| | Media Buyer & Planner Today | | | | | | | | | #1 Buyers May Hold Back Upfront Dollars | | As a good share of marketer ad budgets were registered with the broadcast and cable networks last week, sources tell Broadcasting & Cable the expectation is that upfront ad spending will be down between 3% and 6% overall. Based on budgets submitted last week, broadcast network upfront ad volume is expected to be flat to up a few percentage points, while cable networks will be down between 5% and 8%. Marketers are expected to hold back ad dollars but not necessarily move them out of traditional TV, instead holding on to them to spend strategically once the season begins. Buyers are determined not to pay high single-digit increases like that did in last year's upfront (based on ratings declines) and then pay double-digit hikes on top of that in scatter. So expect the clients' media agencies to be more cautious in the deals they do. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: The media agencies will surely be under pressure in this upfront to not overpay for ad inventory on both broadcast and cable. Also complicating upfront talks this year is that more marketers want their agencies to try to buy more targeted TV audiences and that will take more time. So expect the upfront negotiating period to be a protracted one with neither side eager to overpay or undercharge. | | A Take: B&C | | | | #2 NFL Lifts Liquor Ban | | New league rules for the upcoming season for the first time will allow hard liquor ads for whiskey, vodka, rum and other spirits to advertise in televised games, The Wall Street Journal first reported. There will be restrictions on the category, however, with only four 30-second ads permitted per game and only two of those will be allowed in any one quarter or within a half. Each ad will also have to include a social responsibility message and cannot have a football theme or target underage drinkers. Two liquor ads will also be allowed in pre-game and post-game shows. The NFL is calling it a "test" but league executives, who were not identified, say it is expected to become permanent. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: Executives at CBS, NBC, Fox and ESPN have to be offering up toasts to the league for lifting its liquor ad ban and giving them another lucrative ad revenue stream. Last year hard liquor companies spent about $411 million on U.S. advertising, according to Kantar Media estimates. While liquor makers will face more restrictions than the longtime beer advertisers, it also offers them a huge new audience to target every week. Meanwhile, the NFL still bans energy drinks, condom and birth control ads, but has no problem with performance enhancing erectile dysfunction drugs. | Two Takes: WSJ | Ad Age
| | | | #3 Simulmedia to Make TV Software Available to Networks, Buyers | | The advanced data-based TV advertising company is planning to license its software to media companies, media buyers and marketers, Broadcasting & Cable reports. Simulmedia has been creating targeted ad campaigns based on data for eight years and says its technology – called VAMOS (Video Advertising Marketing Operating System) – enables audience buying with what it calls the most powerful predictive analytics platform ever built for TV. Simulmedia CEO Dave Morgan says the company has invested more than $100 million in the system. Morgan says VAMOS is unique because it was purposely built as a TV system, which differentiates it from systems built for digital media that are tried to be used for TV buying. VAMOS will be licensed for a tech fee of 15% of volume for smaller accounts and that percentage will shrink for higher volume users, who might also just pay a flat fee. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: The offering comes at a time when major players in the TV industry appear to be shifting from selling ads based on broad demographic profiles to targeting audiences that either use a particular product or fit a consumer profile that makes them attractive prospects. Media companies including NBCUniversal, Viacom and Turner have been pushing targeted audience buying and have created predictive analytics software that helps figure out what targeted viewers will be watching when a campaign airs. "We've been sort of waiting until it was the right moment because we wanted our activation business to have a certain maturity to it," Morgan says. "We also wanted to make sure that the market was really there." | Two Takes: B&C | MediaPost
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| | 86.6 | | Millions of U.S. internet users who will use ad blockers at least once a month on any mobile device in 2017, according to projections by eMarketer. That is up 24% from 2016 and would make up 32% of all internet users. | – Reported by eMarketer
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| | ABC Scores on NBA Finals | by Michael Malone
ABC rolled to an easy win Sunday with Game 2 of the NBA Finals, rating a 4.9 in adults 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, and an 18 share. The Jimmy Kimmel pre-game did a 2.7, up 8% from its Game 1 score. The game itself, which saw the Golden State Warriors jump out to a 2-0 lead against the Cleveland Cavaliers, rated a 5.7. Game 1 did a 5.9. NBC was next at 1.0/4. The premiere of Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly scored a 0.8, with 6.1 million viewers. American Ninja Warrior: USA vs. the World did a 1.1 from 8-11. Fox, in repeats, was at 0.5/2. CBS was at 0.4/2. 60 Minutes did a 0.6/3 and was followed by repeats. Among Spanish-language networks, Univision had a 0.4/2 and Telemundo a 0.3/1. | |
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| | • STEVE MOSKO, former Sony Pictures Television chairman, is in talks with Sinclair about joining the broadcast group to oversee expansion of its slate of original programming, according to a Financial Times report. Mosko left Sony a year ago after a 24-year career there. Mosko headed Sony's domestic TV operations for his last 14 years there. | |
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