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sales@spotsndots.com Copyright 2018.The Daily News of TV Sales Tuesday, January 8, 2019

‘NETWORK TV CAN’T SURVIVE WITHOUT THE NFL’ Proving the value of marquee sports stars and top teams, live sports play-by-play captured 89 of the Top 100 most-viewed broadcasts on television in 2018. After crunching the Nielsen numbers, Ad Age declared, “Network TV can’t survive without the NFL.” In fact, 34 of the Top 50 most-watched broadcasts, and 61 of the top 100, were pro football games. And in a bit of redemption for the NFL, ratings for football were up 5 percent on a year-over-year basis, reversing two consecutive years of ratings declines. The only other live sports that came within field goal range of the NFL’s reach was NBC’s coverage of the 2018 Winter Olympics from PyeongChang, which drew six of the year’s 50 largest TV audiences and 15 of the Top 100, Ad Age reports. The NBA Finals, World Series, FIFA World Cup and NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship filled in the gaps left behind by football and the Olympics. “That left very little room for a scripted series to make its mark; indeed, once Trump-related news, award shows and swoony storybook British nuptials did their bit, only three slots remained for drama and comedy,” writes Ad Age’s Anthony Crupi. Meanwhile, with the Big Game less than one month away, ad sales for Super Bowl LIII on CBS appear to be as strong as ever. While the exit of CEO Les Moonves has resulted in less bragging by CBS about how well Super Bowl ad sales are going, Adweek reports that the network is pacing in line with where it was at this point three years ago with Super Bowl 50: “well-sold, with limited inventory still available, mostly in the game’s second half.” The Tiffany Network has been fetching “north of $5 million” for this year’s 30-second spots, which would put it in the same range as NBC’s haul during last year’s game. Last year, NBCUniversal’s Super Bowl ad-related billings were $500 million for game day, which Adweek says is a single-day record for a media company. That included $350 million of in-game advertising. And while CBS and Nielsen remain in an impasse over the broadcast giant’s lapsed ratings contract, Adweek notes that Super Bowl ad contracts don’t include ratings guarantees. The NFL’s ratings momentum has continued through the first round of this year’s playoffs. The league reported, citing Nielsen data, that the opening round of the playoffs collectively averaged 28.4 million viewers, which represents a 12 percent jump from last year. In fact, each game individually was an improvement over last season’s corresponding time slot. The biggest year-over-year jump was Fox’s late-Saturday game that saw the Dallas Cowboys outlast the Seattle Seahawks, which drew 29.4 million viewers, a leap of 29 percent over that same timeslot in January 2018 (which NBC aired).

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE GAME: LIVE SPORTS DOMINATE TVADVERTISER NEWS Microsoft and Kroger are taking on Amazon’s cashierless stores with their own futuristic grocery store pilot. Stores in Monroe, Ohio, and Redmond, Wash., will feature digital shelving displays with real-time price updates and product information, as well as digital advertisements personalized to each shopper... Today could be D-day (disaster day) for

Sears. Chairman Eddie Lampert has been unable to resolve disagreements over his $4.4 billion bid to save Sears (and 50,000 jobs) by buying it out of bankruptcy through his hedge fund, according to CNBC. Sources say Lampert’s bid is insufficient. If he doesn’t agree to back the bid with his own cash, the company will liquidate... Thirty-four percent of Americans will return gifts they received over the holiday season, a new study from personal finance site WalletHub has found. Out of those people, 68

percent said they plan to return clothing and 23 percent will return electronics. One in five will return toys... Pizza Hut is expanding its beer delivery to nearly 300 restaurants, including locations in Florida, Ohio, Nebraska and California. According to data provided by Pizza Hut, 86 percent of Super Bowl parties will feature pizza and beer. Pizza Hut launched its beer-delivery pilot in Arizona in Dec. 2017 and plans to roll out beer delivery to 1,000 restaurants by summer 2019... Frontier Airlines is adding Boston to its route map, part of an eight-route expansion from North Carolina’s Raleigh/Durham airport. The other seven routes Frontier is launching from Raleigh/Durham include Albany, N.Y.; Columbus, Ohio; Hartford, Conn.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Long Island/Islip, N.Y.; and Philadelphia... Ford has issued a recall of 782,384 vehicles in the U.S with a risk of flying shrapnel caused by exploding Takata airbag inflators... Amazon has passed Microsoft as the most valuable publicly traded company in the U.S., at least at the end of the day Monday. Amazon’s market value rose to $797 billion, while Microsoft’s value was reported at $784 billion... Mastercard is dropping its name from its logo. Instead, the logo will appear as two intersecting circles of red and yellow, with orange in the middle. “As the consumer and commerce landscape continues to evolve, the Mastercard symbol represents Mastercard better than one word ever could,” said a source... Ritzman Pharmacies plans to sell its 20 retail pharmacies to CVS Pharmacy. Ritzman primarily services markets in northeast Ohio... Walmart is backing up its expansion of online grocery fulfillment with its biggest ad campaign for grocery pickup. Famous vehicles appearing in TV spots include the Batmobile, the Ghostbusters ambulance, Knight Rider Firebird, Dumb & Dumber “Mutt Cutts” van, Scooby Doo Mystery Machine, and many more. Besides the TV spots, the Walmart pickup campaign includes social media, online videos, radio ads and in-store media....the new TV campaign for Chevy Silverado debuted last night during the College Football National Championship game. In addition to TV, Chevy will promote the redesigned truck on Amazon packaging and in several magazines.

