One Part TV, One Part Digital: How Nielsen Jiggers Total Audience

 

                 by Wayne Friedman, May 8, 2016, 9:59 AM                                            

As Nielsen pushes its “total audience” measurement system as the new currency for a hybrid TV and video advertising marketplace, some fundamental issues remain -- especially the fact that Nielsen will effectively be adding many more sources of video viewing to the measured universe, and consequently, will fragment the TV/video advertising marketplace beyond anything Madison Avenue has experienced to date.

 

Before that happens, a number of big video platforms still need to integrate Nielsen’s digital measurement software in order to become part of its universe.

 

“For Nielsen to produce true cross-platform data, their SDK [software development kit] must be installed in each publisher’s digital platform,” Alan Wurtzel, president of measurement and media development at NBCUniversal, explains about the chicken-and-egg issue impeding Nielsen’s total audience measurement effort.

 

“There have been issues getting that done,” Wurtzel says understatedly.

“Every client has differing viewing environments that they have to work through,” concedes Kelly Abcarian, senior vice president of product architecture for Nielsen’s Watch unit, which oversees media audience measurement, adding: “This is a heady task and we have had regular meetings with clients in regard to implementation and engineering of this technology in order to support the progress of a currency-quality metric.”

 

How many clients? “Dozens,” is all Abcarian will say.

She says the process is subjective to each organization and the process varies by platform.

“In some cases we have seen clients proceed through certification in a matter of days,” she notes, adding that Nielsen’s main focus has been to work with each organization to integrate its software as “smoothly” as possible.

 

That process is taking too long as far as some big customers are concerned, especially those on the “buy-side.” GroupM Managing Partner of Research and Marketplace Analysis Lyle Schwartz, for example, points out that Nielsen originally promised to release its Total Audience measurement system in time for 2016-17 upfront negotiations, which are expected to begin soon.

 

In fact, one big player -- Interpublic’s Mediabrands’ Magna Global unit -- has already announced a nine-figure “newfront” deal with Google’s YouTube, though terms like audience guarantees and measurement methods were not disclosed.

 

“It really doesn’t exist until the marketplace can analyze it and project it,” GroupM’s Schwartz says of Total Audience ratings becoming a marketplace currency. “You need months of data, you need time.”

 

Currency is exactly what Nielsen is hoping its Total Audience ratings will become, and it is its belief -- and that of many industry observers -- that Nielsen’s historic role as the official currency of the TV advertising marketplace will enable it to extend that position into the hybrid, and hyper-fragmented TV/video world.

 

It’s not alone in that pursuit, of course. comScore is also moving toward a more comprehensive measurement of total audiences, and its recent acquisition of and integration with Rentrak’s TV audience measurement data is expected to accelerate that. comScore has already made some key announcements about plans to provide even more integrated and holistic measurement of its panel’s complete media consumption -- TV, digital, you name it -- by measuring usage on every device used by those households.

 

But Nielsen’s big leverage continues to be the fact that it is the established baseline currency for the apex medium in the mix -- television.

Nielsen Total Measurement system relies on four discrete components:

1 - Measuring consumer media exposure across platform.

2 - Creating comparable measurement.

3 - Measuring advertising and content separately.

4 - Providing a ratings solution for video, audio and text.

 

Total Audience measurement will have two main outputs: “total ad ratings” (Nielsen’s current C3 and C7 TV ratings and digital ad ratings through 35 days) and “total content ratings” (TV program ratings and digital content ratings through 35 days).

 

“The traditional C3 or C7 doesn’t tell the complete story, which has been the network's’ argument for many years,” says Nielsen’s Abcarian.

 

C3 stands for average commercial minute audience plus three days of playback viewing. C7 includes up to seven days of playback. Most big agencies continue to negotiate deals based on C3, but at least one, GroupM, has publicly stated it is using C7 for its deals.

 

Nielsen national TV sample now has 40,000 households, representing about 100,000 people, using about 50,000 connected devices in their homes. Nielsen says its software will pick up data embedded on publishers platforms for phone, smartphone, PC and tablets.

 

What’s new and different? Nielsen’s preliminary Total Audience data not only shows all TV and digital viewing through 35 days, but can reveal unique episode-by-episode viewing on specific days.

Early results show that while live, video-on-demand and DVR viewing account for the most viewing of recent episodes aired, time-shifted viewing continues to grow on digital platforms with older episodes.

