Nielsen Says Total Audience Measurement Is Coming 'by the End of the Year'

Company creating a common metric for TV and digital By Jason Lynch

• September 28, 2015, 7:38 PM EDT
               

            

Nielsen will finally track the viewership of shows like The Big Bang Theory across all platforms.        

     

Like winter on Game of Thrones, total audience measurement is coming—and soon. That was Nielsen's mantra during the company's "Measuring the Total Audience" seminar Monday at Advertising Week.

 

"By the end of this year, we'll have most of these pieces in place," said Steve Hasker, Nielsen's global president, referring to the firm's total audience measurement, which he said will provide a total audience read across all linear and digital platforms daily. The new data, he added, will give advertisers, buyers and networks "the ammunition to move beyond C3 and C7" when it comes to advertising metrics.

 

Nielsen's total audience measurement is "trying to create a level playing field between television and digital video," with "like-for-like metrics," said Lynda Clarizio, president of U.S. media for Nielsen.  "We want the same numbers to be out there."

 

Clarizio explained that Nielsen ratings are based on the "average minute audience," while digital video metrics are expressed in terms of views. The apples-to-oranges comparison was illustrated by ESPN's 2014 World Cup ratings. The World Cup averaged 4.6 million viewers on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC, while the digital stream was "viewed" by 115 million, which seems to be more than 20 times the linear audience. But the average minute audience—i.e. the same metric used on the linear side—was just 307,000.

 

As part of what Nielsen will call its Total Content Ratings, "we're going to put all those metrics out there" and let networks and advertisers decide which ones are best to use, said Clarizio. "It's not up to us to determine the currency."

 

But what's been taking Nielsen so long? "It's complex," said Clarizio. "To measure across all these different devices and platforms requires all these different methodologies."

The metrics should also "allow for a calmer marketplace" in the SVOD space, as rights owners are currently flying blind with regards to how popular their shows are on streaming services like Netflix and Amazon, said Hasker.

 

The Total Content Ratings will also include SVOD offerings like Netflix, even though Netflix has stripped out the Nielsen watermark from its content in a effort to prevent the company from measuring its data. Instead, Nielsen is using a "signature-based methodology," said Clarizio, but hopes that programmers who sell their content to Netflix and other SVOD platforms will "insist that that Nielsen watermark is embedded in the content when it's distributed, because that's the easiest way for us to measure it."

 

Netflix's secrecy when it comes to ratings metrics "highlights the need for the industry to work together to create this measurement ecosystem," said Clarizio. "We do wish that Netflix were being more cooperative. They have their reasons not to be, but as we come to one content ecosystem, we hope that one day they do cooperate."

 

Despite Netflix's resistance, Hasker said the idea of new media versus old media isn't an accurate depiction of how the television landscape has evolved in recent years. "You have to adapt very quickly, and the rate of change is unprecedented," he said. "Consumers are in the driver's seat." Those consumers spend an average of 64 hours a week consuming media, he said, including an average of 38 hours devoted to watching video and 14 hours spent listening to audio. "We all have a second job, which is consuming media." 

 

But of all consumers, millennials remain the most difficult of all audiences for advertisers to reach. "They are less prepared to spend money" and "most resistant to interruption [by] advertising," said Hasker. As a result, "there is going to have to be significant innovation" to get them to pay for what they love, and consume advertising.

 

Yet while millennials are most resistant to advertisers, they are also, oddly, among the most trusting of advertising, according to the results of Nielsen's bi-annual Global Trust in Advertising report.

Randall Beard, president of Nielsen's Expended Verticals, said trust in advertising has remained steady for several years, with "earned" media (shared by friends) and "owned" media (websites and social media channels) the most trusted by consumers, followed by paid media (advertising). That order held firm in all 60 countries where Nielsen conducted the online survey.

 

Overall, consumers have more trust in advertising across traditional media like TV (63 percent), newspapers (60 percent) and magazines (58 percent) than across digital media like online video ads (48 percent), search engine ads (47 percent) and social network ads (42 percent). But millennials trust both new and traditional forms of advertising, with the highest levels in nearly all formats. 

A mix of paid, owned and earned advertising "is critically important for brands," said Beard, as well as measuring advertising across the three Rs: reach, resonance and reaction.

 

But common metrics—like Nielsen's upcoming Total Content Ratings—are essential for comparability, said Beard.

Nielsen To Get Digital Consensus From 4A’s. And, Lew Dickey Out at Cumulus as CEO

INSIDERADIO
September 30, 2015

The ad agency community is about to break its silence on digital audio measurement. The 4A’s (American Association of Advertising Agencies) will voice its position on what metrics it would like to see in Nielsen’s long-delayed streaming audio measurement service within a couple of weeks, according to an agency exec who serves on the trade group’s local broadcast committee. There’s been a lot of heated contention," Jennifer Hungerbuhler, executive VP & managing director, local video & audio investment, Dentsu Aegis said at Tuesday’s RAIN Summit Atlanta. "The industry has been waiting to hear the agencies speak," she said. "It took us a little bit of time to all get together, all get aligned," but the committee, she added, had numerous conversations with Nielsen, iHeartMedia and Pandora "to take into consideration everyone’s point of view." While she wouldn’t say what the association’s position would be, Hungerbuhler said she personally feels that a radio station’s combined on-air and online audience should be part of the metrics. "We have to understand what is that total audio audience that we can buy," she said. Nielsen has said a lack of consensus among the larger radio broadcasters and digital pureplays on which metrics to use has held up the launch of the service. Digital audio, meanwhile, has become a growing part of Dentsu Aegis’ audio placements, now accounting for 10%-15% of its total audio budget, up from 3%-5% just a few years ago. "We can attribute the increase to having data showing that in the last 5 years, the audience has doubled and tripled," Hungerbuhler said. "But until we see another large spike in listenership, I don’t think we will see another large spike in spending."

Ad Week—Millennials Love Radio’s ‘Authenticity.’

