Is Social Media Making Us Nuts? Most Americans Think So

• by Colin Kirkland , November 12, 2021

It has become a big question lately: Are social media platforms negatively affecting users’ mental health? And if so, how and to what degree? Now, a new study conducted by an online therapy directory service finds a majority of Americans -- 58% -- say they have experienced negative mental health effects from using social media.

The study from OnlineTherapy.com, which is based on a survey of 1,250 U.S. adults conducted via Pollfish on October 7, found only 25% said their mental health has not been negatively affected, while 10% said they were unsure and 7% said they don’t use social media at all.

The findings follow numerous recent reports about social media’s harmful effects, including documents leaked by former Facebook Product Manager Frances Haugen, who in September showed Facebook’s attempts at hiding the platform’s harmful effects on users, especially teenage girls.

According to OnlineTherapy.com’s report, anxiety was the leading side effect of social media use, with 64% of those negatively affected. Other side effects included depression (56%), dissatisfaction with life (52%), fear of missing out (52%), and body-image issues (51%).  

More negative feelings correlated to more time spent on social media, the report found. 64% of users who spent 4+ hours on social media per day experienced depression, compared to 44% of users who spent 3 or less hours per day on social media.

Fifty-seven percent of the former group reported feeling lonely, while 35% of the latter group reported loneliness as a side effect of app use. 

Unfortunately, social media has been shown by some studies to be incredibly addictive, mostly due to the predatory purposes of platform algorithms. With uncontrolled targeting of this kind, users are likely to experience misinformation, leading to a lack in critical thinking abilities. 

OnlineTherapy’s report showed that 71% of those who experienced mental health issues from social media blamed misinformation and disinformation. 

 Other causes amongst those surveyed included one’s perception that others’ lives are perfect (60%), cyberbullying (59%), and unrealistic body standards (57%). 

Seventy-four percent of respondents named Facebook as the most harmful platform to their mental health. Second was Instagram (66%), then TikTok (51%), Twitter (47%), and YouTube (45%). 

The survey also collected specific information surrounding the levels of harm that social media has inflicted on users of various ages, genders, races, and ethnicities.  

Sixty-five percent of men reported that social media use negatively affected their mental health, compared to 49% of women.

Seventy-three percent of Asians said social media had a negative impact on their mental health, followed by 62% of whites, 43% of Hispanics/Latinos, and 40% of Blacks.

Sixty-five percent of Americans between 25-44 years old said social media was harmful for their mental health, followed by 51% of 45-54 year-olds, 49% of 18-24 year-olds, and 35% of people 55 and older.

Body image issues were another area of interest in the report, which were affected by social media at a similar rate for men and women. Fifty-two percent of men, and 49% of women, who experienced negative mental health effects from social media name body image issues as a challenge they’ve undergone.

The survey found that more men (64%) than women (51%) were negatively affected by cyberbullying. Uncivil discourse, as well, was cited by more men (57%) than women (43%) to cause mental distress. Seventy-five percent of men were also more negatively affected by misinformation and disinformation than women (64%). 

Younger users were more susceptible to depression and loneliness due to social media use than older users. Of users whose mental health suffered due to social media, 59% between 18 and 44 years old experienced depression, compared to 44% of users 45 and older. Fifty-five percent of the former group experienced body image issues, compared to 33% of the latter group. 

Three in 4 millennials (75%) negatively impacted by social media named misinformation and disinformation as the most harmful element of the social media platforms. Compared to 52% of users 18-24 years old and 63% of users 45 and older. 

Black social media users reported that unrealistic body standards were the greatest source of harm, while whites, Asians, and Hispanics/Latinos named misinformation and disinformation as the most damaging aspect of social media platforms. 

Fifty-six percent of whites and 53% of Hispanic/Latinos report being dissatisfied with life as a result of social media use, compared to 36% of Blacks and 32% of Asians.

 

COMMENTARY

Will 2022 Be Addressable's Breakout Year?

• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, November 12, 2021

Where does addressable TV advertising stand now, what challenges remain, and will 2022 really prove to be a tipping point?

Executives from agencies, television and ad-tech companies offered their takes during a recent webinar held by Go Addressable, the initiative formed this year by Altice USA, Charter Communications, Comcast, Cox Media, WarnerMedia/DirecTV Dish Media and Vizio to help accelerate adoption of the technology.

The positive indicators, according to a new Advertiser Perceptions survey conducted for Go Addressable, include 88% of agencies and marketers saying they view addressability as important to the future of television advertising, three quarters viewing addressable linear as key to achieving marketing objectives, and one quarter of those who haven’t used addressable saying they’ll start doing so next year.

Still, just one in 10 advertisers say they’re “very satisfied” with current addressable options, whereas one in four say they’re unsatisfied.

“There’s still work to be done,” summed up Marcien Jenckes, president of advertising, Comcast.

Asked where addressable currently fits into overall strategy, Dave Campanelli, executive vice president, chief investment officer, Horizon Media, described it as “important but complementary.”

Some clients have had dedicated addressable budgets for several years now, and while they’ve been slow to increase them, the agency expects spend to accelerate over the next couple of years, as the industry cooperates to overcome remaining obstacles — like “having to use five or six sources to get to national scale,” Campanelli said. Agencies’ development of their own addressable networks will also speed adoption, he added.

Cara Lewis, executive vice president, head of U.S. media investment at Dentsu, agreed, adding that “clients want awareness, but they also want business outcomes — and adding addressable linear is one way to get there.”

“Digital viewing is driving media strategies toward addressable,” although tipping-point momentum may not be reached until 2023, noted Marissa Jimenez, managing director, Finecast. 

In addition, addressable is getting more leverage as the need to deal with traditional linear TV challenges breaks down siloes, spurring more collaboration between sell-side executives who have deep knowledge of the complex addressable ecosystem, investment teams, ad-tech companies and other players, pointed out Nicole Saewert Whitesel, executive vice president, advanced TV, client success, Publicis Media.

In the months ahead, marketers should use addressable to better  understand the segments within their audiences, and how large addressable segments should be within the overall media plan, so that they’re ready when it’s time to scale their programs, agreed Saewert Whitesel and Lewis.

Campanelli added that addressable should be valuable not only for segment targeting, but as a reach extender, as advertisers identify which households are high versus low linear users. 

“Any linear advertiser can also take advantage of addressable,” he said. “There’s a role for addressable for virtually every brand,” although the extent of its use will depend on the nature of the brand.

When it comes to the areas where improvement is most needed, scale and measurement/reporting run neck-in-neck. 

Campanelli said that unlocking linear networks’ national inventory for addressable is the next big step. 

While acknowledging that thorny issues include how one advertiser’s addressable buy impacts the audience that other advertisers in a program are getting, and whether desirable addressable segments should be priced at a large premium, he said that “it’s important for the industry to figure these out.” 

Lewis suggested that given networks’ reluctance on this front and the difficult issues involved, more rapid and significant progress might be achieved in the short term by focusing on reporting and achieving scale on the local level via cooperation. 

“We need improvements on the reporting end — a lot of clients want a faster timeframe, and we need to get better at using data and reports,” she said. 

Getting reports that span MVPDs (multichannel video programming distributors) and meshing reporting of connected TV and addressable linear are key objectives, and increasing the availability of set-top box data is important in enhancing one-to-one capabilities, she said. 

It can be hard to assess and manage campaigns across multiple media partners, and addressable’s performance compared to regular linear, said Saewert Whitesel, and faster reporting is needed to support today’s increasingly dynamic optimization of video. 

“We need to be able to incorporate addressable into the rest of a campaign’s reporting, instead of looking at siloes, and move away from having to have an attribution study for every campaign,” agreed Finecast’s Jimenez. 

Another item on 2020 wish lists: Easier, more cost-efficient ways to create multiple versions of creative to leverage the messaging personalization opportunity that’s at the core of addressable’s value.

