Heading into this year’s upfront, many cable networks have a good story to tell -- but most are smaller mid-networks, according to RPA. A report from media agency RPA says those cable networks below the top 25 viewing networks gained 2% in total average viewership, according to season-to-date Nielsen C3 data for September 19, 2011 through January 15, 2012. Overall, the top 25 networks were down 3% in total viewers, according to Nielsen C3 data. Those that gained ground in the top group among total viewers were USA (3%); History (6%); Cartoon Network (7%); Adult Swim (12%); FX (3%); A&E (13%); Syfy (7%); Discovery (12%); Hallmark (3%); and Food Network (17%). On the losing end: ESPN (7%); Nickelodeon (6%); TBS (4%); Nick-At-Nite (29%); Fox News (6%); TNT (13%); ABC Family (4%); ION (15%); HGTV (9%); AMC (4%); truTV (1%); and MTV (10%). Nielsen C3 data are commercial ratings plus three days of time-shifted viewing, the measurement that advertisers use for their media buys. ESPN’s “NFL Monday Night Football” continues to be the big draw when it comes to C3 ratings among 18-49 viewers -– pulling in 6.5 million viewers. NFL Network’s “NFL Thursday Night Football” was next with 2.98 million; FX’s “Sons of Anarchy,” 2.33 million; TBS’ “MLB Division Series,” 2.24 million; and FX’ s “American Horror Story,” 2.040 million. The next group, in places five through 10, are: USA “WWE Entertainment” at 1.933 million; NFL Network's ”NFL Thursday Night Football Pre-Kick,” 1.643 million; AMC’s “Walking Dead,” 1.53 million; USA’s “Psych,” 1.46 million; and TBS’ “For Better or Worse,” 1.33 million. Some bigger cable shows like AMC’s “Mad Men,” MTV’s “Jersey Shore,” and AMC's “The Killing,” had yet to debut new seasons.
Online advertising hit $84.8 billion in 2011, representing a 16% year-over-year increase, and accounting for more than 17% of all global measured ad expenditures, according to GroupM. Across global regions, North America led in terms of overall digital ad spending with an estimated $34.5 billion. The Asia-Pacific region came in second with $24.8 billion, followed by Western Europe with $21 billion, according to the study “This Year, Next Year: Interaction 2012.” This year, GroupM predicts digital ad spending to reach $98.2 billion globally, representing a nearly 16% increase year-over-year, while the figure represents almost 19% of all measured advertising investment. In the 2012 forecast, North America once again ranks first with an estimated $38 billion in digital ad spend, followed by the Asia-Pacific region with $31.4 billion, and Western Europe with $23 billion. In the U.S., digital ad spending hit $32.2 billion in 2011 -- representing a 22% share of the overall domestic market, and a 12% increase over the previous year, according to the study. This year, those figures are expected to reach $35.4 billion for a 23% share and a 10% increase over 2011. According to Rob Norman, GroupM Interaction Global CEO, it’s less about the new than what marketers are doing with existing resources. “It seems that less is brand new and that a combination of scale of usage of an increasingly social and mobile Web, the penetration of devices supported by it, and the continued atomization of audiences and content, in both their creation and distribution combine to tell the story of the year.” GroupM also found that digital advertising’s share of total ad investment rose from 4.4% worldwide in 2004 to a projected 18.8% in 2012. Also of note, the average percentage of consumers’ “media time” spent online increased from 11% in 2006 to 19% in 2011, while the absolute number of broadband homes worldwide has nearly tripled in this period to reach 500 million, and the typical country has seen broadband penetration grow by half. Aside from general monetary inflation, ad investment growth has two main vectors: aggregate audience hours and advertising intensity per individual, according to GroupM. Average online advertising investment per online user doubled between 2006 and 2011, while for the year, Norway had the highest per-capita online ad investment in the study’s sample: $200. GroupM points out that e-commerce now accounts for about 5% of global retail sales, with instant-on devices, secure and simple payment, vouchering, and the optimization of retail for mobile serving as catalysts for growth.
