| Today's Top Stories | | #1 | Activists Hijacking Promotions By Sponsors Of Olympics In Sochi
| | | McDonald's, Coca-Cola and other major advertisers over the past week have had to fend off gay rights groups who have disrupted their Olympics promotions on social media in protest of anti-gay laws in Russia, reports The New York Times. One "hashtag hijack" read: "Hey @McDonalds: You're sending #CheersToSochi while goons wearing Olympic uniforms assault LGBT people." McDonald's responded on its own website.
Why This Matters: McDonald's and Coca-Cola are among the largest sponsors of the Winter Games and while they have expressed support for equal rights, this guilt by association can't be helping their image. Meanwhile, some smaller non-Olympic advertisers are fueling the fire by expressing their support for the activists.
A Take: NYT |
| | #2 | Proliferation Of News Websites Driving Down Price Of Ads
| | | In the past few months about a dozen companies have announced new ventures related to online news, The Wall Street Journal reports. Publishers of these sites believe they are filling a need for marketers who want to reach targeted audiences through niche content sites and new forms of digital advertising.
Why This Matters: Ad buyers say the proliferation of these sites and automation in ad sales is driving down ad pricing—by as much as 70% in some cases. That's bad news for the operators of these sites which are not going to be able to bring in enough revenue to sustain them, but it's a good short-term move for marketers who get to target these audiences at very favorable ad rates.
A Take: WSJ |
| | #3 | Federated Media Gives Up Direct Sales, Will Now Focus On Programmatic
| | | Federated Media has sold its direct sales or content marketing business to LIN Media and will now concentrate entirely on its programmatic ad business. LIN Media will continue to operate the acquired business under the Federated Media name, while the programmatic business will be rebranded to operate under the name Sovrn Holdings.
Why This Matters: Walter Knapp, who will become Sovrn's CEO, told Ad Age the sale "gives us the opportunity to take the proceeds and double down on our programmatic business," which he called the future.
Two Takes: Ad Age | B&C
|
| #4 Angry Birds Maker Rovio Blames Ad Networks For Data Leaks To NSA (Ad Age)
#5 Branding Expert: Likeable Super Bowl Ads Are Not Always Most Effective (MediaPost)
#6 Wrigley Does Skittles Promo Deal With Brand Fan/Seahawks' Marshawn Lynch (Ad Age)
#7 NBC Broadcast TV Ad Revenue Up 8.3% In Fourth Quarter (B&C)
#8 Study: Facebook Will Beat Twitter In Super Bowl Ad Conversation (All Facebook)
#9 Personalization In Marketing Emails Draws Better Consumer Responses (eMarketer)
#10 Super Bowl Stadium Sponsor MetLife Buys Only Pregame TV Spots (Ad Age) |
|  | • 37.6
Percentage of Super Bowl viewers who will view Super Bowl commercials before the game, according to social influence marketing platform Crowdtap.
– Reported by AllFacebook.com
|
| | MBPT Spotlight | New Study Touts The Key To Digital Success: Continued Experimentation Without Fear
By John Consoli
A new study released on Tuesday by professional services firm EY (formerly Ernst & Young) finds that 70% of media and entertainment companies identified in the report as "digital leaders"—those driving more than half their revenue digitally—are willing to accept short-term revenue losses for long-term digital growth.
And 65% of those surveyed say they are prepared to cut legacy media investments to support new digital efforts.
All of which speak to the companies' acceptance of the positive reinforcement that comes from their digital practice and success, as emphasized in the study, titled "Sustaining Digital Leadership! Agile Technology Strategies for Growth, Business Models and Consumer Engagement."
The companies are using real-time social engagement and big data analytics to put customer voices at the center of their innovation, with the goal of driving multiplatform product development and integrated cloud-based distribution for an "anytime/anywhere" customer experience.
Among these companies that have fully embraced digital as a vital part of their business operation, 85% say they want direct relationships with their customers. That is further facilitated by their access to customer data, which 77% say they can tap into in real-time.
"Developing and delivering content remains at the core of what media and entertainment companies do," says John Nendick, global media and entertainment leader at EY. "New technologies have simply redefined many elements that are integral to these businesses, from the creative process to the intimacy of relationships with customers. We see leaders across all media subsectors embracing digital technologies to drive growth in their businesses."