Tuesday at New York’s Advertising Week titled, "Why Millennials and Gen Z Are Listening More," the Millennial demographic was called out and characterized as lapping up all things audio. "Millennials are probably the most misunderstood generation by marketers. So often we get it wrong," said moderator Gayle Troberman, executive VP & CMO at iHeartMedia.

 

One misconception is that the demo doesn’t tune into FM radio. Not the case, Troberman said. "The biggest mass medium for Millennials is radio, which just surpassed TV. That’s a pretty shocking turn of events. Smartphones are No. 2 and TV is No. 3," Troberman noted. "In the car, people feel like they’re having a live conversation [with radio], because they have to put down their smartphones when they’re driving." She said that 93% of Millennials listen to radio, 2.5-3.5 hours a week. Added panel co-participant, and iHeartMedia host and radio/TV media mogul Ryan Seacrest, "There is an intimacy and authenticity to radio. There is a direct line of communication that is unvarnished, and I think Millennials appreciate that. That certainly resonates with an audience that likes to feel like they’re being talked to naturally." The pair also discussed aligning brands with live events to tie into radio’s strengths. "Integrating live experiences and amplifying and sharing the stories—such as the iHeart Radio Festival—reaches all walks of life, all walks of music. It’s become a massive cultural event," Seacrest said. As a result, the social media outreach surpassed that of the Super Bowl Halftime Show and was up in Oscars territory—which means the event presents unprecedented opportunities for advertisers and marketers.

Lew Dickey Out of Top Cumulus Post. In a major management shakeup following weeks of speculation, Cumulus Media has replaced longtime CEO Lew Dickey with board member and veteran magazine publishing executive Mary Berner, effective October 13. Dickey, the company’s founder, will become vice-chairman and continue as a director. The news dominated conversation at the RAIN conference Tuesday in Cumulus Media’s home Atlanta market. Dickey’s brother John, executive VP of content and programming, has exited his position at the company. Senior VP of content & programming Mike McVay will be taking over his responsibilities while the company looks for a replacement. The founder put as positive a spin on the events as possible, saying that when he founded Cumulus in 1997 his goal was "to create the nationwide platform we have today." But after nearly 19 years of serving the company day-to-day, the last 16 as CEO, "now is the right time for me to transition from CEO to vice-chairman. I look forward to working with my fellow board members to support our new CEO." Berner joined the Cumulus board in May. She has a 30-year history in the magazine business, most recently as president and CEO of the trade group MPA—The Association of Magazine Media. From 2007-11, she was CEO of Reader’s Digest Association and, before that, CEO of Fairchild Publications. Her publishing career includes executive positions at Glamour, TV Guide, W and Women’s Wear Daily, among other publications. In a statement, Cumulus board chairman Jeffrey Marcus called Berner "a proven executive" known for "driving results in multiplatform advertising and content-driven businesses." Marcus said Berner "has demonstrated an ability to turn around a company’s performance and build value for shareholders." Most pointedly, Berner led the company’s recent Operations Review Task Force, which is expected to guide Cumulus as it works to improve its operating performance. On the Record—Berner gives her perspective on Cumulus’ strengths and challenges, at InsideRadio.com.

Cumulus Losses Lead To Reshuffled Top Team. Cumulus board chairman Jeffrey Marcus pulled no punches when announcing the elevation of Mary Berner to replace longtime CEO Lew Dickey. Crediting Dickey and the Cumulus team with building "a formidable national and local footprint," Marcus said, "maximizing the value of these assets requires making them work together effectively and efficiently." "At a time when the media landscape continues to undergo seismic transformation, Cumulus needs a broad-based media operator who can leverage its outstanding resources—from its core strength in radio to its growing presence in digital, experiential and other emerging platforms—and capitalize on the industry’s strong fundamentals." Marcus cited Berner as just such a "leader for Cumulus." Marcus, who was named non-executive chairman in April, is a partner with Crestview Partners, the largest stockholder of Cumulus. Stock numbers have been the company’s undoing of late. Cumulus stock has lost 84% of its value this year. The stock closed at 68 cents yesterday, down from a 52-week high of $4.51, following a week where its share price dropped to a six-year low. The ouster news continued that fortune as Cumulus stock fell 5% in after-hours trading. "We know there is much work ahead of us, but we are confident that with the depth and breadth of talent that Lew has assembled in and across Cumulus, working under Mary’s leadership, we can leverage our outstanding assets and capitalize on the industry’s solid fundamentals," Marcus said in a memo to employees. Those employees are circling October 13 on their calendar, the day when Berner will host an all-employee webcast. The shakeup follows weeks of rumors about the company. While John Dickey’s contract was due to expire November 29, Cumulus had just signed a multiyear contract extension with Lew Dickey in April, to continue as president & CEO and a member of the board through 2018.

Gen X Marks the Top Spot In Consumer Affluence. Generation X—one of radio’s most influential demographics—now represents the country’s most affluent generation. According to the new 2015 Ipsos Affluent Survey USA, 37% of Gen Xers (adults 35-49) rank as "affluents," meaning adults in households with at least $100,000 in annual income. The demo is followed on the list by Baby Boomers (adults 50-69), 33% of whom are affluents; Millennials (18-33), with 25% hitting that income threshold; and Seniors (ages 70+) at 5%. It’s a good tie-in for radio, considering that Gen Xers consume an average of 16 hours per week of radio programming, according to Nielsen. Country ranks as their top format and morning drive (6am to 10am) their favorite daypart. There are 14.8 million Gen Xers in the U.S., and 68% of them work full-time, making them prime targets for radio tune-in. The Ipsos survey defines "affluents" as desirable, high-end consumers who spend $2.7 trillion dollars annually on automotive, home/garden, personal insurance, travel, education and electronics. Among these high-end households, Millennial affluents are the heaviest consumers of social media, spending an average of 10.4 hours per week on various platforms, nearly double the average 5.5 hours for overall affluents. The Ipsos survey found younger Gen Xers, (under 40) behave more like their Millennial counterparts, particularly regarding social media, entertainment trends and organic food. For instance, the survey found 74% of younger Xers "prefer to stream music online instead of buying CDs or downloaded music," compared to just 45% of older Xers. For their part, Baby Boomers are still influential, desirable consumers, posting the highest median household net worth of $913,000, surpassing the average for Gen Xers ($552,000) and Millennials ($516,000).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Consumers Still Leery Of Digital Ads

 

• by Tanya Gazdik Irwin, Today, 4:20 AM

Consumer trust in digital advertising has not improved in the two years since the last assessment, according to Nielsen’s "Global Trust in Advertising" report.

