| Today's Top Stories | | #1 | Sears Holdings Retains Havas, Adds Publicis Groupe in Agency Review
| | | Finalizing a process that began last November, the retail company has decided to retain Havas to handle media for both Sears and Kmart. Havas will also now handle creative for Kmart, replacing FCB, however FCB will handle this year's holiday campaign for the retailer. Publicis was awarded creative duties for Sears and will also handle digital for both Sears and Kmart.
Why This Matters: Both Sears and Kmart have had declining sales and are in need of new campaigns to draw customers into their stores. Both were big ad spenders in 2014. According to Kantar Media, Sears spent $256 million on U.S. measured media, while Sears spent $155 million. Combined, Sears Holdings was the 40th largest advertiser in the U.S., according to Ad Age.
A Take: Ad Age
|
| | #2 | General Mills Selects Mindshare As U.S. Media Agency
| | | The food brands company has replaced Zenith with Mindshare to handle its media buying and planning, following a review that began in May. Zenith had held the General Mills media account since 2001. Mindshare will take over the account on Oct. 1 and David Adelman in the Chicago office will be overseeing the account.
Why This Matters: This is a major account involving a lot of well-known consumer brands, including Cheerios, Wheaties, Pillsbury, Betty Crocker, Yoplait and Progresso. Last year General Mills spent about $850 million on advertising in the U.S.
Three Takes: Ad Age | Adweek | MediaPost
|
| | #3 | Viewers Depend on Commercials to Discover New Shows
| | | A report from Omnicom Media Group's Annalect finds that 55% of TV viewers polled said they discover new shows from watching TV commercials, The Wall Street Journal reports. That's one reason why the broadcast TV networks have been spending big bucks to promote their new fall shows on both their own and on cable TV networks.
Why This Matters: Despite the growing attention digital streaming of TV programming is getting, traditional linear TV is still alive and well. Says, Pam Marsh, director of Annalect's primary research and insights group, "Television still prevails. Television is high on the path to discover and plays such an important role still in content consumption." Something brand marketers should also keep in mind.
A Take: WSJ |
| #4 SNF, 'Empire' Are Broadcast Primetime's Most Expensive Ad Buys (Ad Age)
#5 Rentrak Acquires SocialMedia Tracker SponsorHub (B&C)
#6 Teen Nick Bringing Back 90s Shows to Draw Millennials (Adweek)
#7 29 Brands Testing Amazon Dash But Consumer Participation Still Small (Digiday)
#8 Zubi Exec Offers Five Hispanic Media Buying Trends (Media Life)
#9 Republican 'Super Pacs' Planning Big Local TV Campaigns (NYT)
#10 Big Data at the Heart of Agency Reviews (Adweek)
|
|  | · 37
Percentage of total mobile commerce transactions in the U.S. that involve fashion and luxury retailers, according to Criteo. The U.S. ranks behind the U.K. (49%), Japan (46%) and Netherlands (40%).
– Reported by eMarketer
|
| | MBPT Spotlight | The Secret of 'Empire's Success: Fox's Mid-Season Gamble Shows That Culturally Relevant Programming Can Drive Mass Appeal
By Chris Fosdick and Don Johnson, principals with The Cambridge Group
What was the single most watched television program by African Americans on all of television this past February? Here's a hint: it's part soap opera, part hip hop, and all about star power. And no, it's not the Super Bowl; we're talking about Fox's hit show Empire. More African Americans tuned in for Empire's eighth episode than the Super Bowl, and the audience only got bigger for episodes nine through twelve. Talk about scale.
You can't overstate what the show has accomplished in its freshman season, and you can definitely learn from it. So, what is Empire doing, and just as importantly what can we learn and re-apply elsewhere?
