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sales@spotsndots.com Copyright 2020.The Daily News of TV Sales Friday, November 20, 2020

SURVEY: TESLA, LINCOLN FINISH NEAR BOTTOM Japanese auto brands nabbed five of the top 10 spots on this year’s Consumer Reports Reliability Survey, with Mazda finishing on top for the first time, followed by Toyota and Lexus. The three Japanese brands traded positions with one another from last year’s survey, when Lexus was first, Mazda second and Toyota third. Buick was the highest-rated domestic brand in this year’s survey, finishing fourth, with Honda and Hyundai rounding out the brands deemed “most reliable” by the magazine’s subscribers. The survey, which covers the 2000-2020 model years, is based on data collected from the organization’s members about their experiences with more than 300,000 vehicles. The non-profit then assigns a predicted new-vehicle reliability score to various nameplates on a scale of 1 to 100. The scores of all of a brand’s models from which the magazine has gathered statistically sufficient information is used to determine that brand’s average reliability score. Among domestic brands, Buick moved up 14 spots from last year to crack the top five. Ram was the next highest domestic brand, retaining its seventh-place spot from last year’s survey, while Dodge dropped two spots to finish 10th. GMC, Chevrolet, Jeep and Cadillac improved from last year but still finished below average. Ford dropped six spots and fell into the magazine’s “less reliable” tier. Lincoln finished last among all brands on the survey with an average reliability score of just 8 — the only brand to have a score in single digits — and 21 points lower than Tesla, which was second to last. Lincoln was “dragged down by its SUV-focused model line, especially the new Aviator and Corsair,” the magazine reported. Porsche was the highest-ranked European brand but dropped five spots into No. 9. Consumer Reports said vehicle owners “reported everything from transmissions needing replacement after as little as 5,000 miles to display screens that required hardware replacement” and, in the case of one Tesla Model Y, paint that was marred by embedded human hair. A model’s overall reliability score also includes road-test performance, owner satisfaction survey results, whether the model comes with key safety systems and crash test data, where available. Consumer Reports credited Mazda’s success with a strategy that relied on conservative redesigns that did not introduce “risky new powertrains and infotainment systems.” It also said all of Toyota’s models had average or better reliability, but said Lexus’ standing was dragged down by the LS sedan. Tesla’s reliability issues continue, with the magazine only able to recommend the Model 3 from its lineup.

JAPANESE BRANDS DOMINATE RELIABILITY RANKINGSADVERTISER NEWS General Motors yesterday said it is upping its spending on autonomous and electric vehicles by 35% to $27 billion and that 40% of its U.S. lineup will be electric by the end of 2025. GM said it will move up the scheduled launches of some EVs and introduce at least 30 EVs globally through 2025, including 20 in North America... Walmart is introduc-ing a service to set up customers’ Christmas lights in ad-dition to delivering live trees, wreaths and poinsettias this holiday season. Shoppers can order the lights and other festive items online, and pay an additional fee to have the lights taken down after the holidays… Ongoing demand for hand sanitizers and soaps during the ongoing corona-virus crisis fueled a 55% same-store sales jump at Bath & Body Works in the third quarter, parent L Brands reported.

Sibling retailer Victoria’s Secret reported signs of improvement amid rising sales of sleepwear and lounging apparel… Retail Ecommerce Ventures has acquired the brand rights and websites for RadioShack in the U.S., Australia, Canada, China, Eu-

rope and India in the company’s first move into the elec-tronics sector. The pandemic-driven shift to remote work is seen as an opportunity for RadioShack as consumers look to upgrade their home offices... Google intends to position Google Pay as a strong competitor to Venmo and PayPal, introducing changes that give users more control over trans-action data privacy. In addition, a Google Pay debit card, to be called Plex, is planned for next year... Intel is launching the NUC M15, a premium productivity laptop designed in-house. The device is white-label, meaning it’ll be sold under various brand names with different storage configurations, and is intended to help small computer brands compete with similar Dell and HP models…Best Buy is teaming up with Instacart to offer same-day delivery throughout the U.S. for $3.99 per order, limited to items costing no more than $500. Instacart will also allow Best Buy shoppers to pick delivery windows further out and set up certified deliveries... In a move to increase e-commerce capability and expand its East Coast reach, Ahold Delhaize has teamed with equity firm Centerbridge Partners to acquire the New York City-based online grocer and delivery company FreshDirect. Ahold Delhaize will take a majority stake in the deal, the terms of which were not immediately disclosed… Walgreens is of-fering customers shopping online the option of picking up health and wellness products in about 30 minutes after plac-ing their orders. The drugstore giant also announced new cash reward benefits through its myWalgreens loyalty pro-gram... Macy’s reported a loss of 19 cents a share in Q3 as the retailer’s same-store sales fell 22%. Online sales rose 27% during the quarter, helping to boost Macy’s comps. The retailer’s earnings and sales shortfall did outpace Wall Street’s expectations, which Macy’s management attributed to fiscal discipline and improving performance at its name-sake chain as well as Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury.

