10 Questions to Ask when Choosing Leaders

Leadership Freak

Empowering Leaders 300 Words at a Time

 

by Dan Rockwell

April 20, 2016  

 One of the most painful mistakes of leadership is choosing the wrong leaders.

The difference between success and failure begins with choosing the right leaders. (And ejecting the wrong.)

Three mistakes when choosing leaders:

#1. Overlooking introverts. Extroversion is not a requirement to lead.

#2. Succumbing to the seduction of charisma, talent, education, or good looks.

Degrees, talent, and charisma might open doors. But, all the talent in the world doesn’t compensate for bad character.

1. Entitlement.
2. Laziness.
3. Blaming.
4. Insensitivity.
5. Cowardice.

#3. Thinking doers are leaders. You sweat your way into leadership, but leadership is more than getting things done.

It’s foolish to define leadership as getting things done. The focus of leadership is people. You earn leadership opportunities by getting things done. You become a leader when you get things done through others.

1. How do they make people feel?
2. How do they maximize the skills and talents of others?
3. How are they instilling a sense of mission?
4. How are they developing others?
5. How are their values, not urgencies, guiding decisions.

When someone steps into leadership they leverage the talent of others.

10 questions to answer when choosing leaders:

1. What is their definition of leadership?
2. How are they expressing curiosity?
3. Where do they fall on the scale of optimistic vs. pessimistic?
4. How are their values?
5. How do they appreciate the impact of their behaviors on others?
6. What makes you believe they can focus on “what” needs to be done without getting lost in “how” things get done?
7. How are they able to see the world through the lens of others?
8. How are they including others in decision-making?
9. How do they respond to failure or correction?
10. How do they respond to authority?

Bonus: Do they aspire to lead?

Smartphones Have Become a Staple of the U.S. Media Diet

                  

By Nielsen Insights Team Nielsen April 21, 2016

   

 When it comes to technology, sometimes there is a world of difference between wanting something and actually needing something. In the case of smartphones, the devices’ ubiquity in terms of U.S. penetration of 82% and cross-platform functionality definitely put them in the latter category.

According to Nielsen’s fourth-quarter 2015 Comparable Metrics Report, smartphones across all adult demographic groups are the most used platform, in terms of days per week among users of each medium—with adults 18+ using their devices nearly every day in the week (5.8 times per week), followed by television (5.5 times per week). Adult TV viewers watch an average of 5.5 days per week. Tablets are used more often by people ages 35-49 than ages 18-34. Penetration among ages 50 and over is only 19%, but those owners use tablets most often.  Smartphone owners within the age range of 35-49 use their phones most often. (This includes app and web usage, not talk, text or email).

Nielsen also found significant differences in the weekly media diet between ethnic groups. Black audiences watch more TV than any other group, averaging almost 50.5 hours a week compared to an overall average of 35.5 hours. Hispanic adults listen to radio for almost 13.5 hours a week, slightly above the 13-hour average, and they spend the most time using their smartphones – almost 11 hours a week compared to an average of 8.5 hours and a little over 7 hours for Asian Americans. Overall, Asian Americans consume the least media by far except when it comes to TV-connected devices, which they use for an average 30 minutes a week longer than the average American.

“Smartphone penetration is nearly as high as TV set and radio ownership, and consumers carry their phones everywhere.  High penetration plus portability and customized functionality have made them a staple of consumers’ media diet,” said Glenn Enoch, SVP of Audience Insights at Nielsen.  “Smartphones provide advertisers and marketers with the opportunity to reach consumers with information throughout the day.”

As consumers continue to be presented with a proliferation of media devices and services, analyzing media usage with comparable metrics provides an apples-to-apples view of consumption across platforms, as marketers and advertisers continue to plan for the future.

The opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillage.com / MyersBizNet, Inc. management or associated bloggers.

Radio Reacts Quickly To Death of Prince

 

April 21, 2016

 

 

 

 

Once the news started spreading that the 57-year old musical genius had passed away radio stations all over the country went into tribute mode. Cox Media Group was paying tribute on stations all over the country. And, Atlanta Manager of Radio Ratings & Research Paul Douglas told us Cox Media Group’s AC WSB-FM had billboards up across the metro by mid afternoon. Here are a few other examples of radio’s quick reaction.

