www.spotsndots.com Subscriptions: $350 per year. This publication cannot be distributed beyond the office of the actual subscriber. Need us? 888-884-2630 or [email protected] The Daily News of TV Sales Thursday, July 15, 2021 Copyright 2021. PROCTER & GAMBLE: TELEVISION’S NO. 1 ADVERTISER AD AGE: TOP MARKETERS TO SPEND $66.8B ON TV ADVERTISER NEWS It’s so no secret that advertising dollars are increasingly digital. General Motors is telling owners of 2017-2019 Bolt EVs According to Ad Age’s Leading National Advertisers 2021 that were part of a recent recall not to park their vehicles report, GroupM estimates that internet-centric marketers will inside or charge them unattended overnight after two of the account for about 65% of U.S. media advertising this year, up vehicles caught fire. The two Bolt EVs were part of a recall from 15% in 2010. of nearly 69,000 of the electric vehicles globally due to fire But linear television isn’t going away anytime soon. risks. The recall was initially announced in November by According to GroupM, television will see a total of $63.1 GM and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administra- billion in 2021 advertising revenue, a 10.5% increase over tion, followed by the automaker announcing a believed fix the $57.1 billion recorded for 2020 — but still shy of 2019’s for the vehicles earlier this year… Lowe’s has partnered $63.8 billion. (Those numbers exclude political ad spend.) with Daymond John of Shark Tank on the newest round of In terms of measured media spending by medium, TV is its “Making It... With Lowe’s” pitch program that will reward expected a total of $66.8 billion in 2021, with 60% of that small businesses with grants and the chance to sell their spending — or $40.2 billion — coming from Ad Age’s 200 products at Lowe’s. Applications are open to small busi- LNA ranking. nesses through July 30, and the program is designed to fo- Procter & Gamble remains TV’s best friend in terms cus on businesses led by women, veterans, members of the of ad spend. It tops the list of broadcast network TV LGBTQ87555559 community and people with disabilities… spenders with $904 million, nearly double that of No. 2 In 2020, big-box retailers like Costco Wholesale and BJ’s AbbVie ($460 million). The rest of the top 10 includes Wholesale Club benefited from their ability to deliver one- Amazon ($455 million); Deutsche stop shopping. With families at home Telekom (T-Mobile U.S.), $435 over the last year, pet adoptions million; Berkshire Hathaway ($412 drove an increase in pet store visits million); Verizon Communications to retailers like Petco and PetSmart. ($335 million); Apple ($333 million); PetSmart sales were up 11.1% over Progressive Corp. ($327 million); 2019, while Petco sales increased AT&T ($305 million); and Johnson & 10.4%... Kohl’s is offering a 20% dis- Johnson ($264 million). count on in-store purchases to teach- The measured spending across ers with valid school identification this cable looks rather similar. P&G ($972 million) again tops Friday through Sunday. The retailer said it is looking to give the list, followed by Berkshire Hathaway ($665 million); back to educational professionals who have continued to AbbVie ($469 million); PepsiCo ($460 million); Amazon work with the nation’s children despite all the challenges ($446 million); AT&T ($419 million); Progressive Corp. ($384 created by the pandemic... Dollar General is going on a million); Deutsche Telekom (T-Mobile U.S.), $374 million; hiring blitz. The discounter is looking to hire up to 50,000 Yum Brands ($340 million); and GlaxoSmithKline ($325 employees between now and Labor Day. Dollar General million). is looking fill positions in its more than 17,400 stores, 27 Measured-media spending fell in 13 of the top 15 categories. distribution centers, private fleet and store support center. Only home supplies and cleaning products (+7%) and Earlier this year, the retailer announced a spring hiring blitz insurance (+1.2%) saw spending increases. to hire more than 20,000 employees. The new effort builds Retail fell 20% to $12.4 billion in 2020. Telecom/internet on the success of that program, aiming to support Dollar services was down 16.1% to $10.4 billion; medicine and General’s planned 1,050 new store openings in its current remedies fell 0.4% to $10.1 billion; general services fell 21.4% fiscal year. to $9.6 billion; automotive declined a whopping 27.3% to $8.5 billion; financial services fell 20.6% to $6.6 billion; food, beverages and candy lost 14.5% to $5.7 billion; and restaurants dropped 20.4% to $5.1 billion. Media declined 16.7% to $4.4 billion; personal care fell 21.3% to $4 billion; airlines, hotels, car rental and travel suffered the biggest drop of them all, down a staggering 52.6% to $3.3 billion; computers and software dropped 5.2% to $3 billion; and education fell 22.9% to $2.2 billion. NETWORK NEWS STATION GROUPS SEEING MORE OTT REVENUE Fox’s broadcast of Major League Baseball’s All-Star Over-the-top advertising has become a surprisingly Game posted a small increase in viewers compared to its important business for companies that have been stockpiling last installment two years ago, avoiding a third straight all- local television stations, Next TV reports. time audience low. