| Today's Top Stories | | #1 | Progressive, Wendy's First to Test Facebook's Auto-Play Video Ads
| | | The insurance company's specially created ad will debut May 6 and is scheduled to reach every 18-34-year-old user that logs on to the social network site that day, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Wendy's, which will also produce an original video spot, will be next up, although no date has been announced.
Why This Matters: Facebook already lets marketers put video ads on their brand pages, but the auto-play video ads can run across the site to reach Facebook's 1.2 billion users or targeted to specific demographics. The one caveat: auto-play ads could turn off some users.
A Take: WSJ
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| | #2 | Pandora Starts Beta Test of 'Promoted Stations' Ads With 10 Initial Partners
| | | The digital music streaming service began testing an ad unit that allows brands to promote their own stations, Ad Age reports. Brands, working with a team from Pandora, were permitted to create their own stations. Now brands will be able to run ads within those station lists. Among the advertisers testing the new type of ads: Taco Bell, Diageo's Crown Royal, Skechers and Sonos. Each advertiser will be exposed to 10% of Pandora's approximate 75 million monthly listeners.
Why This Matters: It's a new potential revenue stream for Pandora, but also a way for marketers to reach a sizable millennial audience. About 80% of Pandora's revenue is from advertising and it is hoping to use this newfound cash flow to offset large content acquisition costs. Pricing has still not been worked out.
A Take: Ad Age
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| | #3 | Warburton Named Chief Investment Officer of Assembly
| | | Two months after media agency Assembly was formed with merger of MDC Partners' agencies R.J. Palmer and Targetcast, Catherine Warburton has been named CIO of the new agency, succeeding Peter Knobloch. Warburton joins Assembly from Fox Sports Media Group where she was VP of business development; however, she has a long background in the media agency business. She held several roles at Universal McCann, rising to executive VP, managing partner of U.S. integrated investment, where she oversaw media investment for clients totaling $2 million.
Why This Matters: Assembly CEO Martin Cass personally recruited Warburton, according to a MediaPost report. With her previous experience in all aspects of media buying—national, local, digital—and having worked with major clients before (Sony, L'Oreal, Chrysler and Charles Schwab), she'll hit the ground running.
A Take: MediaPost
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#4 Mindshare to Use BlabPredicts System to Better Plan Digital Campaigns (Adweek)
#5 NBCU Research: Viewers Watching News More Receptive to Advertising (B&C)
#6 Blackrock Puts Its Media Account Up for Review (Ad Age)
#7 Facebook's Decreased Reach Forces Social Agencies to Change Strategies (Digiday)
#8 Costs Piling Up for Omnicom and Publicis in Yet-to-Be-Approved Merger (Ad Age)
#9 Survey: Name Brands Declining in Popularity Among Consumers (MediaPost)
#10 Lowe's Seeks Consumer Ideas for Next Vine 'Fix in Six' Video Series (Ad Age)
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|  | • 304.1
Billions of dollars that U.S. consumers will spend on retail ecommerce in 2014, up 15.5% from last year. That ecommerce amount is 6.4% of the total $4.73 trillion in total U.S. retail sales expected this year.
– Reported by eMarketer
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| | MBPT Spotlight | CBS Parks Lexus in Thursday NFL Halftime—NFL Net sponsors, new advertisers join simulcast
By Jon Lafayette
CBS has kicked off advertising sales of its new Thursday Night NFL franchise by signing luxury automaker Lexus as the sponsor of its halftime show.
Lexus had been the halftime show sponsor of Thursday Night Football on the NFL Network. This season, the league is looking to boost viewership on Thursday by having CBS and the NFL Network simulcast primetime games during the first half of the season.
The ad sales teams at the NFL and CBS have been working together to try to persuade incumbent advertisers on the NFL Network to step up to the simulcast, which is expected to have significantly higher ratings than last year's games had on the cable network alone.
"After a successful halftime position the past two seasons on NFL Network's production of Thursday Night Football, we were very interested in returning this season to extend the brand equity we've built to a national broadcast audience on CBS," said Teri Hill, Lexus media manager. "The Thursday Night Football partnership between CBS and NFL Network presents a terrific opportunity to reach a prime demographic using the most coveted vehicle in media: live NFL football."
How have CBS negotiations gone with ad incumbents from NFL Network? And how well did Thursday Night Football perform on NFL Network last season compared to other televised football?
For more, click HERE (sub required)
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| | Fates & Fortunes | • GREGG STEINHAFEL is resigning as chairman, president and CEO of Target. John Mulligan, chief financial officer of the retail chain, will serve as interim CEO while a search is conducted for a permanent replacement. Roxanne Austin will serve as interim board chair. Steinhafel's resignation comes five months after a massive data breach compromised information in millions of customer accounts, which had a negative impact on the chain's sales.
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| | What They're Watching | BROADCAST RATINGS
'Resurrection' Finale Up Slightly
The season-one finale of ABC's Resurrection grew one tenth from last week. ABC kicked off the night with America's Funniest Home Videos, even with last week. Once Upon a Time was down 9%. Revenge followed Resurrection, which was even with last week. ABC was the night's top rated network. Fox came in second. Bob's Burgers was even with last week, while American Dad gained one tenth. The Simpsons was up 19% with a Lego-themed episode. Family Guy improved one tenth and Cosmos improved 14% from last week. CBS finished third. Newsmagazine 60 Minutes was down 23% from last week and The Amazing Race was down 11%. The Good Wife shed one tenth, while The Mentalist was even with last week. NBC finished fourth. American Dream Builders slipped a tenth. Dateline, Believe and Crisis were all even with last week.
