| Today's Top Stories | | #1 | Bloomin' Brands Shifts $150M Media Account To MediaVest
| | | The company that operates Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba's Italian Grill, Bonefish Grill, Fleming's Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar, and Roy's has awarded its media buying and planning account to SMG's MediaVest, which replaces incumbent Carat following a review. MediaVest will officially take over the account in February 2015.
Why This Matters: Carat had handled the account since 2007, but apparently the company had lost confidence in the agency. Bloomin' Brands chief marketing officer Michael Kappit said MediaVest was selected because of his "confidence in the quality of the team, insights on our brands and business building ideas. We felt a strong sense of connection with them."
Two Takes: Adweek | Tampa Bay Business Journal
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| | #2 | KSL Trustee Sues Former Agency Execs For Gross Negligence
| | | David Gottlieb has filed a lawsuit against KSL founder Kal Liebowitz, former KSL CEO Hank Cohen and former CFO Russell Meisels for a minimum of $6 million each, charging them with gross negligence and breach of their fiduciary duties while they were running the now defunct media agency, which is now involved in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceeding. The suit contends the trio continued to spend company money for several years while aware the company was insolvent.
Why This Matters: As trustee of the agency in the bankruptcy proceeding, it's Gottlieb's job to collect all the property of the estate, convert it to cash and use it to pay creditors who have valid claims. In this instance, the lawsuit is trying to recover money to pay marketers and others who paid the agency for services they did not receive.
A Take: MediaPost
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| | #3 | Pepsi Test Marketing New Brand Called Drinkfinity In Brazil
| | | The company has developed a new fruit-flavored water that is being marketed only in Brazil but could become a global product in the future, Ad Age reports. The product consists of a pod that is inserted into a reusable bottle that is filled with water and then the pod ingredients are squeezed into it. There are five different flavors. The theme for the launch campaign is "Thirsty for Life," and it includes a one-minute video. There will also be a series of 50 micro videos, each highlighting different features of the product. The Drinkfinity concept was developed by Hernan Marina of PepsiCo's Latin America Beverages.
Why This Matters: Beverage marketers are increasingly experimenting with customizable drinks. In 2011, Kraft Foods introduced liquid water enhancer Mio, which is squirted into regular water. Pepsi rival Coca-Cola later introduced Dasani Drops.
A Take: Ad Age
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#4 JWT's Outgoing CEO Looks Back On His 11 Years In The Job (Adweek)
#5 Nielsen Insights Exec Says Consumers Still Cautious About The Economy (MediaPost)
#6 Under Armour Overcomes Adversity To Reach $3B In Sales (USA Today)
#7 Havas Acquires Experiential Marketing Agency Formula (MediaPost)
#8 Apple's Holiday Video Ad Performs Better On Facebook Than On YouTube (Digiday)
#9 Scotts Miracle Grow Conducting Media Agency Review (MediaPost)
#10 Five Marketer Social Media Fails In 2014 (Ad Age)
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|  | • 22.4
Dollars in trillions that will be spent worldwide on retail sales, both in-store and via the Internet in 2014, an increase of 6.1% over last year, according to new figures by eMarketer
– Reported by eMarketer
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| | MBPT Spotlight | Networks' NFL Telecasts Continue To Draw Mass Audiences Despite League's Domestic Violence Black Eye
By John Consoli
The National Football League has been blitzed by all the negative publicity it has received from myriad domestic violence incidents involving some of its star players; it has not, however, been sacked, as the league's game telecasts across all of its partner TV networks have continued to draw mass audiences that are just about on pace with last season.
The 93 regular season games televised across the five partner networks through Week 15 (Dec. 16) have averaged 17.9 million viewers, up about 3% from the 17.4 million average from the same period last season, according to Nielsen data.
Many media analysts also expected a significant ratings impact on the networks when the NFL added a seven-game Thursday night package to CBS' television rights, but that result didn't really materialize either.
NBC, the viewership leader, has averaged 21.6 million viewers through the first 15 weeks for its Sunday Night Football telecasts, virtually flat from the 21.7 million viewers it averaged for the same period last season.
Fox has averaged 20.7 million viewers for its Sunday games, down just 2% from the 21.2 million it averaged last season, while ESPN has averaged 13.2 million, down 4% from 13.8 million.
Even CBS' Sunday afternoon games were basically flat in viewership, up 1% to 18.9 million from 18.7 million for the first 15 weeks, while it averaged 16.8 million in its first season of Thursday night games that it simulcast with the NFL Network.
How have the demo ratings been this season for football compared to last? And how do the games compare to the best primetime series in the ratings?
For more, click HERE
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| | Fates & Fortunes | • JOHN McCARUS was named to the newly created position of chief strategy officer at Media General. He was most recently senior VP, social content, at DigitasLBi. According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, McCarus is credited with co-founding the Digital Content NewFronts. Media General, which just acquired Lin Media, operates local TV stations and several digital media businesses, including digital ad agency HFYN. Part of McCarus' new role will be to develop a digital strategy for the company's various platforms.
