U.S. News & World Report 2017 Rankings

Spots N Dots The Daily News Of TV Sales November 16, 2016 BEST BRANDS: HONDA SUVs, FORD PICKUPS U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT 2017 RANKINGS U.S. News & World Report is out with its annual Best Vehicle Brands Awards. And since the segment that has been driving growth in 2016—and is expected to do so again in 2017—is Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs)—including Crossovers and Minivans—we’ll start there. The Best SUV Brand, according to U.S. News & World Report, is Honda. “Honda’s SUVs don’t have the off-road heritage of traditional SUVs from the likes of Jeep, Land Rover and Toyota, but when it comes to what today’s SUV shoppers are looking for, Honda delivers. It’s our 2017 Best SUV Brand,” the magazine said. Honda’s SUV lineup is described as one of the newest and most up-to-date of any brand, with new model introductions and redesigns happening on all models in the last few years. “It doesn’t hurt that Honda has one of the most diverse SUV lineups of any brand, ranging from the subcompact HR-V (pictured) to the three- row Honda Pilot,” the report stated. Along with SUVs, the automotive market has been driven by pickups. Ford is the magazine’s pick for 2017 Best Truck Brand, led by the “standout performance” of the F-150. “The F-150 is not only incredibly popular with buyers, it offers a forward-thinking design, including a lightweight aluminum frame and fuel-sipping engines, and high-tech features, like a tool tracking system, that other full-size pickup trucks can’t match,” according to the article. "Consumers have an overwhelming number of factors to consider when comparing cars," said Jamie Page Deaton, managing editor of U.S. News Best Cars in announcing the 2017 picks. "The Best Vehicle Brand awards simplify the process by giving people guidance on the top brands in the categories that matter to them." For the second year, Mazda claims the No. 1 spot for Car Brand. Mazda has won plenty of fans for the exciting performance of its lineup, the story notes, including the Mazda3, Mazda6 and MX-5 Miata. “However, Mazda cars are not only a good choice for driving enthusiasts. Our rankings and analysis show that Mazda cars get high marks for interior comfort, tech, and design,” the U.S. News editors wrote. “You might think of Porsche as a pure performance brand, but in recent years, the German automaker has expanded its lineup to include four-door cars,” the story noted. And Porsche is the 2017 Best Luxury Brand. “All Porsche products have the performance you’d expect from a Porsche, as well as luxurious, exacting interiors. Porsche also has some of the best reliability ratings in the industry,” the report stated. The 2017 models live up to the Porsche's performance-driven heritage, says U.S. News, while also providing the rich interiors and connectivity features that today's luxury buyers demand.

ADVERTISER NEWS Home Depot quarterly results are closely watched as a barometer of how heathy the housing market is, and the results for the third quarter are quite good. Same-store sales were up 5.5% (a full point above analysts’ estimates) with the average transaction up 3% and sales per square foot up 4.3%. The chain operates 2,276 stores in all 50 states plus Canada and Mexico. We’ll have the number from competitor Lowe’s in tomorrow’s issue……In a different retail segment, Dick’s Sporting Goods exceeded earnings expectations and is raising its full- year forecast. Third quarter same-store sales were up a blended 5.2% with Dick’s stores plus 5.5% result pulled down a bit by a 3.3% decline at Golf Galaxy stores. Dick’s is already operating 30 Golfsmith stores and will convert them to the Golf Galaxy brand by the end of the fourth quarter and has decided to retain the leases of 22 former Sports Authority locations and convert those to Dick’s……It’s an iconic ad campaign coming around this time of year for the nineteenth time. Lexus’ December to Remember campaign featuring a big red bow on a car starts up this week, with the brand likely feeling more pressure for success than it may have in prior years since sales through October are down 4.7% to 260,996. But Lexus’ VP of Marketing sees hope from the post-Trump election rally, saying “The luxury industry is a little more dependent on what goes on in Wall Street than much of the general market, so that’s a really good sign”……McDonald’s is testing a Sriracha Big Mac at 128 stores in central Ohio, the same stores it used for the test of different-sized Big Macs earlier this year. It’s also making the spicy Sriracha sauce available a la carte as dipping sauce for Chicken McNuggets and French fries……Nation’s Restaurant News reports after its “Chicken for Breakfast—It’s not as crazy as you think” campaign, Chick-fil-A’s share of the breakfast market climbed 16%. NRN also notes the average Chick-fil-A now does an annual $3.5 million in sales, highest among all large limited-service concepts—and that’s produced in six days a week as units are closed on Sundays……Rug sales are often overlooked when thinking about furniture stores, but Furniture Today says retailers have been reporting strong business in floor coverings. One of the larger retailers, Nebraska Furniture Mart (part of Berkshire Hathaway’s furniture group) is projecting about 8% growth this year with items under $600 selling the best...... Shopko is launching its first private label credit card program, offering discounts and periodic deferred interest promotional finance offers along with automatic gift card rewards.