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

NETWORK NEWS The premiere of Fox’s The Masked Singer continues to set ratings high-water marks. The breakout celebrity singing-competition series, which already logged the highest-rated unscripted debut on any network in more than seven years in Nielsen Live+same day, has seen the largest Live+3 absolute gain ever in both adults 18-49 (+0.9 rating to 3.9) and total viewers (+2.9 million to 12.3 million) vs. L+SD. The Masked Singer opener edged the previous record holders, Fox’s MasterChef Jr. (+0.8 in 18-49 on 9/27/13) and NBC’s World of Dance (+2.1 million on 5/30/17). The debut continues to rank as the highest-rated reality telecast to air in the past two seasons... In a competitive situation, Fox has landed an animated therapy dog comedy with a script plus presentation commitment, Deadline reports. Written by actress Clea DuVall (Veep), Jennifer Crittenden and Gabrielle Allan, the untitled show is about a dog named Honey who runs group therapy sessions to help neighborhood animals manage the neuroses brought on by their owners and each other... ABC has ordered three additional episodes of Grey’s Anatomy for the current 15th season, bringing the total season order to 25 episodes. It’s an usual thing for a serialized drama series: While 7-10 episodes a year is the norm for such shows on cable and streaming, Grey’s has aired 24 or more episodes in every full season it’s had. That’s 13 seasons and counting. Apparently, doing so many episodes hasn’t dented the show’s popularity: It currently averages a 3.1 adults 18-49 rating (Live+7) to rank as ABC’s No. 1 TV show of the 2018-2019 season in the demo... David Rhodes will step down as president of CBS News amid falling ratings and the fallout from an investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against CBS News figures. Rhodes, 46, will be succeeded in March by Susan Zirinsky, a senior executive producer who has run the newsmagazine 48 Hours for more than 20 years. Zirinsky, 66, will be the first woman to head CBS’ news division and only the second to lead any of the broadcast news divisions, following Deborah Turness, who was president of NBC News from 2013 to 2017. CBS This Morning and The CBS Evening News are both mired in third place among the broadcast news shows and will likely be points of focus for Zirinsky.

ACCOUNT ACTIONS American chocolatier Russell Stover has chosen Cutwater as its new agency of record, Campaign US reports. The shop is charged with reinvigorating its communication efforts, including brand strategy, creative, planning and social. The account was recently held by VML. That win was reported in March 2017... Choice Hotels — with a portfolio of brands that includes Quality Inn and Comfort Hotels — has tapped Durham, N.C.-based McKinney as its creative agency of record, Ad Age reports. The hotel franchisor, which has more than 6,900 hotels in sectors ranging from upscale to economy in more than 40 countries and territories, previously worked with IPG’s McCann for its creative remit. McCann said it mutually decided to end its relationship with the client earlier this year and did not participate in the review, which was run by Select Resources International.

1/8/2019

Ron White

The doctor told me that at some point I’ll have to stop partying, and I said I’d cross that bridge and

find a new doctor.

AVAILS General Manager, WFXB/FOX in Myrtle Beach, S.C.: The GM is responsible for the strategic and operational leadership of WFXB, with emphasis on local advertising sales and national advertising sales. The best candidate will facilitate financial goals being met, establish long-range goals and strategies that will result in the growth and long-term viability of the stations, further the creative marketing vision and community-based informational programming

as well as related digital content. To apply, please send your resume to: wfxbcareers@wfxb.com. EOE. Director of Sales, KSTP/KSTC TV, Hubbard Broadcasting-Saint Paul, Minn. The DOS plans and directs all sales activities for KSTP (ABC), KSTC (full-power independent), MeTV, Antenna TV and the stations’ digital products. Meet and exceed revenue goals by developing sales managers and sales staff, and by building on

already customer-focused sales. Minimum 5 years’ prior experience in a broadcast, digital sales or marketing role. TV sales management required. Follow THIS LINK for more info or to apply. EOE. KASW (CW) Phoenix seeks a Programming and Research Analyst. This person works closely with the entire sales department, including TV, digital, traffic and the promotion/marketing team to maximize station revenue opportunities. The Programming and Research Analyst is also responsible for performing all clerical functions required, including programming research to assist in program placement decisions. The ideal candidate will be experienced in a programming/research role with knowledge of WO Traffic, Strata, Comscore and third-party television schedule services. CLICK HERE for more details, or to apply now. EOE. Local Sales Manager, News Channel 21 KTVZ: The LSM will manage a local sales team for the No. 1 station in the market, KTVZ/NBC. Must have a great attitude, strong leadership and management skills, plus three or more years of media sales experience. Bend, Ore., is consistently ranked as one of the best places to live in America! Family-owned News Press & Gazette offers a competitive compensation package, medical /dental / vision / life / short-term and long-term disability, 125C and 401k with employer match. Please CLICK HERE to apply. EOE.

