margin up to 3.43% from 3.33% in the same quarter last year, but set aside $182 million for bad loans, up from $105 million last year. And U.S. Bancorp raised its loan-loss provision to $330 million, 25% higher than last year. Net interest margin was 3.06%, close to last year’s 3.08%...... Much of Yum Brands’ profitability now comes from its massive China division, but in U.S. results KFC same-store sales were up 1% in the first quarter while Pizza Hut unit comps climbed by 5% and Taco Bells were up 1%...... Nation’s Restaurant News reports McDonald’s franchisees are now upbeat about sales, but are still complaining about too much discounting and the complexity of the menu. One operator said “The kitchen is impossible with all day breakfast. It’s killing our people”……Two small Colorado-based chains are combining with plans for each to expand via franchising. Craft-beer focused casual-dining concept Growler USA is acquiring Smiling Moose Rocky Mountain Deli, which currently has just 17 units in seven states……The latest retailer to embrace online ordering with in-store pickup is BJ’s Wholesale Club at all 213 stores. Customers will need to go to the member services desk to get their order—orders placed before 1PM will be available on a same-day basis……Loss of characters based on Frozen contributed to a drop in sales at Mattel; adding to the problems was a 3% decline in global Barbie dolls and accessories revenue……Macy’s replaced Kohl’s as Department Store of the Year in the annual Harris Poll EquiTrend Study, recognizing the strongest brands based on data from almost 100,000 respondents. Nordstrom was named Luxury Department Store brand, replacing Lord & Taylor. Other retail segment winners were DSW Shoes for shoe stores, Best Buy for electronics, Home Depot for hardware/home store, T.J. Maxx for Off-Price Retailer, Cabela’s (replacing Dick’s) for sporting goods, and Dunkin’ Donuts for quick-serve restaurant. Many more rankings can be viewed at www.theharrispoll.com/equitrend-rankings/2016.
NETWORK NEWS First Lady Michelle Obama will appear in an NCIS episode in conjunction with “Joining Forces,” a nationwide initiative supporting service members, veterans and their families, on Tuesday, May 3, at 8:00 pm (ET) on CBS. In the NCIS episode “Homefront,” the First Lady welcomes NCIS Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) and the wife of a Marine to the White House for a “Joining Forces” roundtable with military spouses. The extras cast in the roundtable scene were actual military spouses……Univision Network announced the world premiere of Yago, a modern crime/drama about a man betrayed by his best friends and the love of his life who, after he is presumed dead, returns with a new face, new identity and a plan to take vengeance on every one of his enemies. Yago is set to premiere Monday, May 2, at 9:00 pm (ET). Acclaimed Spanish actor Ivan Sanchez takes the lead role as Yago along with Gabriela de La Garza and an all-star cast……New I Love Lucy Superstar Special, a new one-hour special featuring two colorized back-to-back classic episodes of the 1950s series, will be broadcast Sunday, May 22, at 8:00 pm (ET) on CBS. The two episodes, “Lucy Visits Grauman’s” and “Lucy and John Wayne,” are newly-colorized with a vintage look, reminiscent of the 1950s period in which they were filmed……In celebration of Mother’s Day and the endless contributions of “Bionic Moms” everywhere, Cozi TV announced a special mini-marathon of The Bionic Woman which will air on Sunday, May 8. Kicking off at noon on Mother’s Day, the mini- marathon will feature five, fan-favorite episodes of the action sci-fi classic starring Lindsay Wagner……Deadline reports that female lead Stana Katic, who plays Detective Kate Beckett, will not return for season nine of Castle on ABC—and that original cast member Tamala Jones is also out in a major shakeup of the series. Nathan Fillion, who plays Rick Castle, is reportedly still in contract talks.
WEDNESDAY RATINGS Empire again dominated Wednesday night for FOX in the young demo, although CBS, with Survivor, had the most viewers. The Nielsen Fast Nationals put FOX at an average 2.4 rating in Adults 18-49 and 4.4 in Households, with an average audience of 7.005 million viewers. CBS was at 1.7 18-49, 5.3 HH and 8.559 million; ABC, with mostly reruns, 1.0 18-49, 2.6 HH and 3.964 million; NBC 0.8 18-49, 2.7 HH and 3.946 million; Univision 0.6 18-49, 1.1 HH and 1.833 million; Telemundo 0.6 18-49, 0.8 HH and 1.339 million; and The CW 0.3 18-49, 0.7 HH and 1.029 million.
