| Today's Top Stories | | #1 | Publicis To Acquire Sapient Corp. For $3.7B
| | | The cash deal for the Boston-based marketing, technology and management consulting company includes digital agency SapientNitro whose clients include ActiVision, Audi, Coca-Cola, Footlocker, Staples, Target and Unilever. The new company will be renamed Publicis.Sapient and will be led by Sapient cofounder and CEO Alan Herrick. The acquisition will push Publicis' digital revenue to more than 50% of its overall total, according to analysts.
Why This Matters: Clearly, Publicis has put its failed merger attempt with Omnicom behind it. Publicis CEO Maurice Levy says, "We've been investing for many years in digital capabilities for one simple reason: it's the future." However, analyst Brian Weiser of Pivotal Research Group believes the Sapient acquisition will make it harder for Publicis to merge with another holding company like IPG down the road.
Three Takes: Ad Age | MediaPost | Adweek
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| | #2 | New Unit To Monitor Ad Fraud Unveiled
| | | The American Association of Advertising Agencies and the Interactive Advertising Bureau rolled out the newly formed independent body that will fight fraud problems continuing to plague the online ad market, The Wall Street Journal reports. Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG) will be headed by former Direct Marketing Association CEO Linda Woolley and plans to launch a full-scale program by April 2015 that will attempt to combat ad fraud, online piracy and the spread of malware.
Why This Matters: The industry so far has not made much inroad in combatting online ad fraud, so anything this new unit can do will help. "Are we going to get rid of 100% fraud?" Woolley says. "Absolutely not, but even if we make a dent, it will be better than where we are now."
A Take: WSJ
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| | #3 | A-B InBev CEO Explains Shutdown Of Busch Media
| | | Carlos Brito says the decision to close the in-house U.S. media agency following its hiring of outside agency MediaCom to handle media planning and buying will save the company money and help improve its digital media marketing capabilities. Brito says the WPP agency will also be able to get better pricing because it can buy at scale.
Why This Matters: A-B InBev's move goes counter to a lot of other brands who are deciding to bring media buying and planning in-house to eliminate agency fees. But many of those brands spend much less on advertising and the money A-B will save by letting a major agency buy its ads can be considerably more than other marketers.
A Take: WSJ
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#4 Sponsored Content Is Q3 Revenue Boon For Many Digital Sites (Ad Age)
#5 Luxury Brands Take Cautious Approach Toward Social Media (Adweek)
#6 MediaCom Wins $75M P&G Latin America Digital Media Account (MediaPost)
#7 Digital Ad Fraud Sneaking Into Mobile Phones (Adweek)
#8 New VProud Site Could Help Marketers Reach Women (Digiday)
#9 Disqus Partners With WPP's Xaxis To Sell Programmatic Ads In Web Comment Sections (Adweek)
#10 Macy's Flagship Goes Upscale Vs. Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus (NYT)
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Percentage of B2B marketers in North America who use blogs to promote their products or services, with 60% saying that type of content is an effective tactic, according to a survey by the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs.
– Reported by eMarketer
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| | MBPT Spotlight | Present-Day Agencies Scoop Up 'Mad Men' Spots—Nearly half of the commercials in the series finale already sold
By Jon Lafayette
Quick as you can say Harry Crane, half of the 30-second commercials in the finale of Mad Men have been sold.
In a move designed to impress the modern-day counterparts of Crane—media director at Sterling Cooper & Partners, the fictional advertising agency at the center of the show—AMC Networks decided not to sell spots in the concluding episode during the upfront.
AMC sold commercial inventory for the rest of the seven-episode second half of the last season, set to air starting in April, but told sponsors they would have to wait for the scatter market, to be there when the curtain goes down for good.
In September, AMC executive VP for national sales Scott Collins and his staff let buyers know that spots in the Mad Men finale would be available as part of a package with spots in AMC's monster hit The Walking Dead. AMC billed the package as Brains & Brawn. Asking price: More than $1 million.
