www.SpotsnDots.com PAGE 1

www.spotsndots.comSubscriptions: $350 per year.

This publication cannot bedistributed beyond the office

of the actual subscriber. Need us? 888-884-2630 or

sales@spotsndots.com Copyright 2017.The Daily News of TV Sales Wednesday, March 22, 2017

ADVERTISER NEWS Toyota is expanding its involvement with the Winter Olympics, adding sponsorships of U.S. Figure Skating and U.S. Speedskating to a previous deal with U.S. Hockey……The Chevrolet Bolt is now available in seven states (it should be nationwide by September) with 2,693 sold from December through February. Automotive News reports there has been unusual pricing disparity among the dealers than currently handle the car—some are already discounting the vehicle by several thousand dollars while

some others are asking for markups above sticker price. The publication suggests the disparity “shows what happens when a new kind of vehicle meets a sprawling, old-line retail network that’s only beginning to feel out the market for it”……Albertson’s is reported to have had talks with Sprouts Farmers Markets about a possible takeover, which would be accomplished by taking Sprouts’ stock private and then adding it to Albertsons’ portfolio. Sprouts’ CEO has said that the price cuts brought about by food deflation were “not

sustainable” and that his chain had been “exposed a little bit” by lower prices at competitors……After a quarter in which same-store sales were down 2.4%, Destination XL Group will return to television advertising. Saying its top priority for the year is customer retention and acquisition, CEO David Levin said “We intend to fuel that objective with a marketing dollar increase of approximately 40% this year, including reinstituting television advertising beginning April 2”……Nation’s Restaurant News analysis of sales data for the first two months of the year finds the primary problem in the traffic declines so far this year come from cutbacks in visits from people who previously had been heavy Quick Serve Restaurant users. Visits by heavy users (defined as those who visit restaurants ten or more times a month) were down 20%. People who eat at QSR places 5-9 times per month were down 15%, while light users were actually up 13%......Beverage Industry magazine’s analysis of the beer market for 2016 finds that imported beers performed the best during the year with volume up 6.8% and dollar sales up 9.1%. Most of that growth came from Mexican brands, with some still growing at double-digit percentages. Belgian beers also were strong, up 9.8% in case volume and 10.1% in dollar sales……Mass market dealerships far outperformed luxury brand dealerships in the January data from the National Automobile Dealers Association. Total sales for mass market dealers were up 5.2% for the month, with gains of 6.0% and 2.3% respectively in the new vehicle and used-vehicle departments, while for luxury brands, total sales were down 13.9% (-18.5% and -9.2% respectively).

SMALL CABLE CHANNELS ARE DYING CONSUMERS DEMANDING SKINNY BUNDLES For some time now, typical consumers have had to pay not just for their favorite cable channels like ESPN and TNT, but are also forced to pay for dozens of little known networks such a Chiller and MTV Classic that air mostly reruns. But, it looks like the engorged cable TV bundle is being forced to slim down. A report in The Wall Street Journal points out that as the consumer revolt against high cable bills gains steam and people start looking for slimmer packages, or cutting cable service entirely, the weakest channels are starting to die off. Media companies that have profited from channels with little viewership are now being forced to shut some down, or shift investment to other more popular channels. The changes foreshadow what could lie ahead for well-known cable brands if the trend continues. This year both Esquire and Cloo, niche networks owned by Comcast Corporation’s NBCUniversal will shut down. Sources close to the company say that MTV Classic will likely be the first to fall victim to Viacom’s shift in focus from two dozen channels to six core networks. Discovery Communications Inc. has shifted content investment, staffing and promotional resources away from it smaller networks like American Heroes Channel and Destination America. In recent years the company has focused on its bigger brands. The changes in the cable channel landscape are being driven by the fact that small networks can no longer survive on reruns in the age of Netflix and other on-demand options. Also, cable and satellite-TV providers are facing mounting pressure to cut content cost, especially the dollars that go to unpopular channels. They’re also faced with dwindling overall subscribers. The channels that are in the crosshairs are the ones whose slice of the cable bill are disproportionate to their actual viewership. An analysis was conducted by The Wall Street Journal into financial and viewership information for more than 100 TV networks using data from Nielsen and the research firm Kagan. The report ranked the TV networks on their cost relative their actual viewership. An analysis showed that channels with smaller audiences like Fox Sports2 – which airs reruns of extreme sports – MTV Classics, Chiller, Discovery Family Channel, Centric, ESPNU and Golf Channel, have a higher cost per viewer than well-known channels like CNN and HGTV. Conversely, Hallmark Channel is considered a bargain to the distributors thanks to its low cost per viewer. Media companies will have to make tough decisions as consumers downgrade from big cable packages to skinny bundles. The operators get paid carriage fees on a per-subscriber basis and take a direct financial hit as the smaller channels fall away.