To begin, a little background. Empire ran 12 episodes over 11 weeks, and made the unusual choice to make every past episode (vs. the standard most recent 4 episodes) available on demand so as to enable new viewers to play 'catch up' as the water cooler hype continued to build. This choice, and the ever valuable word-of-mouth paid off, with Empire enjoying a nearly 70% audience growth rate over its run. In fact, it grew audience every week of its run – virtually unheard of – running neck and neck with The Walking Dead for leadership in the coveted 18-49 demo by the end of its run. Equally interesting, while Empire enjoys a sizeable African American viewing audience, White and Hispanic viewers accounted for a full third of the viewing audience. Indeed the non-African American audience for the show's finale (8 million strong) was enough to outrank plenty of other hit shows' total audience, including Big Bang Theory, Modern Family and American Idol. What does the success of Empire tell us about the power of culturally relevant programming? And would Empire be as big a hit if it weren't on a broadcast network?
For more, click HERE |
| | Fates & Fortunes | · LAUREN HURVITZ was named executive VP and chief communications and chief marketing officer at Turner Broadcasting System. She was most recently global chief of communications and brand marketing officer at Starcom MediaVest Group. Prior to that, she was head of global corporate communications and events at AOL, and executive VP of global corporate communications & public affairs for Viacom's MTV Networks.
· ERIC KALLMAN is leaving his post as executive creative director at Goodby Silverstein & Partners. He joined the agency last year from Barton F. Graf, where he served as executive creative director.
· KHARTOON WEISS has joined MDC Partners as senior VP, business development. She was most recently managing director and chief growth officer at Mediacom. Prior to that she held positions at Clear Channel Media and BBDO.
· ERIC CONRAD was named senior VP of programming and acquisitions at Univision Deportes, while OLEK LOEWENSTEIN was appointed senior VP of strategy and operations. Univision Deportes is the sports division of Univision Communications. Conrad was previously VP of programming, a role he assumed upon joining Univision Deportes in 2011. Prior to that, he was senior director of programming and acquisitions at ESPN and ESPN Deporters, and also worked in sales and marketing at Major League Baseball. Loewenstein has served as VP of planning for Univision Deportes since 2012. Prior to that, he was with Sambsng's global strategy group.
|
| | What They're Watching | BROADCAST RATINGS
CBS, Football Tackle Thursday
CBS won the night thanks to Thursday Night Football, with the Redskins-Giants telecast scoring a 4 rating/13 share in 18-49, according to Nielsen overnight numbers, down from the previous week's 5/17 amidst tougher premiere competition. ABC was runner-up with a 2.9/9, NBC posted a 1.7/6, Fox a 0.7/2 and The CW a 0.3/1. On ABC, the season premiere of Grey's Anatomy was up 7% from last year's finale, and Scandal--with Olivia Pope cleaning up after the untimely death of a princess--up 28% from last year's finale. The season premiere of How to Get Away With Murder was down 7% from its February finale. Heroes Reborn got a two hour premiere on NBC with the reboot premiering to a solid 1.9 rating among adults 18-49. The Player, a Las Vegas action drama starring Wesley Snipes, did not fare as well with a 1.2 rating in the 10-11 p.m. slot. Fox reran its two-hour debut of Scream Queens, while CW was also in repeats.
For more, click HERE
CABLE RATINGS
'South Park' Tops Wednesday
Comedy Central's South Park, which featured the controversial and brutal murder of a cartoon Donald Trump, came in first Wednesday among cable originals. The show tallied a 0.9 among adults 18-49 and 1.5 million viewers. In a distant second was Food Network's Worst Cooks in America at 0.5 in the demo and 1.3 million viewers.
