| Today's Top Stories | | #1 | Starbucks Selects Spark to Replace PHD as Its Media Agency
| | | The coffee chain, which was only in the early stages of its review, has decided to replace its incumbent media agency of six years, Omnicom's PHD, with Starcom MediaVest Group's Spark, according to an Ad Age report. Neither Starbucks nor the agencies commented. Starbucks spent about $95 million on U.S. measured media in 2013, according to Kantar Media.
Why This Matters: This is another big win for Spark, which SMG in 2012 began building into a bigger player, naming long-time Starcom exec Chris Boothe as its CEO. Starbucks' selection of Spark comes less than a year after Anne Enright joined the chain as director of media and measurement. She previously worked at Starcom.
A Take: Ad Age
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| | #2 | Facebook Exec Denies News Feed Changes Designed to Sell More Ads
| | | Facing criticism from marketers who believe the social network is decreasing its organic reach so that they will have to spend more on advertising, Facebook exec Brian Boland wrote a blog post to rebuff the allegations. Among the points, according to Boland, is that decreased organic reach is a natural eventual occurrence, unavoidable among all platforms that reach a certain level of popularity. He said Facebook is moving brands' "best" posts higher up in users' news feeds and that brand "likes" by users are still important for marketers. Boland also said that going forward, Facebook will be more transparent with marketers about the reasons for changes on its site.
Why This Matters: Facebook is in heavy damage control mode, trying to appease the many marketers it urged to spend time and money on gathering "likes" and "fans," and who are saying it's harder to put free content in front of Facebook users without running paid ads. Eat24 has closed its Facebook page. Shauna Hogg of e-commerce site All Things Racing Apparel said of Boland's remarks, "This doesn't make me feel any better, still as frustrated as ever."
2 Takes: WSJ | Digiday
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| | #3 | Gatorade Mocks Powerade Endorser LeBron James for Cramping During Playoff Game
| | | The Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs had to play nearly the entire first game of their NBA Finals series in sweltering heat after the air conditioning system broke down early in the game. As a result, toward the end of the game, Heat star LeBron James collapsed with severe cramping and had to sit out of the game, which was won by the Spurs. Gatorade, in real-time tweets, mocked James, who has an endorsement deal with rival Powerade.
Why This Matters: Gatorade is owned by PepsiCo, while Powerade is owned by rival Coca-Cola. While most real-time brand tweets are witty and in good fun, in this case some complained that Gatorade took a cheap shot at an injured athlete. Publicly mocking an athlete who has endorsed a rival brand when they are hurt doesn't seem like good policy and could come back to hurt Gatorade sales.
A Take: Ad Age
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#4 As Johnny Manziel Arrives in Cleveland, Local TV and Radio Stations Selling Out Ad Inventory (Media Life)
#5 Reddit Latest Digital Platform to Make Ad Pitch to Small Businesses (Digiday)
#6 Rihanna's Rogue Ads Deemed Too Sexy for Kids (MediaPost)
#7 WWE Partners With Ad Council on Campaign to Promote Better Parenting by Dads (NYT)
#8 As Millennials Abandon Target, the Retail Chain Takes Steps to Win Them Back (USA Today)
#9 Fraudulent Video Ad Site Disappears From the Web (WSJ)
#10 Weather Company Ties Mobile Ads to In-Store Visits (Ad Age)
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Percentage of U.S. Hispanic Gen X (35-49-year-old) daily tablet users, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey. That compares to 56% of non-Hispanic Gen X daily tablet users.
– Reported by eMarketer
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| | MBPT Spotlight | Nielsen Offers Up Consumer Data That Marketers Should Be Aware Of
A recent report on advertising and the media issued by Nielsen offers up some interesting statistics about consumers that all marketers should be aware of. What follows is a survey of some notable points:
• 86% of U.S. smartphone owners say they use their devices as second screens while watching TV, and nearly 50% do it every day.
• Since 1995, the number of African-American TV households has increased by almost 40% and Hispanic TV households have nearly doubled.
• As of this year, there are 14.9 million African-American TV households, 14.7 million Hispanic TV households and 5.2 million Asian-American TV households.