What are the four areas the study suggests companies should focus on to achieve a leadership position in digital? And what are the advantages of forming outside allegiances to collect, store and analyze data?
For more, click HERE
|
| | Fates & Fortunes | • MICHAEL BARRETT was named CEO of mobile ad network Millennial Media. He was most recently chief revenue officer at Yahoo before being replaced by then-incoming CEO Marissa Mayer. At Millennial Barrett he replaces Paul Palmieri, who founded the company. Prior to his time at Yahoo, Barrett was CEO of AdMeld and chief revenue officer of MySpace.
• ALEX LUBAR was promoted to global chief marketing officer at McCann Worldgroup. He was previously North America CMO at McCann Erickson. Before that he was a leader of the new business group at Grey. In another move, CHIOMA ADUBA is joining McCann New York as new business director. She was previously marketing account director for business development at Grey New York. Adweek reports that in conjunction with the promotion of Lubar, Lotta Malm-Hallqvist, McCann Erickson global chief growth officer, is leaving the company.
• AMAR URHEKAR was promoted to the newly created position of president of McCann Health Americas. He most recently served as McCann Health's executive VP based in Singapore, where he led its Asia Pacific network of 14 offices in nine countries. He joined McCann health in 2000 when he founded the agency in India, and moved up the ranks with assorted executive positions in China and Japan.
• JEFFREY KAUFMAN was named senior VP, digital at USA. He was most recently senior VP of digital video for Alloy Entertainment. He also held posts at MTV and Howcast and in 2006, oversaw content strategy and editorial at NBCUniversal for the launches of Hulu and the National Broadband Company.
• CHRISTOPHER BROOKS was named senior VP of network distribution at The CW. He previously spent 18 years with CBS Domestic Television where he was most recently senior VP of West Coast distribution.
• LINDSEY VONN has joined NBC's Olympics coverage. The gold medal-winning skier had to withdraw from the upcoming Sochi Games due to a knee injury. She will report daily from the U.S. for NBC's Today show, and also appear on Olympic telecasts.
|
| | What They're Watching | BROADCAST RATINGS
'The Following' Shows Declines From First Season
The Following moved into its regular 9 p.m. time slot Monday, down as expected from what it drew in its season two premiere Sunday, Jan. 19, at 10:19 p.m., after the NFC Championship game. The broadcast was also down 26% from last season's average, and down 39% from last season's second episode. Fox led off the night with a rerun of this season's premiere, finishing fourth among broadcast networks. CBS led the evening. The 200th episode of How I Met Your Mother—told entirely from the perspective of the titular mother—was the night's top-rated show, up 23% from last week. Mother was followed by 2 Broke Girls (up 11%), Mike & Molly (up 24%), Mom (up 26%) and Intelligence (up 36%). ABC's two-hour The Bachelor lifted 9% and was followed by a rerun of Castle. On NBC, The Blacklist gained 9% from last week. The network kicked off the evening with back-to-back episodes of Hollywood Game Night, up 15% and down 13%, respectively. NBC finished third. Hart of Dixie and Beauty & the Beast were both even with last week for the CW.
For more, click HERE
CABLE RATINGS
'Black Sails' Tallies Bounty of Starz Viewership Records
The premiere of Starz's pirate series captured a treasure trove of Nielsen booty, yielding some 3.5 million viewers across various platforms. Black Sails, a prequel to Robert Louis Stevenson's classic Treasure Island, became the most widely watched original series debut in the premium channel's history, following its opening weekend on Saturday, Jan. 25. Bowing on Jan. 25 at 9 p.m. on Starz and flanked by a bounty of encores on its linear networks, Black Sails gained more than 2.6 million viewers, according to Nielsen live-plus-same-day figures. The performance surpassed The White Queen, making Black Sails the biggest Starz series premiere weekend ever. Gauged on a live-plus-same-day basis, Black Sails' Saturday telecasts, including 850,000 for the aforementioned linear debut, tallied 1.7 million total viewers, the most ever for a Starz new series premiere night.