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

AVAILS WKMG-TV, the CBS affiliate in SUNNY Orlando, Fla., has an opening for an Account Executive with a minimum of 3-5 years of TV/digital sales experience. Must enjoy working in a collaborative and communicative environment and be highly motivated. Ideal candidates will bring a proven track record of producing revenue on TV/digital platforms, strong new business development experience and the ability to negotiate effectively with strong closing skills. Please send your resume to asawyer@wkmg.com to apply

now. EOE. It’s fun to work in a company where people truly believe in what they are doing! WJET in Erie, Pa., seeks a dynamic Local Sales Manager with a minimum of three (3) years of sales management experience. We are looking for a sales leader who creates a positive culture for success through leadership, clear direction, teaching, motivating and evaluating the sales efforts of our Local team. Bachelor’s degree in Marketing/

Communications or an equivalent combination of education and work-related experience needed. CLICK HERE to apply. EOE. Are you a dynamic sales leader looking to lead an awesome television sales team in the Mid-South with no state income tax? WHBQ-TV in Memphis, Tenn., is in search of a Director of Sales to lead their top-performing FOX affiliate. The ideal candidate will be responsible for managing the sales strategies of a multiple media portfolio, and will lead a team of sales managers, traffic and account executives. If interested, please send your resume to christopher.harp@cmg.com. EOE.

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DISTRIBUTION CENTER HIRING IS RAMPING UP Retailers are shifting their holiday hiring due to the pandemic. That’s according to a survey of 50 major retailers by Korn Ferry, in which 57% of respondents said they are hiring more distribution center employees. Fifty-nine percent are offering hiring incentives for distribution center workers, including premium holiday pay and bonuses. Thirty-six percent of retailers expect to have fewer holiday workers overall this season, and 39% said they are finding it difficult to find qualified employees. In other findings, 42% of survey respondents said they expect at least 20% of their sales will be online, with 21% saying more than 35% of their sales will be via e-commerce. Retailers are mixed on their sales expectations. Twenty-seven percent believe business will be down, and 45% believe business will be better than last year. “As we have seen throughout the pandemic, retailers who sell essential goods such as grocery and home improvement stores have fared very well, while other categories such as specialty clothing stores have suffered,” said Craig Rowley, retail expert, Korn Ferry, a global organizational consulting firm. “Retailers are being cautious as they enter the holiday season by managing inventory to avoid a glut of post-holiday markdowns.”

NETWORK NEWS ABC has shared premiere dates for early 2021, including drama The Rookie and new comedy Call Your Mother. Season 3 of The Rookie, about the oldest rookie in the Los Angeles Police Department, begins Jan. 3. Call Your Mother moves into the Wednesday comedy block Jan. 13, with Black-ish shifting to Tuesdays. Kyra Sedgwick stars in the new multicamera comedy as an empty-nester mom, on after The Conners. Black-ish leads into Season 2 of Mixed-ish on Tuesdays starting Jan. 26, followed by the drama Big Sky. Medical drama The Good Doctor returns from a holiday rest Monday, Jan. 11. Legal drama For Life is back Jan. 20. Station 19, Grey’s Anatomy and A Million Little Things come back March 4... ABC will air The Wonderful World of Disney: Magical Holiday Celebration on Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 26), with brother and sister Derek and Julianne Hough hosting the two-hour special. Trevor Jackson will host from Walt Disney World in Florida. The Houghs will sing and dance through a variety of holiday classics in the show open. Ciara, Kelly Clarkson, Jason Derulo, One Republic, Meghan Trainor, Brett Eldridge, Pentatonix, Idina Menzel and Kristen Bell are among the performers... Fox will premiere its reboot of Name That Tune on Wednesday, Jan. 6. Jane Krakowski hosts and Randy Jackson is the band leader. Created by Harry Salter, the game show tests contestants’ music knowledge. Krakowski has been on 30 Rock and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Jackson was a judge on American Idol. A syndicated Name That Tune aired in the 1980s... ABC has given a big put pilot commitment to Family Affair, a single-camera family comedy. Written by Devon and Ranada Shepard, Family Affair centers on A-ron, a faded R&B star and committed bachelor whose life is thrown into a tailspin when he’s saddled with raising his sister’s four kids... Alondra Delgado is set for a recurring role on the third season of the CW’s All American. Delgado most recently has recurred on FX’s Mayans M.C.

SURVEY: LOCAL TV, CABLE NETS TOPS FOR NEWS Local TV and cable news networks are in a virtual tie for the title of primary source of news since the beginning of the pandemic. That is according to a new survey of more than 5,000 U.S. news consumers conducted by strategic consulting firm Altman Solon. According to the survey, 26% of respondents cited local TV news channels as their chief news source, followed by cable news at 25% (essentially a dead heat given the margin of error), then network newscasts at 22%, online news sites at 14%, and social media at 10%. At a time of concern about “fake news,” the survey found, almost one in three Americans said they would be willing to pay more for “well-researched and reliable news.” Twenty-seven percent said they were more likely to pay for racially diverse news, while 26% would do so for news with gender diversity and 22% for news exhibiting sexual orientation diversity. The survey also found that 34% are watching three or more hours of news per week. The web survey was conducted August-September 2020 and has a margin of error of 1%.