Buffalo’s Hot AC Star 102.5, CHR Kiss 98.5, and Alternative Buffalo all broke format Thursday for Prince tributes and to play his music. AM 1400 Solid Gold went 100% Prince music. Pictured here are Operations Manager and Star PM drive personality Sue O’Neil being interviewed by a local Buffalo TV station about the death of the music icon.
In Philadelphia, iHeart’s WDAS-FM afternoon host Patty Jackson (left) spoke with Hillary Clinton about the passing of Prince. LISTEN HERE
Connoisseur Media Long Island’s New 103.1 MAX FM decided to feature Prince’s music with specialty programming. MAX FM specializes in 80’s music so John Lynch spent his entire 7PM to 10PM show Thursday night – and will do the same Friday night paying tribute to Prince. Lynch featured Prince’s music by request, live from Long Island listeners and Prince Fans. Multiple stations in the Connoisseur group are breaking format to honor Prince’s life and career.
In Dayton, for hours Thursday evening, Mix 107.7 honored Prince by airing his music non-stop. PD Jeff Stevens told Channel 2, “We literally deleted everything that was planned for the afternoon and we just became ‘Prince 107.7. This is what a local radio station is about. We’re playing Prince, we’re taking calls. people are just completely shocked.”

The Atlanta Journal Constitution has a column HERE on everything radio in Atlanta was doing to honor Prince. Benztown put together an audio tribute you can listen to HERE.
ABC Radio ran a special last night, called “Prince – Death of a Legend,” anchored by ABC News correspondent Aaron Katersky with ABC Radio entertainment reporter Andrea Dresdale, Prince biographer Alan Light.

AM Radio Has A Bright Future

 

 

April 20, 2016

 

 

Those were the words of FCC Chairman Thomas Wheeler at the NAB Show Wednesday. Although many wonder if the FCC has done way too little, way too late, to make that statement a reality. And, in all likelihood, with a new President about to be elected, Wheeler will be long gone before we really know if the FCC’s AM revitalization paid off.

Wheeler thinks AM radio has a bright future. He told NAB attendees, the Media Bureau has processed 500 applications for FM translators for AM station owners. He said, “AM, and radio in general, is free and portable.” He has the radio on all day in his office and listens to NPR while at work. Wheeler also likes satellite radio and has one of his car pre-sets tuned to SiriusXM Channel 72, which is broadway music. If an AM station changed to that format he’d listen to that too, he said. When asked about the FM Chip, Wheeler said, “The marketplace is succeeding, competition is working here.”

2016 Ad Sales: Local Core +4%, Network +10%

 

 

NAB 2016

By Adam Buckman

April 19, 2016 5:55 AM EDT

TVB chief Steve Lanzano says among this year's strong local categories are automotive, home furnishings, DIY and health care. On the network side, CBS's David Poltrack says sales "are up 10% in the first quarter so it's looking good so far." He also predicts high advertiser demand for network inventory during the upcoming upfronts.

        

TV stations should see local advertising sales growth this year in the mid-single digits, while national spot ad sales on local stations "will probably be flat" compared to last year, said Steven Lanzano, president of the Television Bureau of Advertising, at a Monday session at the NAB Show in Las Vegas.

At the same session on the ad sales outlook for the rest of this year, CBS Chief Research Officer David Poltrack said ad sales on network television should grow by nearly 10%, much of which will be due to ad sales related to this summer's Olympics in Rio de Janeiro airing on NBC.

     

"Local will be up between 3% and 4% [not counting a bump from political ads]," Lanzano said. He noted, however, that automotive has been a strong category for local TV since last year. And he sees the trend continuing in the remainder of this year. "In September and October of last year, the automotive market was up 12% and 14%, and we're up mid-single digits this year already," he said. "First quarter was very good for automotive, which [is] the first time in three years I can say that."

In general, local ad sales so far this year are up about 2% over last year and "national's been flat to down about half a percent," Lanzano said. "Second quarter started out a little slow," he said, "but the pacing has gotten better. I've seen some of the pacing numbers and they seem good. Retail is still a little bit sluggish. [Consumers] still aren't spending and that's the bottom line."
Another category that has been challenging for local TV is quick-service restaurants, Lanzano said. "We still have a challenge with QSR business. That's because when concepts grow and go national, they go to national cable. So that's still one of the problem children that we have."
But on the plus side, local TV is seeing robust ad sales in the home-furnishings and do-it-yourself categories, as well as health care, Lanzano said. Another category that is doing very well is legal advertising, he said. "The legal profession and lawyers has really exploded on a local level."

 

What are the particular challenges facing TV station groups as they plan their transition from baseband SDI to IP? Del Parks, SVP and CTO at Sinclair Broadcast Group, talks about them in an exclusive roundtable interview with technology leaders. Read the Roundtable now.

Long-term, one trend that the TVB doesn't see changing anytime soon is the predominance of local advertising on TV stations over national spot. "Ten years ago, our business was basically 70/30 national to local and that's been reversed," Lanzano said. "Our business now is probably 30%-35% national and 65%-70% local. I think we're going to continue to see that play out. As you get into markets 50, 60, 70-plus, that could go to 85%-90% local," he said.

National spot, Lanzano said, should finish flat for the year.

Meanwhile, network TV ad sales so far this year are tracking according to forecasts made last year, Poltrack said. He said he predicted last year that network TV would be up 9.5% this year — "5% underlying and then the other 4.5% coming from the Olympics," he said. "The broadcast networks are up 10% in the first quarter so it's looking good so far."