• Sunday is the most-watched primetime TV night with 125 million persons with sets in use. Next is Monday night with 120 million persons, followed by Tuesday (114 million persons), Wednesday (113 million), Thursday (112 million), Saturday (108 million), and Friday (107 million).
• U.S. TV ad spending in 2013 reached $78 billion, up 3% from 2012.
• Which types of programming get the most ad dollars? Dramas get $12 billion; general news programs get $9 billion; sitcoms get $6 billion; feature films, news specials and reality/variety programming each get $5 billion; documentaries and the NFL regular season telecasts get $4 billion; and talk shows get $3 billion.
• Asian-Americans average more than 4 hours per person each month streaming video, the most of any ethnic group.
• In 2013, 2 million unique African-Americans on average streamed videos on Hulu each month and spent 10 hours 30 minutes per person viewing.
What were different totals in average time spent watching time-shifted TV per person, as opposed to watching Internet video and video on a smartphone in fourth-quarter 2013? And in 2013, what was the percentage breakdown between 15-, 30- and 60-second spots?
For more, click HERE
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| | Fates & Fortunes | • JAMES DAWSON-HOLLIS and BILL WRIGHT were named global executive creative directors at McCann Erickson. They were previously co-chief creative officers at Ogilvy West in Los Angeles. Both joined Ogilvy in 2011 after creative director stints at Crispin Porter + Bogusky, where they worked under worldwide creative director Rob Reilly. In January, Reilly was named creative chairman at McCann Worldgroup.
• HOPE ANGELONE was named general sales manager of Rock 100.5 WNNX in Atlanta, a Cumulus Media station. She was previously director of sales for Entercom's four stations in Norfolk, Va. Prior to that, Angelone held the general sales manager post at Clear Channel's Hartford, Conn., station cluster.
• CAITLIN FOITO was named VP of drama development at ABC Studios. She previously spent three years at Fox as director of drama programming. Prior to that, she was director of programming at Fox Television Studios.
• JIM ROSE has been promoted to VP and station manager at NBC affiliate KING in Seattle. He was previously director of sales. In his new role, he will be responsible for sales, local programming, syndicated programming, operations and human resources. JASON XYDIS was named director of sales at KING, succeeding Rose. Xydis joined the station in 1998 as national sales coordinator. Rose has been with KING since 2000. Prior to that, he was an account executive for the Chris-Craft ABC affiliate in Salt Lake City and research manager at Blair TV in New York.
• JENNIFER VEENENDAAL was named local sales manager at WBAL-TV 11, the NBC affiliate in Baltimore owned by Hearst Television. She was previously national sales manager. Prior to that, Veenendaal was regional sales manager at WGAL-TV in Lancaster, Pa., also owned by Hearst.
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| | What They're Watching | BROADCAST RATINGS
NBA Finals Strong for ABC, But Dips From 2013
A thrilling opening game of the 2014 NBA Finals helped ABC easily break away from its competition on Thursday. The Spurs' victory over the Heat—in a game that will be known as much for an A/C malfunction that caused Miami star LeBron James to sit out the final four minutes—earned a rating that was down 2% from last year's opener between the same two teams. Since the game went well past primetime, and due to the nature of live sports, numbers are subject to change. ABC aired Jimmy Kimmel Live: Game Night at 8 p.m. and Kia NBA Countdown at 8:30 p.m. Fox and NBC, the only other networks to air new programing, tied with CBS' repeats for second place. For Fox, Hell's Kitchen was even with last week, while Gang Related dipped a tenth. NBC's Hollywood Game Night dipped 8%, while two back-to-back episodes of Undateable each fell three tenths from last week. At 10 p.m., Last Comic Standing fell to a series-low against the Finals. The CW aired repeats.
For more, click HERE
CABLE RATINGS
'CMT Music Awards' Audience Grows From Last Year
About 3 million viewers turned into the CMT Music Awards on Wednesday night, up 10% over last year's edition to become the second most-watched telecast in the franchise's history. The awards show also earned a 1.1 rating in the 18-49 demo.