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Early in his remarks during Tegna’s first-quarter earnings Tuesday’s telecast delivered 8.24 million viewers, about call about its success as a “pure-play broadcasting company,” 100,000 more than the 2019 game’s 8.14 million. (Last CEO Dave Lougee gushed about the growth of Premion. year’s All-Star Game was canceled due to the pandemic.) “Premion, our first-to-market over-the-top advertising It’s also worth noting that the Nielsen figures for Tuesday platform, has continued to evolve and expand to best serve include OOH viewing and 2019’s do not. Still, the audience the needs of regional and local advertisers,” Lougee said. for the All-Star Game is in keeping with both improved ratings He said Tegna was increasing its 2021 outlook for Premion, for baseball this season — including forecasting a 45% to 50% increase in Monday’s Home Run Derby on ESPN — revenue over 2020. and a general uptick for sports following I requested better work OTT advertising is more than a growing last year’s pandemic-snarled calendar... conditions but my boss source of revenue for station groups Cedric the Entertainer, star of the hit screamed and threw his following a COVID-caused recession CBS comedy series The Neighborhood, toy at me. Now we’re both from which the local ad market is still has been tapped by the network and sitting in the playpen crying. recovering. Streaming revenue is letting the Television Academy to host the broadcasters, including Cox Media 73rd Emmy Awards on Sept. 19. The Group, Sinclair Broadcast Group and live ceremony will be held in-person at FunnyTweeter.com the NBC- and Fox-owned and operated the Microsoft Theater in downtown stations, claim a foothold in technology Los Angeles with a limited audience and create advanced advertising of nominees and their guests. The ceremony will air on products for clients enamored with digital and social media. CBS and will be available to stream live and on demand Locally targeted OTT ad spending will total $1.13 billion in on Paramount+... CBS’ daytime show The Talk says 2021, per BIA Advisory Services estimates, up 19%. For frequent guest host Jerry O’Connell is joining the show 2022, BIA has forecasted another 49% jump to $1.64 billion. as a permanent co-host. O’Connell will be the first male to Wells Fargo media analyst Steven Cahall in May noted serve as a permanent co-host on the previously all-female that Premion “supercharges” Tegna’s ad revenue growth. program, which is modeled on ABC’s The View. O’Connell He estimated Premion would have sales of $215 million for is joined by co-hosts Sheryl Underwood, Amanda Kloots 2021, including more than $50 million in Q2. and Elaine Welteroth... The CW has tapped Cristela Alonzo to host its upcoming fall competition series Legends STORE-ONLY CREDIT CARDS STAGE A COMEBACK of the Hidden Temple, a reimagining of the popular ’90s Payments with private-label credit cards picked up after show of the same name. Alonzo will make her debut on dropping sharply during the pandemic. the one-hour series on Sunday, Oct. 10 at 8 PM (ET/PT). Transactions and dollar volume for private-label (store-only) Alonzo became the first Latina to create, produce and star credit cards dropped sharply with the onset of COVID-19, in her own network sitcom, ABC’s Cristela, in 2014... And but experienced recovery in the second half of 2020, with Julian Castro has joined NBC News and MSNBC as a receivables estimated at $142 billion for that year, according political analyst. Castro is the former secretary of Housing to Packaged Facts’ Private Label Credit Cards in the U.S. and Urban Development who ran for president in the 2020 Through much of the 20th century, credit cards offered by cycle. retailers were the most widely used form of credit. The cards were issued by, managed by, and negotiable only at the ALLEN MEDIA GROUP ACQUIRING GRAY’S WJRT specific retailer. In recent decades, however, private-label Allen Media Group is continuing its run of local TV station card use has been stagnating, buffeted in part by competition acquisitions, paying $70 million to Gray Television for from general use retailer credit cards that are co-branded by WJRT, an ABC affiliate in Flint-Saginaw, Mich.