 

Nielsen offered up on analysis of an undisclosed TV program looking at three episodes of a series that ran in a given week -- one original and two repeats. The original episode of the series being analyzed generated 91% of its viewing from live and DVR playback, but an earlier repeat episode re-running that same week generated 52% of its audience from VOD or digital streaming.

The net finding, says Nielsen’s Abcarian, is that older episodes of TV shows are beginning to see a shift toward more digital consumption.

 

She says it is Nielsen’s ability to analyze these detailed behaviors that gives it a leg up vs. comScore.

“We have granularity on the episode level across all platforms,” she explains, adding, “I’m not certain of anyone else is tying it altogether on an episode basis.”

 

Meanwhile, Nielsen is also offering Total Ad Ratings as a means of measuring the effectiveness of advertising campaigns, which is the bottom line for brands and agencies buying TV and digital video.

Separating advertising from program content make sense, Abcarian explains, noting: “The relationship between an ad and a program is becoming less and less -- because of dynamic ad insertion and other [advertising efforts].”

 

One of the biggest issues Nielsen has had to confront in reporting the data is accounting for the different “languages”  -- or ways of looking at -- audience exposure among its different customer types.

 

For example, Nielsen’s Abcarian says traditional TV executives speak about programming and commercials in “average minute viewing” timeframes, while digital video executives speak in “views” which have little/no relation to any time/duration.

 

“We spent a lot of time creating comparable metrics,” Abcarian says -- adding, however, that Nielsen does not plan to become the arbiter of which metric is appropriate. Over time, she says, Nielsen believes the industry will sort out a dominant marketplace metric. Meanwhile, it will focus on measuring all of it.

 

When exactly will those measurements be available to the marketplace? Abcarian says Total Audience data currently is scheduled to be released for both TV content providers and media agencies sometime in the third quarter of this year, meaning it will effectively be available after 2016-17 upfront negotiations are completed. But there’s always next year.

TV Stations To Post 12.6% Rise In 2016 Ad Revs; 13.3% Gain In Online/Digital

 

•  by Wayne Friedman, May 9, 2016, 5:36 PM

In the midst of a big election year -- and Summer Olympics to come -- U.S. TV stations are poised to see strong double-digit percentage rises in over-the-air advertising revenues in 2016.
TV station advisor BIA/Kelsey forecasts this to total $20.8 billion, up 12.1% over 2015. By way of comparison, BIA/Kelsey says local TV over-the-air revenues sank 7.2% in 2015 versus 2014.

This year, local TV stations' digital/online revenues will rise by around the same rate as-over-the air TV -- up 13.3% to $1.0 billion.

 

During the last Presidential election year -- 2012 -- local TV stations were estimated to have taken in $20.3 billion in over-the-air advertising (13.4% over 2011) and $600 million in online/digital advertising (a 20% hike over 2011).

 

BIA/Kelsey says this year, East Coast TV stations will see an 11.1% gain, versus a 7.9% decrease in 2015. Southern TV markets will rise 12.6% in 2016; after a 6.0% decline last year. Western TV stations will grow 11.9% versus a 9.6% fall in 2015.

 

Midwest markets will see the greatest climb -- up 14.6% versus a 7.2% drop a year ago. Southwest markets will rise the least -- up 8.4% in 2016. Southwest TV stations witnessed the smallest decline of any region in 2015 -- down 4.5%

 

Mark Fratrik, senior vice president and chief economist, BIA/Kelsey, stated: "The election and the economy, driven by stronger employment figures and continuing low interest rates, are helping push local TV ad revenues above expectations this year."

Data You Need To Bring in More Auto Dollars

May 9, 2016

 

 

I Just heard that one of the auto agencies that we had “saved” in late 2015 from going mostly Digital/TV at the Media Director level, just did so, cutting out their radio. The job of getting these dollars back now will not be easy due to a number of reasons, not the least of which the owner of the agency who made this decision, doesn’t want to appear foolish and will defend his decision.

This speaks to the importance of a couple of things. First, getting to the real key decision maker at the agency (the Media Director clearly didn’t have the long term juice), covering off any “red flags”, making sure they are “sold” as well as educating the key dealer contact to the point that they too are “sold”. It also speaks to the importance of having Polk auto sales data that paints a dealer-by-dealer picture of YTD 2016 and 2015 sales, enabling us to more effectively to defend Radio’s importance to the media mix if a) the dealership is outperforming other dealerships in the market and b) sales are up “X” percent. Both of which we believe is true based upon recent comments by the dealership’s GM but can’t quantify.

