| Today's Top Stories | | #1 | Mountain Dew Launches Extensive Global TV, Digital Campaign
| | | The PepsiCo brand is resurrecting the marketing slogan "Do the Dew" which was first used 20 years ago as it embarks on its first-ever global marketing campaign, The Wall Street Journal reports. The campaign includes two spots that will air online and on TV featuring professional skateboarder Sean Malto and Olympic snowboarder Scotty Lago. It will also include print, out-of-home and other digital elements and will be in nearly every market Mountain Dew is sold in, including the U.S., Western Europe, Canada, Latin America, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and India.
Why This Matters: Mountain Dew is among PepsiCo's fastest-growing brands, taking in $9 billion in annual sales. It's the fourth-largest soda brand in the U.S. and PepsiCo sees a huge global opportunity.
A Take: WSJ
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| | #2 | Pfizer Is Top Pharmaceutical Ad Spender
| | | The company had 7 of the 10 most-advertised drug brands in 2014, according to Nielsen data. Overall, Pfizer spent between $1.1 billion and $1.4 billion on advertising, including about $750 million on TV, according to Kantar Media, with the data reported by Bloomberg. In total, the pharmaceutical industry spent about $4.54 billion last year, up 21% over 2013. Pfizer spent more than twice as much on advertising as the next biggest spender—AbbVie.
Why This Matters: For pharma companies, advertising matters in a big way. Pfizer's top-three biggest selling drugs—Viagra, Eliquis and Xeljanz—were among the top-five ad spenders and they cumulatively accounted for $10.5 billon of Pfizer's $45.7 billion in sales last year.
A Take: Bloomberg
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| | #3 | ZenithOptimedia Reduces 2015 Global Ad Spending Numbers
| | | The media agency group is now projecting worldwide ad spending to increase 4.4% to $544 billion this year, down from its December forecast of 4.9% growth. However, even with the reduction, ZenithOptimedia says the forecast is still well above the average growth rate of 2.8% over the past 10 years, The Wall Street Journal reports. The forecast is based in part on turmoil in Eastern Europe and the economic slowdown in China.
Why This Matters: The forecast declines could have been steeper, but they are offset by the growth of online video advertising as well as mobile advertising. Online video is expected to grow by 29% in 2015 with mobile advertising expected to increase 40% by 2017.
Three Takes: WSJ | MediaPost | B&C
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#4 Marketers Investing In Snapchat Ads Despite Lack Of Targeting (Adweek)
#5 WPP's Xaxis Acquires Verizon-Backed Mobile Ad Tech Company (Ad Age)
#6 Target Creates Art Made Entirely From Stores' Products For Exhibit (Digiday)
#7 How Millennial Employees Are Influencing the Way Agencies Operate (Adweek)
#8 Mobile Agency Fetch Opens New York Office (MediaPost)
#9 Wieden + Kennedy Named Lead Creative Agency For General Mills' Yoplait (Ad Age)
#10 March Madness Advertisers AT&T, Coke Zero See Biggest Brand Lifts (MediaPost)
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|  | • 33
Percentage of worldwide marketers who say they currently have or are developing internally a single view of all customers and prospects across all devices and touchpoints, according to a poll by Signal. Another 33% say they use a combination of in-house and outside resources to develop this data.
– Reported by eMarketer
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| | MBPT Spotlight | In Cable, Data Will Likely Make A Difference—Audience selling might blunt impact of falling ratings
By Jon Lafayette
The difference could be data. Last year's cable upfront fell a surprising 6% to $9.6 billion, and this year's market looks lukewarm at best as ratings for most big networks continue to drop.
Some blame Netflix. Some blame cord-cutting. Some blame Nielsen. And some have been making changes to deal with a new environment.
Fox Networks Group combined its cable ad sales unit with those selling the Fox broadcast network, mirroring NBCUniversal's consolidated sales operation. Similarly, Viacom and AMC Networks put all their networks under a single head of sales.