This is a signal that advertisers may not be doing enough to move the needle on this front, according to the report. For a medium that is newer, with lots of room to grow, it is surprising that the trust levels have not grown more. The fact that it didn’t shows that consumers may not be entirely "sold" on this format, according to the report.

Almost half of global respondents say they completely or somewhat trust online video ads (48%, no change from 2013), ads served in search engine results (47%, down one percentage point) and ads on social networks (46%, down two percentage points).

About 4 in 10 global respondents trust online banner ads (42%, no change) and mobile advertising (43%, down two percentage points). Just over one-third say they trust mobile text ads (36%, down one percentage point).

Millennials (age 21-34), who came of age with the Internet, have the highest levels of trust in online and mobile formats, followed closely by Generation X (age 35-49). But it’s not just online and mobile advertising formats where Millennials exceed the average. They also show the highest levels of trust in 18 of 19 advertising formats/channels, including TV, newspapers and magazines, and they’re also the most willing to take action on 16 of 19 formats.

Millennials consume media differently than their older counterparts, exercising greater control over when and where they watch, listen and read content — and on which device, says Randall Beard, Nielsen’s president of expanded verticals.

"But even if they rely less heavily on traditional channels, their trust and willingness to act on these formats remains high," Beard says in a release. "While an integrated, multi-channel approach is best across all generations, it carries even more importance when reaching Millennials."

The most credible form of advertising comes straight from the people we know and trust. Eighty-three percent of online respondents in 60 countries say they trust the recommendations of friends and family. This level declined one percentage point from 2013 (84% in 58 countries).  

Owned online channels are also among the most trusted advertising formats. Trust in advertising on branded Web sites increased one percentage point to 70% in 2015 as the second-most-trusted format, remaining in second place from 2013.

Sixty-six percent of survey respondents indicate that they trust consumer opinions posted online, which rates third in 2015, down two percentage points from 2013. In addition, more than half of global respondents (56%) trust emails they signed up for, a level that is consistent with 2013.
While there isn’t one simple rule for maximizing advertising effectiveness in a saturated market, understanding how consumers feel about the ads served on the various media platforms they use every day is a good place to start.

"While advertisers have started to follow consumers online, about a third of online advertising campaigns don't work — they don't generate awareness or drive any lift in purchase intent," Beard says. "As consumers are in control of how they consume content and interact with brands more than ever, understanding ad resonance across screens is the only way to successfully drive memorability and brand lift today."

Despite continued media fragmentation, the proliferation of online formats has not eroded trust in traditional (offline) paid channels. TV, newspapers and magazines remain trusted advertising formats. More than six in 10 global respondents say they completely or somewhat trust TV ads (63%), up one percentage point from 2013.

Nielsen’s Global Trust in Advertising Survey polled 30,000 online respondents in 60 countries to gauge consumer sentiment in 19 forms of paid, earned and owned advertising mediums. The results identify the ad formats resonating most strongly with consumers and those that have room to grow.

comScore, Rentrak To Merge, Take On Nielsen

 

• by Wayne Friedman, Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, Yesterday, 5:38 PM

Making a major move for new digital and traditional media measurement services -- as well as amping up competition with Nielsen -- comScore is buying Rentrak.  The deal is valued by some at about $732 million, based on today's closing stock market share price.

Rentrak -- which focuses mostly traditional media measurement, including TV and film -- and comScore, with its business deep in the digital media space, say the merger will help the combined company focus on immediate pressing industry goals such as coming up with new standards for the next generation of cross-platform measurement.

Rentrak, which monitors set-top-box data to determine how consumers watch television, becomes a subsidiary of comScore, which measures consumer Web activity.

The move challenges Nielsen in tracking how people consume media.
The merger will offer what comScore CEO Serge Matta calls "the cross-platform measurement systems of the future." Agencies will have access to the cross-platform metrics needed to plan and execute campaigns.

"This merger also recognizes the critical importance of combining digital and TV assets for next generation media measurement, which requires a higher degree of precision at both a national and local market level," Matta says in a statement.

Shareholders of comScore will own approximately 66.5% of the combined company, while Rentrak shareholders would own about 33.5%, under terms of the deal. Each share of Rentrak will be converted into the right to receive 1.15 shares of comScore.

Serge Matta, chief executive officer of comScore, will lead the combined company. Bill Livek, Rentrak’s vice chairman and chief executive, will serve as the new company’s executive vice chairman and president.

In response to the deal, Nielsen, a competitor to both companies, stated: “Nielsen has the only total audience measurement, comparable across all screens. All of our data is fully representative of the U.S. population, and we deliver truly independent measurement.”

It added: “There are myriad analytics options for the media industry, but Nielsen’s focus is on delivering the actual currency ratings data used for trading billions of dollars in advertising. This requires superior quality, industrial-strength delivery and gold-standard audited processes and methods.”

After-market trading had comScore’s stock up 7% to $44.50 and Rentrak gaining 13% to $48.99.
In positioning the company's independence for media buyers and sellers, Matta said in an investor call that the WPP Group -- a major global advertising/media company, which has investments in both companies -- will not have a seat on the combined company's board.

WPP Group will have a 16% stake in the combined company, with an option to grow it to 19.9%.
In February of this year, WPP paid $300 million for a roughly 15% to 20% stake in comScore. In October 2014, WPP bought a 16.7% stake in Rentrak for $56 million in cash.