He predicted a high demand for network inventory on the part of advertisers during the upcoming upfront sales season for two reasons. He described one of them as a "rebound" of advertisers who are coming back to TV after unsuccessful forays into digital. "We're now seeing the shift back [to network TV] which we started to see in September 2015 and which definitely was apparent in the first quarter of 2016. And I expect it will continue to be apparent through the upfront and throughout this year," Poltrack said.

The other reason why he expects upfront demand to be high is because it wasn't as high last year. As a result, the networks held back inventory during the upfront and wound up selling more inventory in the subsequent scatter market at higher prices. Advertisers seeking inventory at lower prices will now be coming back to the upfront, Poltrack said.

“The networks took a risk [last year] and they decided they were going to sell less upfront because they felt they couldn't get the pricing upfront and they were going to gamble on the scatter market. And that gamble paid off big time," Poltrack said. "The scatter market went through the roof in the fourth quarter and it continues to be in that situation, and the scatter market now has generated significant premiums. A lot of advertisers held out for scatter, did not spend much money upfront, and they ended up paying those huge premiums for scatter. So we are anticipating a significant amount of greater demand for upfront this year," he said.

Nielsen Revenues Hit $1.5B

by Wayne Friedman, Yesterday, 1:35 PM                                            

Nielsen Holdings had a strong first-quarter financial period. Overall Nielsen revenue climbed 2% to $1.49 billion, with net income 60% higher to $101 million.

 

Nielsen's Buy business unit -- its market data business for advertisers -- slipped 1% in revenue to $793 million, and its Nielsen Watch unit -- its traditional media and digital media measuring business -- was 5% higher at $694 million.

 

Nielsen says its first-quarter net income was boosted by favorable comparisons to year-ago results, when there were net foreign currency exchange transaction losses. Midday Wednesday trading of Nielsen’s stock was down 2.4% to $52.68.

 

Mitch Barns, CEO at Nielsen, said in an earnings release that Nielsen is “leading industry discussions on the adoption of a new currency metric fueled by our Total Audience Measurement framework.” Total Audience looks to roll up all TV/video viewing in one measurement service.

 

Todd Juenger, senior media analyst of Bernstein Research, says in a research note that he isn’t “expecting a significant or sustainable revenue acceleration from the adoption of Total Audience.”

He added: “Nielsen's main customers, the TV networks, aren't going to pay extra for it. It simply increases our confidence Nielsen can continue to renew their long-term contracts, when they come up, at the same mid-single [digit percentage increases] annual increases they always have.”

Nielsen Launches Marketing Cloud to Transform the Way Marketers Connect with Consumers

 

     Press Release Press Release of the Week April 12, 2016                           

  Nielsen Marketing Cloud Combines World-Class Data, Management Tools and Analytics Applications into a Single Destination, Allowing Marketers to More Effectively Manage their Marketing Spend

Nielsen today launched the Nielsen Marketing Cloud, empowering clients to more effectively deliver relevant marketing to their customers across multiple platforms. It integrates consumer and media data that only Nielsen can provide with world-class marketing activation and analytics applications into a single platform. The Nielsen Marketing Cloud enables continuous marketing optimization across tactics so marketers spend less time connecting the dots and more time making decisions that drive bottom-line results.

"Never before has data played a more important role in driving marketing efficiency, but the complexity of centrally managing and employing this data has grown as well," said Mark Zagorski, EVP, Nielsen Marketing Cloud. "The Nielsen Marketing Cloud is the only solution to provide highly accurate and scalable data for marketers to plan and activate campaigns across platforms and devices—and analyze their impact through one integrated easy-to-use system."

The Nielsen Marketing Cloud is currently being implemented with Nielsen clients that span verticals including food and beverage, personal care, pet care, wine and spirits, digital media, cinema, broadcast, out-of-home and retail for applications in digital and offline marketing. It provides all the core capabilities needed to build and sustain a winning cross-channel customer engagement strategy.
"We are very excited about the Nielsen Marketing Cloud. The In-Flight Analytics application gives us a real-time view into consumer consideration, intent and purchase metrics," said Michael Meah, Director of Digital Ad Products and Sales Research, Scripps Networks Interactive. "The tool enables us to better optimize our campaigns while they are running, from media allocation to creative versioning, and helps us close the loop, from exposure to sale, delivering on our advertiser's ultimate goal."

"As we begin to transform the way we are using data in cinema, NCM is thrilled to be working with Nielsen to apply advanced data and technology strategies to our national theater network. Using the Nielsen Marketing Cloud's data management platform and analytics capabilities, we are going to advance audience-based cinema-advertising in ways that have never been done before," said Doug Pulick, SVP, Strategic Insight & Analytics with National CineMedia (NCM), America's Movie Network and the largest cinema advertising network in the U.S. "This will allow us to make advertising even more relevant to movie audiences and provide brands with the ability to reach the right audience far more effectively, putting us on par with other premium video networks."