But the question remains how to generate higher revenue when ratings are falling. At Turner Broadcasting, which last year amal¬gamated its ad sales operation under presi¬dent Donna Speciale, the answer is data.
Big media buyers concur.
"By being more consolidated and being more unified in how they approach the mar-ketplace and providing me with more access to data points across their inventory, they have a better ability for them to—in what is going to be a flat to down market—hold and grow share," says John Nitti, chief investment officer, worldwide, ZenithOptimedia.
How has Turner's Now Media plan evolved over the last year, and what are plans for the coming upfront? Also, what is Discovery Life Network's new prescription for success?
For more, click HERE (sub needed)
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| | Fates & Fortunes | • KIM MARTIN was named chief strategy officer at Meredith Corporation. She was most recently president and general manager of WE tv, a position she held for nine years. Prior to that, she spent five years with WE tv parent Rainbow Media, rising to executive VP of distribution and affiliate marketing, where she was responsible for those duties at AMC, Fuse, IFC and WE tv networks. She also spent 10 years with Discovery Networks, rising to senior VP, affiliate sales.
• BRIAN LEONARD was promoted to VP of programming and development at Travel Channel. He had been an executive producer on many of the network's reality series since joining the company in 2011. Prior to that, he was a showrunner for History Channel's Modern Marvels series and also created and produced series for Military Channel. He also worked for America's Most Wanted while it was on Fox, and held numerous other production and director roles.
• TREVOR NOAH has been selected to succeed Jon Stewart as host of Comedy Central's The Daily Show. The 31-year-old South African comic has been a contributor to the show since late last year and has made a handful of on-air appearances. He has also hosted late-night shows in South Africa and is a stand-up comedian. At 31, he is younger than Stewart was (36) when he took over the show's hosting duties from Craig Kilborn.
• RENY DIAZ was named VP of insights & strategy for NBCUniversal's Hispanic Enterprises and Content unit. He will be based in New York and report to Jacqueline Hernandez, chief marketing officer of the unit. Diaz was previously research director at Fusion and Univision Noticias. He also served as director of client engagement at Nielsen.
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| | What They're Watching | BROADCAST RATINGS
NCAA Overrun Drives CBS to Sunday Win
Thanks to overrun from the Duke-Gonzaga elite eight game, CBS led the broadcasters on Sunday, though its lineup was delayed by 17 minutes in the Eastern and Central time zones. NBC was in second as its telecast of the iHeart Radio Music Awards was even with last year. In third was ABC— Once Upon a Time fell 11% to a series low, Secrets And Lies was down 13% and Revenge slipped 9%. Fox rounded out the night, only airing new episodes of Last Man on Earth, which was down 27% from last week.
For more, click HERE
CABLE RATINGS
March Madness Dominates Thursday
TBS' NCAA Basketball Tournament telecasts led Thursday, with the 7:30 matchup topping the night with a 2.3 rating among adults 18-49 and 6.9 million viewers. The 10:20 game followed with a 1.8 in the demo and 4.6 million viewers. The postgame on the network had a 0.8 rating and 1.8 million viewers. Syfy had the leading original non-sports programming as WWE Smackdown drew a 0.8 rating as well and 2.5 million viewers. History's Vikings had a 0.7 in the demo and 2.4 million viewers.