SYNDIE SNIPPET After two popular Bachelor-themed weeks this season on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, devoted members of Bachelor Nation will have another shot at seeing their faves when Bachelorette Andi Dorfman appears as a Millionaire contestant Thursday, April 28, with Bachelor Season 18 winner NIikki Farrell on hand to support Dorfman as her “Plus One.” The next day, Dorfman returns the favor, taking on “Plus One” duties as Farrell plays for charity.
DISNEY & UNIVISION END JOINT VENTURE Fusion will no longer be a joint venture of Disney’s ABC and Univision Communications, with Univision acquiring ABC’s stake to become sole owner. Univision will take over ABC’s role in handling distribution and ad sales functions and have editorial control of the multi-platform network. With the change, Univision will be forming the Fusion Media Group (FMG). FMG will serve as the multi-platform destination for the “new, rising American mainstream, delivering content that embodies the audience’s shared values and passion points across all platforms.” Building on the foundation created by Fusion, Univision’s first English-language effort, the company has established a collection of youth-oriented brands. The Fusion Media Group will include Univision’s interests in Fusion and El Rey as well as The Root, The Onion, A.V. Club, Clickhole, Starwipe, Flama, Univision Digital and Univision Music. “Fully integrating Fusion into our portfolio closely aligns with our desire to engage with our growing audience wherever they are, whenever they want and in their language of preference,” said Randy Falco, Univision Communications president and CEO,
NEXSTAR LAUNCHES PROGRAMMATIC TECH Nexstar subsidiary Yashi has launched Daily Mirror, described as “the industry’s first integrated linear television and digital programmatic video advertising technology.” Powered by Yashi’s location-focused technology, Digital Mirror will deliver highly targeted digital pre-roll video advertising online and via mobile devices. The initial launch will be exclusive to Nexstar’s portfolio of 103 television stations with the opportunity to scale the technology for use by other station operators over the near to mid-term. “This proprietary technology suite, exclusive to Nexstar, maximizes the targeting and engagement capabilities of our local and national advertising clients while delivering high ROI on their television and digital media investments,” said Nexstar CEO Perry Sook. How it works. At the time a client’s broadcast advertising spot begins to air on live television, Digital Mirror sends a signal to Yashi’s Demand Side Platform (DSP), immediately triggering it to deliver client’s digital pre-roll video advertisements to the desktops and laptops, tablets and other mobile devices of people within the station’s particular designated market area (DMA). In addition, following the simultaneous delivery of the television / digital ad campaign, Digital Mirror will continue distributing the ads on digital platforms for approximately three minutes to reach the largest possible audience.
ACCOUNT ACTIONS MillerCoors abruptly terminated its relationship with TBWA/Chiat/Day, Los Angeles, as ad agency of record for Miller Lite. The move came just weeks after TBWA introduced a new "Spelled Different" campaign for Miller Lite at a distributors convention in New Orleans. 108LA, also in Los Angeles and also an Omnicom shop, has taken over as lead creative agency on the Miller Lite account……Periscope, Minneapolis, has won the $7.5 million per year account for the Minnesota Lottery. Agency CEO Liz Ross told Adweek the winning pitch included a focus on how to interest Millennials in buying lottery tickets.
WHERE THE JOBS ARE San Francisco, CA and Travis, TX, led the nation in 2014 in annual employment growth among the top 50 U.S. counties with the most employees, according to new U.S. Census Bureau economic statistics. Overall, these 50 counties accounted for 34.7% of all U.S. employment.
San Francisco County's employment grew 5.7% (up 30,931 employees) to 573,297 employees in 2014. The information sector, up 13.6% to 56,684 employees, and the construction sector, up 10.4% to 17,884 employees led growth in that county. Three more of the 10 large counties with the highest rate of employment gains were in California, the Census Bureau said in releasing the 2014 data. They were Riverside (up 4.4%), Alameda (up 4.1%) and Santa Clara (up 3.9%).
Travis County, Texas, which tied with San Francisco in percentage growth, increased 5.7% (up 29,289 employees) to 544,038 employees in 2014. Travis also led the largest counties in the rate of growth of business establishments climbing 3.6% to 32,217 establishments. Travis County is part of the rapidly growing Austin-Round Rock metro area, whose population topped 2 million people for the first time in 2015, according to recent population estimates. In Travis, the real estate and rental and leasing sector rose 22.3% to 13,525 employees; the utilities sector rose 16.5% to 1,046 employees; and the information sector rose 14.6% (to 27,437 employees).