PAGE 2 The Daily News of TV Sales @ www.spotsndots.com

NETWORK NEWS CBS has announced the renewal of their smash primetime hit The Big Bang Theory (from Warner Bros. television) for another two seasons. No details of agreement were released. The producers have agreements in place with actors Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar to continue for two more years, and are negotiating similar deals with Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch. In addition, the network renewed the drama NCIS, another popular show for CBS……Bobby Lee will appear in the ABC comedy pilot Splitting Up Together, along with Jenna Fischer and Oliver Hudson. The pilot is the story of a couple whose marriage is reignited by their divorce. Ellen DeGeneres is on board as one of the executive producers…… NBC’s pilot comedy Relatively Happy has added Diona Reasonover to the cast that already includes Genevieve Angelson, Jon Rudnitsky and Jane Lynch. Reasonover has been cast as Sydney, an upstairs neighbor and friend of the lead characters……Glenn Gordon Caron (Moonlighting, Medium) is returning to CBS TV Studios to serve as executive producer and showrunner for the second season of Bull. He plans to join the show effective immediately, consulting on the remainder of season one. CBS has yet to make a decision on a second season for Bull, but a renewal is considered a lock since the show ranks as the number one new series and the number three scripted series overall in total viewers……ABC News’ production of John Ridley’s Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992 will get a theatrical release on both coasts April 21st. The feature documentary looks at the years and events leading up to the April 1992 riots after the Rodney King verdict. It will be the first theatrical production release for ABC News. A broadcast version of the documentary will air on ABC Friday, April 28th at 9 PM (ET)……Jerrod Carmichael has stated that an upcoming episode of his edgy NBC series The Carmichael Show will use the N-word about six times. The episode of the comedy series will deal with the use of the actual word, not the cutesy euphemism, noted Carmichael. The episode will run, with a parental advisory, in its normal Wednesday 9 PM (ET) timeslot……Blaming difficulties in casting, Fox has decided to push its medical drama pilot The Beast off the table with a plan to reconsider the pilot at the later time. Neal Baer and Dawn Deloon (Law & Order) wrote the pilot that would have featured three challenging medical cases per episode.

ACCOUNT ACTIONS Knoxville-based The Tombras Group has defeated 15 other agencies in winning the media account of five Darden Restaurants brands, Bahama Breeze, The Capital Grille, Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, Seasons 52, and Yard House. The banners are handled apart from Darden’s larger chains, Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse. Of the brands shifting to Tombras, most of the spending to date has been for Yard House and Seasons 52....Adweek says Up-and-coming bottled water brand Essentia has signed Periscope as its first creative agency of record. Essentia claims to have pioneered the concept of ionized alkaline water.

AVAILS WFTV – ABC affiliate and Cox Media Group television station in Orlando, FL (Market #18) seeks an Account Executive. The winning candidate will be required to grow revenue with an existing client list while also cultivating New Business and Digital revenue for the station. Candidate must have excellent presentation skills, verbal and written skills and work collaboratively with our properties. Prior broadcast TV and diverse digital sales experience preferred. CLICK HERE for

more info or to apply now. EOE. New Media Digital Advertising Specialist - Raleigh, NC: Capitol Broadcasting Company seeks a person to manage the media buying and execution for a number of different clients and campaigns. 1-2 years of digital ad operations experience. Candidates should have knowledge of digital marketing basics, analytics and the role of advertising in a strategic marketing plan All candidates must

apply online at http://www.capitolbroadcasting.com EOE M/F. All Capitol Broadcasting Company properties are tobacco free. Capitol Broadcasting Company participates in E-Verify. WOGX-FOX 51 in Gainesville, FL is looking for an experienced Account Executive to handle a great account list with high income along with developing new business. Very competitive commission structure and benefits. Must be driven, detail oriented, solution based and proficient in Word/Excel, with Wide Orbit a plus. CLICK HERE for more information or to apply now. EOE/M/F/Veteran/Disabled. WTVD in Raleigh-Durham, NC seeks a self-motivated, proactive team player to serve as Digital Sales &

Marketing Director and oversee the development of digital strategies and implementation of sponsored marketing campaigns across multiple digital platforms. Four to seven years media experience working at a broadcast

station, major publisher, agency or technology company preferred. Must know digital video, social media and branded content! Please forward your cover letter & resume to: sales.director@abc11mail.com. WTVD is Raleigh-Durham’s top-ranked TV station, part of the ABC Owned Television Station Group. EOE.

