| Today's Top Stories | | #1 | Ketchum Launches Global Digital Media Buying Group
| | | The public relations agency under the Omnicom umbrella plans to invest millions into the new unit to be called Agile Amplification, according to an Ad Age report. It will hire a team of media buyers and planners and contract with ad tech companies such as Kenshoo and DataXu. Buying offices will be set up in New York, London, Rio, Shanghai, Dusseldorf and Moscow.
Why This Matters: This is another example of PR agencies expanding their traditional offerings in an attempt to bring in additional revenue that can be siphoned away from media agencies.
A Take: Ad Age
|
| | #2 | A+E Ad Sales President Sees Digital Sales Growth as Complement to Cable
| | | Mel Berning says digital display and video revenue for the company's various media properties is growing at the rate of 20% to 30% per year, albeit off a smaller base. In an interview with eMarketer, the sales exec says the percentage will continue to grow as the networks add more opportunities for viewers to watch TV programming and participate in other ways online.
Why This Matters: Berning sees digital as being complementary to the linear cable business. A+E Networks have some shows with large viewership and as many of these viewers look to watch across other platforms, A+E will be in a good position to offer marketers this expanded reach audience.
A Take: eMarketer |
| | #3 | Of Comcast VOD Viewing, 40% Is in the C3 Window
| | | The cable operator is continuing its dynamic ad insertion testing with NBCUniversal and ABC, and planning to do some with CBS, and Rob Holmes, VP of advanced advertising for video at Comcast, says with Nielsen able to measure it in the same three-day window as it does for the TV networks programming, it is a "great opportunity" for marketers. Speaking at an Advanced Advertising event, Holmes said Comcast had about one billion dynamic ad insertions in 2013 and expects that to double this year.
Why This Matters: Dynamic ad insertion is an excellent way for marketers to pick up additional viewership via TV programming made available through cable VOD services. Nielsen can measure the audience so they know exactly what they are paying for.
A Take: MCN
|
| #4 Facebook Faces Challenge in Policing Ads Accessible to Teens (WSJ)
#5 Oakley to Launch First Global Marketing Initiative (Adweek)
#6 Edelman Execs Offer Advice on Real-Time Marketing (Ad Age)
#7 P&G's Charmin Rolls Out New Native Ad Campaign (Adweek)
#8 Sprint to Sponsor Twitter 'Framily' Party During Oscar Telecast (MediaPost)
#9 AMC, A+E Networks Join Canoe Advanced Ad Consortium (B&C)
#10 Pepsi Max 'Test Drive 2' Draws 4 Million Views in 24 Hours (MediaPost)
|
|  | • 64
Percentage of U.S. teens who, while at home, access the Internet via their smartphone, according to a study by Cox Communications.
– Reported by eMarketer
|
| | MBPT Spotlight | Sports Action Camera Company iON Keeps Growing Its Marketing Partnerships
By Barry Janoff, executive editor, NYSportsJournalism.com
Earlier this week, Manchester City Football Club of the Barclays Premier League added iON Cameras to its powerful roster of marketing partners. A multiyear deal designates iON as Man City's official global sports action camera partner.
As part of the deal, financial terms of which were not disclosed, iON will use its point-of-view cameras—including the Air Pro 3, Speed-Pro and The Game—and Shoot/Share Wi-Fi technology to aid Manchester City players in performance analysis and coaching platforms, enable fans and other soccer players to upload videos, provide fans with behind-the-scenes footage and support iON soccer clinics with educational tools.
Earlier this month, iON, with offices in London, Tokyo and U.S. headquarters in Somerset, N.J., signed a multiyear alliance to become the official and exclusive POV camera for FLW, the global tournament-fishing organization. iON is also an official partner with the U.S. Open of Surfing and Lucas Oil's Team Lucas (which includes the Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series, Late Model Dirt Series, Drag Boat Series and the American Sprint Car Series) and has alliances with the Dew Tour and the PGA Tour.
Manchester City ranked as the No. 9 most valuable soccer franchise in the world by Forbes last year, valued at more than $689 million. The club has a strong fan base worldwide, including more than 1.5 million followers on Twitter and 9.5 million Facebook "likes."
Other Manchester City marketing partners include Nike, LG, EA Sports, Heineken and Thomas Cook.