NETWORK NEWS Marvel’s The Inhumans is set to debut on ABC in the fall of 2017. The live-action TV version will premiere the first two episodes on Imax screens for two weeks before airing on the broadcast network. The TV shows will feature additional content not included in the Imax version……Univision and Univision Deportes delivered just over four million viewers for the USA vs. Mexico World Cup qualification game. The audience total included 2.5 million viewers in coveted demo of 18-49. The game was also broadcast on FX1, which included 1.262 million additional viewers……Morena Baccarin will star and serve as executive producer of a new series for NBC. The untitled series will follow a former police officer turned high-powered attorney, played by Baccarin, who navigates the ever-changing landscape of New York City politics. Baccarin currently stars on the FOX drama Gotham. That may change to a recurring role if her new series is picked up by NBC……Robert and Michelle King, creators of The Good Wife, are working with CBS on a new single-camera comedy from writer Marc Lawrence. Lawrence worked on Family Ties and was the co-writer of the Sandra Bullock film, Miss Congeniality and Miss Congeniality 2. The untitled project is about an extremely non- confrontational single mom who is promoted to Dean of Students at the high school where she teaches. Her new job means she must contend with overly-involved parents, demanding administrators and a challenging student body – which includes her two teenagers. The Kings produced another series for CBS called Braindead, which was cancelled after one season…...NBA star LeBron James is hoping to score big as the executive producer of a new game show on NBC called The Wall. The program will be hosted by comedian Chris Hardwick and will offer a pair of contestants the opportunity to win cash by answering questions. The Wall will debut on Tuesday, January 3rd……ABC will air a special program to commemorate the recent opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Taking the Stage: African American Music and Stories that Changed America will air on Thursday, January 12th and will feature music, dance and spoken word performances. Samuel L. Jackson, Quincy Jones, Tom Hanks and Will Smith are scheduled to appear……FOX has awarded a script commitment to Scott Weinger, for a new single-camera comedy. The untitled project is about a married couple whose lives get turned upside down when the wife’s immigrant father comes to live with them. Weinger, current star of Fuller House on Netflix, is set to write the script and will also be executive producer for the project.

MONDAY RATINGS The Voice on NBC lead the night with a 2.3 18-49 Nielsen rating, while Dancing with the Stars on ABC took a 1.7, which was a tenth of a point improvement over last week and enough to put the show in second place for the night. The CBS comedies were all down slightly with 2 Broke Girls dropping two tenths to a 1.2 rating. Kevin Can Wait (1.6), Man with a Plan (1.3) and The Odd Couple (1.0) all were down by a tenth from last week, but the 10 PM (ET) drama, Scorpion (1.2) was up by a tenth. Over on FOX, Gotham (1.2) was steady and Lucifer (1.1) gained a tenth of a point. NBC’s new drama Timeless delivered a 1.2, while ABC’s Conviction managed a 0.8. Supergirl did a 0.8 and Jane the Virgin posted a 0.5 for The CW. The ratings are subject to adjustment since the New York City CW affiliate and the NBC affiliate in Cincinnati opted for Monday Night Football.

WEEKLY RATINGS The week of November 7th saw the best rating for NBC’s Sunday Night Football since the first game of the season. The Patriots/Seahawks game delivered a 7.7 Nielsen 18-49 rating. The NBC pre-game show, Football Night in America was the 4th place program of the week with a 3.7 rating, while The OT on Fox scored a 6.7 rating for second place for the week. NBC also delivered the best rating for the election coverage on Tuesday night with a 4.0 demo rating to place third. The highest rated entertainment show was The Big Bang Theory on CBS which tied for fifth place with 60 Minutes with a 3.4 rating for both programs. The Simpsons rode a strong FOX NFL lead-in to a 3.1 demo rating for seventh place, while Empire took eighth place with a 2.9. ABC’s election coverage posted a 2.7 for ninth and CBS’s coverage did a 2.4 for tenth place. Lethal Weapon on FOX was the best performer of the new shows with a 1.8 rating in the demo, Speechless on ABC did a 1.7, Kevin Can Wait and The Great Indoors both pulled a 1.7 for CBS. Son of Zorn of FOX managed a 1.6 demo rating.

