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sales@spotsndots.com Copyright 2017.The Daily News of TV Sales Wednesday, August 16, 2017

THE DEATH OF TV IS GREATLY EXAGGERATEDLIVE TV STILL REACHES THE MAJORITY Even with time-shifting devices like DVRs and on-demand platforms, ThinkNow Research reports two-thirds (68%) of U.S. internet users watch TV content live - not time delayed. Mario Carrasco, co-founder of the Burbank, CA-based agency, says live TV is “still a very viable way” to reach the total market. “The death of TV is greatly exaggerated,” he says. “In fact, with players like Hulu and YouTube TV offering live TV services, reports of TV’s demise sounds more like pure fiction.” In a blog post he points out that list also includes Facebook and Twitter which have struck deals with several sports leagues. In what the ThinkNow principal describes as “back-to-basics” research, Carrasco says the firm wanted to dig into the simple question of how people consumer media. What it found were some noteworthy differences among the various demo groups, with findings that are likely to play an even more critical role in TV’s future as America’s ethnic makeup changes. “African Americans live TV viewership is the highest out of all cohorts and significantly higher than Hispanics and Asians,” Carrasco says. ThinkNow findings show 73% of African Americans report watching live TV when the show airs on network TV. That compares to 69% of White viewers who do the same and 64% of Hispanics. Asian Americans are least likely to report watching live TV (55%). When asked how they watch television programming most often, African Americans said 54% of their viewing was live TV. No other demo group reported a majority of their consumption comes through real-time viewing. Carrasco believes what’s different about the African American viewer is that that TV watching is more of a “social thing”. And the fact that network TV shows like Black-ish and Empire now offer popular content targeting the demo has only led to more television-based conversations on social media. “For African Americans, sharing their reactions to live shows on social media is an integral part of the viewing experience,” Carrasco says. “Streaming, asynchronous viewing of shows is not conducive to the live conversation and suspense build up only captured through live TV, hence African Americans’ preference for live TV over other mediums.” That contrasts Latinos who are driving the use of Netflix, which has invested heavily into Spanish-language original programming. “Throughout our studies, we have seen Hispanics lean towards emerging or new technologies,” Carrasco says. Meanwhile Asian Americans are big YouTube users. Carrasco thinks that’s because YouTube offers content in a variety of Asian languages. ThinkNow found 84% of Baby Boomers report watching TV shows live most often, while Millennials watched live TV only half (51%) of the time. Its findings are based on data collected in March from 1,261 Americans aged 18 to 64 years old. Download the report HERE.

ADVERTISER NEWS Chrysler has had its share of owners in the last two decades including a German company (Daimler), private equity (Cerberus Capital Management) and currently an Italian company, Fiat. Now Automotive News is reporting a couple of Chinese automakers have been kicking the tires at FCA, with one offer (already rejected as being too low) on the table and others offers likely to come. The Chinese government has been urging its major companies to make acquisitions outside the country and FCA’s global network

along with the Jeep and Ram brands are seen as attractive to the Chinese government……Home Depot’s second quarter results confirmed the housing boom is continuing with vigor. Domestic same-store sales were up 6.6% with one analyst on CNBC calling that achievement “absolutely amazing” in today’s retail environment. The chain’s average sale

was up 3.6%, transactions were up 2.8%, and sales per square foot were up 5.9%...........Dick’s Sporting Goods’ numbers, however, were a disappointment. Consolidated same-store sales for the quarter were up just 0.1%, compared to an earlier company prediction of a 2-3% increase. The company now predicts the full year’s comps to be flat to a low-single-digit gain after having seen a 3.5% increase last year. Expansion continues, however. For the full year the company expects to open approximately 43 new Dick’s, eight new Golf Galaxy stores, and eight new Field & Stream stores, all of which will be adjacent to Dick’s locations……After a little bit of optimism during June, the restaurant industry slumped again in July, according to TDn2K’s Black Box Intelligence report. Same-store sales in the more than 22,000 units surveyed were down 2.8%, with traffic down 4.7%. And the numbers were in comparison to July last year, which itself had been a weak month so the 2-year comparison is now down 4.2% versus July, 2015……Chili’s will try to turn around some of its problems by reducing the number of menu items in order to speed up service in its restaurants. Parent Brinker International reported traffic was down 6.5% at company-owned units in the fiscal quarter that ended on 6/28, and off by 2.1% at franchised locations. Comp sales were off a bit less badly: 2.2% at company-owned units and 1.7% at franchises. The chain stands at 1,622 units including franchises and company-owned……Hurricane BTW is looking for franchisees to open more than 100 new units in the next few years to expand from its West Palm Beach prototype. The offshoot of the Hurricane Grill & Wings brand will concentrate on Burgers, Tacos, and chicken Wings (leading to the ‘BTW’ in the name) at about a $10 price point.