Giovanni Tomaselli, founder and CEO of iON, whose experience includes designing cameras for the likes of Kodak, Casio and Nikon, speaks here regarding the alliance with Manchester City and the pros and challenges of bringing POV action cameras to sports franchises, athletes, fans and consumers.
iON Cameras has alliances with action-sports athletes and organizations, but is this the first soccer alliance and first alliance with a team rather than an individual athlete?
Yes. When you look at the sports-imaging category, there is a big player out there, GoPro. They've done a lot of great things; opened up a lot of doors. But they are more of a media company than an imaging company. And their focus is in the extreme-sports world. We participate in that space, but we see ourselves as having a major impact with mainstream sports. There is a huge market here. We recently signed on to work with the FLW and the PGA Tour. In January, we acquired PowerChalk, a Web-based sports analytic, coaching, teaching and scouting platform. So now we are going to combine their expertise with our cameras into more mainstream sports, including soccer.
How and why did iON's Manchester City partnership come about? And does the company have potential expansion plans are in the pipeline?
For more, click HERE
|
| | Fates & Fortunes | • TAD SMITH is expected to be named the new president and chief executive officer of Madison Square Garden Co. (MSG), replacing Hank Ratner, who has held the CEO post since 2010. The change was first reported by Bloomberg News and confirmed by sources for other media outlets. MSG initially declined to comment. According to reports, Ratner will remain with MSG as vice chairman, a post he has held since 2003. Smith was most recently president of local media for Cablevision Systems Corp., which was previously the parent company of MSG until 2010, when the two companies were spun off. Prior to joining Cablevision, Smith was CEO of Reed Elsevier's Reed Business Information. At Cablevision, he oversaw digital and linear TV ad sales; News 12 Networks; and Newsday Media Group, which includes Long Island, N.Y., daily newspaper Newsday, and amNew York, a free daily newspaper serving New York City.
• SHANE GINSBERG was named president of digital agency Evolution Bureau. He was most recently senior VP of corporate development at digital agency Organic. Both agencies are under the Omnicom umbrella. Ginsberg spent eight years with Organic. Prior to that he was with AKQA, and before that cofounded Plastic, an agency that was later acquired by Razorfish. He also had a brief stint with Organic in the mid-1990s.
|
| | What They're Watching | BROADCAST RATINGS
CBS, 'Big Bang Theory' Lead Thursday Night
CBS won Thursday night as The Big Bang Theory fell 6% from its most recent original episode on Feb. 6. The network also debuted Two and a Half Men and The Crazy Ones in their new times, having announced two weeks ago that the comedies would swap slots after the Olympics. At 9 p.m., Two and a Half Men improved 32% from its last 9:30 p.m. original and The Crazy Ones grew 12% from its last 9 p.m. original. The Millers was up 8% from Feb. 6 and Elementary slipped 11% from its last original. ABC finished second, leading off the night with the ABC News special Countdown to the Oscars. Grey's Anatomy and Scandal both returned from hiatus. Grey's improved 11% from its last original broadcast on Dec. 12 and Scandal improved one tenth from the same night. Fox finished third as American Idol dropped a tenth from last week and Rake declined 20% to a series low. NBC came in fourth for the night. Community and Parks and Recreation fell 9% and 23%, respectively, from their last new episodes on Jan. 30. Hollywood Game Night made its 9 p.m. Thursday premiere, replacing canceled comedies Sean Saves the World and The Michael J. Fox Show. It improved 71% over Sean and Fox's averages from their last airings on Jan. 23. Parenthood fell 15% from its last original on Jan. 23. The CW's The Vampire Diaries was even with its last original on Feb. 6 and Reign declined one tenth from its last new episode on Feb. 6.
For more, click HERE
CABLE RATINGS
'Americans' Premiere on Par With Season One Finale
The season two premiere of FX's The Americans drew 1.9 million total viewers Wednesday night and 863,000 viewers ages 18-49. Last year's series premiere on Jan. 30, 2013, drew 3.2 million total viewers live-plus-same-day while the first season finale brought in 1.7 million total viewers.