Political Just Part Of Mix For Success In 2016

    September 25, 2015 6:48 AM EDT 

By Mary Collins

Although political and the Summer Olympics bode well for local TV, there are a number of factors that will affect advertising in 2016, particularly in markets that don't have tight races. TV stations need to be ready for challenges like changes in ad agency operations and problems with collections, as well as maximize digital opportunities.

      

The Presidential election and Summer Olympics are two good reasons to be optimistic about 2016 local TV ad revenues. In fact, Kantar Media’s Campaign Media Analysis Group (CMAG) is forecasting local stations will capture as much as 75% of the $4.4 billion that will be spent on political TV advertising.

But we all know that national estimates are not a good proxy for the situation in any given market, particularly when it comes to political advertising. An analysis by The Cook Political Report shows that more than 80% of the 2012 TV political ad spend occurred in just seven states.

     

Where are the hot markets for 2016? CMAG expects “Stations and (cable) systems in Boston, DC, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia will be flooded with orders from some combination of presidential, Senate and governor advertisers.”

Of course there are a number of considerations that will determine just how much of the TV spend will be local and whether or not it is concentrated in these markets. As CMAG notes, they include such factors as “the number and location of likely competitive congressional races; the number and location of presidential battleground states; the total amount of money likely to be raised and spent in all races, including for governor; the proportion of total spending likely to go to TV; and how that TV ad spending is likely to be split between local and national, broadcast and cable.”

In discussing the outlook for Congressional and Senate campaign spending, the Cook Report said it expects “little or no growth in spending on statewide and House races” and nine “toss up” Senate seats, compared to eleven in 2012. In examining the 12 gubernatorial seats up for election in 2016, it finds only three “look competitive right now.”

There just aren’t any guarantees on how much political ad revenue any station will ultimately generate. That, combined with the knowledge that savvy media credit departments already have strict policies to ensure they comply with the laws regarding political advertising, is why MFM’s BCCA subsidiary, the media industry’s credit association skipped political advertising when preparing the agenda for its upcoming BCCA Media Credit Seminar being held October 8^th in New York.

 

A station’s credit and collections managers may not be the first executives that come to mind when you want to get a handle on the coming year’s top challenges and opportunities. But they should be. Closely aligned with both the sales and finance departments, your credit and collections executives can provide the holistic view essential to ensuring your station maximizes its ad revenues by receiving prompt and full payment on the ad inventory it sells.

 

So what do the industry’s media credit executives view as the hot issues for 2016? Global economy makes it even more challenging to predict the outlook for consumer spending, which in turn will influence who will be spending more money on advertising next year. That’s why BCCA has asked Richard Hastings, a nationally recognized macro strategist at Seaport Global Securities, to advise Seminar attendees about the factors that are likeliest to affect ad-supported media in the coming year. Here’s the leader board based upon the topics they have selected for this year’s seminar.

1. Market Transitions Shaping New Roles at Ad Agencies – With most media buys being placed by ad agencies, it’s critical to align all aspects of the ad sales operation with the agency’s media buying needs, which are currently undergoing a tremendous transformation. As Havas Media’s U.S. CEO Lori Hiltz noted in an Advertising Age article earlier this year, "The collision of content and distribution is forcing mass advertisers to reconsider their go-to-market model." Attendees will be hearing more about how changes are affecting the role of today’s ad agencies from three Havas executives participating in the Seminar’s opening panel.

2. Digital Media Sales Opportunities – Several sessions at the Seminar will follow on this agency discussion by delving into the changes media providers must make in order to seize the media sales opportunities created by these trends. They include a presentation by Eileen Sweeney, AR Manager for Outbrain, concerning the differences and similarities between the approaches toward credit and sales at a pure play digital media provider compared to TV stations and other cross-platform media providers.

Programmatic media buying represents one of the biggest transitions affecting digital media credit and sales. We will be shining the spotlight on best practices for synchronizing a media provider’s credit management and traffic and billing systems with these new services. In addition, we will look at how BCCA’s new automated Media Whys credit report can help to accelerate the turn-around time for credit approvals.

3. Financial Management Trends – Most media buys require the media provider to offer credit unsecured by a bank, a credit card, or collateral that can be turned into cash to satisfy the debt. This fact of media life means credit and collections managers must work closely with the ad sales department as well as the company’s finance and accounting department, which is responsible for monitoring and reporting the amounts of account receivables on the company’s financial statements.

With that in mind, the Seminar will include an update on the benchmarks used to monitor accounts receivables, including DSO – Day Sales Outstanding, led by Scott Jenkins, Senior Manager of TWDC Collections for ABC Networks/Disney Worldwide Services. We’ve also asked Deb Donaldson, VP & Corporate Controller for Bonten Media, to provide an overview on what credit managers should be looking for when they review a company’s financials.

4. Latest Bankruptcy Developments – No matter how thorough the credit check, there are going to be times when the client’s circumstances change and the company files for bankruptcy protection. Bankruptcy experts from Lowenstein Sandler LLP will discuss “The Changing Face of Chapter 11” using examples from Relativity Media and Filmed Entertainment (aka Columbia House). They will also provide an update on MDC Partners.

 

This one-day event will provide an opportunity for media credit professionals from across the country to come together to share ideas and best practices for the ever-changing media credit and collections function. To encourage those discussions, our closing reception is open to reception-only registrants as well as seminar attendees. The Seminar will also host a mini-expo for companies and organizations that support the industry’s credit and collections programs to provide updates on their products and services.

Thanks to the leadership of Robert (Bob) Warner, Director of Corporate Credit & Collections for Media General, who is serving as Chair of this year’s Media Credit Seminar, and our outstanding Seminar Committee, we have assembled a lineup of industry experts who are well-positioned to address these top-of-mind issues for the industry’s credit and collection professionals. We are also very grateful to our sponsors for their role in helping us to control the costs for this event. More information about the BCCA Media Credit Seminar may be found on BCCA’s Web site, at http://www.bccacredit.com.