The Nielsen Marketing Cloud enables clients to manage the following marketing processes:
    Plan: conduct cross-channel media planning that leverages best-in-class assets including Nielsen Total Audience data, build audience segments and conduct consumer insights analysis
    Activate: connect in real-time to all major media and marketing platforms including mobile, online, over-the-top TV, video, social media, email and content management systems
    Analyze: understand how advertising and content change consumer perception and purchase decisions in real-time and evaluate the effectiveness of marketing spend

Day Three: Edison. Pandora. Radio.

 

 

 April 12, 2016

 

More eyeballs have viewed our stories on this issue and more comments posted than any other story we’ve run over the past several years. Edison Research’s report that consumers change stations on radio 22 times per commute was quickly turned into a White Paper by Pandora looking to boost its credibility with advertisers. The radio industry returned volley with several articles claiming the Edison research was flawed and providing its own data pointing out just how strong radio has been over the years and remains today. We’ve put it all together for you here in this story in case you’ve missed any of it.

SiriusXM Says It Now Has Over 30 Million Subs

SiriusXM issued a press release Monday that said it added 465,000 net new subscribers in the first quarter of 2016, resulting in a new total of 30.1 million subs as of the end of Q1. That's a record for the company. Self-pay net additions were 348,000 in the quarter, resulting in a self-pay subscriber base of 24.6 million at quarter's end. SiriusXM reports first-quarter revenue on April 28, 2016.

 

Limbaugh’s Listeners Donate Over $3 Million

On Friday, April 8, The Rush Limbaugh Show held its 26th annual on-air Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Cure-A-Thon. Limbaugh dedicated portions of his three-hour nationally syndicated radio program to encourage listeners to join the effort to find a cure for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease, and myeloma, and to improve the quality of life for patients and their families.

More Detail From The Edison Research Study Our Friday story on Edison Research’s latest in-car study caused quite a stir around the industry. What really hit everyone’s hot button was how Pandora quickly flipped the data into a White Paper the company will show advertisers. Radio Ink was denied access to the full Edison study (they told us it was proprietary for clients) so the most specific detail we had was what Pandora pulled from the research to use in its White Paper presentation. But now we see more…

Edison Research President Larry Rosin has posted a new blog which includes much more detail from the study, including a stat that says nearly 1/3 of consumers leave their radio tuned to your station even when the commercials come on.

Here’s what Rosin writes: “We asked those who listen to commercial radio what they do when commercials come on. Things divide pretty much into quarters in terms of what people report that they do when they hear commercials.   The biggest group – 29% say they pretty much stay tuned.   But about 23% report tuning away immediately. There are other groups who say they tune away after a time – and about 70% in general do say that they tune away at some point during commercials.” Rosin says this has clear potential implications for radio advertisers.”

Edison also asked respondents to tell them the main reason they switch a radio station when they do. The most common response was commercials, but there were other reasons as well.

And Edison asked respondents to wear GoPro camera’s so they could view what consumers do while driving. 3,000 minutes of video was recorded and decoded. Rosin says that in 24% of the cases when content switched to commercials, the commuter switched away within 15 seconds. In the survey, the same percentage self-reported this same behavior. “So it certainly seems that this is probably the case – about one-quarter of commuters tune away from commercials as soon as they come on.”

Local Is Key Ad Drive In Presidential Election

by Andrea Duggan, , Op-Ed Contributor, April 8, 2016, 12:00 PM                                            

The 2016 race to the White House has been an election cycle of many firsts, particularly when it comes to the candidates’ advertising campaigns.

 

It is the first presidential election cycle to fully embrace programmatic technology; he first candidate to advertise on Snapchat; and the first to deal with the “Trump effect,” in which one candidate's earned media coverage has far outweighed any others'.

Amid this season of firsts, constants have also emerged. Perhaps most significant is the role of local media and the level of engagement it continues to provide between candidates and constituents.

This primary season has been a crowded one.

 

The once-bountiful GOP race is now whittled down to three, and the Democratic race between two starkly different candidates persists. For all of these campaigns, mounting support at the grassroots and community level has been necessary to generate the backing that propelled them this far.

Ultimately, continued support of this nature will be needed to clinch the nomination. Local media have often served as a gateway to community engagement and this year is proving no different.

In an assessment of Web sites that drive traffic to the top candidates’ own sites, voters continue to consume news and information via local sources.

 

Broadcast media sites that are defined as television, radio and Internet news Web sites were analyzed using data from Hitwise. The focus was on the Web traffic that led to the following candidates’ sites: Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

 

Such broadcast sites include national destinations like CNN.com, ABCNews.com and NPR.org, along with local online destinations. Surveying Web traffic during January and February 2016, a significant amount of the top Web sites driving audiences to candidates’ sites are local outlets.

