Halfway through the 2009-2010 TV season, marketers continue to get more for their media dollars with commercial ratings higher than program ratings. At the same time, this season's commercial ratings are down a bit from a year ago. TV analysis from Santa Monica, Calif.-based media agency RPA shows that C3 ratings (commercial ratings plus three days of DVR playback) are higher than live program ratings across all major demographic groups, through Jan. 10. Most of the rise comes from the time-shifting component of C3 versus no time-shifting in live program. "Over the past two seasons (at least), the audience is migrating to delayed viewing. The pace of that migration has picked up, this mid-season to last," says David Scardino, entertainment specialist for RPA. "I would assume it will continue if the DVR penetration rates continue to rise." Through Jan. 10, adults 18-49 C3 rating in broadcast prime time is 5% higher than live program ratings. C3 ratings average 14.3 million in that viewing group versus 13.6 million among live programing. Young viewers are showing the biggest gain here, up 7% to 6.2 million. Adult 25-49 viewers are 5% more than program ratings, at 12.3 million, with 25-54 viewers at 4% to 15.8 million. For all TV viewers, C3 ratings are 2% higher at 34.7 million versus live program ratings. But the downside is that compared to a year ago, C3 ratings are slightly down compared to midseason ratings of a year ago -- 3% lower in 18-49; a 1% slip in 18-34; 3% down in 25-54; and a 1% drop in overall viewers. Fox continues to be the bright spot and the only individual network gainer here; other networks dropped. Among 18-49 viewers, it was up 5% to 3.7 million in C3 versus a year ago. CBS is off 6% to 3.2 million; ABC is down 7% to 3.1 million; NBC has slipped 4% to 3.3 million; and CW sank 2% to 990,000. Through midseason, the highest-rated C3 show among 18-49 viewers was NBC's "Sunday Night Football" with a 6.8 rating; NBC's "Football Night in America" pre-show was in second place at 4.9. RPA also notes -- as other research efforts -- that delayed viewing continues to climb. Through Jan. 10, time-shifted viewing among 18-49 viewers was at 11% of all viewing in observing live program-plus-same-day ratings versus live-only; and 23% when looking at live plus seven days versus live. This is up from 7% for live-plus-same-day and 16% for live-plus-seven-day of a year ago. Scardino believes that using live-only program ratings won't be an issue for marketers soon, given the growing C3 data. "They are increasing and, in the process, I think, rendering year-to-year comparisons of live-only numbers obsolete."
TV stations' Web businesses fared better than newspapers' declining digital efforts in 2009, but TV is still behind in overall advertising share of media dollars. According to new data from the Television Bureau of Advertising -- by way of media researcher Borrell Associates -- TV station's digital businesses rose to 8.7% share in 2009 from 8.3% in 2008. Although newspapers dipped year-to-year, they still have almost three times the share of TV, with newspapers now at 23.6% share, down from a 27.7% in 2008. Newspapers had around a 44% share six years ago. This year, TVB says stations' Web business will continue to rise -- 21% to $1.391 billion. But in 2011 and 2012, things will slow down, rising 13% to $1.578 billion; and then a 7% gain to $1.684 billion, respectively. Helping out TV stations, according to Borrell, were TV Web sites, which reduced dependence on display advertising with mobile and video advertising gaining ground. Borrell Associates says this is a similar pattern that occurred with newspaper online sales, which "stalled out after saturating their current advertiser base." Newspapers posted just over $3 billion in digital revenues, as part of the overall $13.4 billion in local online advertising in 2009. Borrell says growth in local digital advertising will now start to plateau. Next year, it estimates the entire market will be $15.9 billion; 2012 will see $16.1 billion; and 2013 will grow to $16.4 billion; with 2014 holding at $16.4 billion. "We are now approaching a very mature market," says Gordon Borrell, CEO of Borrell Associates. "There is just too much competition." He estimates the current 14% share of local digital advertising against local advertising's overall $93 billion total will top out at about 18% in a few years. Borrell says "pure play" local digital advertising platforms continue to retaining their dominant share -- now at 51.9% in 2009, up from 47.2% in 2008. Newspapers are second with a 23.6% share; directories are at 10.6%; followed by TV at 8.7%; magazines at 2.3%; radio at 1.7%; and other, at 1.2%.
