CBS Corp. says its broadcast network has showed some positive results in the fourth-quarter scatter ad market and minimal cancellations of its June upfront advertising buys. "The scatter market is not booming like in the past year," says Les Moonves, president/chief executive officer of CBS Corp., in a conference call with Wall Street analysts. "We sold in the upfront a large percentage of [our ad inventory]... in the high seventies." Whatever remains in the scatter market, however, Moonves said, will come to CBS. That's because CBS is leading in all audience metrics through the first five weeks of the season: viewers, households, 18-49 viewers and 25-54 viewers. In terms of scatter money, "it's all coming to us [because] we are outperforming our [network] peers." Fred Reynolds, executive vice president/CFO of CBS Corp., says: "Right now in the scatter market, we are selling slightly above the upfront. Scatter pricing is hanging in there." In terms of advertising categories, while automotive advertising is down for national and local TV, Reynolds notes that automotive is flat-to-up at CBS Outdoor. Regarding upfront cancellations in the near-term periods, including 2009, Moonves says: "Cancellations from the upfront purchases were minimal," if not a little better than expected. As for the health of the network advertising market, "we have not seen a great slowdown in national advertising [as opposed to local]," said Moonves. Because of major competition from the NBC Beijing Olympics during the third quarter, television ad revenues sank 14%. But overall TV revenues, which also include cable and syndication license fee deals from "CSI:New York," were 2% higher to $2.07 billion. TV operating income dropped 15% in terms to $414 million. CBS on a gross revenue basis pulled in $180 million in television political advertising--$90 million up to the end of September and getting another $90 million through Nov. 4, election day. Non-TV segments at CBS showed some strain. Radio dropped 12% in revenues to $392.5 million, with operating income off 18% to $139.4 million. Outdoor was 1% improved in revenues to $392.5 million, but down 26% to $113.9 million in operating income. On the upside, publishing was 5% higher in revenue to $225.0 and 8% improved in operating earnings to $25.8 million. CBS Interactive rocketed to $140.7 million from $35.9 million. CBS' CNET Web business improved 6% in revenues, thanks to a 12% growth in display advertising. Overall, CBS revenues were up 3% to $3.4 billion, with its adjusted net earnings up $290.3 million. In summary, CBS posted a massive third-quarter loss--$12.46 billion--after taking a recent $14.12 billion charge to write down the value of media assets on its books. But CBS overall posted a massive third-quarter loss--$12.46 billion--after taking a recent $14.12 billion charge to write down the value of media assets on its books.
Omnicom Group is launching a new mobile practice that promises to marry behavioral and mobile marketing. The appropriately named Mobile Behavior agency is intended to help advertisers better understand consumers' mobile behaviors, hopefully leading to more effective use of the mobile marketing channel in conjunction with other media. The new agency combines the expertise of Omnicom's Youth and Mobile Marketing business with the global reach of its various advertising and marketing agencies. The practice will work with Omnicom's agencies on projects for advertisers. Alan Rambam, previously the head of Youth and Mobile Marketing, will run the new company. Omnicom is emphasizing advantages to clients, including the large scale allowed by Mobile Behavior's relationships with existing networks and carriers, as well as the convenience of a single point of contact for creating and executing mobile marketing campaigns. Omnicom President and Chief Executive Officer John D. Wren boasted that "Mobile Behavior connects the dots across the full range of mobile enablers--media, advertising, sponsors, supply chains, OEMs, carriers, application developers, aggregators--to make them all better and more relevant in new and innovative ways." Most of the big global ad-holding companies have moved aggressively to build or acquire cutting-edge mobile marketing practices over the last few years. In May 2008, Publicis announced that its special innovation-focused Denuo shop had partnered with GoldSpot, a firm specializing in mobile marketing research, to offer advertisers more effective dynamic integration of ads in mobile video content.
For movie lovers, it doesn't get any better. The new partnership between the 11-year-old DVR company and Netflix, the online movie rental service, means that more than 12,000 movies and TV episodes can be streamed to the latest generation of TiVo digital video recorders. The new service is expected to be available in early December; there is no charge for customers who subscribe to both services. Movies streamed from Netflix via specified TiVo recorders are done through a high-speed broadband connection and a Netflix queue-based user interface. Members visit the Netflix Web site to add movies and television shows to their queues. Once added, the selections can be screened immediately on TV. "Joining forces with Netflix creates the ultimate video-on-demand service and solidifies TiVo's leading position as the one-box solution for aggregating, searching and delivering the best content available anywhere right to the TV," said Tom Rogers, president and CEO of TiVo Inc. TiVo already has deals with Amazon.com and Google's YouTube. The Netflix addition should enhance Rogers' claim that the partnership "differentiates TiVo even further from any other offering in the market today"--a reference to services offered by cable TV companies. TiVo ended July with 3.6 million subscribers, and Netflix ended with 8.7 million subscribers, per AP. Tivo and Netflix tried a similar alliance in 2004; it failed when Netflix was unable to get the rights to certain movies.