During the first two months of 2016, one in three (32%) of the top 25 broadcast media sites that drove traffic to Ted Cruz’s own site were local sites. These sites included Fox 13 Memphis’ site, WNEM.com (Michigan), KVIA TV’s site (Texas) and My News 4’s site (Reno).

 

Donald Trump’s traffic told a similar story. In the case of Trump, whose campaign favors earned and social media over traditional ad buys, online local media remained a predominant source of traffic in the online news category.

 

Out of all television, radio and Internet news sites that drove traffic to Donald Trump’s official campaign site, local media sites represented half (50%) of the top 10 sites in February 2016.

Both Clinton and Sanders experienced similar traffic from local online news sites. Half of the top 10 online news sites that drove traffic to Clinton’s own site were local media. This included KRDO’s site (Colorado Springs), WKRN-TV’s site (Nashville) and Live5news.com (Charleston).

Sanders’ traffic, similarly, was derived from local sites one in three (36%) times out of his top 25. In his case, this included NewsOK.com (Oklahoma City), CBS42’s website (Birmingham) and WVmetronews.com (West Virginia). For both candidates, these outlets served communities in states with early primary elections.

 

What does this data tell us about local media?

No matter the candidate or party affiliation, local media remains a dominant resource for voters. This may come as a surprise to some, given the bountiful landscape of digital destinations that consumers visit to consume political news. Yet despite a variety of options, local media remains an effective tactic to reach active voters.

 

It’s clear that constituents continue to consume their news via these outlets, and not necessarily the national outlets that serve larger audiences. For this particular election cycle, where every piece of support matters, local media has proven a vital source of engagement for the remaining candidates.

In the arguably overcrowded media landscape, voters will continue to rely on local outlets to consume political information. This trend will persist into the general election and future cycles, as local media maintains the one connection that trumps all else: community context.

Bouvard: Pandora Is Clueless. Here’s Why.

 

April 10, 2016

 

 

 

 

Radio executives were quick to react to Pandora’s Friday white paper which quotes a recent Edison Research study that says consumers switch radio stations 22 times during their commutes. Of course, the automobile is extremely important to radio because it’s where most listening is done. Cumulus/Westwood One CMO Pierre Bouvard was the first to strike back at Pandora in his latest blog. Bouvard says Pandora is clueless about listening in the car and barely anyone listens to them while driving.

Bouvard took a shot at the recent changes at Pandora as well: “Lots of turmoil these days at Pandora. A steady stream of sudden executive departures. Stalled audience. Spotify and YouTube eating their lunch among 18-24s. Recently Pandora issued a piece on channel switching based on an Edison study of in-car listening.”
Bouvard says radio managers and sellers need to know that most channel switches Edison observed do not count in Nielsen ratings. “Nielsen requires at least five minutes of listening in a fifteen minute period for audience credit. Advertisers can be assured they are buying sustained listening to a station. They are not paying for short bursts of switching.”
Bouvard also says AM/FM crushes Pandora in the car. “AM/FM has a 72% share of listening in the car. Pandora has a 1% share. Podcasting is as big as Pandora in the car. This is according to Edison Research’s ‘Share of Ear’ study from Q4 2015. AM/FM is 72 times bigger than Pandora in the car.”

Bouvard says it’s easy to be envious of AM/FM’s massive reach and huge in-car audience. “Sixty-six percent of streaming occurs at home as background music. AM/FM is a foreground medium with 64% of time spent occurring away from home. AM/FM is the soundtrack of the American worker. Pandora wishes they were used in the car; but barely anyone listens. Pandora’s bigger issue is YouTube and Spotify and hoping that they don’t become the MySpace of streaming audio.”

 

Pandora Isn’t Gaining on Radio’s Grip In The Car

(by MaryBeth Garber) With the average urban commuter spending 42 hours a year stuck in traffic jams, a recent commuter study by Edison Research provides insight into how Americans deal with their daily commute.

Not surprisingly, 90% of them tune to AM/FM radio to be their companion during their daily trek. And while AM/FM radio has been joined by many choices over the years — such as streaming and personal music collections — multiple nationally-representative research studies show that AM/FM radio remains the undisputed first choice and dominant source of audio entertainment in the car.
Given AM/FM radio’s firm hold on its in-car audience, it’s easy to see why streaming services, such as Pandora, want to break AM/FM’s connection to its listeners — but they remain unsuccessful.
Recently, Pandora issued a piece on in-car listening claiming that consumers are not listening to radio ads, and as new connected cars slowly become part of the picture, favorite audio sources while driving are likely to change. However, to support this claim Pandora had to selectively isolate excerpts from two pieces of Edison research studies —an online survey, and a fairly small unrepresentative sample of 101 drivers using Go Pro cameras installed in cars — rather than presenting the whole picture of what American consumers want.