Captiva Island, Fla. -- NBC conducted research on its multiplatform coverage of the Vancouver Olympics and found that nearly half the people using its mobile offerings did so while watching coverage on TV. Going forward, that might help the network pitch advertisers on programs where TV and mobile messaging are more closely aligned. "Mobile does not equal 'on the go,'" said Hayle Chun, a digital media executive at NBC's sports and Olympics operations. Research shows about 39% of the mobile-TV multitaskers used a handheld device to find additional content -- whether athlete biographies or the rules of curling. About 44% appear to have been too lazy to reach for the laptop -- that percentage said a mobile device was easier to use than a computer. "The idea that your mobile content needs to be framed in a way that isn't just for people out at bars, out at restaurants, but for people engaging at home was (surprising) for us and it offers a secondary opportunity for us in terms of the synergies with TV," Chun said at MediaPost's Email Insider Summit. If people access Olympics information online when they aren't tuning in to TV -- say at work -- there is some evidence mobile offers a different dynamic. "In a way, online ends up sort of being the opposite of TV patterns, you see that mobile actually mirrors TV patterns," Chun said. "For advertisers, we think that the opportunity is there for real synchronicity in terms of [TV-mobile] messaging." Further evidence about the growth of mobile consumption during February's Winter Games came in how people absorbed alerts NBC sent out about coming events and other promotional information, Chun said. NBC found that click-through rates were about the same for alerts sent to email inboxes as they were for mobile deliveries. Mobile messages were "not just read and deleted, they were generating click-throughs at the same level as email alerts." Some of those click-throughs could have taken people to the NBCOlympics.com hub, where NBC began experimenting with Twitter offerings. Among them was a "Tweet Sheet," a real-time compendium of all tweets U.S. athletes, from Lindsey Vonn to Shaun White, were sending themselves. NBC also created a "Twitter Tracker," which used images of athletes to highlight what topics were generating the most conversation in the Twitter universe at any particular time. People could then click on a topic and access the strings. With those two features housed within NBCOlympics.com, NBC could surround them with banner ads. Moving ahead, Chun said they can generate marketer interest since Twitter users tend to be tech-savvy, play an influencer role and skew more male. About 4% of people visiting NBCOlympics.com were also exploring Twitter content, but there is evidence they were highly engaged fans, Chun said. NBC itself also created a Twitter page mostly as a marketing vehicle, where it had a so-so 80,000 followers, but Chun said it provided valuable consumer insight. "It's maybe the first time we've really engaged in a direct two-way conversation with our users," he said. "This is a new platform, and one that we are very excited to explore further." London calling? NBCU will carry the Summer Games there in 2012.
Late-night cable giants Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert have re-upped their contracts with Comedy Central through the 2012 presidential election. The network has signed the two hosts -- from "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report," respectively, to new contracts. Stewart's contract extension will keep him at the desk of "The Daily Show" through June 2013. He will continue to serve as executive producer, writer and host. Colbert's extension is until the end of 2012. Colbert, who preaches his own brand of "truthiness," also serves as executive producer, writer and host for "The Colbert Report." Both shows -- which parody politics, pop culture and the media -- have won Emmy and Peabody awards. Doug Herzog, the president of MTV Networks Entertainment Group, which includes Comedy Central, told The New York Times the new contracts were "a big deal. For us, election years are like Olympic years." The two politically oriented comedy shows hosted by the two stars -- "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" -- enjoy big ratings bumps in presidential election years. "The Daily Show" and "Colbert," per the NYT, attract more young viewers than even the late-night shows on the broadcast networks. Comedy Central, a division of Viacom, is seen in more than 98 million homes nationwide.