For more, click HERE
|
| Overnight Ratings: Thursday, February 27
| | 8 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | CBS
| THE BIG BANG THEORY (8)
THE MILLERS (8:30)
| 4.9
2.8
| 17.5
11.2
| FOX
| AMERICAN IDOL
| 2.3
| 9.8
| ABC
| COUNTDOWN TO THE OSCARS
| 1.0
| 4.7
| NBC
| COMMUNITY (8)
PARKS AND RECREATION (8:30)
| 1.0
1.0
| 2.6
2.5
| UNIVISION
| POR SIEMPRE MI AMOR
| 0.9
| 2.6
| CW
| THE VAMPIRE DIARIES
| 0.9
| 1.9
|
| | 9 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | ABC
| GREY'S ANATOMY
| 3.0
| 9.3
| CBS
| TWO AND A HALF MEN (9)
THE CRAZY ONES (9:30)
| 2.5
1.9
| 10.0
7.4
| UNIVISION
| LO QUE LA VIDA ME ROBÓ
| 1.3
| 3.4
| NBC
| HOLLYWOOD GAME NIGHT
| 1.2
| 3.4
| FOX
| RAKE
| 0.8
| 3.5
| CW
| REIGN
| 0.5
| 1.3
|
| | 10 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | ABC
| SCANDAL
| 3.3
| 9.3
| CBS
| ELEMENTARY
| 1.6
| 8.5
| NBC
| PARENTHOOD
| 1.1
| 3.6
| UNIVISION
| QUÉ POBRE TAN RICOS
| 0.9
| 2.3
|
|
|
|
|
| | THIS WEEKEND'S BIG RATINGS STORIES TODAY | • Dr. Lecter Back on Call for NBC
NBC is bringing back its drama series Hannibal—based around the psychiatric mind of Dr. Lecter, who is now working with the police to catch serial killers—for a second season, this time on Friday at 10 p.m. Last year, NBC aired it as a midseason replacement series on Thursdays at 10 p.m. It drew 3.2 million viewers per episode and a 1.3 18-49 demo rating. The upshot: While NBC is bringing back a series that probably didn't deserve to be brought back based on its ratings, it is clearly not doing the series any favors. It is airing it on Fridays, head-to-head with CBS' older-skewing but broadly-watched drama Blue Bloods, which averages more than 10 million viewers per episode.
|
| • 'Smackdown' Was Olympic-Proof
Syfy's two-hour telecast of WWE Friday Night Smackdown from 8-10 p.m. keeps on pulling in the viewers, regardless of the competition. Even Winter Olympics coverage on NBC in primetime, including the opening ceremony on Feb. 7, made hardly a difference to Smackdown's viewership. In the Fridays just prior to the Olympics, the live wrestling show was averaging about 3 million viewers and a 0.9 18-49 demo rating and during the Olympics, those numbers stayed pretty much the same. So this week, it should continue rolling along with its steady stream of Friday night viewers, which includes lots of 12-34 and 18-34 year-olds, demos it wins every Friday. The upshot: With NBC not exercising its option to exclusively negotiate and come up with a deal with the WWE, the franchise, along with WWE Raw on USA Network on Monday nights, is now on the open market for bidding. Syfy has its rights through September.
|
| • It's Oscar Time on ABC
The 86th Annual Academy Awards telecast will air on ABC on Sunday night beginning at 8:30 p.m. Ellen DeGeneres will host. Performers include U2, Pharrell Williams, Bette Midler, Idina Menzel and Karen O. Presenters will include Daniel Day-Lewis, Jennifer Lawrence, Anne Hathaway, Robert De Niro, Harrison Ford, Sally Field, Matthew McConaughey, Sidney Poitier, Will Smith and a slew of others. The Red Carpet Live on ABC will air from 7-8:30 p.m. hosted by Good Morning America's Robin Roberts and Lara Spencer. Jimmy Kimmel will host his ninth annual live special after the Oscars show. Last year's Oscar telecast drew 40.4 million and a 13.0 18-49 rating, up slightly from the 2012 telecast. The Red Carpet show drew 12.4 million and a 2.9 demo rating. The upshot: Other than the Super Bowl, this is the most-watched primetime television event of the year. Advertisers include AMEX, GM, JCPenney, Johnson & Johnson, Mars, McDonald's, Pepsi, Samsung, Sprint and Unilever.
|
|
|
| |  |  |
|
| 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
|
|
| | | 
|
|
|
|
| | | | | | |