Lewis noted that industry collaboration might conceivably make it possible to share some video assets that are not brand-specific and have not been used in actual ads.

 

2021 Ad Price Inflation Revised Up A Full Percentage Point To +4.4%

• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, November 11, 2021

As economists analyze the implications of the biggest monthly spike in U.S. consumer price inflation since the 1990s, advertisers are also bracing for an uptick in ad-price inflation across the major media, especially digital.

Global ad prices are now projected to rise 4.0% this year -- up a full point from the 3.0% rate of media ad-price inflation projected by ECI Media Management when it released its last outlook in April.

In a positive note for traditional media pricing power, ECI revised its outlook for "offline" ad prices up 46% to an inflation rate of 3.5% this year versus the 2.4% inflation rate it was projecting in April.

Online media was revised up by 26% to a 4.4% rate of 2021 inflation from the 3.5% rate of inflation it was projecting in April.

Ad prices for all media are rebounding significantly from 2020, when the overall media marketplace fell 1%, and "offline" media fell 5.3%, although online media continued to rise at an inflation rate of 3.0%, according to ECI's estimates.

The ad industry's rate of inflation is not as bad ad the one being experienced by American consumers, which hit a 31-year high of 6.2% in October vs. the same month a year ago, according to estimates released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Wednesday.

 

JESSELL AT LARGE

Television Station Owners On The Bread Line: Not A Good Look

The Local Journalism Sustainability Act, which if passed would see the federal government subsidizing the hiring of local reporters and newsroom employees via tax credits, is a troubling and ill-advised giveaway to commercial TV broadcasters.

By Harry A. Jessell | November 15, 2021 | 5:30 a.m. ET.

Harry Jessell

When the federal government starts throwing around trillions of dollars, I am not surprised that a lot of folks scramble for a piece of the action. I am surprised, however, that TV broadcasters are among them.

They, along with newspaper and local digital publishers, are imploring the feds to subsidize their hiring of local reporters and other newsroom employees via tax credits.

The ask comes in the form of the Local Journalism Sustainability Act, the bill championed by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) that contains the credits. It looks as if it will be attached to Biden’s $1.75-trillion Build Back Better social spending package, which right now seems to have a better than even chance of passage.

The proposal is being trumpeted by the NAB, RTDNA, the newspaper lobbies and the newsroom unions.

The proposed five-year tax break is substantial. It would provide a credit of up to $25,000 for each local news employee in year one and up to $15,000 in years two through five. I say “up to” because the credit covers only 50% of an employee’s total compensation in year one and 30% in years two through five. For instance, in year one, the credit for a $40,000 employee would be just $20,000.

BRAND CONNECTIONS

In a short video aimed at encouraging members to lobby for the measure, NAB’s Shawn Donilon estimated that a newsroom of 50 employees making $50,000 each would save $4.25 million over five years. That’s serious money.

So serious, in fact, that, after doing the arithmetic, somebody amended the latest version of the measure to cap the number of employees eligible for the credit at 1,500 per company.

The Associated Press says the credits would cost the treasury $1.67 billion over five years, but that sounds low to me, given that there are still tens of thousands working in broadcasting and newspaper newsrooms. (RTDNA/Syracuse pegs broadcast newsroom employment at 27,000 and Pew Research Center says 38,000 still work at papers.)

Assuming a station group like, say, Nexstar has at least 1,500 employees making at least $50,000 (a safe assumption), it could max out its tax credits and save $25,000 on each of those workers in year one and $15,000 on each in years two through five. Total savings: $127.5 million over five years.

I can see some merit in providing credits to newspapers, which have suffered severe job losses over the last 15 years, although it pains me to think that investment firms like Alden Global Capital that are milking newspapers dry would be among the beneficiaries.

I can also see how the credits would encourage radio stations to maintain creditable local news operations. That’s particularly important in small markets. And the local digital startups need all the help they can get in filling the void created by the shuttering of newspapers.

