| Today's Top Stories | | #1 | McDonald's Response to Taco Bell's Breakfast Campaign: Free Coffee
| | | The fast food chain will give away free small cups of McCafe coffee during its breakfast hours from March 31 through April 13. The chain said it is the first time it's ever given out free coffee. The move appears to be in response to recent Taco Bell commercials, which have real-life people named Ronald McDonald (also the name of the McDonald's mascot) touting its new breakfast menu.
Why This Matters: While McDonald's said the free offer is just a way to get customers to try its McCafe coffee, clearly the chain is smarting from the Taco Bell commercials and this is its way of fighting back. McDonald's and Taco Bell parent Yum Brands are both major ad spenders, so this might just be the opening salvo between the two.
2 Takes: Ad Age | USA Today
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| | #2 | Free Ad-Supported Games Making a Comeback
| | | A whitepaper from WildTangent Media, Electronic Arts and analyst firm IHS says that 86% of those who play video games prefer free games with ads rather than having to pay for games without ads, according to a MediaPost report. IHS forecasts that by 2017, only 10% of mobile and tablet game revenue will come from paid downloads.
Why This Matters: Game makers are going to have to find other ways to monetize their costs, such as recruiting marketers to sponsor advertising within the games and to offer gamers ways to get free merchandise for playing. Both are ways for advertisers to reach this growing audience of potential consumers of their brands.
A Take: MediaPost
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| | #3 | Digitaria Begins Unit Devoted to Mobile Technology
| | | The digital agency, part of the JWT division of WPP and known for developing websites and mobile platforms, is starting a new unit called Big on Mars, according to a New York Times report. It will initially operate within Digitaria and then spin off into an autonomous unit. Six Digitaria employees will staff it at startup. The new unit is described as a "technology solution unit." Marketers supporting the effort are Ford, Mazda, Qualcomm, USA Network and camera maker GoPro, among others.
Why This Matters: Agencies are no longer just in business to create advertising and place it on media platforms. More clients are demanding services beyond that, such as coming up with technology that can give them a digital edge on their competitors.
A Take: NYT
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#4 Doner Media Wins Retailer Meijer's $30 Million-Plus Media Account (Adweek)
#5 SapientNitro Acquires Digital Creative Agency Campfire (Ad Age)
#6 Twitter Said to Be Close to Releasing New Ad Product for Apps (Bloomberg)
#7 Why Fantasy Baseball Is a Good Play for Marketers (Digiday)
#8 Supreme Court Ruling Could Lead to More Ad Lawsuits (Ad Age)
#9 Three Agencies Vying for Cigna Creative Account (Adweek)
#10 Survey Finds Marketers Like Twitter's Tie-Ins With TV (eMarketer)
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|  | • 81
Percentage of the total paid search clicks on U.S. Google desktop and tablets that were driven by the top 20 automotive manufacturer sites in January and February 2014, according to AdGooroo. That amounts to 11.7 million of the 14.4 million paid search clicks on 177 manufacturer sites in the auto category during those two months.
– Reported by MediaPost
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| | MBPT Spotlight | With Midseason Success, NBC Looks for First Demo Title Since 2003-04
By John Consoli
A comparison of last season's broadcast primetime freshman shows with this season's finds not much difference. There were lots of new show duds in fourth-quarter 2013 and a similar amount of failures in the same period 2014.
But when you dig down a little deeper, one big difference does emerge. Last season, most of the new broadcast primetime series that premiered in the first quarter also bombed, while this season, several of the new series are doing well—so far.
And leading the pack are five midseason freshman series on NBC, a development that has to bring smiles to the faces of both the network entertainment brass and the advertisers that were moved into these series after all but one of the NBC fall freshman shows tanked. NBC has not won the broadcast season 18-49 ratings crown since the 2003-04 season, the final year for two stalwart TV successes: Friends and Frasier. But it has a good chance this time around.