Pandora claims that favorite audio sources while driving will change as more connected cars slowly become available. But a research study by Ipsos — with a nationally representative sample of over 1,000 respondents — found that while consumers do use new streaming services, virtually all consumers – 99% — are comfortable with their current AM/FM in-car radio operation. And 91% of consumers say they want the way they operate their car radio to remain unchanged and would not want it changed into a dashboard app. Overall, the Ipsos study makes it clear that in spite of consumers’ new love of apps and digital products, they have a strong attachment to their AM/FM radio and an overwhelming desire to keep it as it is.

Pandora also claimed research indicated that consumers are not listening to radio ads, but the data they provided doesn’t support that assertion. While Edison’s study does find an AM/FM listener switches the station an average of 22 times per commute, while listeners to other platforms switch an average of 9.3 times — Pandora fails to mention the percentage of time spent listening to each of these audio sources. A previous Edison study, “Share of Ear” Q4 2015, places time spent listening in the car with AM/FM radio at 72%, Sirius/XM at 15%, owned music at 10% and all streaming online content at 4%.

Pandora also neglects to point out the Edison study recorded what happened when commuters listening to AM/FM radio heard ads: 48% of consumers listen to some commercials; 29% didn’t switch at all during commercials; and only 23% switch, but after 15 seconds. Importantly, most of the AM/FM switches happen while music is playing.

What Pandora doesn’t provide in their issued whitepaper is any information about exactly where those switchers went. A recent study by Nielsen/Media Monitors/Coleman Research in November 2015 noted that 82% of listeners who tune out return to their favorite radio station after consuming different content on another station, for example news, traffic or a different song.

An earlier N/MM/CR study from September 2014 also used PPM data to digitally analyze 17.9 million commercial breaks, concluding 93% of the audience level is retained throughout the break when radio spots air, providing further evidence that consumers are tuned into radio — and listening to advertiser’s messages.

And not only are consumers listening to radio ads — they are enthusiastically responding to them as well. A plethora of recent studies by companies like Nielsen and Katz Media Group prove that radio provides an $8 to $1 return on ad spend — clearly demonstrating that ad campaigns are significantly more effective when radio is in the media mix.

Notably, the Edison Commuter study does not, in any way, come to the conclusion that “consumers are not listening to radio ads. Also not appearing in Edison’s research is any data confirming Pandora’s claim that drivers know radio stations often play 10 or more commercials in a row, and that ads and repetitive playlists cause them to switch stations.

What the Edison study does clearly show is that AM/FM radio remains American’s number one choice in cars — and the audio source consumers connect with and spend more time while with in the car — than any other.

And now, a brighter take on 2016 advertising

 

Here's one forecaster ratcheting up its ad spending numbers

By Bill Cromwell

April, 2016

   

The U.S. presidential election will add $6 billion in advertising to the media economy.

The past few months have been a bit dicey for the U.S. economy, and in turn the media economy, which hiccups every time the economy sneezes.

That’s led several forecasters to lower their advertising outlooks for the remainder of the year, predicting advertisers would pull back in the face of rising gas prices and stock market instability, not to mention the parallel shift to lower-priced media such as digital video and social.
But one forecaster actually sees a rosier outlook for the media economy in 2016.

Bucking a trend that started with several forecasts released last month, Carat has raised its 2016 outlook, predicting growth of 4.7 percent for ad spending this year, up from an earlier forecast of 4.5 percent growth.

That 0.2 adjustment may not sound like a lot, but it’s a notable vote of confidence in the general economy.
The ad spending gains will be driven by big events in 2016 that will spark even bigger-than-anticipated investments – the presidential election and Summer Olympics.

“US advertising spend in 2016 will be boosted by the U.S. presidential elections, which will account for an estimated $6 billion,” the report says.

“TV, predominantly local, will make up approximately 65 percent of this additional spend, whilst digital will attract an estimated 10 percent and all other media types will share the remaining 25 percent.”

The Olympics and Paralympics, which take place just after the Rio Games, will add $1 billion in spending.

Another interesting difference between Carat and other forecasts: Carat foresees TV as remaining the dominant ad medium this year and next.

It says TV will receive 38 percent of all spending, and digital will not overtake TV as the top ad medium until 2018. Other forecasters, such as eMarketer, think it will happen much sooner.
Carat also forecasts relatively healthy growth for TV, up 2.9 percent, driven by a strong scatter market. Other forecasters, such as ZenithOptimedia, say television spending will be flat or even down in some subcategories.

Digital, meanwhile, will soar by 15.9 percent this year, but Carat still has it at only 27.7 percent of all ad spending.

Other parts of the forecast echo general trends in media. Print, of course, will be down.
Carat predicts newspapers’ share of ad spending (10.5 percent) will drop below digital display (13.5 percent) and paid search (11.7 percent).