NADA SEES 2017 SALES AT 17.1 MILLION Repeating the forecast he offered at the TVB Forward conference, Steven Szakaly chief economist of the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), said in a briefing at the Los Angeles Auto show that he expects sales of 17.1 million new cars and light trucks in 2017. The NADA forecaster has, however, lowered his projection for 2016. Rather than the 17.7 million in sales he said to expect in late September, he’s now expecting this year to finish at 17.4 million—down slightly from the 2015 record of 17.5 million. “We are headed toward a stable market for U.S. auto sales, not a growing market," Szakaly said in L.A. "The industry has achieved record sales, and pent up demand is effectively spent." The vehicle segment mix will continue to favor light-truck sales, which are expected to account for 60% of the market in 2017, the NADA forecaster added. "It's important to recognize that there are some political unknowns, but the economic outlook for 2017 looks extremely positive for auto sales, particularly light trucks," Szakaly said. "New-vehicle sales will likely level off in response to the U.S. market maturing, not as a result of the election. If increased infrastructure spending happens and certain tax cuts materialize under the new administration, it will mean a better long-term outlook." Outlining some areas of concern, he said rising interest rates, ever-increasing loan terms and higher vehicle transaction prices will likely lead to a slower but still strong sales pace in 2017. "New-car shoppers can expect a year with slightly higher interest rates on auto loans, but those increases will likely be offset by rising automaker incentives," Szakaly added. He thinks rising interest rates could also increase pressure on leasing, which for many car segments is already suffering from declining residuals and used-car values. Even so, leasing is still expected to rise in 2017, “but not at the same pace we have seen over past few years." In addition, NADA forecasts that new-car dealerships will retail 15.3 million used vehicles in 2017, compared to an expected 15.1 million used sales in 2016. The total used-vehicle market will exceed 40 million retail sales in 2017.

AVAILS

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Winter is just around the corner! If you would prefer to be selling where summer never ends, WPBF 25, the Hearst owned ABC Affiliate in sunny West Palm Beach has an opportunity for you! WPBF 25 seeks a sales superstar to join our team. The ideal candidate must have broadcast TV sales experience and possess the drive and ability to thrive on multiple platforms in a fast paced, highly competitive market. Your passion for developing new business will be encouraged and rewarded! CLICK HERE to apply. EOE

General Manager: WPBI-TV FOX 16 & NBC 16 and Top-Rated FM Radio Group - Lafayette, IN. This is a rare opportunity to start at the ground level and build your team, create a new brand in the community, and develop a media group from scratch. The successful candidate will have a proven track record of growing sales, controlling expenses, and building profitability. 5 years’ experience in TV management or TV sales management required. Get more details HERE. To apply, send info to: [email protected]. EOE.

WNCN, CBS North Carolina has an immediate opening for a traffic liaison. The position supports the sales department with inventory management and maximization and is responsible for accurately and effectively maintaining logs and clearing oversells. The liaison also works closely with our central traffic hub double checking the dub list, looking for missing copy and going over the log once released to make sure there are no issues. CLICK HERE to get more info or to apply now. EOE M/F/V/D Background check and Drug screen required.

KFSN-TV ABC30, the ABC-owned television station in Fresno, seeks a Sales & Marketing Coordinator to provide support for the Marketing and Sales department. Ideal candidate must be detail-oriented, extremely organized, and able to prioritize and multi-task. Must have excellent written and verbal communication skills and be a quick learner, self-motivated and able to work independently as well as in a team. Previous station, rep firm, or agency sales assistant experience preferred. Must be proficient in Microsoft Office. Apply online at www.abc30.com/jobs . EOE/F/M/V/D

NBC5, the Hearst Television station in the scenic Burlington, VT/Plattsburgh, NY market, is seeking a qualified, motivated individual to join our Account Executive sales team. Primary responsibilities include meeting with existing and prospective customers on a daily basis to advance, develop and execute effective marketing solutions; utilizing a variety of resources such as research and promotions to generate revenue; and integrating a complete portfolio of products including the NBC affiliate, The Valley's MeTV, and a multitude of diverse Digital offerings. CLICK HERE to apply. EOE, M/F/D/V New Media Digital Marketing Strategist - Wilmington, NC. CBC New Media Group is seeking a Digital Marketing Strategist to develop customized digital solutions for businesses in the Wilmington area. Prior experience with digital marketing services (PPC, SEO, WordPress, Display Advertising), and prior sales experience in marketing or advertising ideal. All candidates must APPLY HERE. All Capitol Broadcasting Company properties are tobacco free. Capitol Broadcasting Company participates in E-Verify. EOE M/F

WSBT-TV, South Bend/Elkhart, IN is looking for a Local Sales Manager to lead our local CBS and FOX sales departments in maximizing all sales opportunities with an emphasis on new business development and NTR. The LSM will oversee new local business efforts, including accountability for new business goals and inventory management. Candidates should have a proven success in developmental business and multimedia platforms including web and mobile applications. College Degree preferred. CLICK HERE for more info or to apply now. EOE

I saw that a tech blogger in California used a weather balloon to drop an iPhone from the edge of space at 100,000 feet in the air to see what would happen. And somehow the phone STILL landed right in the guy's toilet.

--Jimmy Fallon

Donald Trump got elected president, and my job just got easier for the next four years.

--Conan O’Brien

------SPOTS N DOTS The Daily News Of TV Sales November 16, 2016

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