Inside Story: Spaces In Places Bring Engaged Faces To Radio.

INSIDERADIO
September 28, 2015

Across the radio industry, a growing number of stations—located in small towns, large markets or anywhere in between—have spaces dedicated to live performances. Some are state-of-the art, with high-end HD cameras, while others are repurposed conference rooms better suited for acoustic sets. But the intent is the same— to extend a station’s connection with listeners, develop fresh revenue opportunities and create original content to feed on-air and digital platforms. "There is nothing more local than a place the audience can come together with the station," says Fred Jacobs, CEO of radio consultancy Jacobs Media. "It is an opportunity to connect eye to eye around issues or music tastes." It’s a strategy CBS Radio has run with. The company recently built a concert space tucked inside its New York offices in Soho. A former cafeteria, the slick, high-tech facility can hold up to 75 guests for live shows, and it is CBS Radio’s 11th in-house concert venue. In a competitive media landscape, CBS Radio COO Scott Herman says these spaces help differentiate the company’s stations. "This gives us a chance to interact with listeners, clients and artists, and gives them a more up-close experience," Herman says. At a time when radio stations are battling Internet streaming services, satellite radio and other media choices for consumers’ attention, performance spaces are a way to stand out. "It is great for the loyalty to an artist and loyalty to our brand," says Jules Riley, operations manager for the E.W. Scripps Company’s Tulsa, OK cluster.

Live Shows Now A Big Hook For Radio Revenue. Along with being a great place to put on a show, a concert space is also an ideal multiplatform investment with tremendous marketing value beyond the venue, especially for local stations that work with those spaces. Radio stations are increasingly producing original content for their digital channels, and live concerts are camera-ready events. In addition to live streaming shows on their websites, stations can use the performances for on-demand video and content for social media. Similarly, they can stockpile audio recordings for future broadcast and also share the audio with sister stations that have similar formats. E.W. Scripps, for instance, encourages stations to relay live shows to like-minded formats in other markets. Live shows are also currency for stations’ ever-growing social media portfolios. On social media, they can promote shows, give away tickets, drive tune-in for live streams and replay snippets of the acts. If concertgoers share their video and pictures from the event (a near certainty these days), that’s an added benefit. Live events are a growing category for stations mining non-traditional revenue sources. Musicians are already visiting stations to give interviews, play in-studio and promote their concerts or music, so booking live acts isn’t difficult. Many stations give local bands a chance to perform as well. Scripps-owned country KVOO-FM, Tulsa (98.5) often invites 30-40 fans to its space to meet an artist and take in a short set. No format has a greater relationship with the performing community than country, whose artists routinely visit stations, says Jules Riley, operations manager for Scripps’ Tulsa, OK cluster. Automaker Ford sponsors the space, which has a soundboard and speakers. "It is a pretty intimate experience,"

 

For Sponsored Spaces, Stations Say, You Name It. As radio stations look for non-traditional revenue opportunities, they are finding a great added value in selling naming rights, sponsorships and even product placement at performance spaces where they hold live events. These deals appeal to clients looking to "go beyond traditional ad packages and get their brands in front of audiences," says Jacobs Media’s Fred Jacobs. CBS has naming rights deals with major brands such as Blue Cross Blue Shield, Acura, Bud Light and Red Bull and, in Minneapolis-St. Paul, the countertop store Cambria, which shares its building. And public stations can earmark donations and recruit sponsors for their spaces. Some find creative ways to generate revenue, such as non-commercial adult alternative KEXP-FM, Seattle (90.3) subleasing space in its future facility to a cafe and record store. Most stations give tickets away for free to listeners and clients, but not all. In Jersey City, NJ, WFMU operates more like a club, selling tickets and offering beer and wine at select shows. Building and operating a concert venue is a costly proposition. A well-equipped performance space can cost upwards of $200,000. Stations typically don’t pay the artists to appear, but they aren’t selling tickets either. Selling naming rights, or recruiting sponsors and donations, helps defray costs. Even so, many stations have invested in high-quality HD cameras and lighting to produce broadcast-worthy video. On the audio side, most have top-line speakers and mixing boards. To accommodate artists, most stations have green rooms. In Seattle, KEXP is adding creature comforts to its new space, building showers, lockers and a laundry room for road-weary musicians.

 

 

 

  
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



  

 

How Political Campaigns Can Avoid '50 States Of Waste'

By J. Max Robins Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015 I urge those seeking elected office in 2016 — and the folks who are planning their media — to take a look at Targeted Victory’s 50statesofwasteand learn from the expensive mistakes of those who ran in 2014.   The company, which partnered with Google for this study, may be a GOP-focused firm, but there is much to be learned for Republicans and Democrats alike about what not to do when promoting a candidate.  50statesofwaste looked at the $320 million spent on Congressional races last year and found that an astounding 75% of that money missed its mark. The study looked at Congressional districts in every state “to demonstrate waste and inefficiency in broadcast television buying” during the last election cycle.  The upshot was, millions of dollars was spent on people who were outside the Congressional districts in contention. The most egregious example of waste was in Illinois. More than $19 million was spent on Congressional races in the Land of Lincoln, a boon for TV stations there. But 93% of that amount was paying for eyeballs belonging to people who couldn’t vote for the Congressional candidate being promoted, even if viewers loved the message from the respective elephant or donkey. Of course,  skeptics — especially broadcasters — may question the 50statesofwaste analysis. After all, it's in the best interest of a digital media-buying firm like Targeted Victory — which sell its expertise in over-the-top TV and social media platforms — to paint a dire picture of  how inefficient broadcast can be in a hotly contested political race.    Still, the message of 50statesofwaste isn't a broad-brush condemnation of broadcast. Speak to Targeted Victory co-founder Michael  Beach, and he allows that local TV is an important part of the marketing mix, especially for presidential bids and statewide races.   Still, we've moved far away from the days of a carpet-bombing approach to local TV for political spots. Not surprisingly, the solution lies in a much more voter-focused approach to where the message is placed.  The mantra this election cycle, on both sides of the aisle,  is “buy audience”  — not ratings points or programs — when looking at broadcast or cable. Rentrak CRO Bruce Goerlich notes that the research firm’s audience-targeted services were offered to the GOP and the Dems alike in 2012, but it was only the Obama campaign that used the tools. “This time around, everybody from the most liberal to the most conservative, that are looking at linear and non-linear TV, wants our services,” says  Goerlich. Moreover, much more focus needs to be placed on — not surprisingly — digital platforms, with a particular emphasis on YouTube. Why?  YouTube is  the preferred video site for 82% of boomers and seniors who watch online videos. It's a tool where candidates can use online video to “engage and build relationships with voters, benefiting from both the reach and flexibility to connect with the right voters with the right messages at the right moments that matter,” according to the Targeted Victory study. Further, YouTube connects with more 18- to 49-year-olds than any U.S. cable network.    Clearly,  who wins and who lose in a hotly contested political race will come down to which candidate most efficiently deploys the digital tools at hand to get his or her message to the target audience

