| Today's Top Stories | | #1 | NFL Launches YouTube Channel As Part of Google Partnership
| | | The new channel will offer a mix of game clips, interviews and portions of NFL Network shows and Google will host the channel and handle all ad sales, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Google Search users will also have access to NFL video content. After Google recoups an annual fee it will pay the NFL, it will split further ad revenue with the league. Expect to see lots of Super Bowl XLIX game content beginning this Sunday.
Why This Matters: Add another revenue stream to the NFL's popular content and another opportunity for marketers to reach football fans digitally. In addition to a recent deal with Facebook, the NFL also has a mobile deal with Verizon and an ad partnership with Twitter.
A Take: WSJ
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| | #2 | Revamped Catalogs Show Signs of Life
| | | After waning in popularity for several years, several direct mail marketers are revamping their catalogs to supplement their website offerings, according to a New York Times report. JC Penney is reviving its home goods catalog in March. Other retailers using direct mail catalogs include Anthropologie, Ikea and Williams-Sonoma brands Pottery Barn and West Elm.
Why This Matters: Despite all the focus on consumers turning to digital to get their shopping information, print still has a place in their decision-making process. Bruce Cohen of retail private equity strategist consulting company Kurt Salmon says retailers are recognizing "there are moments when people want to slow down, and there's still an important place for the [print] catalog."
A Take: NYT
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| | #3 | National Retail Federation Says Consumer Super Bowl Spending to Total $14.3B
| | | The NRF expects 184 million fans to tune into Super Bowl XLIX and that the average fan will spend $77.88 on game-related items, according to a MediaPost report. That is up from $68.27 per person last year. The survey is based on 6,000 responses from adults. It also found that 43 million people are likely to throw Super Bowl parties and 76% will spend some of their money on food and beverages. Another 11% will purchase team apparel and 9% plan to buy new TVs.
Why This Matters: The NRF survey numbers is another affirmation of the power of the Super Bowl as an event around which marketers of all kinds can sell merchandise and services.
A Take: MediaPost
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#4 Use of Verizon Mobile 'Supercookies' Seen As Privacy Threat (NYT)
#5 GfK MRI Profiles Super Bowl Viewers (Adweek)
#6 Four Ways to Combat Programmatic Video Challenges (Digiday)
#7 Music's Partnership With Sports Continues To Be Winning Combination (Adweek)
#8 CAB Study Says TV Content Generates 80% of Consumer Attention (B&C)
#9 Pepsi Exec Discusses Brand's Ties to Music (Adweek)
#10 New HeadOn Sports Drink Hires StrawberryFrog (MediaPost)
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|  | • 75
Percentage of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in North America that said digital marketing was effective for attracting customers in 2014, according to a study by BrightLocal. For 2015, 37% of SMBs plan to spend more on digital marketing.
– Reported by eMarketer
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| | MBPT Spotlight | Viewers Stream In for Sling TV—Few registrants are Dish customers, company says
By Jon Lafayette
Hundreds of thousands of people have already preregistered for Sling TV, the new over-the-top television service from Dish Network.
Sling TV was officially introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show on Jan. 5. At that point, the company put up a website allowing consumers to preregister, and Sling TV officials say the response has been overwhelming.
"We were building something pretty interesting, but the reception that we got was beyond anything I could have imagined," says Roger Lynch, CEO of Sling TV.
Sling TV is offering a handful of networks, led by ESPN, for $20 a month. Other networks on the service include CNN, TNT, TBS and Adult Swim from Turner, Food Network and HGTV from Scripps Networks Interactive and Disney Channel and ABC Family from Disney.
"The response has been phenomenal, so when we start rolling out, we're going to have to start with just the people who preregistered," Lynch says. "People can still preregister, but we've had hundreds of thousands of people [sign up]. And there's been no marketing."
Few of those signing up appear to be customers of Dish's traditional satellite TV service, or of other satellite, cable or telco providers.
Lynch said the company cross-checked the names of those who preregistered for Sling against Dish customers. "There were virtually no Dish customers in it. It was less than one-half of one percent," he says, adding that if those customers had come from existing pay-TV subscribers, "you would expect it to be roughly 14%"—Dish's share of the pay-TV market.
Why is there concern that the availability of more streaming services will accelerate the decline in pay-TV subscribers? How does availability of regional sports networks play into the long-term prospects for OTT services?
For more, click HERE (sub needed)
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| | Fates & Fortunes | • GUSTAVO SARKIS was named executive creative director for the Miami office of Crispin Porter + Bogusky. He was most recently creative director at TBWA Los Angeles. Prior to that, Sarkis was a creative exec at Almap/BBDO San Paulo.
