| | Media Buyer & Planner Today | | | | | | | | | #1 ABC, Viacom Wrap Upfront Selling | | High-single digit ad price increases were achieved across the board at Disney-ABC's primetime broadcast, cable and kids networks, and also at Viacom's cable networks, according to assorted media reports. Rita Ferro, ad sales president of Disney-ABC Television calls the upfront market "healthier than anticipated" and in addition to primetime, the daytime, late night and news dayparts all brought in significant numbers of advertisers. In fact, in late night and on Disney kids networks, ad prices recorded low double-digit increases. Ferro says consumer packaged goods and pharmaceutical advertisers increased spending over last year's upfront. ABC was said to take in about $1.8 billion in upfront primetime ad commitments. Viacom said it recorded high-single digital ad price increases across all of its networks. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: With several of the broadcast and cable networks having completed their upfront sales, it is evident that advertiser demand is still strong for traditional television, despite all the competition from online sites. "There is not an advertiser who wouldn't say that TV is not a pretty important tool in their mix," ABC's Ferro says. | Three Takes: B&C | MediaPost | Adweek
| | | | #2 Unilever Strives for Efficiency | | Keith Weed, chairman marketing and communications officer at the packaged goods giants, says he wants to eliminate waste both within his own organization but also at the agencies Unilever uses by having them operate more efficiently. He says as Unilever strives to have its brands as competitively priced for its consumers as possible, his goal will be to cut expenses at all levels of the sales journey. Part of the efficiency process has been to cut the number of ads Unilever makes by 30% to save on both production costs and agency fees. He also says Unilever cut back on the number of agencies it had relationships with worldwide from 3,000 to half that. "We'll still be working with locally relevant agencies – that mobile specialist in Jakarta – but that group in the middle didn't offer any differentiation." He also says more deals with agencies are based on results than straight fees. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: When a major ad spending like Unilever looks to cut its ad spending and the number of agencies it uses, it is not a good thing for the agencies. However, it should motivate them to operate more efficiently and effectively to hold onto whatever business they can from this packaged goods giant. | A Take: Ad Age
| | | | #3 MDC Developing AI Platform | | The recent announcement by Publicis CEO Arthur Sadoun that his agency holding company was developing an artificial intelligence platform to facilitate internal data usage got a lot of media attention. But MDC Media Partners, the ad planning, buying and strategy unit of the holding company that includes agencies Assembly and Allegory and programmatic business Varick Media Management, has for the past eight months been developing its own AI data platform. Stella Voutsina, who was recently promoted to the company's first chief technology officer, and who oversees Born, an AI unit that helps with ad creation, tells Adweek a new AI data unit is currently in "a very advanced state" but declined to give details. She says MDC Media Partners has already begun experimenting with projects tied to voice-activated products like Amazon's Alexa, Apple's Siri and Google Voice. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: Of the incorporation of artificial intelligence into the ad agency creative and ad buying and planning processes, Voutsina says, "Clients are asking for it, and we're seeing it in a lot of new business pitches." | | A Take: Adweek | |
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| | 220 | | Dollars in millions that will be spent on U.S. podcast advertising in 2017, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau. That projection is 85% over the $119 million actually spent in 2016. The IAB was assisted in its collection of research by PwC US. | – Reported by MediaPost
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| | 'Big Brother' Leads CBS to Thursday Win | by Luke McCord
Powered by Big Brother, CBS took the top spot in primetime among broadcasters Thursday with a 1.0 rating/5 share among adults 18-49, according to Nielsen overnight numbers. Following repeats of Big Bang Theory and Life in Pieces, Big Brother scored a 1.6 (off a tenth from Wednesday's 1.7). The third season premiere of Zoo earned a modest 0.5, down two tenths from its season finale. NBC finished in second with a 0.9/4. The Night Shift gained 17% for a 0.7. The Wall and Hollywood Game Night held even at 1.0 and 0.9, respectively. ABC and Fox tied at 0.8/4. ABC's Boy Band slid two tenths to a 0.5. Battle of the Network Stars debuted to a 1.0. The Gong Show was even at a 0.9. Fox's Beat Shazam fell a tenth to a 0.9, while Love Connection dropped two tenths to a 0.7. The CW aired repeats of Supernatural for a 0.3/1. On the Spanish-language front, Telemundo pulled in a 0.6/3 and Univision did a 0.5/2. | |
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| • KIMBERLY GUILFOYLE has signed a long-term deal to remain at Fox News Channel. She initially joined FNC as a legal analyst and has appeared regularly on Hannity and other FNC and Fox Business Network programs. She is currently a co-host of FNC's The Five. Prior to joining FNC she was a legal analyst at ABC News.
• FRANK TANKI was named general manager of Viacom's CMT network, succeeding Brian Phillips, who is departing after 16 years with the network. In addition to his new role, Tanki will continue to serve as general manager of TV Land, also a unit of Viacom. He has also served as executive VP, brand marketing and creative, at Viacom's Spike TV.
• OLIVIER ROPARS was appointed VP and chief marketing officer at StubHub. He was previously head of global performance marketing at eBay.
• GRETA VAN SUSTEREN is leaving MSNBC after six months of hosting her 6 p.m. show. She joined MSNBC in January after leaving Fox News. MSNBC legal correspondent Ari Melber will replace Van Susteren. Recently MSNBC has been locked in an evening news show ratings battle with Fox News and Van Susteren's ratings were reportedly down significantly since she took over the 6 p.m. hour.
• SCOTT HERMAN and JORDAN WERTLIEB were elected co-vice chairs of the Broadcasters Foundation of America. Herman is chief operating officer of CBS Radio and Wertlieb is president of Hearst Television. The foundation distributes funds to needy broadcasters and their families.
Editor's Note: The Media Buyer & Planner Today newsletter is taking a long weekend off for the Fourth of July. Enjoy the fireworks. We'll be back Wednesday July 5.
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September 26-27, 2017 | Atlanta Airport Marriott, GA
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