An "unquestionably" rocky economic climate contributed to flat revenues in the third quarter at station group Hearst-Argyle--but CEO David Barrett offered a stroke of optimism, saying "everything is temporary." H-A executives said on a conference call to discuss third-quarter results Thursday that the company was hurt considerably by the downturn in New England, Florida and California. Florida and California have been particularly affected by the mortgage crisis. H-A indicated that its duopolies in Orlando (NBC-CW) and Sacramento (NBC-MyNetworkTV) have been impacted. It also has the ABC affiliate in Boston. Total third-quarter revenue came in at $176.2 million, about equal to a year ago. Stripping out a bump from political dollars, ad sales were down 11.5% to $129.5 million. The auto category, the company's largest, was down about 20%. The ad economy was so difficult to navigate that H-A's digital revenues were down 6%. Station groups have been operating from a low base on digital revenues as they look to build up that revenue stream, but growth rates have generally been strong. Nonetheless, Barrett said: "In the good times, we have to remind ourselves that things are temporary and in bad times as well. There will be a recovery." H-A did benefit from ad spending by the presidential candidates in potential swing states New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio and Pennsylvania. H-A operates 29 stations from coast to coast, including 13 affiliated with ABC and 10 with NBC.
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's closely watched roadblock of half-hour political infomercials on seven broadcast and cable networks resulted in a price tag of some 10 cents a viewer--or voter. And the gamble worked. Obama pulled in Nielsen Media Research 33.5 million viewers among NBC, CBS, Fox, Univision, MSNBC, BET and TVOne airings for his half-hour paid political show, which ran from 8 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Adding in additional cable network viewers from MSNBC, BET and TVOne could push the overall total from around 32 million to 33 million viewers. At a total price tag of some $3.3 million for those collective half-hour program purchases, this equates to a cost per viewer--or potential voter--of around 10 cents. Obama's biggest audience was on NBC, which averaged 9.78 million viewers. CBS drew 8.60 million, Fox had 7.1 million and Univision had 3.47 million. Among the cable networks, MSNBC got 3.5 million viewers; BET had 714,000, and TVOne had 307,000. For the night overall, Fox dominated because of what turned out to be the deciding game of the World Series, which crowned the Philadelphia Phillies champions over the Tampa Bay Rays in five games. The fifth game pushed up audience numbers to a 6.2/16 among 18-49 viewers and 19.8 million viewers--numbers that were generally higher than game one through three. For the night overall, Fox earned a 4.9 rating/13 share among 18-49 viewers. Although ABC decided not to buy the Obama infomercial, its "Pushing Daisies"--which ran against it from 8 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.--wasn't all that hurt. The show actually improved in overall viewers to 6.7 million, from 5.7 million the week before. Among 18-49 viewers, it also gained a 2.3/6 from a 1.9/5 the week before. Because of the disruption on the schedule with special events, a number of top Wednesday shows were lower versus a week before. CBS' "Criminal Minds" was down to a 3.5/8 from a 4.1/10 the week before, as was CBS' "CSI: NY," which also sank to a 3.3/9 from a 3.9/10. ABC's "Private Practice" moved to a lower 2.9/7 from a 3.0/8 the previous week. Some shows on the fence did find growth: ABC's "Dirty Sexy Money" rose to a 2.0/5 from a 1.9/4. NBC's "Lipstick Jungle" perked up to a 1.9/5 from a 1.7/4. Things may not last for "Jungle," which will move to a more difficult Friday prime-time period. After Fox, CBS came in second on Wednesday to a 3.0/8. ABC was third at a 2.4/6; then NBC with a 2.3/6; Univision at a 1.7/4; and the CW at a 1.4/4.
