| Today's Top Stories | | #1 | Top Buyer Says Cogent Reports Data Not 'Robust Enough' To Negotiate CNBC Deals
| | | Cogent's approach for financial clients has been to conduct Web surveys of financial professionals and ask about their media consumption. Dave Campanelli, senior VP-national broadcast at Horizon Media says he applauds the cable news network for seeking alternatives to Nielsen, but believes Cogent data alone will not offer enough information for his agency to base ad buy deals on. "If it was a supplement, maybe, but not on its own," he tells Ad Age.
Why This Matters: Sure, Horizon Media is only one agency—but it does have billings of $4.5 billion for major marketer clients including Burger King, Geico and Capital One. Campanelli is likely not alone in his doubts among media agencies.
A Take: Ad Age
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| | #2 | Fox Networks Group Cuts Ad Sales Staff
| | | Lou LaTorre, president of ad sales for Fox Cable Entertainment Networks is among the long-time sales executives who are taking buyouts, according to a report by B&C. As part of a previously announced consolidation plan, Fox Broadcasting sales president Toby Byrne will oversee ad sales across broadcast, cable and digital. Buyouts and layoffs are expected to reduce a staff of 300 to about 225.
Why This Matters: The staff reduction comes as Fox broadcast revenues are in serious decline, not only due to American Idol viewer losses but also to an overall unsuccessful primetime lineup. LaTorre was one of the first people hired on the Fox cable ad sales side, joining as president of sales for Fox Sports Net in 1997.
A Take: B&C
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| | #3 | Combined Office Max, Office Depot Rolling Out First Brand Campaign
| | | The tagline of the new campaign will be "Gear Up For Great" and will label the office supplies its sells as "gear," Ad Age reports. It is the merged company's first marketing effort since it named Interpublic's McCann New York as its creative agency and UM as its media agency last September. The campaign includes local and national TV spots, digital video, print, social media and email elements.
Why This Matters: Staples is a heavy TV advertiser and the office supply category has competition from retail giants such as Amazon, Walmart and Target. The consolidated company operating under the Office Depot name needs to ramp things up or get lost in the shuffle.
A Take: Ad Age
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#4 Microsoft Launches Cross-Platform Ads On MSN Apps (MediaPost)
#5 Marketers Dislike Pageviews But Engagement As Alternative Is Hard To Quantify (Digiday)
#6 Facebook Says User Video Posts Up 75% Year-to-Year (Ad Age)
#7 DDB Chicago Named New Creative Agency For American Cancer Society (Adweek)
#8 Moonves Touts TV Networks' Ability To Drive Viewers To Digital Platforms (MediaPost)
#9 Five NFL Legends To Star In Wix.com's First Super Bowl Commercial (USA Today)
#10 Online Advertising Shakeout Begins (WSJ)
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|  | • 173
Percentage increase of U.S. women 18-24 who read a mobile newspaper in October 2014, compared to the same month the previous year, according to a comScore survey conducted for the Newspaper Association of America. It was the largest percentage increase for any demo group, male or female.
– Reported by eMarketer
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| | MBPT Spotlight | Social Media Mess Surrounding 'Alex From Target' Should Teach Brands A Lesson About Transparency
By Elizabeth Malleus, Project Manager, Monaco Lange
By now, you probably know the legend that is #AlexfromTarget.
It was a bit of a blur—taking a teen named Alex Lee from bagging groceries to Ellen and global fame. This story was messy, but amid this social media storm, an important lesson emerged: Brand transparency is crucial. And maybe we should all be a little more like Alex from Target.
Here's what happened: A photo of Alex was posted to Twitter where he was shown nonchalantly bagging items at the checkout line at Target. He wasn't even looking at the camera. But once the image found its way to Twitter, Alex, with his dashing good looks and Bieber-esque haircut, was quickly catapulted into the world of Internet celebrity.
The hashtag #AlexFromTarget began trending on Twitter, not just nationally, but globally. #AlexFromTarget suddenly became the hottest meme on the Internet with people all over the world adding their own Photoshop touches and captioning their own thoughts on just how dreamy Alex is.
Shortly after #AlexFromTwitter went viral, a Los Angeles-based company called Breakr tried to take credit for it.
How did Breakr end up creating one of the biggest cautionary tales of current times? And what does the whole debacle say about brands and authenticity?
For more, click HERE
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| | Fates & Fortunes | • GLENN ENOCH has joined Nielsen as senior VP-audience insights. Enoch, a 17-year veteran of ESPN, succeeds Pat McDonough, who retired. Enoch was most recently VP of integrated media research at ESPN. Prior to that he was VP, audience research. Before joining ESPN, Enoch was VP, research and special projects at Telerep.
• MARK LaNEVE was named VP, U.S. marketing, sales and service at Ford Motor Company, succeeding John Felice who is retiring after 30 years at the automaker. LaNeve was most recently chief operating officer of Ford's global advertising and marketing agency, Global Team Ford. In that role, he led Team Detroit, which markets the Ford brand in the U.S. He also oversaw Team Ford operations in London, Sao Paulo and Shanghai; and Hudson Rouge, the Lincoln agency in New York. He previously held positions at General Motors, Volvo and Allstate Insurance.