For more, click HERE
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| Overnight Ratings: Sunday, March 29
| | 7 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | | CBS | NCAA BASKETBALL OVERRUN (7)
60 MINUTES (7:30) | 3.5
2.2 | 15.3
13.3 | | ABC | AMERICA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS (R) | 1.1 | 5.6 | | UNIVISION | AQUÍ Y AHORA
| 0.8 | 1.8 | | FOX | THE SIMPSONS (R) (7)
BOB'S BURGERS
(R) (7:30) | 0.6
0.8
| 1.6
2.0
| | NBC | THE VOICE (R) | 0.5 | 2.8 | | TELEMUNDO | SIEMPRE SELENA
| 0.4 | 1.1 |
| | 8 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | | ABC | ONCE UPON A TIME | 1.7 | 5.4 | | CBS | 60 MINUTES (8)
MADAM SECRETARY (8:30) | 1.9
1.4
| 13.9
11.1
| | NBC | IHEART RADIO MUSIC AWARDS | 1.6 | 5.2 | | FOX | THE SIMPSONS (R) (8)
FAMILY GUY (R) (8:30) | 1.0
1.2 | 2.7
2.9 | | UNIVISION | NUESTRA BELLEZA LATINA
| 0.8 | 2.1 | | TELEMUNDO | LA VOZ: KIDS
| 0.7 | 1.8 |
| | 9 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | | NBC | IHEART RATIO MUSIC AWARDS | 1.8 | 5.5 | | ABC | SECRETS AND LIES | 1.3 | 5.1 | | FOX | THE LAST MAN ON
EARTH (9)
THE LAST MAN ON
EARTH (9:30) | 1.4
1.2
| 3.5
3.3
| | CBS | MADAM SECRETARY (9)
THE GOOD WIFE (9:30) | 1.2
1.0 | 10.1
8.6 | | UNIVISION | NUESTRA BELLEZA LATINA
| 1.0 | 2.6 | | TELEMUNDO | LA VOZ: KIDS
| 0.7 | 1.9 |
| | 10 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | | NBC | IHEART RADIO MUSIC AWARDS | 1.7 | 4.9 | | ABC | REVENGE | 1.0 | 4.3 | | UNIVISION | SAL Y PIMIENTA
| 0.9 | 2.5 | | CBS | THE GOOD WIFE (10)
BATTLE CREEK (10:30) | 0.9
0.7 | 7.3
5.7 | | TELEMUNDO | SUELTA LA SOPA EXTRA
| 0.3 | 0.8 |
| | TOMORROW'S BIG RATINGS STORIES TODAY | • Viewers Not Following 'The Following' . . .
The Fox drama starring Kevin Bacon returned on March 2 for its third season (8 p.m.), but it has only averaged 4 million viewers and a 1.3 18-49 demo rating through four episodes. That's down about 20% in viewers compared to last season's average 5.1 million, and down 23% in its 18-49 rating from a 1.7. That's after being Fox's most-watched drama in season 1 when it averaged 8 million viewers and a 2.6. The upshot: Fox made the mistake that a lot of broadcast networks do—putting a series on hiatus for almost a year before bringing it back. In today's ultra-competitive viewing landscape, viewers are going to find new shows to watch in the interim and may not tune in again.
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| • . . . While 'The Voice' Is Drawing A Crowd . . .
NBC's singing competition The Voice (8 p.m.) returned for its eighth season on February 23 and picked up right where it left off when season 7 ended in mid-December. The Voice's Monday night version in season 7 averaged 12.4 million viewers and a 3.5 18-49 demo rating and since its return for season 8, it has improved to 13.5 million viewers and a 3.7. The upshot: While Fox's long-running singing competition series American Idol continues to slide, The Voice maintains solid viewer numbers. Christina Aguilera returned as a judge and coach this season after skipping one to have a baby, but it's not likely that a million more viewers are tuning in just to see her. The Voice format still remains fresh and is keeping viewers interested.
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| • . . . And 'Dancing' Remains In Step On ABC
Dancing With the Stars returned (8 p.m.) for its 20th season on March 16 with a new group of 12 celebrity dancers. Only one contestant, Redfoo of the singing group LMFAO, has been voted off through the first two weeks. Since returning, DWTS is averaging 14 million viewers and a 2.1 18-49 demo rating. That's up from season 19 so far when it averaged 13.1 million viewers and a 2.0 in the demo. The upshot: While it skews much older than NBC's The Voice, the fact that the two series are drawing 27.5 million viewers in head-to-head competition in the 8 p.m.-10 p.m. Monday time period is a testament to the power of broadcast television to still pull in viewers if there is programming they want to see.
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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
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Phone: 917-281-4708 | Send Email
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