It would be wise for all who handle auto accounts to quickly get in front of the key decision maker’s at the dealership and agency and begin to re-sell them on the Radio medium.
Hopefully you’ll find some of the information below helpful in making the “Radio case”.
This week Tracey Scheppach, EVP Precision Video at Starcom Media Group was quoted as saying in Ad Age, discussing addressable TV ads, “The mistake many people made is we raced to the bottom of the sales funnel.”

The Internet typically is best at siphoning demand, not creating it or even getting a product into a consumer’s consideration set. The Internet “works” because it targets the very bottom of the purchasing funnel- those ready to buy. What should be a concern, is that while cost effective, it doesn’t create or increase consumer demand- it simply harvests it.

This is a point we need to continually highlight. Before I can buy your car or visit your dealership, I have to at least “consider” buying or visiting it and to “consider” buying or visiting it, I have to know something about it which means it needs to be branded in some form or fashion- not a strength of Digital. Think back to your last car purchase? How many manufacturers did you consider? Those not under consideration stood zero chance of being purchased and were probably completely ignored online. It’s all about getting into a consideration set and this is a key strength of Radio’s.
We are in the midst of running a Clip Interactive survey in a top 30 market to uncover auto insights, several of which are below and based upon over 200 consumer responses. The first insight illustrates that the Internet doesn’t set the world on fire and that dealerships and agencies might be a bit blinded by the Digital glare and in need of some traditional sunglasses (scale of 1-10):



The second insight was that while “price” is important, it is not the most important reason for choosing a dealership. Can Digital communicate “Honesty” and “Friendly” as effectively as Radio? We don’t think so:



We also need to stress Radio’s continued importance to the consumer. This slide can help make this point. It was highlighted last week and derived from USA TouchPoint data:

We also understand that consumers are visiting fewer showrooms and making purchasing decisions more quickly and that the traditional path to purchase it out the window, but more sales are lost due to not even being considered than all other reasons for not buying combined. Radio gets your dealership “considered”. The attached Nielsen study supports this statement.
This weekend there will be “X” number of cars sold in a market. Any car salesperson worth their weight in salt wants to have the last opportunity to have the last word with a prospect to communicate one more reason to buy from “me” and not them. Radio enables a dealership to get that last “word” before they sign elsewhere and are off the grid for 5 years. This is another area where Radio shines- enabling a dealership to differentiate itself from the others and providing reasons to buy/visit such as “honesty”, having a “great service center” and “friendliness”, beyond “price”.
The following chart was derived from the latest USA TouchPoints data. One of TouchPoints key benefits is being able to illustrate Radio’s ability to communicate a timely message when a product is being “purchased”, “considered” or “decided” upon.
This chart highlights media share of usage when a 25-64 adult consumer is “considering, purchasing or deciding” on an “automotive” product and while “automotive” includes the purchasing, considering or deciding upon which auto to purchase, this category does include auto parts and other auto related services.

Yet, it does confirm Radio’s ability to communicate a message at the “automotive” Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT) – when an ad would be most relevant and impactful.
This chart is to be read as: Radio’s has a 33.3% share of media usage in the same half hour that an A25-64 was deciding, considering or purchasing an “automotive” product.


 In the article referenced above, Scheppach also went on to say, “Marketers can reach about 65% of consumers pretty easily with standard TV buys, but finding light TV watchers is tough and only getting harder with audience fragmentation.” Not if you use Radio.

The following slide is one we presented to an agency earlier this week that handles the Toyota Dealer Association which confirms Scheppach’s observation about TV not being able to effectively cover the “entire market”.

This chart highlights that 20% of current Toyota owners in this market view TV only 38 minutes/day (lightest viewers) and would be exposed to less than 3% of Toyota’s paid gross impressions. These same lightest TV viewers listen to Radio close to 2 hours/day.

The key takeaway-Radio effectively covers these light TV viewers.
On top of this, the least affluent of these viewers, those who comprise less than 15% of all Toyota owners (and watch TV 10 hours/day), will be exposed to 35% of Toyota’s paid gross impressions. This is not a “use Radio if there’s any extra dollars” discussion, it is a “use Radio to make your media campaign more effective” discussion. Reaching “more” with a relevant message is preferable to repeatedly “preaching to a few”, the heaviest of TV viewers.