NIELSEN INTRODUCES NEW SALES TOOL Mediapost says Nielsen Catalina Solutions has launched a cross-media sales measurement tool for digital and TV advertising with Facebook. Introduced at the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) conference in New York, the tool was designed to measure the sales effectiveness and unduplicated reach of consumer packaged goods (CPG) ad campaigns that run across TV, desktop, and mobile publishers. Nielsen said Facebook will begin using the tool to measure the return on ad spend for campaigns that include both advertising on Facebook and TV.

3/22/2017

Funny Tweets

You can sit idle for days in your office but the moment you ask for half a day off,

you become the strategically most important employee!

The Daily News of TV Sales @ www.spotsndots.com PAGE 3

WSJ: “HONDA DIDN’T TRUST AGENCY” Back in January, when Honda moved its half-billion dollar media account from Mediavest Spark back to long-time creative agency RPA, one of the reasons stated was re-uniting the media account with the agency doing the creative. (RPA had also had the media business until Mediavest won it in 2013). Now, however, The Wall Street Journal is suggesting there may have been more to the move than a typical account shift—the paper is reporting a number of incidents caused a “breakdown in trust” between the client and the agency. Among the “alleged irregularities” were thoughts that Mediavest was not paying media bills within the period of time the client had expected and Honda also reportedly found out that money that was meant to pay bonuses to some agency people didn’t get to them. The Journal also reports Honda believed at one point it was being overcharged as a result of the way the agency allocated work to personnel. On the issue of payments to media, the Journal notes that while some clients delay payments to agencies (more than 100 days in some cases), “Honda is among the marketers that pays its agencies swiftly, with the understanding that the agencies will follow suit and get the money to media vendors quickly.”

BUSINESS BYTES As prices for new vehicles have continued to rise, almost setting new records every month, it’s no surprise that leasing continues to grow, now above 30% of total monthly “sales” every month. The Wall Street Journal notes the “Big 3” from Japan, Toyota, Honda, and Nissan, have shown particular growth in leasing in the last couple of years (Nissan especially has been very aggressive advertising leases) and with those three companies having an orientation to cars over trucks, the falling residual values for used cars could have a big impact on them going forward. One analyst has estimated that if there is a 15% price decline in residual values when the leased vehicles come back, Japan’s big three could take a hit of about $2.5 billion American dollars.

AMERICANS SPLIT ON TAX REFUND USE 25% of Americans who expect to receive a tax refund in 2017 plan to make a major purchase before receiving the money, according to a new SunTrust Banks survey conducted online by Harris Poll. This percentage rises to 36% for millennials ages 18 to 34, and to 40% for Gen-Xers ages 35 to 44. According to IRS data, Americans qualifying for refunds received an average of $2,735 last year. SunTrust found that 60% of Americans expecting a tax refund this year plan to save at least half of it, signaling that saving is currently a key priority for many individuals. “We know from previous research that 51% of Americans don’t have $2,000 on hand to cover an emergency,” said Brian Nelson Ford, financial well-being executive at SunTrust. The bank is advising that tax refunds present a perfect time to build that fund for emergencies.

AMERICANS PREFER NEWS FROM TV Despite the popularity of digital media where information is widely available, television is still the dominant channel for Americans to consume news says a “media landscape” white paper released by PR Newswire for the U.S. market. The top three television news channels are Fox News Channel, CNN and MSNBC. In 2015, the total viewership for these three ‘round-the-clock news channels increased by 7% to an average of over two million primetime viewers. News fans still like newspapers—they just don’t much

care for them in the traditional paper form. U.S. newspaper circulation has been on a downward slide since 2010 as consumers switched to reading news online. Thus, many newspaper agencies digitize their business model by providing paid online subscriptions. Some even use social widgets like Facebook as a visual storytelling tool to engage young readers and to increase their exposure digitally. The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and USA Today are the top three

newspaper publications that still have key influence over how Americans learn about world affairs, the white paper says. Even so, the top three influential online news media are Yahoo News, The Huffington Post and Fox News. 62% of Americans used social media to get news, a substantial increase from 47% in 2012. The report lists Facebook as the top social networking site followed by Blogger, LinkedIn and Twitter.

THIS AND THAT Sinclair’s efforts to take over Tribune Media may run into some resistance within the industry as well as potential hurdles with government regulators. Bloomberg is reporting that a Tribune/Sinclair deal would give Sinclair control of 28% of all Fox affiliates, a concentration Fox may not want to deal with (and it would have to approve the transfer of affiliation deals from one owner to the next). And Bloomberg also says Nexstar is watching the situation too and could also make a bid for Tribune.

3/22/2017

James Corden

Spring has sprung, so congratulations to the

people of Nebraska, who survived winter. Now all you’ve got to do is get

through severe thunderstorm and tornado season.

MONDAY NIELSEN RATINGS - LIVE + SAME DAY