adjust Brings Marketing Analytics To Connected TVs

by Ben Frederick @mp_benfred, September 25, 2015, 6:01 PM 

With more than half of U.S. homes boasting a connected TV and viewing on streaming devices growing 380% in the first quarter, marketers are hoping to crack into this arena. With Apple’s recent announcement of TVOS that allows their version of the connected TV to support the same content users get on their other devices, mobile app advertisers have a chance to make a small hop to a bigger screen.

adjust, a mobile analytics platform, has expanded its mobile ad analytics platform to support apps for the Apple TV.

iOS developers will be able to quickly port their iPad and iPhone apps to the Apple TV. adjust can now provide analytics for those efforts.

Connected TVs are in their early days as ad platforms, but they have the potential to be extremely disruptive to the TV ad space. Already, on-demand TV and movie streaming is altering the space for traditional models: Netflix is slated to surpass CBS, Fox, ABC and NBC for viewing by 2016.
Some analysts have noted that TVs are traditionally considered to be lift channels, better suited to branding and mass marketing. As connected TVs increase in popularity and cross-channel attribution becomes more accurate, that shift will change the medium. That allows marketers to produce more personalized ads across every device an individual uses.

Currently, only 43% of all marketers say they are familiar with connected TV, according to a study by the Association of National Advertisers and BrightLine. Half of marketers currently advertising on connected TVs say they will increase spending.

The main reason that marketers don’t engage with connected TVs is a lack of familiarity with the medium.

Looking At More Broadcast Erosion -- Any Way You Measure It

A media critique by Wayne Friedman Monday, Sept. 28, 2015   Live TV plus same-day time-shifted viewing ratings still hold value. For the first week of the new TV season, average prime-time ratings among the key 18-49 viewers have been down 8% on average, looking at preliminary Nielsen live program plus same-day time-shifting viewing among the five English-language speaking networks. Looking at the first four days of new season: On Thursday 18-49 ratings among ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and CW were down 18% to a 9.6; Wednesday showed a 27% increase to a 10.7 (chiefly because of one show, “Empire”, which grew the night almost three-fold for Fox versus a year ago); Tuesday slipped 3% to a 8.8; and Monday was down 26% to a 9.0 rating. TV network executives will tell you the live program/same-day measure doesn’t say much. Prime-time live plus same-day ratings aren’t much of measure for TV executives who want to account for at all kind of viewing -- time-shifted, video-on-demand, digital and otherwise. But for TV advertisers -- in general, those same-day program ratings continue to carry some insight. More than a few veteran media agency executives continue to look at live program plus same day results as a proxy because they still run somewhat close to C3 ratings — just a couple of tenths of a rating point. C3 is the average commercial ratings plus three days of time shifting, still the main measure for national TV marketers in their media deals. Why is this necessary? Because C3 ratings aren’t released regularly -- by Nielsen. This isn’t good in a real-time media world. Media agencies/marketers still need to account for the usual under-delivery of ratings on a timely basis. That 8% drop in ratings points over the first four days of this season might sound roughly familiar. MoffettNathanson Research says there was a 9% decline in C3 ratings in August for the broadcast networks in prime time. In a similar vein, it says there was 9% decline in C3 among 18-49 viewers for total day viewing for the entire 2014-2015 season for the top four broadcast networks. Cable TV networks have showed similar results. Does this give TV researchers some calm, that there are some logical predictions of TV viewing to come this season? Yes... and no.

Programmatic Potential Includes Ad Targeting

One way programmatic selling platforms may benefit broadcasters is by giving them a means a targeting certain audiences for advertising, says Seth Haberman of Visible World at TVB. “That kind of targeting, I believe is valuable, and will become more and more of the television ecosystem."  

By Diana Marzsalek

TVNewsCheck, September 21, 2015 9:14 AM EDT

Along with streamlining transactions and increasing the universe of potential buyers, programmatic or automatic selling platforms may allow broadcasters to better target audiences for advertisers, according programmatic pros.


“There are platforms that will allow people to target down to particular households,” says, Seth Haberman, co-founder-CEO of Visible World, a sell-side platform vendor. That is what advertisers, who increasingly want to reach consumer subsets, want, he says.

“That kind of targeting, I believe is valuable, and will become more and more of the television ecosystem,” he says.


Haberman’s comments were part of a larger discussion about programmatic, or automated, ad sales, and how it can benefit local TV, at last Thursday’s annual TVB Forward conference in New York.
Panelists, addressed a range of issues broadcasters are grappling with as they incorporate programmatic ad sales, including targeting, aggregating platforms to broaden reach and how programmatic meshes with traditional sales.
In the programmatic world, local TV  is playing catch up with digital media.

But individuals who work on both the sell and buy sides say its crucial that local broadcasters provide a means for advertisers to reach niche audiences and brace for the future.