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| | What They're Watching | BROADCAST RATINGS
'Miss Universe' Hits Nine-Year High
NBC, Sunday night's No. 1 broadcaster, aired its most-watched Miss Universe pageant in total viewers since 2006 and its highest-rated among adults 18-49 since 2009. The 63rd Annual Miss Universe Pageant was up 122% from last year in the demo and 102% in total viewers. Dateline led off the night, up 71% from last week. Dateline had its most-watched Sunday episode since Feb. 12, 2012. CBS finished second with the 10 p.m. CSI episode, even with last week. ABC came in third. The season finale of Galavant was up 22% from last week. America's Funniest Home Videos was up 89%, Resurrection was up 25% and Revenge stayed even. Fox was fourth as Mulaney was down from last week's showing, which benefitted from an NFL lead-in. The rest of Fox's lineup returned after a week off. The Simpsons was down 30% from its most recent new episode, Brooklyn Nine-Nine was down 20%, Family Guy was down 20% and Bob's Burgers was down 25%.
For more, click HERE
CABLE RATINGS
'Smackdown,' Basketball Tie on Thursday
Syfy's WWE Smackdown and TNT's 8 p.m. NBA basketball telecast were the top original cable shows last Thursday, both drawing a 0.8 rating among adults 18-49. Smackdown had 2.8 million viewers, while TNT's San Antonio Spurs vs. Chicago Bulls matchup had an audience of 1.8 million. A&E's The First 48 and History's Pawn Stars hour all pulled a 0.7 in the demo. Pawn Stars's 9:30 episode had the largest audience, with 2.8 million viewers. A&E's new series from Dick Wolf, Nightwatch, premiered with a 0.5 rating and 1.3 million viewers.
For more, click HERE
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| Overnight Ratings: Sunday, January 25
| | 7 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | | ABC | AMERICA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS | 1.7 | 7.2 | | NBC | DATELINE | 1.2 | 6.7 | | CBS | 60 MINUTES | 1.1 | 9.1 | | UNIVISION | AQUÍ Y AHORA
| 0.6 | 1.6 | | FOX | MULANEY (7)
THE SIMPSONS (R) (7:30) | 0.4
0.7 | 1.0
1.7 |
| | 8 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | | NBC | 63RD ANNUAL MISS UNIVERSE PAGEANT | 1.7 | 7.0 | | CBS | UNDERCOVER BOSS | 1.5 | 8.8 | | FOX | THE SIMPSONS (8)
BROOKLYN NINE-NINE (8:30) | 1.4
1.2
| 3.4
2.8
| | ABC | GALAVANT | 1.1 | 4.3 | | UNIVISION | NUESTRA BELLEZA LATINA
| 1.1 | 2.6 |
| | 9 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | | NBC | 63RD ANNUAL MISS UNIVERSE PAGEANT | 2.0 | 7.4 | | FOX | FAMILY GUY (9)
BOB'S BURGERS (9:30) | 1.6
1.2 | 3.2
2.5 | | UNIVISION | NUESTRA BELLEZA LATINA
| 1.3 | 3.1 | | CBS | CSI | 1.2 | 8.2 | | ABC | RESURRECTION | 1.0 | 3.7 |
| | 10 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | | NBC | 63RD ANNUAL MISS UNIVERSE PAGEANT
| 2.3 | 8.4 | | CBS | CSI | 1.3 | 8.2 | | ABC | REVENGE | 0.9 | 3.7 | | UNIVISION | SAL Y PIMIENTA
| 0.7 | 1.8 |
| | TOMORROW'S BIG RATINGS STORIES TODAY | • 'Sirens' Looks for More Ratings Volume
This USA scripted comedy, developed by Denis Leary, is back for season 2 (10 p.m.), and follows the exploits of three Chicago emergency medical technicians. It's loosely based on a British series of the same name. The upshot: The first season of Sirens didn't spark much excitement, averaging only about 1.1 million viewers and a 0.4 18-49 demo rating. Leary's involvement probably had something to do with it getting another go-round.
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| • It's a Wrap For 'Real Husbands'
BET's The Real Husbands of Hollywood airs its final episode of season 3 (10 p.m.). In the "mockumentary" series, created by comedian Kevin Hart—who also costars with Boris Kodjoe, Duane Martin, J.B. Smoove and Nick Cannon—the men enact dramatic situations that poke fun at various female-centered reality shows on cable. The upshot: Real Husbands lost a significant amount of viewers in season 3, averaging just around 1 million viewers, after pulling in 2.1 million per episode in season 1 and 1.8 million in season 2.
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| • 'Bye Felicia' Ends First Season
The VH1 comic reality series that follows Atlanta-based life coaches Deborah Hawkes and Missy Young, who came to L.A. to help white women turn their lives around, airs the finale of its eight-episode season (10 p.m.). The women have been friends for 40 years and have a style of offering advice with an edge. The upshot: The show premiered with 1.1 million viewers and a 0.6 in the 18-49 demo, but those numbers dropped and it has averaged below the 1 million mark since.
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| Media Buyer & Planner Today
Editorial Team
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Phone: 201-314-0424 | Send Email
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Phone: 917-281-4708 | Send Email
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