For more, click HERE
CABLE RATINGS
NBA Playoffs Wins Another Night
NBA Basketball Playoffs topped Thursday cable, with the Clippers-Warriors game earning a 2.0 adults 18-49 rating. The season-two finale of Vikings on History came in third with a 1.1 in the demo, down a tenth from last week.
For more, click HERE
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| Overnight Ratings: Sunday, May 4
| | 7 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | ABC
| AMERICA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS
| 1.6
| 6.2
| FOX
| BOB'S BURGERS (7)
AMERICAN DAD (7:30)
| 1.1
1.3
| 2.3
2.6
| CBS
| 60 MINUTES
| 1.0
| 10.3
| UNIVISION
| AQUÍ Y AHORA
| 0.6
| 1.9
| NBC
| AMERICAN DREAM BUILDERS
| 0.5
| 2.2
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| | 8 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | FOX
| THE SIMPSONS (8)
FAMILY GUY (8:30)
| 1.9
2.2
| 4.3
4.4
| ABC
| ONCE UPON A TIME
| 2.0
| 6.7
| CBS
| THE AMAZING RACE
| 1.7
| 8.0
| NBC
| DATELINE
| 1.0
| 5.5
| UNIVISION
| NUESTRA BELLEZA LATINA
| 0.8
| 2.3
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| | 9 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | ABC
| RESURRECTION
| 2.0
| 7.9
| FOX
| COSMOS: A SPACETIME ODYSSEY
| 1.6
| 4.2
| CBS
| THE GOOD WIFE
| 1.2
| 9.1
| NBC
| BELIEVE
| 1.0
| 4.3
| UNIVISION
| NUESTRA BELLEZA LATINA
| 1.0
| 2.7
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| | 10 PM | | NET | SHOW | A18-49
Rating | TOTAL VIEWERS
(MILLIONS) | ABC
| REVENGE
| 1.3
| 5.0
| CBS
| THE MENTALIST
| 1.2
| 8.5
| NBC
| CRISIS
| 1.0
| 3.6
| UNIVISION
| SAL Y PIMIENTA
| 1.0
| 2.7
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| | TOMORROW'S BIG RATINGS STORIES TODAY | • Just Another Day at the Office for Jack Bauer on Fox
Kiefer Sutherland returns as the super-agent and star of the previous Fox drama hit 24 in this sequel series that begins with a special two-hour premiere on Monday at 8 p.m. The series will then move to its regular time period of Mondays at 9 p.m. on May 12 and will air there into the summer. In 24: Live Another Day, which is set and shot in London, Bauer attempts to thwart another terrorist attack—one that, as Fox describes it, "could change the world forever." The series will retain its real-time format with lots of split- screen action. William Devane reprises his role as the president. Newcomers to the series include Yvonne Strahovski, Benjamin Bratt and Tate Donovan, among others. The upshot: During the 2008-09 season, the original 24 series was Fox's most-watched drama, averaging 11.2 million viewers and a 3.6 18-49 demo rating. In its final 2009-10 season, it averaged a still strong 9.3 million viewers and a 2.9 demo rating. Fox is hoping that premiering it during the regular season will hook viewers into watching into the summer.
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| • 'Louie' Back on FX After Long Hiatus...
The sitcom starring actor/comedian Louis C.K., which mixes a scripted story with standup comedy routines, returns for the first time in 19 months with back-to-back episodes for its fourth season at 10 and 10:30 p.m. on Monday. Louie will also air double episodes for the next six weeks through June 16. The scripted portion has Louis C.K. as a single father who shares custody of his two daughters and juggles raising them with work. Louis C.K. is not only the creator and star of the series but also executive producer, showrunner, director and is also involved with selecting the music for the series; he also recruits lots of comedic guest stars. The upshot: Louie averaged more than 2 million viewers during its second season, but in season three its viewership hovered around 1 million. Hard to tell what the long layoff will do to viewership for its season-four premiere.
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| • ...But Will 'The Tomorrow People' Return?
The CW's freshman sci-fi series airs its final episode of the season on Monday at 9 p.m. and the network has not yet announced whether it will be back next season. The CW may have foreshadowed a decision on that back in March when it moved the series from a plum Wednesday 9 p.m. time period, leading out of The CW's most-watched series, Arrow, to Monday night leading out of then-new sci-fi series Star-Crossed, which struggled from the outset. The Tomorrow People, which follows a group of humans with paranormal abilities who are being hunted by a group of paramilitary scientists, would seem compatible with a number of other already renewed CW sci-fi series, but it is only the seventh-most watched CW drama, averaging 1.4 million viewers. It is also averaging a 0.5 18-49 demo rating and a 0.4 18-34 rating. The upshot: The odds are not good that The Tomorrow People will be back next season, at least in the fall, although The CW could bring it back with a limited run for next midseason. A lot might depend on how much tune-in the series gets in this season finale.
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| Media Buyer & Planner Today
Editorial Team
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Phone: 201-314-0424 | Send Email
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Phone: 917-281-4735 | Send Email
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Phone: 917-281-4708 | Send Email
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