Among states, North Dakota led in rate of employment growth between 2013 and 2014, climbing 5.3% to 360,970, followed by Colorado and Florida at 4.3% each. Mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction led North Dakota's sectors with a 16.4% rise in employment to 25,691 employees in 2014.
THIS AND THAT Progressive Grocer does an annual report on its industry, and television advertising did not do as well as might have been hoped for in a question based on Marketing and Advertising. When asked which strategies were seen as “extremely or very important,” only 20.9% of respondents ranked TV advertising that high. In-store signage/digital media was named by 62.7%, followed by Digital Marketing, 42.6%; Newspaper Inserts, 42.4%; Mobile Marketing, 35.8%; Direct Mail including circulars, 32.4%; and ROP Newspaper, 29.9%. Lower rated than TV was Radio advertising, 14.7% and Custom magazines, 9.1%...... The latest retailer to embrace online ordering with in-store pickup is BJ’s Wholesale Club at all 213 stores. Customers will need to go to the member services desk to get their order—orders placed before 1:00 pm will be available on a same-day basis……Mortgage rates reversed last week's move, posting the first increase since mid-March. The increase in mortgage rates was only modest, though, with the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage rate ticking up to 3.75%, according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey.
AVAILS
Raycom Media seeks a Corporate Broadcast Sales Trainer to assist owned or operated television stations with broadcast sales development. This position is responsible for the sales training and development of all Broadcast sellers within their group of assigned TV stations. This person will also fill in wherever needed as backup when a TV station is without a Sales Manager. Bachelor’s degree or equivalent sales experience, plus a minimum 5 years previous sales management experience required. CLICK HERE for more info or to apply now. EOE.
Hearst Television’s NBC affiliate, WVTM 13 in Birmingham, AL seeks an experienced Sales Professional. The ideal candidate is coachable, thrives in a goal-oriented team environment and has strong interpersonal skills. If you are motivated by an excellent product, great compensation, and working with talented people in a team environment, then we want to talk to you. Proven track record of 1 to 3 years of experience as an AE, and solid negotiation skills required. Qualified applicants send resume to Peter Keith, LSM at [email protected]. EOE M/F/D/V Entercom Communications in Denver, CO is seeking a Director of Sales Intelligence. This position will utilize your sales skills and knowledge to look at opportunities to improve processes and implement technology that drives sales results. Broad duties include being knowledgeable of the data and reports the technology departments can produce, and how they are consumed by our sales teams to produce value. You’ll work closely with our Sales Managers across 27 markets, our Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Senior Management. To be considered for this position, please apply online at www.entercom.com and click on “Careers.” EOE.
E.W. Scripps Company is seeking an innovative and dynamic Director of Sales at WFTS in Tampa, FL. The Director of Sales is responsible for leading and establishing the direction of the stations’ sales team. Bachelor’s degree with marketing major is required or commensurate experience in progressive sales management position. A minimum of five (5) years of local and national TV sales management experience. Experience in an LPM market a plus. CLICK HERE to apply, (Keyword #11732). Equal Opportunity Employer.
KOAT-TV, Hearst Television's ABC affiliate in Albuquerque, NM, is looking for an experienced Account Executive. The ideal candidate is coachable, thrives in a goal-oriented team environment and has strong interpersonal skills. We will provide the tools – you provide sales ability, positive attitude, client focus, and desire to WIN! If you want to work for the best, we want to hear from you today! CLICK HERE to apply! EOE.
WDBJ in Roanoke, VA is seeking a News Director. This person supervises all news programming and personnel and establishes policies for standards and practices within the news and operations department. Provides long-term strategic vision for the News department and protects the journalist integrity of the station. 7+ years of experience working in a newsroom 5+ years of experience as news director with strong experience in breaking news and weather preferred. Send resumes to [email protected] and reference "News Director Position" in the subject line.
NCC Media Boston is searching for people to represent NCC affiliates in the sale of cable advertising time to national clients and their agencies that are seeking advertising opportunities on cable networks in the local market arena. you'll work closely with other NCC departments to build and facilitate new and ongoing advertising strategies. Thorough knowledge of the cable industry and a college degree preferred. Please send cover letter and resume to: [email protected]. EOE.
A man at Walmart in Missouri has been fired for hugging people to thank them for their business. After being told he was getting fired, the man said, ‘Oh, I don't work here.’ --Jimmy Fallon
You don't need to get liposuction to feel good about yourself at Coachella. Just do what everybody else is doing to feel better about themselves—drugs. --James Corden ------SPOTS N DOTS The Daily News Of TV Sales April 22, 2016
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