Liberty Media's three core businesses reported weakening operating income results for the third quarter, which didn't sit well with Wall Street investors. "Although several of our businesses, including Starz and our e-commerce companies, produced solid results, Liberty has not been immune to the volatile economic climate," said Greg Maffei, president and CEO of Liberty Media in a release. Liberty Interactive Group's revenue increased 2%, and its adjusted OIBDA decreased 14% for the quarter. The decrease in operating income at the division was primarily due to cable network QVC. Consumer spending has hit all-time lows for the economy overall, and cable TV network retailer QVC has been impacted. QVC's total revenue decreased 3% to $1.64 billion and adjusted operating income sank 14% to $312 million. On the positive side, QVC's international revenue improved 11% to $568 million, partly helped by favorable foreign currency exchange rates in Germany and Japan. Liberty Entertainment group's revenue climbed 21%, but operating income sank 15% for the quarter. The increase in revenue was primarily due to the purchase of Liberty Sports Group, which was acquired in February 2008. One of Liberty Entertainment's big pieces, Starz Entertainment, saw revenue sinking 1% to $278 million with operating income falling 11% to $78 million. Most of this came from adjustments in affiliation agreements from Liberty's DirecTV holdings. Last month, Liberty Media Corp. said it would spin off Liberty Entertainment--which includes DirecTV and the Starz television channels--into a separately traded company. Liberty Capital Group includes subsidiaries Starz Media, TruePosition, (the Atlanta Braves), and its interests in Time Warner, Inc. and Sprint Nextel Corp. Its revenue increased 16% to $221 million, while its net losses widen to $89 million, up from a $17 million loss in the third quarter 2007. Wall Street investors reacted to the news by pushing Liberty Media's stock down 18% in midday trading to $5.24.
NBC Universal's Bravo network has inked a deal bringing a top-line sponsor to its veteran "Inside the Actors Studio" for the first time. Even as some auto marketers pull in the spending reins, Nissan's Infiniti has signed on with a multi-tiered attachment to the James Lipton-hosted show. Bravo said the "presenting sponsorship" arrangement, launching early next month, will coincide with a new on-air feel for the series. Infiniti, a luxury brand, will receive prominent mention at the top of the show. It will also have the brand linked with two segments within Lipton's interview of the week's guest. To be called the "Infiniti Film Vault," Lipton will cut to a clip featuring the star and then return to discuss it. In addition, there will be an "Infiniti Fan Question," where Lipton asks the guest a question that is selected from entrants who visit the show's Web site. That site will include a blog from Lipton. Infiniti agency OMD made the deal with Bravo, looking to reach an upscale audience. The 14-year-old "Inside the Actors Studio" is a relic of Bravo's previous incarnation as a niche arts-oriented network that was owned by Cablevision prior to NBCU's acquisition. Since then, it has ramped up reality-competition series, such as "Project Runway" and "Top Chef."
Two years after he was named president of ad sales at MTV Networks, Hank Close is leaving the post at the end of the year when his contract expires. Close will not be replaced, as MTVN announced a new sales structure--with three top executives reporting directly to chiefs of network clusters. Close has been with MTVN for four years, and succeeded Larry Divney (a colleague at Comedy Central before) in 2006 in the president's role. In a memo sent to employees, MTVN CEO Judy McGrath wrote: "Hank has led our ad sales organization through the most dynamic and transformational time in its history..." In addition to reorganizing the sales organization to capitalize on online and multi-platform opportunities, Close also led MTVN's adoption of new techniques ("pod-busters" was one term) in an effort to ensure that it was prepared to make the transition from the traditional program ratings as currency to the new C3 metric. There was some thought that MTVN would suffer with a younger audience eager to skip commercials. McGrath said Close "championed our industry-leading effort to maximize the commercial environment for viewers as well as marketers." Close and Divney first began working together in 1999 at Comedy Central after Close had been at Fox for 12 years. Divney became network CEO and Close replaced him in charge of ad sales--as he would at MTVN seven years later. Under the post-Close sales structure, Jeff Lucas (head of sales at the entertainment group that includes Comedy Central and Spike), Sean Moran (in charge at the group with MTV and Logo) and Jim Perry (the Nickelodeon segment) will report to the overall heads of those clusters: Doug Herzog, Van Toffler and Cyma Zarghami, respectively. "Our programming and advertising strategies are more linked than ever before ... (the three) will become fully integrated into the senior management teams of their groups," McGrath wrote. Separately, MTVN is promoting Carolyn Everson to COO of ad sales--a position that does not replace Close, but seeks to craft strategies to attract clients throughout the MTVN portfolio. She will report to MTVN COO Rich Eigendorff. Nada Stirratt, executive vice president of digital advertising at MTVN, will also report to Eigendorff under the new structure.