 

More election dollars, and not all for local TV

 

Half the added spending will go to cable, radio and online

By Diego Vasquez

April, 2016

                          

During the first three months of this year, $280 million was spent on advertising for the 2016 presidential election. That deluge of spending prompted Borrell Associates, the Williamsburg, Va., ad tracking firm, to bump up its forecast for political ad spending this year by 3.1 percent, representing an extra $357 million. What’s interesting is that Borrell says only half of that money will go to local TV, which has long been the engine driving presidential ad spending. The other half will go to cable, online and radio. Corey Elliott, director of research at Borrell Associates, talks to Media Life about why interest is shifting slightly away from TV, the Donald Trump effect, and what type of ads newspapers will see.

Why did you readjust your forecast — was that something you had always planned to do, or did circumstances of the presidential race warrant it?
We had always planned to do regular updates since last October, namely because we saw what a volatile season this was going to be. And as things happen on a presidential level, changes can trickle down to more local contests.

You note almost half of the gains you anticipate will go to radio, cable and internet. These media have long been an afterthought behind local TV — is that changing? Why or why not?
It’s changing, but not in the way you might think. TV is still dominant, and will remain so, but a couple of things are happening.

Some of these candidates have shown us that TV might not be the end all, be all. That there are other ways to get your message out and to influence conversation.

So it’s not that radio is the next big thing–it’s more that TV isn’t.
Internet advertising is certainly coming into focus a lot more due in part to all the earned media Mr. Trump receives from a couple of well-timed and worded tweets. The dialogue is happening online and all levels of politicians finally understand they need to be there. Cable and radio have been shifted up due to some of the increases we have seen in the first quarter.

Also, we need to understand the base we are talking about here when it comes to radio, for instance. We see radio getting 7.8 percent of political spend in 2016, and we see that adjustment not coming so much from the national level, but the local level as local politicians use under-tapped media to get their message out during a time when a lot of voices are contending for attention.
For example, we see radio getting 12 percent of the spend on state and local ballot issues, as opposed to the 4 percent in the presidential race.

How has Donald Trump’s candidacy specifically impacted spending?
By showing what a brand can do in a new media age. That brand, of course, is Trump. It’s a brand not born in the political world but rather the business, and then more recently, the entertainment world. And if there is one world that reigns supreme in America, it is entertainment.
One could argue that another strong brand in this race is Hillary Clinton, but it was not forged the same way. Trump has had years to work on a dialogue with people through shows and social media. So, this is what happens when you turn that experience to the political circus. Lots and lots of earned media.

Is he needing to spend less because of his tremendous social media presence? Do you think that will become a model for candidates moving forward, or is Trump simply unique because of his background, very different from the usual presidential candidate?
Entertainers have a unique ability to “read” an audience. In this case, he read the sentiment that a lot of people have, and he has moved on it.
And he has chosen to communicate in a style that resonates with them.

What is “the ground game,” and why will it boost direct mail and telemarketing? Was this a surprise to you at all?
The ground game is the local aspect of a campaign. The meet and greets, the door knocking, etc.
Historically, as those things have heated up, so has telemarketing and direct mail–channels that get right to a specific person in a specific house.

What sort of ads are going to newspapers — do they offer a chance for candidates to lay out their positions? Or are they the same attack ads seen in other media?
Not so far, but we are only starting.
A lot of the ads were in cities and states with primaries and caucuses encouraging people to go out and vote–for their candidate, of course. Newspapers always offer a candidate a chance to explain views, but [the question is] how many take them up on it?
 
In the presidential race, how much is spent by the actual candidates and how much by the PACs?
PACs are spending everywhere, and not just in presidential. It differs by candidate. Overall in 2016, for everyone combined, spending is right around 30 percent PAC, 70 percent candidates. But we really won’t know the [final] answer until the general election.

Do you think PACs will have a bigger presence in this presidential campaign than in 2012? Why or why not?
There will definitely be more money spent. Whether that means more “presence” remains to be seen.
Until now, that hasn’t been the case.

Pandora: Consumers Are Not Listening To Radio Ads

 

April 7, 2016

 

 

 

 

It was less than two weeks ago many media professionals were part of a very lively discussion about how many commercials you should be playing on your radio station. A debate also recanted just how successful an ad campaign could really be when a commercial is 6th or 7th in a long commercial pod. It appears Pandora has just been handed a wealth of data that contributes to the very real belief that you’re playing way too many commercials.

The folks at Pandora have quickly jumped all over Edison Research’s latest data about AM/FM listeners that change stations about 22 times per commute. Pandora has already published a white paper with Edison’s logo and data all over it. In the presentation (READ IT HERE) Pandora states “by a significant margin, the top two reasons for switching AM/FM are the commercials and to skip disliked songs.”