 There are also several slides from the recent ARF study that could be helpful when meeting with dealers and their agencies. The ARF (Advertising Research Foundation) is the research equivalent of the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. The biggest marketers in the world were involved with the creation of these slides and the following conclusions:

The more mediums utilized in a media campaign, the greater the return-on-investment. These results are based upon 3,200 sophisticated econometric analyses by one of the industry’s most respected econometric firms, Analytic Partners. This is not chipmunk research. Use TV, use the Internet, but do not ignore Radio. The reasons to use Radio go far beyond Radio’s TSL and speaks to Radio’s ability to deliver a message to the light consumers of different media in different “contexts”, where other media can’t go and at key moments of receptivity.


 The slide below details the results of another much respected analytics company, Marketing Evolution, which analyzed $100 billion in ad spend over the past 5 years. Their conclusion: Digital expenditures need to be kept in perspective, that while it needs to be part of the plan, it should not the majority of the plan. Their suggested Digital allocation: 20%-30%. If a dealership is interested in maximizing sales they’d be wise to keep this finding in mind. Plus, we can help them with the Digital component of their media plan.


 The ARF study also concluded there is a point-of-diminishing returns. Truth is there is a point of diminishing returns to everything no matter how good or effective it might be at the outset. It what’s referred to as “satiation”. The first beer tastes the best, then it goes downhill from there. Sometimes too far downhill.

Same is true with media impressions. The first impression is most effective, then each successive impression gets increasingly less effective- this is a life law not just a media law. There does come a point when even if a particular medium isn’t deemed to be as effective as another one initially, it will at some point generate a greater return-on-investment due to the over-use of the initial medium. Anything “good” can become “bad” if it’s overdone; exercise, eating, work and even the use of TV or Digital.

Excessive use of any medium results in less impact per ad dollar. We had made this point to an agency earlier this week, highlighting that they placed 6,000 TV commercials in one market in Q1 2016. Media Monitors is a great way to effectively make this point. It’s difficult to understand how this might not be perceived as being too much of a good thing on TV. Our discussions with this agency and client are ongoing:

Also, why should a dealership continue to pay premium dollars for TV, which due to multi-tasking, has largely become an audio advertising medium sprinkled with occasional visual elements? The ARF study concluded that viewer’s eyes are not on the TV screen but are facing downward up to 65% of the time. This should surprise no one:

If this is “too high level” stuff for the dealers or their agencies, try positioning Radio’s role in the following manner:
– Complementary Medium: Radio not only delivers media value on its own but also reaches the light users of other media, leaving no potential customer “uncovered”. The auto business is too competitive to leave any potential customer “uncovered”.

– Resonance: Radio’s efficiency enables an advertiser to maintain “continued brand presence” as well as being a powerful memory maintenance vehicle, extending the life of any TV campaign. When it comes to marketing, out of sight really is out of mind. Radio enables a dealership to maintain critical visibility. Car buying never stops and as such nor should dealership advertising.

– Magnification: Enables a dealership to communicate “other reasons” to buy/believe beyond price (reference the Clip study above- or even better, do your own). This is often referred to as “convergent validity”- heard the messaging elsewhere so must be true. The ARF study confirmed that there is a considerable amount of positive “priming” impact between Radio and TV. Radio making the TV advertising more effective and TV making the Radio advertising more effective.

– Acceleration: The longer a campaign runs the more effective the campaign becomes. “Being there” when an auto shopper is deciding is the difference between a sale this weekend and lost business. The absent are always wrong in sales and in the auto dealership business.

– Synergy: The same number of exposures in multiple media are more effective than the same number of exposures in a single medium. Multiple media have a greater “summed” effect than any individual media.

 

The Radio Show

 

 

This year’s Radio show, co-produced by the NAB and RAB, will be held in Nashville this September so the Radio Week proclamation comes from Nashville Mayor Megan Barry. The proclamation, which you can read HERE, says “to recognize the importance of radio broadcasting to Music City’s creative and economic well-being and to welcome the 2016 Radio Show to Nashville.”