Unlike The Walking Dead, the most watched scripted show on TV, attracting 22.3 million viewers for its season 5 premiere last month, Mad Men has never generated huge ratings, averaging slightly more than 2 million viewers in 2013. But Jon Hamm and company have won an unprecedented four straight Emmy Awards for Outstanding Drama and put AMC on the map as a destination for high-quality original programming since its debut in 2007.
What did AMC learn from its ad-sales strategy for the finale of Breaking Bad that affected its play with Mad Men? And how do the spot prices compared to other famous finales, from M*A*S*H to Seinfeld to How I Met Your Mother?
For more, click HERE (sub needed)
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| | Fates & Fortunes | • MICHAEL ROONEY was named to the newly created position of executive VP, chief revenue officer at Tribune Publishing. He was most recently chief revenue officer at The Wall Street Journal, a post he left last year. In his new role he will oversee the company's ad sales and marketing teams across its print and digital platforms, which includes 10 daily newspapers and 60 digital properties. Rooney has also held positions at ESPN and served as publisher of several magazines, including Field & Stream, Outdoor Life, Discover and Men's Health.
• JACK PERONE has joined DDB Chicago as chief strategy officer. He was most recently VP, strategic planning director at JWT Toronto
• HEIDI HOVLAND was named global chief executive officer at Interpublic-owned public relations agency DeVries. She was most recently deputy general manager at Omnicom public relations agency FleishmanHillard
• TOM O'REGAN was named chief executive officer at business-to-business ad targeting company Madison Logic. He was most recently president and chief revenue officer at Martini Media.
• ABBE RAVEN announced plans to retire from her post as chairman of A+E Networks, effective Feb. 2. She has been with the company for 33 years and last year passed her chief executive officer title to Nancy Dubuc. Raven will continue to serve as a consultant to the company after her departure.
• CATHY GALEOTA was promoted to senior VP, preschool current series at Nickelodeon. She was previously a VP. In her new role, she will oversee production on all current Nickelodeon preschool series and will maintain creative and business oversight of the preschool executives in charge. Galeota has been with Nickelodeon for 18 years. Prior to that, she worked at The Disney Channel and at The WB network.
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| | What They're Watching | BROADCAST RATINGS
'Madam Secretary,' '60 Minutes' Up for CBS
Football overruns gave a boost to CBS and to newsmagazine 60 Minutes, which finished as the night's top non-football show, up 43% from last week. Because of the overrun, CBS ratings are subject to change later in the day. Madam Secretary was up 20% from last week and The Good Wife was down 13%. CBS, the night's No. 2 broadcaster, was topped by yet more gridiron action, specifically, NBC, which led the evening with its Sunday Night Football matchup between the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers. ABC finished third. America's Funniest Home Videos was up one-tenth from its last new episode on Oct. 19. Both Once Upon a Time and Revenge were up one-tenth from last week while Resurrection was up 14%. Fox, whose Sunday schedule was preempted last week for the World Series, came in fourth. Bob's Burgers was even with its last new episode, the Oct. 5 season premiere. The Simpsons was down from its last new episode on Oct. 19, when it had an NFL lead-in. Brooklyn Nine-Nine was down 20% from Oct. 19. Mulaney, following a Family Guy rerun, declined 30% from Oct. 19.
For more, click HERE
CABLE RATINGS
NFL Net Up In Post-CBS 'TNF' Schedule
The NFL Network aired its first Thursday Night Football game of the season not simulcast with broadcast net CBS, and led the cable pack. The New Orleans Saints vs. Carolina Panthers matchup had a 2.3 rating with adults 18-49, up from the previous week's 1.4, and 6.9 million viewers. The NFL Network was lower in the demo from last year's comparable game, which drew a 2.5 rating, but up slightly in viewers from last year's 6.5 million viewers. The postgame show following TNF took second place, keeping 4.8 million viewers for a 1.8 rating. TNT's NBA telecast, featuring Lebron James' return to the Cleveland Cavaliers, had a 1.7 in the demo and 4 million viewers. ESPN's College Football showing had more viewers, with an audience of 5 million, but was lower in the demo at a 1.6.