DONE DEAL Meredith Corp. has named René LaSpina as the new general manager and vice president of its WSMV News 4, its NBC affiliate in Nashville, Tenn. LaSpina replaces former general manager Dale Woods, who joined the station in late August 2017. LaSpina has worked for more than two decades in television station management. She has led WIVB/WNLO-TV in Buffalo, N.Y., WCCO-TV in Minneapolis and WPTY/WLMT/WJKT-TV in Memphis, Tenn., as general manager.

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

NIELSEN ADDS YOUTUBE TO TOTAL AD RATINGS MediaPost says that thanks to a newly expanded deal with Google, Nielsen is bringing OTT video, and mobile viewership figures to its cross-platform measurement solution, Total Ad Ratings. YouTube ads will now be measured comparably alongside TV inventory, with Nielsen saying it will be the only solution that measures outside the household or beyond device activity. Nielsen has measured YouTube before through its Digital Ad Ratings, and YouTube TV through its local ratings product. The new agreement brings mobile viewing to the party, an advancement sought by advertisers looking to see whether their ads are reaching people on TV and mobile devices. Nielsen is bringing together its National Panel and Digital Ad Ratings product to try to provide a more holistic picture of TV and video viewership. The company says its newly revised solution will “offer the ability to compare the performance of ads delivered through TV and digital using comparable metrics based on real people and real data.” It will measure de-duplicated viewing on TVs, computers, mobile devices, tablets or any combination thereof, Nielsen says. True cross-platform measurement has been a long time coming. It’s a point of contention in negotiations with CBS, which saw its contract with Nielsen lapse at the beginning of this year after the companies failed to reach a new agreement.

CTA: CONSUMER TECH TO HIT $398B IN 2019 Products that take advantage of artificial intelligence and fast connectivity will drive the U.S. consumer tech industry to $398 billion in retail revenues in 2019 — a 3.9 percent year-over-year growth, according to a new report from the Consumer Technology Association’s semi-annual U.S. Consumer Technology Sales and Forecasts report. It says consumer spending on music and video streaming services is valued at $26 billion in revenue, 25 percent higher than last year. The availability of live TV streaming and content through subscription video streaming services will bring consumer spending to $18 billion in 2019, up 27 percent from 2018, CTA projects. Findings also suggest that on-demand music services will bring in an expected $7.7 billion in revenue. The top revenue drivers for the industry are projected to continue to perform. That includes smartphones, including the launch of the first 5G smartphones, which is projected to reach $80 billion in 2019. By 2022, 76 percent of all smartphones sold will be 5G-enabled, the report forecasts. According to the report, television revenues are expected to reach $22.6 billion in 2019, driven by 4K UHD TVs, OLED TVs, as well as inaugural shipments of 8K TVs. On 8K TVs, Japan’s NHK is rolling out an 8K channel though there are currently no announced plans for 8K broadcasting in the U.S. and most of the world. In-vehicle tech, particularly in-vehicle entertainment and driver-assist features, are projected to contribute $17 billion in revenue in 2019.

TROUBLE AHEAD FOR AUTO SALES? Four top AutoNation executives — including its COO — are leaving amid a $50 million restructuring as the nation’s largest new-vehicle retailer continues its search for a successor to CEO Mike Jackson. The cost-cutting plan also will consolidate AutoNation’s three regions into two and is in part prompted by the prospects of a “challenging” 2019 expected for the automotive retail business, the company said late Monday. AutoNation will not replace the executives, which includes the chief technology officer, The EVP of franchise network and COO Lance Iserman, who

was just appointed to that position in May 2017....Automotive News reported last night that the former head of Nissan sales in the U.S., Christian Meunier, has been named global president of the automaker’s Infiniti arm Meunier replaces Roland Krueger, who had led Infiniti since 2015.

THIS AND THAT Shipments of smart home products grew by 39 percent in 2018, based

on data from Futuresource, with the total value of the category exceeding $12 billion. TWICE reports that both interoperability and safety remain barriers to adoption, though further developments in artificial intelligence are expected to improve ease of use... Google’s “Home Alone Again” starring Macaulay Culkin topped Acuity’s viral holiday ad chart with more than 70.7 million views, Ad Age reports. Duracell’s humorous “Christmas 2018” came in second with just over 70 million views, and Tiffany & Co.’s celebrity-filled spot garnered more than 47 million views to take third... Activist hedge fund Starboard Value is calling on Dollar Tree to sell its underperforming Family Dollar business. Starboard, which also wants to replace a majority of the board, says it has a 1.7 percent stake in the U.S. discount retailer.

1/8/2019

Funny Tweeter

I’m only grabbing fast food to refill my napkin

collection in the car.

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