“This is a marketplace that’s in transition,” says Mark Mitchell, chief relationship officer of Clypd, which makes a programmatic ad sales platform. “As things change we have to have technology that’s going to evolve with it."

Joy Baer, president of the media buying software company STRATA, says TV sales teams are in different stages of implementing automated advertising, and ways of using it.

“There’s a bunch of experimentation going on and trying things out,” Baer says.
Saying a “force of change” is underway, Baer says automated advertising “is great news for what we’re bringing to the market,” and will help stave off a decline in TV’s advertising revenue.
“We recognize the need, we know what’s happening with television, and we’re trying to provide solutions to going after the problem,” she says.


Yet there are downsides to automated ad sales, panelists say.
While automated systems make targeting specific consumers possible, the idea of conflicts with TV as a mass medium,  Haberman says. “Reach is the most powerful thing,” he said.
“Television is priced by the number of houses you reach and, as everyone knows, there is exponential growth. The bigger your reach, the higher your prices,” he says.


“The whole strategy behind audience targeting is a procurement strategy. It’s not a money making strategy.”


TV stations need to sell inventory across platforms to reach more consumers, says Brandon Condon, CEO of Media Properties Holding, which owns the buy-side platform AdMore.
“You have incredibly valuable audiences that individually are just not scalable,” Condon said. “You have to aggregate them.”


Eric Mathewson, founder-CEO of WideOrbit, a traffic management platform well a sell-side programmatic platform,  says automated ad selling is just one way of conducting business, and will remain so as other systems come and go.
“Its important to allow buyers to buy how they want to and sellers to sell how they want to,” he says. “We have to be flexible.”

Broadcast Nets See More Scatter Activity, But Overall Media Ad Dollars Up

• by Wayne Friedman, September 18, 2015, 10:22 AM

Broadcast TV networks in August, for the most part, continued to see TV marketers placing more effort around buying TV inventory closer to airtime -- in the scatter market -- versus with upfront buys. When it came to scatter buys placed for the month, broadcast witnessed a 16% improvement, with cable networks registering flat volume in scatter year-to-year, per Standard Media Index, which culls data from the booking systems of five of six media agencies, totaling 80% of all U.S. national advertising spending.


Upfront dollars -- commitments made back in the summer 2014 -- showed 12% less volume for broadcast TV networks. Cable TV was 4% higher in business versus August 2014.
Generally, this higher scatter/lower upfront business has been a trend for broadcast, and some other networks, over the most recent months.


For August, total broadcast TV networks’ media business was down 6% on a year-to-year basis in the month, with cable TV networks up slightly by 3%.
TV was up overall in August, 3%. Spot TV gained 17%; syndication dropped 2%; and local cable picked 11%.


The best-performing networks included Hispanic broadcast networks, as well as double-digit volume gains for cable networks TNT, TBS, Food Network and AMC Networks. HGTV also scored well.
Overall advertising dollars -- for all media -- gained 11% in August versus the same month a year before. Digital media again was a big factor.


Digital media continued its strong upward trend -- gaining 21% versus the same month a year ago. Looking specifically at different digital media: social media, soared 87%; video sites, up 33%; and Internet radio, 26% higher.


Traditional out-of-home media climbed 41%; newspapers gained 11% (thanks to better back-to-school marketing business); and radio picked up 9%. Magazines sank 10%.

Radio Added To TV Ads Is a Winning NFL Mix.

INSIDERADIO

September 17, 2015

For National Football League advertisers, it could be time for a momentum-shifting substitution. Specifically, subbing in radio buys for some TV ad time can increase consumer exposure and deliver hard-to-reach consumers. Westwood One, the Cumulus Media-owned national radio syndicator for NFL games, says its NFL games deliver both huge overall audiences and more frequency than TV—from casual listeners to die-hard fans. That seemingly makes radio a perfect complement to existing TV advertising, which performs well with the heaviest consumers, but misses out on less avid fans. According to new data from Westwood One and Nielsen, the NFL on Westwood One reaches more than 21 million listeners each season, and 7.3 million men 25-54, or one in five adult men, in the 48 PPM-measured markets. And, perhaps most importantly for the radio industry pitch, listeners are more consistent across levels of fan engagement than TV viewers. For instance, time spent listening for NFL broadcasts on Westwood One was evenly distributed across five types of users (about 20% each for light, medium-light, medium, medium-heavy and heavy), compared to TV broadcasts, where the heaviest viewers represented 54% of all football TV viewing. Among the more casual audiences, radio outperforms TV, with "light" fans accounting for 15% of radio’s audience, compared to just 1% for TV, and "medium-light" fans representing 19% of radio’s listenership, compared to 5% of the TV audience. By advertising on radio, marketers have a better chance at reaching casual NFL consumers, who are still a highly marketable audience. "Time spent among Westwood One’s NFL radio audience is very consistent among the five listening groups of Americans," Westwood One’s Brandon Berman, senior VP for Sports sales and marketing, wrote in a blog post. "For NFL radio advertisers, this means an even distribution of reach and frequency."

 

WideOrbit Makes Programmatic Automatic. Ad management provider WideOrbit is launching

a programmatic marketplace for radio stations that use its ad trafficking software. Branded as WO

Programmatic Radio, the cloud-based platform will match advertiser demand with inventory from

the company’s WO Traffic clients to enable buyers and sellers to make automated ad transactions.

Entravision Communications is the exchange’s first radio client. Programmatic or automated ad buying is expected to account for $14.88 billion of the roughly $58.6 billion digital advertising market this year, according to eMarketer. It’s slowly making its way to traditional media including radio and TV, where buyers see it as an easier way to place media buys across a large number of

stations, reduce operational costs and use data to more carefully target their campaigns. WideOrbit says integrating the automated exchange with its ad trafficking software will make it simple for stations to review, accept and air programmatically transacted ads. Participating stations aren’t required to “carve out” inventory to participate, the company says, and can review offers alongside existing business, listen to the ad copy and decide if and when to accept offers. In a press release, Entravision COO Jeff Liberman said the exchange will allow its general managers to “compare programmatic offers with their other sold business” and will “help us guarantee that our programmatic sales channel is driving new revenue to our stations.”