Convergence may be going mainstream. New research shows that 38% of U.S. homes have at least one TV set connected to the Internet through a gaming console, Blu-ray player, newfangled TV model or other mode, according to the Leichtman Research Group. The figure is up from 30% last year and 24% two years prior. Gaming consoles such as the Xbox, where Microsoft would like it to be a full entertainment hub, seem to be propelling much of the connectivity, as 28% of homes have a video game system with an online connection. Internet-connected TV sets seem to be moving slowly on the adoption curve with 4% of homes connected solely to the Web by them. The findings are from a survey of 1,251 homes, part of an “Emerging Video Services” study from Leichtman. Online video viewing via connected devices is on the rise, with 13% of all adults doing so at least once a week -- up from 10% a year ago. Netflix is a particular beneficiary, as subscribers enjoy it on a TV screen. Leichtman says 35% of Netflix subscribers watch streaming video via a connected device at least once a week. Leichtman research drilled down further into Netflix’s role in the media landscape. The firm found that half of Netflix subscribers are “satisfied” with the online streaming service. There is some countervailing evidence that Netflix contributes to cord-cutting, as just 7% are “likely” to switch from their multichannel provider in the next six months versus 12% of non-Netflix homes. Furthermore, 13% said they would consider spending cuts on their provider video package because of Netflix, compared to 21% a year ago.
While they have not fared as poorly as their print cousins in the newspaper business, consumer magazines have taken it on the chin over the last few years. Last year, total ad pages as measured by the Publishers Information Bureau were off one-third from their peak of five years ago, having declined 33.4% from 253,494 in 2006 to 168,742 in 2011. This is partly the result of the closure of some titles, as the total number of magazines tracked by PIB fell from 252 to 221 over the same period. But even magazines that survived endured steep losses. Among the roughly 200 titles tracked continuously by PIB from 2006-2011, total ad pages fell 27.4% from 219,436 in 2006 to 159,352 in 2011. Some of the biggest declines were seen in enthusiast publications. From 2006-2011, ad pages fell 32.4% at Automobile magazine, from 860 to 581, while Car and Driver experienced the same percentage decline from 1,142 to 772, and Motor Trend tumbled 41.2% from 1,235 to 726. Pages plunged 63% at Boating, from 1,147 to 425, while Motorboating sank from 721 to 336, Power & Motoryacht from 2,549 to 1,082, and Flying fell from 681 to 480. In food titles, Bon Appetit’s ad pages fell from 960 to 598, while Everyday Food tumbled from 609 to 327. Shopping mag Lucky fell from 1,850 in 2006 to 1,120 in 2011, for a 39.5% drop. Among high-end travel titles, Conde Nast Traveler fell by almost half, from 1,672 to 973, while Travel + Leisure slipped 36.2% from 1,797 to 1,146. In men’s lifestyle mags, Details declined 44% from 1,242 to 698, and GQ fell 30.5% from 1,764 to 1,226. Maxim tumbled from 931 ad pages to 504, for a 46% drop. Business magazines also took their lumps, with Forbes down 49.3% from 3,396 in 2006 to 1,772 in 2011, while Money declined 43.6% from 961 to 542, and Smart Money plunged 42.5% from 711 to 338. Some of the hardest-hit magazines target niche ethnic audiences. In the African-American marketplace, Jet tumbled from 1,171 ad pages in 2006 to just 394 in 2011, a 66.4% decline while Ebony plunged 53.2% from 1,221 to 571 over the same period. Black Enterprise experienced a more modest 42.6% decline, from 1,058 to 607 from 2006-2011.