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NETWORK NEWS Emmy Award winning voiceover artist Nancy Cartwright of the long-running Fox animated series The Simpsons is being awarded the 2017 Backstage Vanguard Award. Cartwright is best-known for being the voice of Bart Simpson. She has also founded and operates her own production company, Spotted Cow Entertainment and she’s an active supporter of non-profit organizations such as The Make a Wish Foundation, The Way to Happiness and The Citizen Commission on Human Rights. The Backstage Vanguard Award will be presented during a special segment of That’s Voiceover! Career Expo 2017 and is sponsored by the non-profit Society of Voice Arts & Sciences. Awards are presented in nearly 100 categories across multiple genres. Past winners include Jon Hamm, Kate Winslet, James Earl Jones, Katy Perry and Lena Dunham……UMe is releasing a companion musical collection from the first season of the NBC hit This Is Us. This Is Us (Music from the Series) will be available on September 15th via UMe. A DVD of the first season will be available three days earlier so fans can relive all the moments along with the music from the show. This Is Us: The Complete First Season DVD will include all 18 episodes of the first season. The second season of This Is Us debuts on NBC Tuesday, September 26th……Variety reports Scooter Braun, a talent manager whose roster includes Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Kayne West and David Guetta is considering an opportunity to sit at the judge’s table for the new Fox singing competition The Four. Braun is reportedly being courted by another network for a show format he’s interested in. The Four is based on an Israeli program called The Final Four and would only air for a short time. Rob Wade, the top reality-programming executive at Fox told Variety that the show would play out in just four to eight episodes. American Idol and The Voice on NBC typically air more episodes in a season……Sabrina Texidor, originally from West Hartford, Connecticut, is the 2017 winner of ABC Discovers: Digital Talent Competition in the U.S. As with past winners, it’s expected that Texidor will go on to guest star on a number of ABC projects in future…… Veteran actress Barbara Hershey has signed on for a recurring role in the 10-episode, eleventh season of the Fox sci-fi drama The X-Files. The Oscar-nominated actress will play a powerful figure representing a mysterious organization. She joins stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson and co-star Mitch Pileggi.

ECONOMIC NEWS More good news from the economy: Retail sales were up 0.6% in July, the highest monthly increase so far in 2017, beating economists’ predictions of a 0.4% increase. Additionally, the June report, which had initially said sales had dipped slightly, was revised up to a 0.3% gain. Spending was up for most goods except for clothing and gas, and Marketwatch attributes the gains to “steady hiring, the lowest unemployment rate in 16 years, and gently rising incomes.”

AVAILS WPBF 25, the Hearst owned ABC Affiliate in the beautiful West Palm Beach market, has an incredible opportunity for you! WPBF 25 is looking for a dynamic sales superstar to join our phenomenal sales team. The ideal candidate will bring both Broadcast and Digital sales experience and will possess the drive and ability to thrive in a fast paced, highly competitive market. Your creativity, originality, and passion for developing New Business will be encouraged and rewarded! CLICK HERE to apply. EOE Entravision Boston, the leader in Spanish Language

media, seeks an experienced and aggressive sales executive to join our Integrated Marketing Solutions, team. This career opportunity offers a new customer-focused approach toward media sales. You will have tremendous broadcast television, digital, and mobile sales platforms to drive creative and significant advertising revenues. Spanish Language media is the fastest growing segment in advertising today, and Entravision Boston is a major

shareholder in the space. CLICK HERE for more info or to apply. EOE. KHON2, the FOX and CW affiliate in Honolulu, is looking for a General Sales Manager. We are seeking a “game changer” and proven leader who can communicate a vision, while developing a management and sales team to generate extraordinary growth. The GSM should be proficient in inventory analysis, control and pricing; revenue forecasting, and budgeting; account strategy; product training; and energetic, candid and focused team development. CLICK HERE for more info or to apply. KHON2 is a Nexstar Media Group station and an EOE. WMBF-TV, the NBC affiliate in sunny Myrtle Beach, seeks a Digital Sales Manager. The DSM will lead the station’s efforts in developing new and incremental digital business while reducing digital churn and managing the station’s digital and local sales staff. The ideal candidate should have 4+ years of digital sales experience. We are looking for a leader that will work in tandem with our local sales managers to develop digital revenues in the Myrtle Beach DMA. Qualified applicants, CLICK HERE and attach your cover letter and resume. No phone calls please. EOE-M/F/D/V. Are you a digital thought leader who is passionate, resourceful and a creative problem-solver? We want to hear from you! The New England Sports Network seeks a Digital Sales Manager. Ideally, you have 5 to 7 years of experience in digital media sales. You know the ins and outs of DSPs/SSPs and can dissect campaign performance and implement optimizations that improve returns. 5-plus years of digital media sales experience. CLICK HERE for more info or to apply now. NESN is an E.O.E.