• ANTHONY ANDERSON will return for the second consecutive year as host for the NAACP Image Awards, airing Feb. 6 on TV One. Anderson currently stars in the ABC freshman sitcom Black-ish.
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| | What They're Watching | BROADCAST RATINGS
'Empire' Notches Fox's Best Debut In Three Years
Fox kicked off its midseason premieres on a strong note Wednesday as the debut of hip-hop drama Empire posted the highest ratings for a series premiere on the net since Touch in January 2012, and tied with ABC's How to Get Away With Murder as the season's top debut in the demo. Empire also ranked as the top-rated primetime show in the demo on Wednesday, making Fox the night's leader. Empire's lead-in, the season premiere of American Idol, returned down 32% from last year's debut, the lowest premiere in the show's 14-year history. Idol, which saw its premiere downsized to an hour this year, also hit a low in total viewers. ABC returned its Wednesday lineup to finish second. The Middle rose 5%, The Goldbergs improved 14%, and Modern Family gained 3%, topping American Idol to place second on the night, and Black-ish fell 9%. CBS finished third as The Mentalist premiered in its new time slot, down 7% from its last Sunday episode. The People's Choice Awards dipped 25% from last year's show. NBC's lineup was up across the board from their last originals. Mysteries of Laura rose 8%, Law & Order: SVU was up 21% and Chicago P.D. improved 7%. The CW rounded out the night with repeats.
For more, click HERE
CABLE RATINGS
'Love and Hip Hop' Still Winning Hearts
VH1's Love and Hip Hop was Monday night's top cable show, drawing a 1.5 rating with adults 18-49 and 2.7 million viewers. WWE Entertainment on USA took the No. 2, 3 and 4 spots of the night as the 9 p.m. and 8 p.m. hours pulled a 1.3 in the demo (the 9 p.m. hour totaled slightly more viewers), and the 10 p.m. hour earned a 1.2 rating and 3.6 million viewers. Discovery's Street Outlaws followed in original cable with a 1.1 rating and 2.4 million viewers. VH1's controversial reality show Sorority Sisters had a 0.7 in the demo and 1.2 million viewers.
For more, click HERE
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| Overnight Ratings: Wednesday, January 7
| | 8 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | | FOX | AMERICAN IDOL | 3.1 | 10.9 | | ABC | THE MIDDLE (8)
THE GOLDBERGS (8:30) | 2.3
2.5 | 8.5
7.8 | | CBS | THE MENTALIST | 1.3 | 9.0 | | NBC | THE MYSTERIES OF LAURA | 1.3 | 6.8 | | UNIVISION | MI CORAZÓN ES TUYO
| 1.2 | 3.5 | | CW | ARROW (R) | 0.2 | 1.0 |
| | 9 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | | FOX | EMPIRE | 3.7 | 9.8 | | ABC | MODERN FAMILY (9)
BLACK-ISH (9:30) | 3.2
2.1 | 9.2
6.3 | | CBS | PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARDS | 1.8 | 8.8 | | NBC | LAW & ORDER: SUV | 1.7 | 7.8 | | UNIVISION | HASTA EL FIN DEL MUNDO
| 1.3 | 3.5 | | CW | PENN & TELLER: FOOL US (R) (9)
PENN & TELLER: FOOL US
(R) (9:30) | 0.3
0.4 | 1.0
1.1 |
| | 10 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | | CBS | PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARDS | 1.9 | 8.4 | | NBC | CHICAGO P.D. | 1.6 | 7.4 | | ABC | GALAVANT (R) (10)
GALAVANT (R) (10:30) | 1.0
0.7 | 3.4
2.5 | | UNIVISION | LA MALQUERIDA
| 0.8 | 2.4 |
| | TOMORROW'S BIG RATINGS STORIES TODAY | • 'The Taste' Sours On ABC
The cooking competition (8 p.m.), which pits culinary competitors of all ranges—from pros to would-be food stars—against each other is averaging only 3.2 million viewers and a 0.8 18-49 demo rating since returning for its third season in late-November. Those numbers are lower than the 3.7 million and 1.1 it averaged in the demo last season. The upshot: ABC is airing two-hour episodes of The Taste until late January when Grey's Anatomy (8.6 million viewers and a 2.5 demo rating) and Scandal (10.1 million viewers and a 3.2) return from hiatus.
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| • 'Pawnography' Not Enough Of a Gamer on History
This game show (10 p.m.) from the producers of the hit Pawn Stars drew solid numbers in a short summer run but has struggled since its November return. Pawnography, hosted by comedian Christopher Titus, features contestants competing against each other and Pawn Star cast members. The upshot: The series averaged about 2.5 million viewers and a 0.7 18-49 demo rating in its earlier run of back-to-back half-hour episodes, but since November is averaging 1.7 million viewers and a 0.5. It also loses about 1 million viewers from its Pawn Stars lead-in.
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| • Animated 'Archer' Targets Earlier FX Success
The half-hour FX adult animated comedy series premieres a new season (10 p.m.) after a disappointing season 5, when it averaged 1.1 million viewers and a 0.7 18-49 demo rating. During year 4, the show averaged 1.5 million and a 1.0. The upshot: One reason for the decline in viewership may have been a shift from the original story line, but Archer creator Adam Reed says the new episodes will return to the earlier format that was more popular with viewers.
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