But, sorry, as a taxpayer I am appalled by the giveaway to commercial TV broadcasters. For 70 years, they have generated untold wealth for themselves and they are still making money by the bucket full.

Let’s look again at Nexstar. For the third quarter, it reported adjusted EBITDA of $410 million — a 36% margin. As of this writing, its stock is flying higher than ever at nearly $170.

Nexstar also reported that it had spent $144 million to keep the stock flying by buying back nearly a million shares in the quarter. For that money, the company could have hired an additional 2,880 reporters at $50,000 per.

Does such a company need a tax break? Give me a break.

(I hate to single out Nexstar, but, hey, that’s what happens when you’re the biggest. To be fair, I should note that if the Biden package goes forward as is some big corporations like Nexstar will get hit with new taxes, including a 1% tax on stock buybacks.)

And here’s the other thing.

As a First Amendment guy, it’s not smart for commercial broadcasters to accept monetary benefits from the government. With newspapers in their dotage and local digital still in its infancy, it is falling increasingly to local TV stations and their networks to be the principal check on government and irresponsible, overbearing corporations.

Like Hearst TV chief Jordan Wertlieb said last week in picking up an award from the Library of American Broadcasting Foundation, broadcasting is the “immune system of democracy.”

In the heightened role, broadcasters cannot put themselves in a position where they may suffer financial consequences for their reporting or criticism of the government. They should be as independent of government control as possible.

It has taken broadcasters 100 years to mitigate the threat of license revocation that Democrats and Republicans have wielded over the years to keep them in line. Let’s not hand the pols another club to wave.

The pending legislation has other provisions. One would provide tax credits to consumers (up to $250 a year for five years) to cover subscriptions to local commercial news outlets or donations to nonprofits ones. Another would provide up to $15,000 in credits over five years to small businesses for advertising placed with local media.

These are commonsensical ways of helping local media. They reward consumers and small businesses for their support of local media, while maintaining a buffer between government and the media.

And as I said, I can see journalism subsidies for the dwindling number of news producing radio stations and struggling newspapers and digital operations. But certainly not for the likes of Disney, ViacomCBS, Comcast, Fox, Nexstar, Sinclair, Gray, Tegna, Scripps, Hearst, Graham Media and Univision.

Going on the federal dole does them no credit.

---

Harry A. Jessell is editor at large of TVNewsCheck. 

 Why Local direct businesses are vital to linear TV!!! Philip Jay LeNoble, Ph.D.

Hulu, YouTube And Roku Lead CTV Ad Spend For 2021

• by Wayne Friedman , November 12, 2021

Hulu, YouTube and Roku are the biggest connected TV/over-the-top platforms in terms of advertising revenue this year.

Hulu is forecast to hit $3.13 billion in 2021, with YouTube at $2.54 billion and Roku at $1.58 billion, according to eMarketer. The research company has not yet made estimates for Paramount+, Peacock and other streamers.

Overall connected TV (CTV) ad spend is projected to continue to see sharp gains -- rising 60% this year to $14.44 billion and another 32% next year to $19.1 billion.

Still, CTV ad spend will be a small piece of overall media spend -- just 4.7% of the total market. It will slowly rise to 7.6% by 2024 when it is expected to total $29.50 billion.

“CTV ad prices are also significantly higher than last year, which has driven up the overall spend,” says Peter Vahle, eMarketer senior forecasting analyst at Insider Intelligence.

A January-to-April study from the Association of National Advertisers/Innovid, an CTV ad-tech company, says effective CPM (cost per thousand viewers) on CTV was $23. This would be competitive to broadcast, which is $36 CPM and just a bit higher than cable TV, at $19 CPM, according to eMarketer.

TV networks have been encouraging big brand marketers to shift their upfront TV advertising dollars to CTV from their linear TV budgets, suggesting a 20% to 30% move to CTV.