11/20/2020

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

RETAIL BRACES FOR BULKY HOLIDAY RETURNS A flood of online orders for furniture, fire pits and other large consumer goods during the coronavirus pandemic is set to add outsize new complications to one of e-commerce’s biggest holiday-season headaches: returning unwanted items. According to The Wall Street Journal, retailers are setting up dedicated handling sites and striking deals with specialists in reverse logistics on expectations that an upswing in hefty returns will swell once consumers see their bigger, heavier gifts and purchases in the post-holiday light.

Come January, said Erik Caldwell, president of XPO Logistics Inc.’s last-mile business unit in North America, “You’re going to have the mother of all returns seasons for heavy goods.” About 25% of all e-commerce purchases get returned, according to Forrester Research. Bulky purchases tend to have a lower return rate than more portable items such as apparel, hovering around 10%, industry executives say.

STUDY: AMAZON NAMED ‘LOW PRICE LEADER’ When it comes to the best prices, it’s hard to beat Amazon. That’s according to Profitero’s annual Price Wars study, which said that Amazon has the best prices across 21 product categories deemed “important” to customers. The analysis compared prices on more than 18,400 products at Amazon, Walmart, Target, Staples, Home Depot, Wayfair, Macy’s, Walgreens, CVS, Kroger, Nordstrom, Best Buy, Lowe’s and Chewy. It found that Amazon had the lowest prices most often and most consistently. The categories reviewed included household supplies, health and personal care, office supplies, home furniture, electronics, appliances and more. Amazon proved to be the lowest priced option in all categories, the study said, with the largest potential savings, on average, in home furniture (35% more affordable than other options in the category) and vitamins and supplements (34% more affordable). Amazon was found to be 26% more affordable in health and personal care and 22% more affordable in beauty.

11/20/2020

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WEDNESDAY NIELSEN RATINGS - LIVE + SAME DAY

SINCLAIR, BALLY’S INK SPORTS-BETTING DEAL Sinclair Broadcast Group is making a major sports-betting technology deal where its 21 Fox sports networks will be rebranded with the Bally’s name. The deal is reported to be worth $85 million. Sinclair and Bally’s will jointly market and integrate products to Sinclair’s stable of 190 TV stations across 88 markets. For the 10-year term of the deal, Sinclair’s regional sports-network portfolio will receive naming rights fees as well as a set percentage of Bally’s marketing spend. The deal will also give Bally’s “integration opportunities” across Sinclair’s sports cable network, Tennis Channel, its sports network, Stadium, and STIRR, Sinclair’s direct-to-consumer streaming app for live and on-demand content. Hulu+ Live TV and YouTube TV, two virtual pay-TV providers, recently dropped Sinclair’s RSNs from their services. Sling TV and Dish Network dropped the channels in July 2019, ad FuboTV dropped them this past January. Sinclair acquired the RSNs from Walt Disney for $9.6 billion in 2019. Sinclair recently posted a massive $4.18 billion Q3 operating loss due to RSNs and other issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

NIELSEN UNVEILS POST-COOKIE ID SYSTEM With cookies crumbling as a way to identify individuals, Nielsen said it has a new ID resolution system it will use for its products that measure audiences and outcomes, Next TV reports. With the new ID methodology, Nielsen said it can assure advertisers that when an ad is viewed, its audience can be measured across all platforms and de-duplicated in order to calculate the reach of a campaign. Nielsen is using a variety of data, direct integrations and new technologies as well as its measurement-specific identity graf. Nielsen’s signature panel will be used to correct biases in the data sets and drive comparability. Nielsen will begin rolling out the ID resolution system in the U.S. early in the first quarter of 2021. The methodology will be used in Digital Ad Ratings, Total Ad Ratings, Digital Content Ratings, Total Content Ratings, Digital in TV Ratings, Nielsen Attribution and NielsenCampaign Lift. Nielsen is also working with The Trade Desk and the industry on Unified ID 2.0, an open and interoperable ID, built on hashed and encrypted email addresses.

THIS AND THAT Audiences in Raleigh, N.C., will be able to tune in to NextGen TV signals from local ABC, CBS, CW, MyNet and Univision affiliates. John Hane, president of transition leader BitPath, says Raleigh’s Fox, NBC and PBS stations also have plans to deploy the technology... PBS viewers will be able to continue the holiday tradition of watching A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and A Charlie Brown Christmas on television under a deal between the public television network and Apple TV+. Apple acquired rights to air the Peanuts specials exclusively on its streaming platform earlier this year.