For more, click HERE
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| Overnight Ratings: Thursday, June 5
| | 8 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | ABC
| JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE: GAME NIGHT (8)
KIA NBA COUNTDOWN (8:30)
| 2.1
2.8
| 6.4
7.1
| CBS
| THE BIG BANG THEORY (R) (8)
MOM (R) (8:30)
| 2.0
1.3
| 8.8
6.2
| FOX
| HELL'S KITCHEN
| 1.6
| 4.6
| NBC
| HOLLYWOOD GAME NIGHT
| 1.1
| 4.1
| UNIVISION
| DE QUE TE QUIERO, TE QUIERO
| 0.8
| 2.3
| CW
| THE VAMPIRE DIARIES (R)
| 0.3
| 0.8
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| | 9 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | ABC
| NBA FINALS: GAME 1
| 4.8
| 12.2
| UNIVISION
| LO QUE LA VIDA ME ROBÓ
| 1.2
| 3.4
| CBS
| TWO AND A HALF MEN (R) (9)
THE MILLERS (R) (9:30)
| 1.1
1.0
| 5.4
4.6
| NBC
| UNDATEABLE (9)
UNDATEABLE (9:30)
| 1.0
1.0
| 3.1
2.9
| FOX
| GANG RELATED
| 0.8
| 3.0
| CW
| THE ORIGINALS (R)
| 0.2
| 0.6
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| | 10 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | ABC
| NBA FINALS: GAME 1
| 5.3
| 13.0
| NBC
| LAST COMIC STANDING
| 1.4
| 4.2
| UNIVISION
| QUÉ POBRES TAN RICOS
| 0.9
| 2.3
| CBS
| ELEMENTARY (R)
| 0.7
| 4.6
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| | THIS WEEKEND'S BIG RATINGS STORIES TODAY | • Broadway's Best Returns to CBS
The 68th Annual Tony Awards will air on CBS on Sunday live from 8-11 p.m. with Hugh Jackman hosting for the fourth time, but for the first time since 2005. The telecast will once again be from Radio City Music Hall in New York. Among the presenters: Kevin Bacon, Wayne Brady, Bradley Cooper, Fran Drescher, Clint Eastwood, Gloria Estefan, Vera Farmiga, Will Ferrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Liev Schreiber and Tony-nominee Audra McDonald. The upshot: The telecast last year drew its largest audience since 2009—7.2 million viewers and a 1.2 18-49 demo rating. However, that's down from the largest recent audience of 12.9 million in 1998. Also like last year, the telecast is up against Game 2 of the NBA Finals on ABC, although the Tonys have traditionally drawn an older and more female audience.
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| • 'The Hunt' Begins on History
This new eight-episode reality series that premieres on Sunday at 10 p.m. follows brown bear hunters in Kodiak, Alaska. It's narrated by James Hetfield, leader of the rock group Metallica. As History describes it, "today the bear hunt remains a cultural fixture on Kodiak and is crucial to the delicate natural balance on the island. Strictly regulated by the Alaska Department of Fish & Game, every year thousands of hunters apply for one of 496 tags that are given via a lottery system." The bears they are hunting can grow to as big as 12 feet tall and weigh up to 1,500 pounds. The upshot: The network's description reads, "most hunters still value time-honored traditions by hunting with bow-and-arrow, black powder single-shot rifles, and use the minimum amount of technology possible and strive for clean kills." It may be somewhat educational, but chances are The Hunt won't make the top of animal rights activists' viewing list.
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| • Want to Escape? Watch E!
Twelve contestants were picked from thousands of people looking to run away from their daily lives and get a fresh start—and that's the basis for Escape Club, a new series on E! premiering Sunday at 10 p.m. The show is described by the network as a "real-life soap opera where men and women abandon their lives and head off to a luxurious paradise on the beaches of the Dominican Republic looking for a new destiny." The cast includes six men and six women and is billed as a kind of reality Gilligan's Island where they face lots of twists and turns that stand in their way to getting the ultimate escape to a new life—an entire year with all expenses paid to continue their escape. But there can only be one winner, and the cast finds living on the island isn't all it's cracked up to be, as alliances are formed and people must prove they belong. The upshot: The series presents an interesting, Survivor-esque concept and E! is giving it a solid time period—10 p.m. Sunday night—when TV viewing is high. As with all reality series, summer-long interest by viewers will depend on how much they like and can relate to the cast members.
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| Media Buyer & Planner Today
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Phone: 201-314-0424 | Send Email
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