For more, click HERE
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| Overnight Ratings: Sunday, November 2
| | 7 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | | CBS | NFL OVERRUN | 7.6 | 26.1 | | NBC | FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA | 1.9 | 6.3 | | FOX | THE SIMPSONS (R) (7)
BOB'S BURGERS (7:30) | 1.1
1.5 | 2.7
2.9 | | ABC | AMERICA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS | 1.2 | 6.2 | | UNIVISION | AQUÍ Y AHORA
| 0.8 | 2.1 |
| | 8 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | | NBC | FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA (8)
NFL FOOTBALL (8:30) | 4.5
6.3 | 12.8
17.9 | | CBS | 60 MINUTES | 3.3 | 17.2 | | ABC | ONCE UPON A TIME | 2.5 | 7.3 | | FOX | THE SIMPSONS (8)
BROOKLYN NINE-NINE (8:30) | 2.0
1.6
| 4.2
3.4
| | UNIVISION | VA POR TI
| 1.0 | 2.5 |
| | 9 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | | NBC | NFL FOOTBALL | 6.3 | 17.8 | | CBS | MADAM SECRETARY | 1.8 | 12.8 | | ABC | RESURRECTION | 1.4 | 4.9 | | UNIVISION | VA POR TI
| 1.0 | 2.7 | | FOX | FAMILY GUY (R) (9)
MULANEY (9:30) | 1.2
0.7 | 2.5
1.6 |
| | 10 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | | NBC | NFL FOOTBALL | 5.9 | 15.8 | | CBS | THE GOOD WIFE | 1.3 | 9.6 | | ABC | REVENGE | 1.2 | 4.6 | | UNIVISION | SAL Y PIMIENTA
| 0.9 | 2.3 |
| | TOMORROW'S BIG RATINGS STORIES TODAY | • 'WWE Raw' Still Rates On Mondays
Vince McMahon's WWE Monday Night Raw series on USA Network continues to pull in between 3.8 million and 4.2 million viewers in each of its weekly primetime hours (8 p.m.). The cross between professional wrestling and a testosterone-fueled soap opera also pulls in a solid 1.3 18-49 demo rating, largely consisting of younger men. It also draws well against ESPN's Monday Night Football. The upshot: Raw is a huge ad revenue source for USA, and another source of young male audience on Monday nights.
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| • Hip Hop Hooray: K. Michelle Gets Her Own Series
The R&B singer who has appeared in both VH1 reality series hits Love & Hip Hop and Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta premieres her own reality series titled K. Michelle: My Life (9 p.m.), leading out of the recently premiered Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood, which has averaged 2.4 million viewers and a 1.3 18-49 demo rating since premiering in mid-September on VH1. The upshot: Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood is the third-most-watched series on Monday night cable and draws a large female audience, so K. Michelle is getting a nice lead-in that advertisers wanting to target females should jump into.
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| • 'Castle' Holds Its Own
The long-running ABC detective series is off to a strong start in a tough time period (10 p.m.), averaging 9.3 million viewers season-to-date with a 1.8 18-49 demo rating. That's more than CBS drama NCIS: Los Angeles has averaged in the time period (9.1 million, 1.7 in the demo), but less than time-period leader NBC's The Blacklist (10.4 million, 2.8 in the demo). The upshot: Castle gets a big boost from lead-in Dancing With the Stars, which is averaging 12.4 million viewers, and it's still producing solid numbers for a series in its seventh season. And the three-network time period is averaging nearly 30 million viewers, proof that if the right shows are on the schedule, broadcast TV can still draw a nice audiences.
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| Media Buyer & Planner Today
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Phone: 201-314-0424 | Send Email
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Phone: 917-281-4708 | Send Email
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