Conde, Amex Cut Back There appears to be no end in sight for cutbacks in the magazine industry. Following big cuts by Time Inc., McGraw Hill, and Wenner during the last few weeks, Conde Nast and American Express Publishing announced their own bad news. On Thursday, Conde Nast said that Portfolio, its relatively new business title, will reduce its frequency from 12 to 10 yearly issues--a concession to the increasingly adverse ad environment and the economic downturn overall. In the first nine months of 2008, Portfolio's ad pages were up 38.5% to 445 compared to last year--but this positive news is tempered somewhat by the fact that as a new launch, it's building on a small base. Rumors also circulated Thursday afternoon that Conde Nast may be cutting up to one-fifth of Portfolio's staffers, although this remained unconfirmed at press time. Conde is also cutting back Men's Vogue to a twice-yearly publication schedule. Portfolio launched at a particularly challenging juncture for the business category, as business news consumption migrates to the Internet. Time Inc.'s Business 2.0 folded last year, and in the first nine months of 2008, ad pages fell at most big business titles compared to the same period last year, according to the Publishers Information Bureau: BusinessWeek is down 14.6% to 1,316 pages, Entrepreneur is down 6.7% to 800, Forbes is down 16.6% to 1,757, Kiplinger's Personal Finance is down 13.6% to 309, and SmartMoney is down 25.7% to 359. By the same token, the news isn't all bad: The Economist is up 5.9% to 1,769 pages, Fast Company is up 31.1% to 387, Fortune is up 9% to 1,746, Inc. is up 3.2% to 602, and Money is basically flat with a small 1.1% increase. Also, American Express Publishing announced Wednesday that it will lay off 22 employees across the company, evenly distributed across the advertising and editorial staffs. The layoffs represent about 4% of the company's workforce. Per the PIB, ad pages are down at all of Amex's luxe titles through September--with Travel + Leisure down 5% to 1,046 pages, Food & Wine down 5.2% to 945, and Departures down 5.6% to 660. Last November, Amex closed Travel + Leisure Family. Conde Nast closed Golf for Women in July of this year. Teen Vogue Launches Mall Marketing Center Looking to spread awareness of the brand with experiential marketing and place-based media, Conde Nast's Teen Vogue said it is opening a temporary marketing center from late November to the end of December called the Teen Vogue Haute Spot in a mall in Short Hills, NJ. Retail isn't the sole focus; per BusinessWeek, the branded space is intended to allow girls to relax, socialize and enjoy refreshments while trying on clothes. The store will feature free snacks, informal modeling, a perfume bar, a makeup station, charging stations for cell phones and iPods, a gift-wrapping counter and racks of clothes. Conde Nast is not charging advertisers to have their brands featured at the store, although some were asked to buy one or two ad pages in the upcoming issue of Teen Vogue. Taking a Good Look at BusinessGood, the magazine promoting social awareness and philanthropy from a hip point of view, is launching a new cross-platform media offering with content about the world of business, focusing on companies that embrace corporate responsibility and philanthropy. The new product, "Good Business," will have content distributed via the print magazine as well as its Web site, video and live events--and is produced in cooperation with Certified B Corps., a community of companies that support socially responsible business practices. The new product is being promoted in the current issue of Good, with 32 pages of content devoted to Good Business. The brand is also set to host live events at the upcoming Green Festival in San Francisco, which expects to draw 40,000 attendees. Modern Luxury Media Announces Comprehensive Revamp Modern Luxury media is overhauling all of its luxury lifestyle titles, according to the company--led by its new Manhattan magazine, which debuted in September. Ann Song, vice president of creative and fashion director, says readers will get a sleeker, more sophisticated look and format. There will also be a "strong synergy between our print and online offerings." Next up for revamp are Modern Luxury's Front Desk publications, with the new look set to debut in March 2009. Graham Named Editor of AARP Nancy Perry Graham has been promoted to editor of AARP The Magazine. In her new role, Graham will be responsible for the editorial direction for AARP's print and online properties, and will also work to expand the magazine's presence, build new franchises, and serve as the magazine's main spokesperson. Graham will report to Hugh Delehanty, senior vice president and editor in chief of AARP Publications. Graham was previously deputy editor of the magazine.
NOTE: If you're able to get through this post, I'd like to ask you to visit a website that every American with a passion for numbers (and life), needs to visit. The site's address is www.ConceiveThis.org. I'm dedicating today's post to the same people to whom that web site is dedicated - the missing 50 million TV viewers who will never watch an HD program. You see, there is no plasma in Limbo. To read more of Frank Maggio's post, and the rest of today's political media commentary, go to the Red, White & Blog page.