You're Fired! -- How to Walk Away from a Bad Client

                                 

By Ditas Mauricio Havas May 05, 2016

I've been doing PR for my entire career and have worked in professional services for nearly two decades. I feel fortunate to have partnered during this time with some of the most amazing national brands across a wide range of industries, from CPG to home décor to oil and lubricants. As a result of being a client lead for many years, I have worked with some very talented folks. I have also navigated a number of difficult client relationships that make me appreciate the good ones even more.

Looking back on the difficult relationships got me thinking: When it comes to bad clients, when is enough truly enough? How do you know when to simply grin and bear it, or when it's the right time to walk away?

Thanks to baptism by retail and an overzealous work ethic, part of me has always subscribed to the philosophy of "Do What's Right for the Customer." It was my first employer's motto and it's always stuck with me. But as I've grown older and wiser, I have come to realize that, despite one's best efforts or good faith in mankind, there are still some client relationships that go south for reasons beyond your control. Of more importance, I've learned to recognize warning signs that signal it's time to make a change and ultimately accept that a relationship is no longer working.
Here are some fundamental questions to consider when you're assessing the uncertain health of any client partnership:

1. Are you repeatedly over-servicing the account? Often in our zest to keep clients happy we invest time above and beyond what is scoped. However, if this situation becomes more of a rule rather than an exception, remind yourself that you're in a business relationship and you don't work for free! If you're continually putting in double and triple the billable hours than you have agreed upon, it just doesn't make good business sense to continue.
2. Is the client demonstrating bad behavior or being unprofessional? I believe that good begets good. Are they being honest and truthful or acting in an unethical manner, such as knowingly providing you with incorrect information? Do they criticize good work? Distorting the truth, berating or being unpleasant to staff are sound reasons to walk away from any client. After all, in professional services our people are our most valuable assets; allowing them to be mistreated isn't worth any budget.
3. Are they constantly making unreasonable demands? I never balk at a big project or challenge. Anyone who works at an agency knows that some days turn into long nights. However, if your team is constantly jumping through hoops without any show of gratitude, feedback or understanding, it's high time to re-set expectations and right the ship. If every day is a fire drill and you feel the need to don your armor before every client call, ask yourself the hard question: Is this partnership worth the overall toll it's taking on your team?
4. Do they trust you? Sometimes a client isn't listening because they're juggling a lot of responsibilities; however, if they don't trust your recommendations or heed your advice, it's a no-win situation. There is nothing worse than a client that undermines your authority and expertise and shows no true signs of partnership or respect.
5. Are they paying on time? We pay our cable bills when we want to watch TV. We all pony up funds to go shopping, eat out and attend yoga classes. It's basic commerce. When clients don't uphold the financial terms of your contract (on top of demonstrating any of the above bad behaviors), recognize you're on a slippery slope. Being diligent about getting paid from the beginning will help prevent any big losses when/if the going gets tough. 

At the end of the day, as leaders we must trust our gut instincts. But as part of the process, it's important to stay connected to our staff, to stand up for what we believe is right and to be brave enough to walk away from bad revenue. We all want to grow our businesses, but we need to do so in a positive way with the right partners -- the kind that do not destroy team morale or negatively impact productivity and the fabric of our agencies. Failing to recognize unhealthy situations and becoming complacent or blinded by financial gains is sure to cause more extensive damage, which can hinder the long-term success of any business.

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. Photo courtesy of Graphic Stock.

Online Media Players Gun for TV’s Lost Viewers at NewFronts

Viewers at NewFronts

Todd Spangler

NY Digital Editor@xpangler  

Courtesy of iab

May 4, 2016 | 10:00AM PT

                                    

Online video is still the plucky, punkish younger cousin to TV’s rich uncle. But digital entertainment now has a firm seat at the big kids’ table on Madison Avenue.

See more.

A diverse lineup of media players will tout new projects and initiatives to try to win the business of ad buyers and brand marketers at the 2016 Digital Content NewFronts, the industry’s version of the television upfront season, which runs May 2-13 in New York. Officially in its fifth year, the IAB-managed series of presentations will feature 38 companies (up from 34 last year) along with unofficial piggybacking events hosted by CAA, UTA and others.

“In the old days, it was kind of a sideshow,” says Pete Stein, head of Fullscreen’s brand group. “Now it’s center stage.”