Pandora also claims that 7 out of 10 drivers report that they change the station when they are in the car and listening to AM/FM when commercials come on. If true, that would certainly be bad. After all, everyone knows that most listening is done in the vehicle and the radio industry often touts how important it is to connect with the consumer as he or she gets close to making a purchase. Pandora claims that 7-out-of-10 number was part of the Edison Research study, however we were not provided that data from Edison.

Hitting You Where It HurtsPandora asks what all this AM/FM channel changing means for your advertisers? In its presentation, Pandora says drivers know that radio stations often play 10 or more commercials in a row. “They also know they can avoid them with a simple push of a preset. Seven out of 10 commuters report they don’t listen to the full commercial break, and nearly half of them claim they don’t even last through the first commercial. But it’s not just the ads that are causing them to switch—it’s equally due to repetitive, unpersonalized playlists. And what happens when you combine repetitive playlists with a seemingly endless run of commercials? You get drivers who switch stations a lot—22 times in each direction of their daily commute. That’s 44 switches just going to and from work.”
Pandora, quoting the research from Edison, says commuters who listen to other forms of audio (such as streaming, satellite, or a personal music collection) only switch a fraction as much—just 9 times per commute. “Personalized audio in a low-clutter environment simply results in more driver attention.”

AM/FM Listeners Who Drive….

Change stations 22 times every time they commute, according to data from a new study called “Hacking The Commuter Code” from Edison Research. Edison did not detail why listeners change the station so many times but more detail into the research, provided by Pandora, would lead you to believe it could be the number of commercials you play (see previous story). The research firms says new methodology allowed them to capture the actual, second-by-second behavior of commuters across the country.

And nearly 75% of those who consume audio in the car are likely to switch at least occasionally over the course of their commute. The average user of AM/FM radio switches the station 22 times per commute, while those using other platforms switch an average of 9.3 times. Edison did not detail what the “other” platforms were in its press release.

1,117 employed adults ages 18+ who are employed were surveyed. They commute to work at least twenty minutes in a car or truck, they drive themselves, and listen to some type of audio during that commute. Edison recruited an additional 101 commuters nationwide and asked them to mount a GoPro camera in their cars and record their commutes. Both phases of this study were conducted in the fall of 2015.
Edison says there is a wide variance in behavior among in-car audio users, with results depending on age, the type of content being consumed (e.g., music vs. spoken-word), and access to streaming or satellite radio or integrated multi-media systems.
Edison said it identified three groups in the study:
– The Restless – those who constantly switch (21%)
– The Seekers—those who switch occasionally (52%)
– The Keepers – those who mostly stick one with choice (27%)
“Hacking the Commuter Code” looked into how in-car audio users react to hearing commercials, but no details was provided. The press release from Edison also said, the study found that listeners switch for a variety of reasons—not just in reaction to commercial breaks, but also an ongoing quest for a better song.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On-Demand Demographics: VOD Viewing Across Generations

 

Insights 

         

With the convenience and personalized benefits offered by on-demand program viewing, it’s no surprise that VOD is fast becoming a part of daily viewing habits for many around the world, regardless of age. In fact, among the 65% of global respondents who watch any type of VOD programming – which can include long- and short-form content – more than four-in-10 say they watch at least once a day (43%).

And it’s not just the youngest respondents viewing on-demand programming. While a higher percentage of Generation Z (aged 15–20) and Millennial (aged 21–34) respondents report watching on-demand content daily or more often (49% and 48%, respectively) than their older counterparts, more than one-fifth (21%) of Silent Generation respondents (aged 65+) and one-quarter (26%) of Baby Boomers (aged 50-64) say they watch at least once a day. Generation X respondents (aged 35-49) fall in the middle, both age-wise and in self-reported on-demand viewing, with 38% saying they view daily.

 

Movies dominate the type of VOD content watched across all regions and generations. Eighty percent of global respondents who watch on-demand content say they view movies, followed by on-demand TV programs (50%). When it comes to popular program genres, comedies (38%) and original series (32%) rank the highest globally, followed by sports and documentaries (31% each). Twenty-two percent of global respondents say they watch short-form video content (videos of 15 minutes or less in length).

So what does the current cross-generational popularity of VOD viewing mean for future viewing patterns? A look at willingness to pay for programming options by generation provides some insight.

A majority of respondents across all age groups say they pay to watch broadcast or video programming via a cable and/or satellite service. Globally, 70% of Gen Z and 73% of Millennial respondents say they pay this type of traditional provider for content, compared with 77% of Gen X, 64% of Baby Boomer and 63% of Silent Generation respondents. Online-service subscriptions (such as Hulu, Netflix and Amazon), however, skew younger. In fact, 31% each of Gen Z and Millennial respondents say they pay an online-service provider for content. The figures are lower among older respondents, as 24% of Gen X, 15% of Baby Boomer and 6% of Silent Gen respondents say they pay an online service provider for content.

Daily

A few times per week

3 times per month or less

Source: Nielsen Global Video-on-Demand Survey, Q3 2015