Social media-television activity in March highlights CBS' "NCAA Men's College Basketball Tournament" -- with individual episodes on NBC's "The Voice" and ABC Family's "Pretty Little Liars" also scoring high. CBS was the top broadcast network for the month, with around 36% share of social media TV activity. NBC and Fox tied for around 18% share; ABC was at a 15 share, and CW was at 9%, per social media researcher Trendrr.TV. The networks that improved the most were CBS and NBC, with the biggest gains -- up 5 percentage points each from their February levels. Fox was down from a 20% share in February; ABC was 9 percentage points lower from its 24% share in February. MTV was the top social TV network among cable channels -- a 10% share with truTV -- from its heavy coverage of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, in second at a 9% share. Two other Turner Broadcasting networks (also airing the NCAA games) also did well:TBS was at 8%, good for third place -- and TNT tied with Nickelodeon for fourth with a 7% share each. CBS' NCAA's Final game between Kentucky and Kansas pulled in 700,000 social media interactions -- the most of any game in the tournament. The round of 64 game where Lehigh upset Duke was the second-biggest game at around 550,000. The top two nonscripted shows: "The Battle Begins” episode of NBC's "The Voice" clocked 222,278 total activity on March 5. The season finale of ABC's "Pretty Little Liars" generated 841,661 total activity on March 19. Looking at all social media/TV activity, there were over 150 million conversations and other social interactions through the first quarter of 2012. In March, there were over 580,000 social interactions per day on broadcast television, and an average of over 860,000 social interactions per day on cable television. Social media company Trendrr says three quarters of all social TV engagement in March came from Twitter. After Twitter were Facebook with 15% share and GetGlue at 16%.
ESPN’s efforts to give consumers behind-the-scenes access to its operations -- and dial up self-promotion -- now include podcasts. The company has launched the “Front & Center” discussions, with the most recent being an interview with president John Skipper about the network’s coverage of Major League Baseball. The podcasts are available on an ESPN Radio microsite and iTunes. They are affiliated with ESPN’s “Front Row” blog, which launched about a year ago. ESPN media relations executives write entries, while conducting interviews with ESPN executives and personalities, offering information on new distribution platforms and details about upcoming events. The blog links the “Front & Center” podcasts, which carry the tagline “telling our story from the inside out.” An April 4 podcast featured an interview with ESPN investigative journalist Don Van Natta, Jr. and offered an in-depth look at the author’s recent profile of the Penn State scandal, as well as insight into the journalist himself. Late Monday, the most recent blog item was about a new ad campaign for the NASCAR Nationwide series with driver Austin Dillon. Front Row also has a Twitter feed with 1,300 followers and Facebook page with 2,600 “likes.” A year ago, Front Row started with an attempt to chronicle in words and pictures 24 hours in “the life of ESPN.”
Outdoor lawn equipment company Troy-Bilt is taking a hard look at the virtues of so-called "companion TV" viewing, the increasingly prevalent practice of watching TV while engaging with smartphone or tablet content. This is also called social TV -- if people are using those second-screen devices to connect with other people about the show they're watching. The new Troy-Bilt effort makes music-ID app Shazam the bridge between the TV and the mobile Web to promote two newly launched Troy-Bilt yard products, plus one existing product line. The effort, via Marcus Thomas, is the Cleveland firm's fourth consecutive spring campaign for the manufacturer. The TV component of the campaign follows a yard enthusiast’s life from young man planting a tree to young married guy mowing under the tree using walk-behind, to young dad who now rides on mower while mom gardens and kids play in the leaves, to an older dad using Jump Start yard tools while kids help. “Saturday after Saturday, season after season,” the V.O. says, “Troy-Bilt is built for life.” The ad has Luce front man Tom Luce singing “World Goes By” as the ad runs. An on-screen icon tells viewers they can use audio recognition app Shazam to “tag,” or identify, the tune. When viewers do so with their mobile devices, they go to a branded in-app experience about Troy-Bilt products with links to a Lowe's store locator. It also links to Troy-Bilt’s Web site and Facebook pages, as well as a 99-cent iTunes download of the extended 2:24 soundtrack. The campaign, targeting 26- to 49-year-old homeowners and DIYers, runs on cable networks HGTV, TNT, USA, History Channel and The Weather Channel, with supporting Flash, rich media and pre-roll banners on various sites, including Weather.com, WeatherBug.com, HGTV.com and DIY.com. Ad networks Tremor and AdRoll also carry the effort. In addition to mowers, the division of MTD Products makes string trimmers, tractors, tillers and cultivators. The campaign has three alternate, four-second product endings touting the Neighborhood Rider riding lawnmower, the Jump Start cordless power starter for Troy-Bilt hand equipment, and for Troy-Bilt’s existing line of five TriAction front wheel drive, walk-behind mowers.