 

Streaming Subscriber Growth Stalls In Q3, AVOD, FAST Streamers Gain Momentum

• by Wayne Friedman , Yesterday

Looking at the connected TV (CTV)/over-the top (OTT) market, there are now 109 million households with at least one streaming service -- 85% of all U.S. TV homes, according to a survey from Kantar.

While this is two percentage points higher year-over-year, it has slipped one percentage point in share versus the second quarter of 2021.

This can be largely attributed to the decline in advertising-free, subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services. SVOD -- still the dominant form of streaming platform -- is down 2% to 104.8 million from the end of the second quarter.

Eighty-five percent of SVOD declines came from homes with just one subscription service.

At the same time, ad-supported services -- free apps and those with small subscription fees -- have climbed.

Ad-supported video-on-demand apps (AVOD) -- which have a monthly fee -- are up 4% to 27.3 million U.S. homes.

FAST platforms -- free (no subscription fee) ad-supported services -- are 27% higher to 17.2 million.

For the 2021-2022 TV season, Nielsen says there are 122.4 million total TV households.

In terms of U.S. household penetration, 81.6% have at least one SVOD service,with 21.3% for AVOD and 13.4% for FAST. This trend has continued for streaming services since the start of the year, with SVOD slipping and AVOD and FAST gaining.

In the third quarter, Amazon Prime Video added the most new subscribers -- taking a 19% share. Disney+ was next, at 16%, followed by HBO Max, at 12%; then Apple TV+, 7%; ESPN+, 7%; Netflix, 6%; Discovery+, 6%; Hulu, 6%; Paramount+, 3%; and Peacock, 2%.

Households with multiple streaming services keep growing. The average TV streaming home now has 4.2 subscriptions -- up from 3.8 in the second quarter of 2021.

TV homes with the most subscription services can mean more competition for screen time for each individual streaming platform -- especially new or smaller platforms, according to Kantar.

On average, those homes that have, for example, Paramount+ -- among other services -- have an average of 5.8 total streaming subscriptions. Discovery+ is at 5.6, with Peacock at 5.3; Apple TV+ at 5.3; and HBO Max at 5.2.

Kantar also says households with a traditional live pay TV service -- but no streaming -- now have a 10% share, up from a 9% number in the second quarter of this year.

Those homes with both a traditional pay TV service and streaming are now at a 51% number -- up from 50% in the previous quarter.

 

Dish, Sinclair Reach 3-Months' Delayed Carriage Deal

• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, 6 hours ago

After a series of short-term extensions since their previous carriage agreement expired in mid-August, satellite provider Dish Network and Sinclair Broadcast Group have reached a new multi-year deal.

The deal keeps Sinclair’s 144 local TV stations in 85 markets on the Dish TV satellite service and keeps Sinclair’s Tennis Channel on Dish TV and Sling TV.

The deal does not include carriage of Sinclair’s Bally Sports-branded regional sports networks (RSNs).

That dashes sports leagues’ hope that Dish — which dropped the RSNs in summer 2019 — could use its TV stations as leverage to get the RSNs reinstated.

In mid October, Tegna dropped its local stations from Dish TV after carriage renegotiations failed. The two companies have continued to exchange accusations, and Dish has filed a "bad faith" complaint against Tegna with the Federal Communications Commission

 

Platforms Partner To Measure Retail Sales Impact Of CTV, OTT Ads For Local, Mid-Market Advertisers

• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, 7 hours ago

TV ad-tech company Cadent and Octillion, a platform-as-service company for local and mid-market advertisers, have expanded their partnership to enable measurement of the direct brick-and-mortar retail sales impact of advertising from homes exposed to over-the-top (OTT) and connected TV (CTV) commercials. 

The companies said they have combined Cadent’s Aperture cookieless audience mapping technology with Octillion’s attribution capabilities to provide a holistic view of consumer purchasing behavior, and enable measuring outcomes including return on ad spend (ROAS)

 

CBS Claims Lead In Total Broadcast Minutes Viewed Season-To-Date, With 166.7 Billion

• by Wayne Friedman , Yesterday

Through seven weeks of the new TV season, CBS says it leads all major broadcast networks in terms of total minutes viewed for persons ages 2+ -- with 166.7 billion minutes -- when looking at all programming "across all dayparts," including entertainment, news and sports content.