There was more relatively good news for newspapers this week, with the first revenue reports for 2010 showing smaller year-over-year decreases than in previous quarters at Lee Enterprises and Journal Communications. Executives at both companies expressed optimism about 2010, pointing to increased profitability, thanks to earlier austerity measures. They also noted that online advertising has finally rebounded, after almost a year of discouraging declines. Lee Enterprises said total revenues declined 6.6% from $198.7 million in the first quarter of 2009 to $185.7 million in the first quarter of 2010. This was due mostly to a 7.7% drop in combined online and print advertising, to $130.6 million. The national and retail categories were both down 6.4%, while classifieds slipped 10.2%, with automotive dropping 11.9%, real estate 17.7% and employment down 16.5%. Considered separately, Lee's online revenues increased 14.1% to $11.3 million. While any growth is welcome, this still represents just 8.7% of total advertising revenues. Total revenues at Journal Communications, including both print and broadcast properties, decreased 3% from $101.5 million in the first quarter of 2009 to $98.5 million in the first quarter of 2010. This was attributable entirely to a 7.4% slump in publishing revenue, which fell from $48.1 million to $44.6 million. The publishing loss was partially offset by broadcast, which rose 8.6% from $39.2 million to $42.6 million. Journal also saw revenues decrease at its printing services division, reflecting the continuing underlying weakness in print media in general. By advertising categories, Journal's publishing division saw ad revenues decrease 13.7% in classifieds and 9% in retail. On a more positive note, interactive revenues increased 20% to $2.3 million; however, this still represents just 5% of the publishing division's total revenues. Presuming the results from Lee and Journal (and earlier results posted by Gannett) are indicative of the fortunes of the newspaper business in general, the first quarter will be the 15th straight quarter of ad revenue declines for the medium.
Havas' MPG Mexico unit was named Media Agency of the Year during the closing of the 2010 Festival of Media Awards in Valencia, Spain. MPG earlier this year was named Media magazine's Agency of the Year. Havas also was awarded a special "Service Award" for in recognition of the, "consistent quality of the work submitted for the Festival of Media Awards and its agencies' commitment to providing innovation and service across a wide range of countries and marketing challenges," the organizers said. The festival, which has gained steam among the global media services community in recent years, was challenged by, but persevered amid air travel problems caused by the volcanic plume in Western Europe. Many of the delegates were forced to take trains, extended bus or car rides, but the festival's organizers said attendance was "much higher than anyone would have anticipated under the circumstances," and that social media platforms - especially YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Flip Video and WebEx - were utilized to allow some executives to participate "virtually" and remotely despite their inability to attend. Other top awards went to WPP's MediaCom for "network of the year," and Publicis' Jack Klues, managing partner of VivaKi, who was named "Media Professional of the Year."
Six Flags themes parks are creating one of the nation's largest integrated digital out-of-home networks, combining the DO assets of 19 theme parks visited by over 25 million people per year. The theme park chain will offer advertisers targeted and network-wide ad sales through the new, dedicated DO division, including custom-branded content created by Six Flags' video production team. The new division will be headed by vice president Adam Oliveri, who previously served as vice president of national sales for IdeaCast, and national account director at Screenvision, a leading cinema advertising network. Assisting Oliveri will be dedicated DO sales teams at Six Flags offices in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Six Flags Media Networks is also expanding the theme park chains' DO platforms with new distribution channels, including "Menu Board TV," consisting of 220 digital menu boards in park restaurants. The new digital menu boards, which feature multiscreen video capabilities, come on the heels of an expansion of the Six Flags Television Network. It now includes over 550 45-inch plasma televisions, which play a mix of entertainment and advertising, reaching guests waiting in line for attractions throughout the parks. It's also launching the new Jumbotron Network in 10 of the 19 venues. The DO division also includes the In-Park Theater Network, which reaches visitors at nine parks. Altogether, the network will deliver 65 million annual impressions in 2010 -- rising to 100 million when the build-out is complete, according to the company. The DO network is just one of an array of media offerings from Six Flags, which also include Six Flags Radio, Six Flags Print, Six Flags Outdoor and Six Flags Outdoor Spectacular, Six Flags Attraction Integration, Six Flags Experiential Marketing and Six Flags Online. Six Flags Print produces park maps, guides and daily schedules, while the outdoor division includes billboards and interactive (digital) signage, also equipped with Bluetooth to spur engagement with passersby. Some are equipped with cool mist showers -- a natural draw in midsummer. The related "Outdoor Spectacular" category gives advertisers access to prominent marquee advertising, such as signs over entrances and throughout the park. Attraction Integration allows advertisers to put their messages on roller coasters, water rides and near lineup areas for attractions. The experiential-marketing division provides one-on-one engagement for products appropriate to the Six Flags venue. Finally, the Six Flags Web site runs banner ads and streaming video, online promotions and sweepstakes. All these assets were combined in Six Flags Media Networks, created in January 2008 to offer advertisers and marketers integrated cross-platform campaigns.