Not only are its midseason shows boosting NBC's viewership and ratings, but when added to the network's lone fourth quarter freshman hit The Blacklist, they are the main reason why the network is now No. 1 in the 18-49 demo among regularly scheduled programming. Amazingly, that does not include Olympics' viewership.
Entering this week, NBC was averaging a 2.4 18-49 demo rating for regularly-scheduled programs, up 9% from last season. A distant second is CBS with a 1.9, followed by ABC and Fox, each with a 1.7. And even when you add the Super Bowl viewership to Fox, which bumps it up to a 2.3, it's still behind NBC. Adding the Olympics viewership to NBC boosts its 18-49 rating to a 2.6.
How important have The Blacklist and NBC's five new midseason entries been to its ratings this year? And what are the top new series in viewers and the demo this season?
For more, click HERE
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| | Fates & Fortunes | • RAY KELLY, former New York City police commissioner, has joined ABC News as a consultant for all platforms. Kelly served as commissioner under New York City mayors David Dinkins and Michael Bloomberg. Kelly recently joined Cushman and Wakefield as president of risk management services. He spent 43 years in the NYPD.
• CYNTHIA McFADDEN has joined NBC News as senior legal and investigative correspondent. She spent the past 20 years at ABC News, the last nine years as coanchor of ABC's late-night news show Nightline. McFadden will be replaced by JUJU CHANG as coanchor on Nightline. She was most recently a special correspondent and substitute anchor on the show. Chang has been with ABC News since 1984, initially joining the division as a desk assistant before working her way up the ladder.
• JOHN HAYES is stepping down as a member of the Yahoo board of directors. Hayes, who is executive VP and chief marketing officer at American Express, says he will not seek reelection this June. He has been on the board since 2012. Hayes said in a statement released by Yahoo that he no longer has the time and focus to devote to the board position. He has been CMO of American Express since 2003.
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| | What They're Watching | BROADCAST RATINGS
'Surviving Jack' Premieres Soft Post-'Idol'
Fox's new comedy Surviving Jack premiered with a somewhat soft debut. The comedy opened following American Idol's shortened half-hour results show, which dropped a tenth compared to last week's one-hour average to a series low. Earlier, Hell's Kitchen stayed even with last week. Fox finished third among the broadcasters. Early numbers for CBS indicate that the network won the night with its lineup of men's NCAA tournament college basketball. ABC finished second as Once Upon a Time in Wonderland improved a tenth from last week. Grey's Anatomy and Scandal also each grew one tenth. NBC finished fourth. The network aired reruns of Hollywood Game Night, followed by a new episode of Parenthood, which was up one tenth from last Thursday. The CW's The Vampire Diaries fell 36% to a series low and Reign declined one tenth.
For more, click HERE
CABLE RATINGS
'Duck Dynasty' Finale Down Over Last Year, Tops Wednesday
The season finale of Duck Dynasty on A&E was Wednesday's top cable program with a 2.5 adults 18-49 rating, up 32% from last week's performance, but down significantly from the 3.5 demo rating that last season's finale earned. NBA basketball action, with Miami taking on Indiana, was the No. 2 cable original, earning a 1.4 in the demo.