 

In Stagnant Ad Market, Radio Makes Big Waves. Ad spending for local radio climbed 10.6% in Q2 2015, making radio one of only seven types of media—and the only traditional one—to grow ad revenue last quarter out of 22 total, according to new data from Kantar Media. The figures are based on radio stations in 36 markets tracked by Kantar Media, which represent about half of the U.S. population, and thus aren’t comparable to Radio Advertising Bureau numbers, which are culled from a larger Miller Kaplan Arase sample. Overall, total U.S. ad spending declined 3.9% in Q2 to $38 billion and by the same percent in the first half.

The sluggish results seem to be the new normal. For the fifth consecutive year, U.S. ad spend is lagging nominal GDP growth. In a statement, Jon Swallen, chief research officer at Kantar Media North America, called it "a streak that might have once seemed unimaginable but now would seem to be par for the course." But according to Kantar, radio isn’t suffering like other media platforms. Local Hispanic radio also posted growth last quarter, with ad spending climbing 4.2% for Q2 2015 and up 5.2% for the first half of the year. National spot radio inched up 1.2% in Q2, compared to a year ago, while network radio dropped 8.4%. In contrast, ad spending on TV platforms dropped 4.5% in Q2, with cable down 5.1% and network TV up slightly at 1%. To help offset the sluggish ad market, Kantar notes, both radio stations and TV networks are increasing commercial loads. Radio stations added 2% more ad time, while broadcast TV networks carried 2.8% more paid ad time and cable aired 4.6% more minutes. And two-thirds of the TV networks tracked by Kantar have increased their commercial loads compared to last year, with five up to 20 minutes per hour in primetime (including network promos).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ad spending hit hard in second quarter

  Media economy

 Media Declines by 3.9 percent, with big drops for print and cable TV

This story outlines what's happening in the ad agency business with little or no reflection with what is going on in markets nationwide with respect to local-direct business. Philip Jay LeNoble, Ph.D. C.A.

By Bill Cromwell

September 17, 2015       

Last year’s World Cup boosted Univision’s ad dollars in second quarter, making for tough comparisons this year.

Ad spending was down another 3.9 percent during second quarter, according to new data from Kantar Media, following a 4 percent drop in first quarter.

A few years ago, this would have been a clear indication that the media economy is struggling. But these days, with advertisers pulling back on traditional media in favor of cheaper, better-targeted new media, the declines are as much an indication of the changing industry as they are a weakness in the ad economy.

TV, for example, fell 4.5 percent in second quarter, while newspapers dropped 12.7 percent. But digital grew 2.4 percent.
Many advertisers are shifting money from those media to digital. Since digital also costs less, advertisers can spend less money to reach the same number of people, which leads to a decline in total ad dollars.

With those trends at play, analysts are no longer expecting major ad spending growth.

“Measured ad growth is on track to lag nominal GDP for the fifth consecutive year since emerging from the Great Recession, a streak that might have once seemed unimaginable but now would seem to be par for the course,” says Jon Swallen, chief research officer at Kantar Media North America.
Cable took a particularly hard hit in second quarter, with spending down 5.1 percent. Kantar says auto manufacturers, movies, restaurants and telecom pulled back on cable ads.

Of course, Spanish-language TV also plummeted, off 22.4 percent, but half of that was due to tough comparisons. Last year during second quarter Univision carried the hugely popular World Cup.
Print took another deep blow.

Not only were newspapers off nearly 13 percent, including a 13.9 percent drop for local papers, but magazines were off 7.7 percent.

Sunday magazines especially struggled, down 41.9 percent, partly due to the closure of USA Weekend late last year.

Kantar notes that the newspaper decline is largely due to shifting budgets from print to digital.
And digital is booming. Paid search was up 7.7 percent, and a slew of other new media not yet measured by Kantar, such as mobile, video and social media, are not even factored into those gains.

Top 10 Advertising CategoriesSecond Quarter 2015 ($ Millions)
Media Type (In rank order of Q2 2015 spending)	Q2 2015 v 2014	Jan-June 2015-2014
TELEVISION PLATFORMS	-4.5%	-3.8%
·    Cable TV	-5.1%	-0.8%
·    Network TV	1.0%	-4.8%
·    Spot TV	-1.8%	-4.4%
·    Spanish Language TV	-22.4%	-11.3%
·    Syndication – National	-3.3%	-4.1%
DIGITAL PLATFORMS	2.4%	1.3%
·    Paid Search	7.7%	7.6%
·    Online Display (PC Desktop Only)	-4.7%	-7.0%
MAGAZINE PLATFORMS	-7.7%	-8.2%
·    Consumer Magazines	-5.5%	-6.2%
·    B-to-B Magazines	-6.3%	-5.3%
·    Sunday Magazines	-41.9%	-37.0%
·    Local Magazines	-1.2%	-2.4%
·    Spanish Language Magazines	-13.7%	-15.8%
NEWSPAPER PLATFORMS	-12.7%	-14.0%
·    Local Newspapers	-13.9%	-14.9%
·    National Newspapers	-4.2%	-8.9%
·    Spanish Language Newspapers	-18.9%	-11.3%
RADIO PLATFORMS	5.0%	3.4%
·    Local Radio	10.6%	7.9%
·    National Spot Radio	1.2%	-1.6%
·    Network Radio	-8.4%	-5.4%
·    Hispanic Local Radio	4.2%	5.2%
OUT OF HOME PLATFORMS	4.0%	4.1%
·    Outdoor	2.2%	2.6%
·    Cinema	14.9%	16.1%
FSIs	-15.6%	-9.7%
TOTAL	-3.9%	-3.9%
Source: Kantar Media