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| | What They're Watching | BROADCAST RATINGS
'Mike & Molly' Tops Monday
CBS' Mike & Molly finished as the evening's top broadcast show. The comedy was down one tenth of a point from last week and finished one tenth better than its lead-in, a rerun of The Big Bang Theory. CBS was the night's No. 2 network. NBC topped all broadcasters, leading with a rebroadcast of A Saturday Night Live Christmas. A new episode of State of Affairs followed, down 27% from the previous week. ABC came in third airing The Great Christmas Light Fight's season finale. The CW and Fox both aired reruns.
For more, click HERE
CABLE RATINGS
Atlanta Housewives Win Sunday Night
Bravo's Real Housewives of Atlanta was Sunday's top cable show, pulling a 1.3 rating with adults 18-49 and 2.8 million viewers. ABC Family's Sunday movie airing in the 7:30 p.m. timeslot came in second with a 1.0 in the demo and 3.1 million total viewers. Rounding out the top three on the night was Adult Swim's 11 p.m. Family Guy, which garnered a 0.9 in the demo and 2.1 million viewers.
For more, click HERE
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| Overnight Ratings: Monday, December 22
| | 8 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | | CBS | BIG BANG THEORY (R) (8)
MIKE & MOLLY (8:30) | 1.6
1.7 | 8.6
8.5 | | NBC | SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE CHRISTMAS | 1.4 | 4.9 | | ABC | GREAT CHRISTMAS LIGHT FIGHT | 1.1 | 5.5 | | UNIVISION | MI CORAZÓN ES TUYO
| 1.1 | 3.3 | | FOX | GOTHAM (R) | 0.5 | 1.8 | | CW | IHEART RADIO JINGLE BALL (R) | 0.5 | 1.5 |
| | 9 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | | NBC | SATURDAY NIGHT LIGHT CHRISTMAS | 1.6 | 4.9 | | ABC | GREAT CHRISTMAS LIGHT FIGHT | 1.4 | 6.1 | | CBS | SCORPION (R) | 1.1 | 6.5 | | UNIVISION | HASTA EL FIN DEL MUNDO
| 1.0 | 2.9 | | CW | IHEART RADIO JINGLE BALL (R) | 0.4 | 1.2 | | FOX | SLEEPY HOLLOW (R) | 0.3 | 1.3 |
| | 10 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | | CBS | NCIS: LOS ANGELES (R) | 1.1 | 6.7 | | NBC | SATE OF AFFAIRS | 1.1 | 5.0 | | ABC | CASTLE (R) | 0.9 | 4.4 | | UNIVISION | LA MALQUERIDA
| 0.7 | 2.0 |
| | TOMORROW'S BIG RATINGS STORIES TODAY | • One Direction Leads Into More NBC Holiday Spirit
The British pop band gets an hour-long special (8 p.m.) that leads off NBC's primetime Tuesday, followed by two Holiday season repeats—Michael Bublé's Christmas in New York (9 p.m.), which also aired last week, followed by a repeat of a special from last December—Kelly Clarkson's Cautionary Christmas Music Tale (10 p.m.) The upshot: One Direction could draw a bit of a younger audience but Bublé and Clarkson have older appeal. Bublé's special last week drew 7.4 million viewers, dwarfing its audience from a year ago, which was 5 million viewers, although its 18-49 rating was the same 1.3. The Clarkson special last December drew 5.3 million viewers and a 1.4 in the demo.
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| • History Series Is Far From Cursed
Season 2 of the network's reality series The Curse of Oak Island (9 p.m.) is averaging 2.4 million viewers and a 0.7 18-49 demo rating through its first seven episodes, after premiering with 2.9 million and a 0.9. The show follows brothers Rick and Marty Lagina who are searching for an elusive 17th century treasure that is believed to be buried somewhere on Oak Island in the North Atlantic Ocean. The upshot: History keeps coming up with winning reality concepts that all seem to draw sizable audiences, and The Curse of Oak Island fits the bill.
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| • 'Housewives' Get A Rise in Beverly Hills
The Bravo staple The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (9 p.m.), which began season 5 five weeks ago, has seen a slight boost in viewership following the addition of two new cast members—soap actresses Lisa Rinna and Eileen Davidson. The program premiered with 2 million viewers and a 0.9 18-49 demo rating and since then has been averaging 1.8 million viewers and a 0.8. That's up from the 1.6 million viewers the series averaged in season 4, but down slightly in the demo. The upshot: Housewives is still one of the most-watched original shows on Tuesday night cable in the demo and seems to have a pretty consistent following each season.
| There will be no Media Buyer + Planner Today edition from Wednesday, Dec. 24 thru Friday Dec. 26. We'll be back Dec. 29. Happy holidays everyone.
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| 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
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