For more, click HERE
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| Overnight Ratings: Thursday, March 27
| | 8 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | CBS
| 2014 NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
| 2.3
| 7.6
| FOX
| HELL'S KITCHEN
| 1.8
| 5.2
| NBC
| HOLLYWOOD GAME NIGHT (R)
| 1.2
| 4.6
| ABC
| ONCE UPON A TIME IN WONDERLAND
| 0.9
| 3.3
| UNIVISION
| POR SIEMPRE MI AMOR
| 0.8
| 2.3
| CW
| THE VAMPIRE DIARIES
| 0.7
| 1.7
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| | 9 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | CBS
| 2014 NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
| 2.7
| 8.5
| ABC
| GREY'S ANATOMY
| 2.5
| 8.1
| FOX
| AMERICAN IDOL (9)
SURVIVING JACK (9:30)
| 1.9
1.3
| 7.9
5.1
| UNIVISION
| LO QUE LA VIDA ME ROBÓ
| 1.2
| 3.2
| NBC
| HOLLYWOOD GAME NIGHT (R)
| 1.1
| 3.7
| CW
| REIGN
| 0.6
| 1.5
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| | 10 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | ABC
| SCANDAL
| 3.1
| 8.8
| CBS
| 2014 NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
| 2.5
| 7.2
| NBC
| PARENTHOOD
| 1.4
| 4.4
| UNIVISION
| QUÉ POBRES TAN RICOS
| 1.0
| 2.3
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| | THIS WEEKEND'S BIG RATINGS STORIES TODAY | • NBC's 'SNL' Returns With Louis C.K. as Host
Saturday Night Live returns at 11:30 p.m. with comedian Louis C.K. as guest host and musical guest Sam Smith. It will be the second SNL hosting gig for Louis C.K., who has his own comedy series on FX that will premiere its fourth season this May. On April 5, Anna Kendrick will host the show for the first time with musical guest Pharrell Williams singing his hit "Happy." SNL has been airing repeat episodes since March 8 when Lena Dunham hosted. The upshot: SNL has been averaging 4.7 million viewers for its live episodes this season, with the largest audience—6.3 million viewers and a 3.9 18-49 demo rating—tuning in on Dec. 21 to watch guest host Jimmy Fallon and musical guest Justin Timberlake. Now in its 39th season, the series still draws a solid late-night Saturday audience with an 18-49 demo rating in the 2.5 range, better than most primetime series.
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| • Mark Wahlberg: Actor, Producer, Oscar-Nominee…Prepare to Get Slimed
That's what usually happens to the host and lots of others on Nickelodeon's Annual Kids' Choice Awards, which will be televised live from USC's Galen Center on Saturday on Nick beginning at 8. p.m. This year's 27th annual awards have Andy Samberg, Will Arnett, Michael Strahan, Jim Parsons, Kristen Bell, Debby Ryan, Chris Evans, Lea Michele, John Cena, Kaley Cuoco and Tia Mowry-Hardrict, among others, joining Wahlberg as presenters. Presenting sponsors include General Mills, Hasbro Nerf Rebelle and Target. Associate sponsors are Bounty, Capri Sun, McDonald's, Toyota and Amazon Kindle Fire HDX. At 7 p.m. leading into the telecast, Nick will premiere a new episode of its series Sam & Cat and SpongeBob SquarePants, with drop-ins from the Kids' Choice Awards Orange Carpet where Nick stars Jeff Sutphen and Ryan Newman will interview stars as they arrive. The upshot: Last year the telecast drew 5.8 million live viewers and after two repeat airings on Sunday, the cume audience totaled 11.8 million. The live telecast last year drew 2.7 million kids 6-11 and 1.9 million kids 9-14, an oasis for kids' marketers.
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| • March Madness Keeps Ball Rolling This Weekend
The NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament continues on Friday as the "Sweet 16" round concludes with two games on CBS and two games on TBS. The first game on CBS tips off at 7:15 with second-seeded Michigan State vs. 11th-ranked Tennessee. The second game on CBS begins at 9:45 p.m. with fourth-seed Louisville vs. eighth-seed Kentucky. Meanwhile, TBS has third-seed Iowa State vs. seven-seed Connecticut tipping off at 7:25 p.m. and top-seed Virginia vs. fourth-seed Michigan State set to start at 10 p.m. Then on Saturday and Sunday, winners from the Thursday and Friday night games, the "Elite 8" teams, will play. TBS will air the first Elite 8 game on Saturday at 6 p.m. and the second game to follow at about 8:30. CBS will televise the third Elite 8 game on Sunday at 2 p.m. with the second game to follow beginning about 5 p.m. The upshot: Viewership should grow as the tournament gets closer to the "Championship Weekend" of April 5-7.
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| Media Buyer & Planner Today
Editorial Team
John Consoli, Contributing Editor
Phone: 201-314-0424 | Send Email
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Phone: 917-281-4735 | Send Email
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Phone: 917-281-4708 | Send Email
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