Viewing data, which comes from Nielsen's total day metric, is tallied from September 20 to November 7, for all programs -- including viewing beyond seven days from its live airing.

CBS says NBC is next at 130.8 billion minutes, with Fox at 108.6 billion and ABC at 98.5 billion.

The announcement follows Nielsen’s effort, starting in April, to measure streaming usage among four major services -- Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video -- for viewing activity per program.

Nielsen offers regular top-10 lists of persons ages 2+ for original, acquired and movie programming in terms of million/billion minutes viewed each week. Data comes from its national TV panel.

Looking at specific daypart/program content, CBS says it leads in prime time with 59 billion minutes viewed for its entertainment programming since the start of the season. This is 10 billion more than its nearest competitor -- NBC’s prime-time entertainment programming.

By comparison, other programming, “NFL on CBS” -- all its NFL game content -- totaled 45 billion minutes. CBS says this is up 2% from a year ago. NBC's “Sunday Night Football” leads CBS in viewed minutes for NFL content.

Another 26 billion minutes has been viewed for CBS News programming.

The CBS network’s new drama series "NCIS: Hawai’i" has had 3.5 billion minutes viewed so far this season. Another new show, "FBI: International," came in at 3.1 billion minutes. Viewing of all three "FBI" franchise shows totaled 10 billion minutes.

In the most recent reading for the week of October 11, Netflix's "Squid Games" led all streaming TV series with 2.25 billion minutes.

Unlike traditional TV networks, Netflix -- as well as many other streamers -- typically releases all current-season episodes of a series at the same time.

 

COMMENTARY

6 Consumer Archetypes Brands Should Understand To Navigate The Future

• by Helen Androlia , Yesterday

“In these uncertain times...” How quickly we became tired of these words that were meant to reassure. The pandemic has become a new exercise in how marketing professionals can extend empathy and remain relevant in a world with constantly evolving challenges.

As a brand, what can you do to add a layer of understanding to how consumers were seemingly affected in different ways, but all share similarities in their experience? We have identified 12 high-level archetypes of consumer that have revealed themselves in the past 18 months. Below are several of the more common archetypes that you might already recognize.

The Resetter, The Comeback & The Challenger 

On the surface, these consumers appear to have taken the challenges of the pandemic in stride. After having their lives paused, Resetters want to get everything back on track. The Comeback found lockdowns as an opportunity to rearrange their priorities to develop a sense of accomplishment, even if others can’t always relate to their eager enthusiasm. Challengers are a solutions-oriented group that doesn’t want to dwell on the past and, like the others in this group, is looking forward to their return to normal in their own way, helping others move forward too.

Brands can connect with these archetypes with forward-thinking messaging -- especially as these archetypes can be concerned that they potentially appear to others as insensitive. Leveraging humor to align with their positivity, and inviting them with opportunities to contribute, can help them feel connected to others. 

The Transformer, The Apprehender, The Negotiator

These archetypes are also forward-looking, but with hesitancy. Transformers are ready to take lessons from the pandemic and implement them across their communities. Apprehenders are equally eager for a return to normal -- but only if it’s timed right. They’re not prepared to start rebuilding if they aren’t sure of the outcome. Meanwhile, Negotiators aren’t prepared to give up on their newly established lifestyles.

Overall, these archetypes have realized that they have gained a surprising amount during the pandemic and consequent lockdowns, but are ready to move on a little at a time. 

With some healthy skepticism, these archetypes may be quicker than others to write off brands as insincere and opportunistic. For brands to communicate effectively, leveraging commitment in action in an authentic way will go a long way. Giving them a secure and stable cause to connect with can help foster a sense of togetherness. 