For more, click HERE
|
| Overnight Ratings: Monday, January 27
| | 8 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | CBS
| HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (8:00)
2 BROKE GIRLS (8:30)
| 3.8
3.0
| 10.7
9.9
| ABC
| THE BACHELOR
| 2.4
| 8.5
| NBC
| HOLLYWOOD GAME NIGHT
| 1.5
| 5.6
| FOX
| THE FOLLOWING (R)
| 1.1
| 3.9
| UNIVISION
| POR SIEMPRE MI AMOR
| 1.1
| 2.9
| CW
| HART OF DIXIE
| 0.4
| 1.2
|
| | 9 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | ABC
| THE BACHELOR
| 2.7
| 8.7
| CBS
| MIKE & MOLLY (9:00)
MOM (9:30)
| 2.6
2.4
| 10.7
9.5
| FOX
| THE FOLLOWING
| 2.0
| 6.0
| UNIVISION
| LO QUE LA VIDA ME ROBÓ
| 1.6
| 3.9
| NBC
| HOLLYWOOD GAME NIGHT
| 1.3
| 4.5
| CW
| BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
| 0.3
| 0.9
|
| | 10 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | NBC
| THE BLACKLIST
| 2.5
| 10.0
| CBS
| INTELLIGENCE
| 1.5
| 6.8
| ABC
| CASTLE (R)
| 1.4
| 6.9
| UNIVISION
| QUÉ POBRES TAN RICOS
| 1.3
| 3.1
|
|
|
|
|
| | TOMORROW'S BIG RATINGS STORIES TODAY | • 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' Looking Golden
Fox's ensemble cop sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine has been drawing soft viewership all season, but a surprise win as best television comedy at the Jan. 12 Golden Globe Awards, along with Andy Samberg being named best actor in a comedy series, has given the Tuesday night at 8:30 p.m. series some new interest. The series had been averaging 3.4 million viewers and a 1.5 18-49 demo rating but its most recent episode, which aired last Tuesday, drew 4.6 million viewers and a 1.9 18-49 demo rating. The upshot: A 30% jump in viewers, even off a smaller base, is a positive sign for a series, particularly at midseason. While this week's episode is a repeat, as the old-time NBC saying goes, "If you haven't seen it, it's new to you." Fox has to be hoping this axiom applies to Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
|
| • Modern Day Capones Bring Family Business To Reelz
ReelzChannel will premiere a new reality series titled The Capones on Tuesday night at 10 with back-to-back half-hour episodes. The workplace documentary follows the owners of the family eatery Capone's Restaurant and Pizza in Chicago. The series features Dominic Capone, who co-owns the restaurant with his mother Dawn. Dominic's great-great-grandfather was notorious mobster Al Capone's uncle, a connection that won't be lost on viewers. The series also features other family members with nicknames such as "Toupee Lou," "Madness Cherry Lips" and "Sausage." The series also follows the family outside the restaurant where they all live under the same roof and have Sunday dinner together. The upshot: ReelzChannel has been adding more original programming recently and this is its latest offering. The Capones is not without controversy. The Italian American Human Relations Foundation of Chicago is protesting the series, saying the cast is a group of "functional illiterates" who give Italian Americans a bad name.
|
| • Borderline Disorders on Travel Channel
While the borders between Puerto Rico and the U.S. are open and people and merchandise can move freely between the two countries, there exists a strict policing of the Puerto Rico borders by customs agents and the U.S. Coast Guard. And that's the basis of a new Travel Channel reality series titled Border Rico, which premieres with back-to-back episodes on Tuesday night beginning at 10. The series follows law enforcement as they look to catch gun dealers and illegal immigrants and face many other interesting scenarios playing out. The upshot: Border Rico is in a similar vein to the Travel Channel series Airport 24/7: Miami which follows all the agencies and employees that police Miami International Airport on a round-the-clock basis.
|
|
|
| |  |  |
|
| Media Buyer & Planner Today
Editorial Team
John Consoli, Contributing Editor
Phone: 201-314-0424 | Send Email
Jon Lafayette, Business Editor, Broadcasting & Cable
Phone: 917-281-4735 | Send Email
Brian Moran, Managing Editor, Broadcasting & Cable
Phone: 917-281-4708 | Send Email
|
|
| | | 
|
|
|
| | | | | | |