For more, click HERE
|
| Overnight Ratings: Thursday, Sept. 24
| | 8 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | CBS
| NFL THURSDAY NIGHT KICKOFF (8) NFL FOOTBALL (8:30) | 2.6 4.2 | 9.1 13.6 | ABC
| GREY'S ANATOMY
| 2.8 | 9.4 | NBC
| HEROES REBORN
| 2.0 | 6.5 | | FOX | SCREAM QUEENS (R)
| 0.8 | 2.3 | | UNIVISION | ANTES MUERTA QUE LICHITA
| 0.7 | 2.0 | | TELEMUNDO | AVENIDA BRASIL
| 0.7 | 1.6 | | CW | THE FLASH (R)
| 0.4 | 1.1 |
| | 9 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | CBS
| NFL FOOTBALL
| 4.6 | 13.6
| ABC
| SCANDAL | 3.2 | 10.2 | NBC
| HEROES REBORN
| 1.9 | 5.6 | TELEMUNDO
| BAJO EL MISMO CIELO
| 0.9 | 1.7 | UNIVISION
| LO IMPERDONABLE
| 0.7 | 2.2 | | FOX | SCREAM QUEENS (R)
| 0.6 | 1.9 | | CW | ARROW (R)
| 0.3 | 0.8 |
| | 10 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | CBS
| NFL FOOTBALL
| 4.0
| 11.8
| ABC
| HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER
| 2.6 | 8.4 | NBC
| THE PLAYER
| 1.2 | 4.9 | TELEMUNDO
| SEÑORA ACERO
| 1.2 | 2.1 | UNIVISION
| YO NO CREO EN LOS HOMBRES
| 0.7 | 1.9 |
| | THIS WEEKEND'S BIG RATINGS STORIES TODAY | • ABC Revamps Sunday Drama Night
Veteran fantasy hit Once Upon a Time returns at 8 p.m. Sunday. It will lead into two new dramas, Blood & Oil at 9 and Quantico at 10. Once Upon a Time is back for its fifth season with its storylines about fairy tale characters. Last season it averaged a 2.2 18-49 demo rating, placing in the Top 10 among broadcast dramas, and 6.5 million viewers. Blood & Oil stars Don Johnson as a ruthless oil tycoon in a small North Dakota community that has just made the biggest oil discovery in American history. He clashes with newcomers to town played by Chace Crawford and Rebecca Rittenhouse. Quantico follows a group of diverse FBI recruits. The first season storyline: one of the recruits is suspected of masterminding the biggest attack on New York since 9/11. The upshot: This new lineup will battle CBS for the female viewers not watching NBC Sunday Night Football or Fox's male-oriented comedies. ABC does draw a younger female audience but could steal away some of the CBS older female crowd, but not Sunday when CBS airs the series finale of CSI.
|
| • 'CSI' Says Good-Bye
CBS is offering up an unusual twist to premiere week. On Sunday from 9-11, the network will air the series finale of long-running hit drama CSI. The episode reunites the original cast of the series, including William Peterson (Gil Grissom), Marg Helgenberger (Catherine Willows) and Jorja Fox (Sara Sidle). George Eads does not return. Ted Danson, who will move to CSI Cyber this season, also appears in the two-hour finale. The old cast will solve crimes for the final time and is expected to tie up some past relationship issues. The upshot: CSI on Wednesday nights last season averaged a 1.3 18-49 demo rating and 8.2 million viewers in its 15th season. The series should be remembered for its move from Friday to Thursday nights in the early 2000s when it took on NBC's "Must-See" programming lineup and began making inroads for CBS on the night. At its peak during the 2004-05 season, CSI averaged a 9.2 18-49 demo rating and 26.5 million viewers.
|
| • Fox Sunday Comedies Return
The network's five comedies premiere new seasons on Sunday night following NFL football at around 7:30 p.m. The animated Bob's Burgers leads off the night, followed by The Simpsons, scripted sitcoms Brooklyn Nine-Nine and The Last Man on Earth and animated Family Guy. Bob's Burgers, entering season 6, averaged just a 1.2 18-49 demo rating and 2.6 million viewers last season. The Simpsons, starting an amazing season 27, averaged a 2.1 in the demo and 4.8 million viewers. Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which aired on Sunday for the first time last season and is beginning season 3, averaged a 1.7 and 3.5 million viewers. The Last Man on Earth, entering season 2, averaged a 1.6 and 3.9 million viewers. While Family Guy, embarking upon season 13, averaged a 2.1 and 4.2 million viewers. The upshot: This male-oriented block of shows gets hurt a bit in fourth quarter having to go up against NBC's Sunday Night Football, but it still has the youngest audience on television with the median age in the 32-34 year old range.
|
|
|
| |  |  |
| 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
|
| 
| | |