Ultimately we must lead messaging with empathy for brands to show consumers an understanding of their unique challenges as we move forward, prioritizing adaptability and keeping communication open. After all, every time is uncertain -- we just feel it more acutely than ever before.

 

2021 Ad Price Inflation Revised Up A Full Percentage Point To +4.4%

• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, 5 hours ago

As economists analyze the implications of the biggest monthly spike in U.S. consumer price inflation since the 1990s, advertisers are also bracing for an uptick in ad-price inflation across the major media, especially digital.

Global ad prices are now projected to rise 4.0% this year -- up a full point from the 3.0% rate of media ad-price inflation projected by ECI Media Management when it released its last outlook in April.

In a positive note for traditional media pricing power, ECI revised its outlook for "offline" ad prices up 46% to an inflation rate of 3.5% this year versus the 2.4% inflation rate it was projecting in April.

Online media was revised up by 26% to a 4.4% rate of 2021 inflation from the 3.5% rate of inflation it was projecting in April.

Ad prices for all media are rebounding significantly from 2020, when the overall media marketplace fell 1%, and "offline" media fell 5.3%, although online media continued to rise at an inflation rate of 3.0%, according to ECI's estimates.

The ad industry's rate of inflation is not as bad ad the one being experienced by American consumers, which hit a 31-year high of 6.2% in October vs. the same month a year ago, according to estimates released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Wednesday.

 

COMMENTARY

Is Streaming TV In Self-Driving Cars Next?

• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, 6 hours ago

We are running out of ways to expand our personal time in using media, where estimates of 8 hours to 9 hours a day might be tops. Safety or mental-health concerns, anybody?

Sure, you might sleep less to catch up on all the “Squid Game” episodes you've missing. But perhaps you haven’t looked at those other niche areas, such as commuting car time.

Self-driving cars have given some the idea -- looking beyond just safety concerns -- of what could come next: Watching TV shows and other content on one’s commute. And not watching the road.

A survey from marketing company Vericast says only 37% would not consider streaming TV content in self-driving cars. On long distance road trips of a 100 miles or more, respondents say, as passengers, 36% have streaming content in a vehicle. And 9% in self-driving vehicles.

Remember just passengers, not drivers.

One regular hour-long commute each day, each way, means just enough time to catch up on any “NCIS,” “This is Us,” “Stranger Things” or “The Handmaid’s Tale” episodes.

In a perfect world, what would be the engagement factor of advertisers looking to access that kind of channel -- ad-supported streaming platforms while on the move? Surely, the possibilities are endless.

Even without being behind the wheel -- well, maybe without hands on the wheel -- it shouldn’t be difficult to have your vehicle steered to the right physical location to your desired consumer product or service after seeing some ad-supported streaming messaging.

Perhaps those self-driving cars will have seats that face backwards, in the opposite direction of where the moving vehicle is headed. No point is riling myself up over road ragers or other distractions.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Think about self-driving cars in the near-term.

In September, U.S. auto safety regulators identified the 12th crash involving Tesla vehicles that used its autopilot drive assistance systems -- a system allowing some driving tasks to be handled by the car, letting drivers keep their hands off the wheel for extended periods.

Eight of those crashes, according to The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, resulted in 10 deaths.

Streaming? Well, maybe there were texting and other digital needs at play here for those in control of these vehicles. Or drinking that cold brew and gazing comfortably into space.

Maybe some good, perfect TV content can wait while autopilot car mechanisms are perfected. And, if hacked? Now I got you thinking. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

 

COMMENTARY

For A Stronger 'Build Back Better' Campaign - Add 1 Key Word

• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, 10 hours ago

Legendary ad man Donnie Deutsch says the whole “Build Back Better”marketing effort from the Biden Administration is short on one word: economy.

Deutsch mused on MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House” last week that a phase that keeps coming back -- when it comes to political messaging and voter motivation.

“It‘s the economy, stupid,’ from the Clinton campaign,” he says. So, he wonders, what about The Power Economy Bill, The People’s Economy Bill or The Economy’s Future Bill?