In addition to mainstays like YouTube, AOL and Hulu, presenters new on the NewFronts schedule this year include AwesomenessTV, Turner’s CNN, Activision Blizzard, Mashable, Hearst, Playboy, NowThisNews, Woven Digital and SheKnows Media. “I feel like we are finally at a point where the TV money is tipping to online video — that’s why it’s important for us to be there,” says AwesomenessTV CEO Brian Robbins.

Digital video has grown in stature among media buyers, who today see the segment as more critical than ever to reach younger audiences, who watch less TV. Indeed, YouTube was ranked as the most important outlet by agency and ad execs for TV and video media buying — ahead of ESPN — with Hulu, Vice Media and AOL in the top 10, according to a survey by MyersBizNet.

At YouTube’s Brandcast event May 5, the company will highlight internal research that shows its punching power relative to TV. For example, in the U.S., 44% of YouTube viewers aged 18-49 do not watch primetime broadcast TV in an average week. “We are seeing the combination of success clients are having on YouTube, and the challenges they are having in getting [gross rating points] on television,” says Tara Walpert Levy, managing director of agency solutions for Google and YouTube.

Time spent watching traditional TV by consumers 18-24 has dropped roughly 34% between 2011 and 2015, according to Nielsen figures. “Those viewers are getting content and being entertained in other ways,” says Condé Nast Entertainment president Dawn Ostroff, who will show off a slate of millennial-focused programming at the CNE presentation.

And, as the NewFronts promise to abundantly illustrate, TV will be facing even more competition for eyeballs — and ad dollars — from the online-video realm. Time Inc., which has built a 5,000-square-foot studio space at its new lower Manhattan HQ to boost video production, will unveil an over-the-top video service with longer-form, lean-back programming that company execs have said will draw from People and Entertainment Weekly.

But the NewFronts just aren’t in the same league as the TV upfronts. “Very little money moves as a result of the NewFronts,” says GroupM head of digital investment Jon Hsia. The presentations are important for advertisers to understand how to target specific audiences on digital platforms, “but there’s no season for buying digital inventory.”

For Hulu, the NewFronts song-and-dance actually is like an upfront, according to senior VP of sales Peter Naylor. Hulu positions itself as a TV network that just happens to be distributed online. “We’re the first alternative to broadcast and cable,” Naylor says. “Today’s TV media plans have reached a ceiling … and we represent a way to extend and reassemble some of those lost ratings.”

Amid the NewFronts noise are parties, but not the huge, splashy affairs of years past. Disney’s Maker Studios and Yahoo are each holding private events for brands and agencies, scaled down from their former razzle-dazzle. Yahoo is keeping a low profile in general, given its recent retrenchment on content — and possible sale.

Apart from the festivities and possible deal-making, there’s plenty of value in the NewFronts as a chance to educate the market on the power of digital influencers and content produced specifically for Internet platforms. “Everyone under the age of 30 gets what we’re doing,” says Reza Izad, head of Americas for Studio71. “People over 30 intellectualize it but still don’t fully get it.”

CBS Stations 1Q Revenue Climbs 18%

 

Increases in political, retrans and carriage of Super Bowl 50 were drivers. Looking ahead, CEO Les Moonves says “we are in a very enviable position for this year's upfront, given the ongoing strength of our primetime lineup and a robust advertising marketplace. Plus, advertising is poised for even more growth in the back half of the year as political spending ramps up.” He adds that retrans is expected to surpass $1 billion this year.  

 

By Staff

    

TVNewsCheck, May 3, 2016 4:52 PM EDT 

      

CBS Corp. on Thursday reported results for the first quarter of 2016 that included an 18% increase in revenue from CBS Television Stations compared to the first quarter a year ago.
The company said the increase reflected the broadcast of Super Bowl 50 on CBS, higher political advertising sales and growth in retransmission consent revenues.

 

The company’s Local Broadcasting segment revenue of $649 million for the first quarter of 2016 were up 9% from $596 million in the same prior-year period. (The Local Broadcasting numbers include the CBS Television Stations and CBS Radio.)

Local Broadcasting operating income for the first quarter of 2016 increased 28% to $206 million from $161 million or the same prior-year period. The increase was driven by higher revenues as well as lower expenses as a result of restructuring activities the company put in place to create efficiencies.

