| | Media Buyer & Planner Today | | | | | | | | | #1 Bloomberg Takes Aim at CNN Via Twitter | | TicToc by Bloomberg, the first round-the-clock streaming television service on Twitter, launched today with a goal of "disrupting" or "replacing" CNN and other 24-hour cable news operations. While Bloomberg already had been airing three daily TV programs on Twitter, the new channel will produce ongoing news footage curated by a staff of 50 people in New York, London and Hong Kong, supplemented by the new services' 2,700 editorial employees worldwide, The Wall Street Journal reports. The service will be ad-supported with branded content woven into the programming. The channel has launched with several sponsors, including AT&T, CA Technologies, CME Group, Infiniti, SAS and TD Ameritrade. Ad buys range from $1.5 million to $3 million, according to Bloomberg Media's CEO Justin Smith. Neither Bloomberg nor Twitter would discuss how advertising revenue would be shared, but Bloomberg will have editorial control over the programming content. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: This is not the first programming partnership for Twitter but it is the first 24-hour, seven-day-a-week deal. Twitter's goal is to pull in more viewers. Bloomberg's goal is to make a bigger name for itself in the news business by expanding its audience base to Twitter's younger viewers. Traditional TV news viewers have a considerably older median age. Bloomberg's Smith says the new service is also a way to grow advertising revenue. He told Digiday that the company is expecting to grow its ad revenue by as much as 30% this year and the TicToc service will help maintain steady growth going forward. He says Bloomberg chose Twitter over Facebook because Twitter "is the most scaled for breaking news. I don't think anyone goes to Facebook for breaking news." | | Three Takes: WSJ | Digiday | B&C | | | | #2 ESPN Bets on Boxing | | The cable sports network, which has been steadily losing viewers, is hoping that a new boxing deal can help draw in a new audience, The New York Times reports. And that, in turn, will draw in new advertisers. ESPN is four months into a four-year deal with boxing promotion company Top Rank, which handles some of boxing's top fighters. A most recent televised match between Vasyl Lomachenko and Guillermo Rigondeaux drew solid ratings, in addition to a capacity live audience at The Theater at Madison Square Garden. The Times reports that ESPN is getting 18 fights next year alone, with a pair to air on ABC, and some will be streamed. And that the amount ESPN is paying over the four year period is estimated to be less than the cost of a single Monday Night Football game rights fee. As for ad revenue, ESPN and Top Rank will share it. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: Boxing has not been a popular televised sport for years and while several networks have tried to revived boxing telecasts more recently, none have really been successful in drawing any kind of sizable audiences on a consistent basis. So the odds are clearly against ESPN. However, the network and Top Rank are working together closely, not only to put on interesting fights, but to also develop different kinds of related original boxing programming. Marketers should stay tuned. | | A Take: NYT | | | | #3 Buyers Say Amazon Marketing Tool Needs Fixing | | Amazon's ad revenue continues to grow, but several media buyers tell Digiday that the company's ad infrastructure doesn't seem to be as developed as Google's or Facebook's. Four ad buyers say Amazon Marketing Services -- its self-service paid search and marketing tool that is supposed to help advertisers efficiently run search campaigns --not only requires lots of manual work but its reporting is also inefficient. "Setting up AMS campaigns is laborious, and budget control remains manual," says Todd Silverstein, U.S. head of performance marketing for Edelman. | | WHY THIS MATTERS: Nick Weinheimer, marketing director for Amazon consultancy Buy Box Experts, says while "AMS is becoming a competitive search engine to Google, it doesn't have the DNA of Google, whose business is built on search ads. Amazon's core business is still e-commerce, so it is playing catch-up in advertising to become an equal player to Google and Facebook." It's just going to take time for Amazon to catch up to its larger rivals. As Digiday reports, "both Google and Facebook have had big head starts on Amazon in the area of building easy-to-use ad systems. And that makes a difference." | | A Take: Digiday | |
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| | 92.6 | | Percentage of U.S. internet user kids ages 12-17 who watch streaming video or download video content at least once per month, according to eMarketer data. The percentage is even higher among persons 18-24 – 94.7%, but declines as people get older. Only 37.4% of persons 65-plus download digital video at least once per month. Overall, 68.2% of all U.S. internet users do so. | – Reported by eMarketer
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| | NBC Wins With Growing Football | by Michael Malone
NBC took the Sunday ratings title as Sunday Night Football led the net to a 4.8 rating in viewers 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, and a 17 share. Second place went to CBS at 2.1/8. Football Night in America grew 43% to 3.0 on NBC and the game, Cowboys versus Raiders, ticked up 6% to 5.2.
With a football lead-in, 60 Minutes did a 2.8 on CBS, way up from last week's 1.1. Wisdom of the Crowd went up 57% to 1.1, NCIS: Los Angeles grew 13% to 0.9 and Madam Secretary did a flat 0.7. Fox scored a 1.5/5. A Christmas Story Live, about a boy's desire for a BB gun for Christmas, aired from 7 to 10 p.m. Another live musical, Grease: Live, did a 4.3 on Fox back in January. ABC rated a 0.8/3. The Sound of Music occupied all of prime. Telemundo did a 0.4/1 and Univision a 0.3/1. | |
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| • JOHN SKIPPER has resigned as president of ESPN and co-chairman of the Disney Media Network, citing his struggle with "a substance addiction." In his resignation letter he says, "I have decided that the most important thing I can do right now is to take care of my problem." Skipper, 61, joined ESPN in 1997 as senior VP and general manager of ESPN The Magazine and was named to his current post in Jan. 2012. GEORGE BODENHEIMER, Skipper's predecessor, will assume Skipper's duties until a permanent successor can be named. Bodenheimer, 59, served as ESPN president from 1998 through 2011 and later became executive chairman.
• JULIE LEVIN was named to the newly created position of executive VP, client services and business development, for Horizon Media's Los Angeles office. She was previously senior VP, business development and global partnerships at WME/IMG. Prior to that she was chief marketing officer at Publicis Worldwide. She also served as chief growth officer at The Martin Agency.
• ART D'ELIA has joined Domino's Pizza as senior VP, chief brand and innovation officer. In that role he will oversee the chain's U.S. marketing. He succeeds JOE JORDAN, who had held the title of U.S. chief marketing officer, who was promoted to executive VP, international and will oversee international marketing for Domino's. D'Elia joins Domino's from Danone Dairy, where he oversaw marketing in the U.K., Ireland, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg.
• PAUL RENNER was named executive VP, global creative director at Publicis New York. He was most recently executive creative director at Kirschenbaum Bond Senecal New York. He also served as a global creative director at Anomaly.
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