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RETAIL IMPORTS AT RECORD PACE Retailers are doing a brisk business and bringing in more goods, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates. Their monthly tracking report says August is expected to be the busiest month on record for imports at the nation’s major retail container ports and 2017 is on track to set a new annual high. “Retailers are selling more and that means they need to import more,” said NRF VP Jonathan Gold. “With sales showing year-over-year gains almost every month for a long time now, retail supply chains are working hard to keep up. These latest numbers are a good sign of what retailers expect in terms of consumer demand over the next few months.” Ports covered by Global Port Tracker handled 1.69 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) in June, the latest month for which after-the-fact numbers are available. That was down 2% from May but up 7.5% from June 2016. July was estimated at 1.72 million TEU, up 5.6% from the same time last year. One TEU is one 20-foot-long cargo container or its equivalent. August is forecast at 1.75 million TEU, up 2.1% from last year. That would be the highest monthly volume recorded since NRF began tracking imports in 2000, topping the 1.73 million TEU seen in March 2015. And the current forecast sees 2017 at a total of 19.7 million TEU, topping last year’s previous record of 18.8 million TEU by 4.9%.

DONE DEALS TEGNA has named Greg Retsinas the Director of Digital Strategy for the KGW Media Group in Portland, OR. In this newly created position, Retsinas will have responsibility for digital content and revenue strategy. Retsinas has served on the KGW senior leadership team as director of digital media for nearly three years and has been a key innovator in the media group’s content transformation. USED VEHICLES CRITICAL TO DEALERS It’s natural to think of new vehicles first when considering automotive dealers, but the used vehicle department has almost as much to say about a dealership’s profitability as the new vehicle department does. Through the year’s first half according to NADA figures, the average dealership did 56.48% of its total sales in the new vehicle department, and only 31.2% of its sales in used vehicles. But when looking at the dealership’s gross, the spread is much, much closer. The new vehicles department only amounts to 26.3% of the store’s total gross, while used vehicles contribute almost as much (25.2% of total gross) on 45% less revenue. There is some variance in percentage contribution based on dealer type. The average domestic brand dealership got 27.9% of its total gross from used vehicles (actually a tiny bit better than from its new vehicles) while the average import brand dealer got 23.5% from used vehicles. It’s not surprising that luxury brand dealerships got the least from used vehicle sales, just 19.3% of gross, while mass-market brand dealers got 26.5% of their gross from used vehicles.

FEWER AUTO DEALERS OPENING THIS YEAR Only 29 new auto dealerships opened in this year’s first six months (to reach 18,199 nationally) according to a study done by Urban Science. Franchised stores (‘dealerships’ are considered to be ‘rooftops’ which can contain multiple franchises) were also up just slightly to 32,046 compared to 32,012 at the beginning of the year. Texas and Florida added the most new dealerships in 2016, nine and seven respectively, while Illinois and Washington had the biggest net loss, each state losing five dealerships. “Throughput,” the average number of new

vehicles retailed by each dealership, rose to 965 last year, but is expected to fall slightly to 950 this year, (which is still considered to be a healthy number). 2014’s throughput was 921 and 2015 came in at 960. ADDRESSABLE ADS ON THE RISE The days when a viewer sees a TV commercial that seems irrelevant may be coming to an end, as personalized ads, tailored to a person or audience

grows in popularity with marketers. Addressable TV advertising has been growing slowly over the past couple of years but is projected to make up 4 percent of TV spend in 2019, up from 0.6 percent in 2015. In fact, advertisers are expected to spend $1.26 billion on this type of targeted commercial in 2017, with that figure increasing to $3.04 billion in 2019, according to estimates by researcher eMarketer, reported by CNBC. It’s gaining in popularity because of the ability to understand the return on investment for TV ad spend, something that has traditionally been hard to measure. “...Addressable advertising means that ads reach in-target households more frequently, thereby reducing wasted ad impressions and improving the overall advertising impact,” eMarketer’s report stated. However, the cost of addressable ads is higher than standard TV advertising, which is a barrier to entry according to almost 50 percent of marketers surveyed by AT&T and researcher Advertiser Perceptions in March 2017.

8/16/2017

Conan O’Brien

Remember when all we had to worry about was Ebola?

Good times!

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