"CBS delivered a spectacular quarter as we continue to execute on our strategy of creating and distributing the content that audiences have to have," said Leslie Moonves, chairman-CEO, CBS Corp. "We had double-digit revenue growth, and we set records in all key profit measures, with EPS coming in above a dollar for the first time in our Company's history. Advertising was extremely strong, growing 31% overall and 49% at the CBS Television Network, where we are on track to win the season in adults 25-54 and adults 18-49, as well as in viewers for the 13^th time in 14 years.

“Looking ahead, we are in a very enviable position for this year's upfront, given the ongoing strength of our primetime lineup and a robust advertising marketplace. Plus, advertising is poised for even more growth in the back half of the year as political spending ramps up. Our high-margin, non-advertising revenue streams are also on the rise, led by retransmission consent fees and reverse compensation, which are expected to surpass $1 billion this year. At the same time, our subscription streaming services, CBS All Access and Showtime over-the-top, are reaching new and younger audiences and are beginning to make a meaningful contribution to our results.

“As we grow our company on the strength of our premium content, we are also moving forward with our initiative to separate our radio business, which will unlock value for shareholders and further diversify our revenue streams. So across the board, we are turning in record results while we position the company for long-term growth. It clearly continues to be a terrific time to be a CBS investor."

Publishers Split On Ad Blocking Response

 

 by Erik Sass, , Staff Writer @eriksass1, May 2, 2016, 1:13 PM                                            
                                                   

There is no mistaking the general sentiment about ad blocking at MediaPost’s Publishing Insider Summit in Key Largo, where panel moderator Bob Garfield compared ad-blocking software providers to the Taliban in his opening remarks.

But as the following panel agreed, vilifying the opponent -- while doubtless satisfying -- does little to address this looming problem. So what should publishers do?

Forbes has been a leader in the publisher response to ad blocking, adopting what might be termed a “carrot-and-stick” approach. According to vice-president for advertising products and strategy Ann Marinovich, Forbes ran an experiment in which half the visitors using ad blocking software were invited to turn off their ad blockers or whitelist Forbes in return for a lighter ad experience, promising faster loading times and less data usage — or otherwise not be able to see the content.

Marinovich noted that 35% of the ad blocker users who received the message chose to turn off their blockers or whitelist the site – and that the these actually proved to be some of the most engaged visitors to the site, spending more time on the site and generating more page views than visitors who weren’t using an ad blocker in the first place.

Now all users that visit Forbes with ad blockers activated are presented with the same choice, and Marinovich reported that, “Since December, we’ve reclaimed 185 million impressions” that would otherwise have been lost to ad blockers. Nor has the “ad light” strategy been to detrimental to the bottom line as, reflecting their higher engagement,  “revenue per user has been ad par or higher” than users coming without ad blockers.

However, the panel also showed that many publishers remain leery of adopting even a moderately confrontational approach to readers, and some of this hesitation stems from the very structure of the new media ecosystem, where readers are often contributors as well, and tech-savvy types more likely to use ad blockers are also among the most valuable visitors.

On that note, Patrick McCann, vice-president of data science for CafeMedia, revealed: “We have two social networks and we have to be very careful because those users are providing content for us… Many of the people using ad blockers are social influencers and we have to be very careful not to drive them away.”

The oft-repeated nostrum that publishers and advertisers need to improve the user experience ignores the fact that ad blockers, far from advocating for consumers as they claim, have a good reason to hope that things remain the same.

As Newspaper Association of America CEO David Chavern pointed out: “Not all ad-blockers are created equal… If you’re a for-profit ad blocker, you don’t want improvement in the digital ecosystem, because you make your living off of a bad ecosystem.”

Similarly, publishers may not have the privilege of rejecting intrusive or data-heavy ads, as big platforms like Facebook, Google or Apple are able to do more or less by decree. McCann noted: “We don’t have the power of Facebook going to advertisers and saying you need to give us lighter ads. The publishers are the ones taking the heavy ads, the ten megabyte ads… You can’t just walk away from that.”

Of course, publishers may choose to rely on the big tech platforms to hold advertisers to these new standards, but this would in effect mean turning over their business to the platforms, diluting the publisher’s brand and undermining their relationship with the audience – something all the panelists agreed was problematic.

Publishers can also explore alternatives to the ad-supported model, but preliminary findings on this front aren’t particularly promising: Marinovich noted that among ad block users surveyed by Forbes, 80% said they would be unwilling to pay for content.