Deutsch adds: “Go back to Obamacare. It was a health-care bill ... Civil Rights? There was a civil-rights bill. This is an economic bill, and you need to own it that way. It’s not a spending bill, a spending bill can be a dirty word.”

Then MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace puts Deutsch on the spot: Make us a TV ad -- right now. To his credit, Deutsch riffed on a rough sketch of what the TV ad might look like -- improvising on the spot.

He suggests: “It’s a dark America. It was what we inherited. It was Covid. It was an economy in ruins. It was January 6th [the date of the insurrection of the Capitol.].”

“Then all of a sudden, this economic future bill has shed light. It has created jobs. It gives pre-K [and] child tax care credits. It’s saving the world from climate change. These are the things powering our economic future. It’s morning in America again.”

No doubt many voters know the word "infrastructure." Still that word can be fuzzy to many, if not cumbersome in a TV ad. Better roads and bridges? Is that all it is? The Biden Administration wants it to mean more, like broadband service to rural U.S. areas.

On Friday, the House of Representatives passed a $1 trillion bill for this basic infrastructure work. But the bigger companion $1.75 trillion bill for social safety-net programs is still in process --- that's the "Build Back Better" part.

A modest campaign did start in July for the campaign -- a $10 million “Building Back Together”  effort on broadcast, cable TV and digital platforms in the Washington D.C. area.

It talked up good paying jobs, as well as promising clear drinking water, the possibility of free pre-K learning for kids to help their parents go to their jobs and expanding Medicare. Early on, there was a proposal for free community college.

A new kind of marketing campaign would, in theory, be a big help when it comes to the crucial midterm elections. Historically, the current President’s party has a tough time gaining more seats to the House of Representatives two years after the presidential election.

Longer term, a big impactful ad campaign -- running before the midterms -- would go a long way to rally the party faithful that the President and his administration is on the right track. It could also lift his approval ratings.

Improving economic and personal financial conditions is always something voters can engage with on their TV or other digital screens.

Also  find your missing TV marketing buzz words before the next election.

 

High-Priced Scatter Deals May Not Worry Brand Advertisers

• by Wayne Friedman , Yesterday

Big TV-focused brand marketers are now less concerned about price hikes in the scatter TV marketplace, according to a recent study from Advertiser Perceptions.

Thirty-eight percent of media-executive respondents made upfront deals to “avoid rate hikes in the scatter market” -- down from 49% a year ago, according to a June 2021 survey from the ad-business research company.

This comes after marketers rushed into the upfront marketplace this past summer, resulting in a massive 20% to 25% cost-per-thousand viewer (CPM) price increases. In addition, brand TV marketers shifted 20% to 25% of their budgets to TV network-associated premium streaming platforms.

The upfront market is where broadcast and cable TV networks can sell 65% to 75% of their inventory throughout the September-August TV season at reduced rates versus the quarter-by-quarter scatter market TV season that occurs throughout the year.

Marketers have traditionally placed a majority of the national TV budgets on networks to avoid higher-priced scatter deals.

Growing connected TV media deals may be having a major effect on business -- in terms of pricing and when to place messaging.

“CTV is altering the notion of a calendar,” says Erin Firneno, vice president, business Intelligence at Advertiser Perceptions.

“While advertisers are compelled to buy upfront to secure limited premium inventory, streaming programming does not follow the linear TV calendar. ... As audiences redefine prime time and programming, the companies that showcase a wider portfolio at the upfronts have a decided edge.” Firneno added.

At the same time, 68% of advertisers say they are willing to pay higher prices to lock in “video ad opportunities” -- up 19 percentage points from last year. This includes all video platforms -- linear TV, on-demand, streaming and digital.

Advertiser Perceptions surveyed 307 advertising executives in June 2021 — 50% marketer, 50% agency — who run national TV and digital video advertising.

The TV upfront market this past summer came after a weakened and uncertain national TV advertising marketplace in August/September -- just before the start of the 2020-2021 TV season, which was still in the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic.