In what is likely the most significant change in the methods Nielsen uses to measure TV -- and potentially all forms of video content -- the ratings company this week quietly began informing clients of a major initiative to develop a suite of new audience meters and digital tracking codes that could begin replacing its current meters as soon as 2014. Dubbed “GTAM,” which stands for Global Television Audience Metering, the initiative includes the development of four new audience metering technologies designed to deal with all of the conceivable challenges involved in measuring the viewing behavior of contemporary consumer households. The initiative is significant for several reasons beyond the technologies being developed, including the fact that it is a major reaffirmation of Nielsen’s strategy for basing audience measurement around in-home viewing, which has been the foundation of its audience measurement systems, although some components of the GTAM initiative will make it easier for Nielsen to incorporate mobile, wireless and Internet-based video audience exposure as well. The other major reason the plan is significant is that as its name might imply, it will be a global effort -- and the technologies being developed would likely be deployed as part of a standardized methodology across the 16 international markets Nielsen currently measures media audiences in. The four new metering solutions include the so-called “GTAM meter,” which will be the primary device Nielsen plans to use for audience measurement. The GTAM meter is said to be smaller, more ergonometric, easier for consumers to interact with, and far less “invasive” than Nielsen’s current industry standard “A/P meters.” Like the A/P meters, which stand for active/passive metering components, the new GTAM meter is expected to utilize a combination of active and passive measurement technologies, but unlike Nielsen’s current meters it will not require it to be physically connected to any household media devices, such as a TV set, set-top tuner, DVR, etc., to function. The second technology in development is a lighter, somewhat less sophisticated meter, aptly named the “GTAM Lite Meter,” which is capable of measuring TV audiences in households that have fewer electronic devices in them and are less complicated to measure. A third device, code-named the “Code Reader,” is an even smaller device that relies entirely on its ability to monitor the digital codes associated with TV and video programming. All the new metering technologies are being designed to work with a new, bulletproof digital watermarking technology Nielsen has developed that is capable of surviving any conceivable compression technologies that would otherwise strip away current versions of digital codes and watermarks. Dubbed “Watermark,” the new code is said to be integral to Nielsen’s plans to accelerate cross-platform video measurement and integration, because it is also a solution to measuring video exposure across wired and wireless Internet platforms. The fourth metering technology in the initiative potentially may be the most controversial in the mix, because it is designed to explicitly replace its current people meters, now the state-of-the-art in Nielsen’s TV metering portfolio. Unlike Nielsen’s current generation of people meters, which utilize blinking lights to remind viewers to push buttons to indicate they are actively watching TV programming, the new meters will feature an LED screen that will give respondents written instructions and prompts for complying with the measurement process. That meter is dubbed the “Scrolling Text People Meter,” and it could be controversial, because it is designed to improve the cooperation and compliance of people watching TV in a sample household, which could potentially influence the way they watch TV. Nielsen is expected to vet the new approaches and technologies among its various client groups, and industry bodies before deploying anything, and the likely time frame is that the first versions of the new meters would not be installed in sample households until early 2014, following a year of evaluation during 2013.
Havas shareholders approved a resolution at the company’s annual meeting Thursday authorizing the Paris-based ad company to buy back as many as 51.7 million shares representing about $328 million or 12% of the company’s share capitalization. Across the English Channel, shareholders at London-based Aegis Group, also convened for an annual meeting, voted to reelect both the chairman and CEO to the board by wide approval margins. At the Havas meeting the company said that participating shareholders would receive a 28% premium over the market price for shares. The buyback, it said, would have the effect of adding nearly 11% to the growth in undiluted earnings per share for 2011. The company also said that Havas Chairman Vincent Bollore, who owns about a third of the company, would not participate in the stock buyback. At the Havas meeting, shareholders also approved a dividend payment of about $65 million -- or roughly 14 cents a share -- payable May 18. Shareholders were not offered the opportunity to vote on the compensation plan for the company’s top executive officers. Such “say-in-pay” votes have been demanded increasingly in recent years by investors who are seeking greater accountability from top managers. Earlier this week, Aviva CEO Andrew Moss resigned after shareholders rejected his pay package, although the vote was nonbinding. Earlier this year executive pay became a political issue in France, leading up to country’s presidential elections this month. Specifically, a $21.6 million deferred payment package received by Maurice Levy, CEO of Havas competitor Publicis Groupe, became fodder for politicians looking for a whipping boy on the issue in late March. Executive payments at Havas and Aegis did not come close to matching that figure, however. Havas CEO David Jones was the top earner, garnering about $2.2 million according to company documents. Jones assumed the top job in March of 2011, replacing Fernando Rodes Vila, who resigned. Still, Rodes was the third-highest-paid executive at the company last year, receiving about $1.6 million, per the documents. At Aegis, shareholders did have an opportunity to vote on the company’s executive remuneration package and approved it by a huge majority. Only about 13% of the votes cast rejected the package or abstained. The remaining 87% voted in favor. As previously reported, Buhlmann received a total pay package last year of nearly $3 million. Excluding stock options and awards, his pay package increased by about 30% to a little more than $2.55 million, including salary, bonus, benefits and pension payments. Gains from stock options and awards added another roughly $440,000. Buhlmann, CFO Nick Priday and chairman John Napier were reelected to the board by margins that exceeded 90% of the votes cast.
Dish Network has created another new feature that won’t be making too many friends among TV advertisers. The new feature, called the “Auto Hop,” expands the operations of the satellite TV distributor’s recently released “Hopper” DVR unit, which automatically records eight days or up to 100 hours of HD prime-time programming on ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC. Auto Hop allows customers to automatically skip all commercials for most recorded HD programs, without consumers manually pressing any button on their remotes. Dish bluntly touts the new feature on its Web site, “Dish Created Commercial-Free TV.” "Viewers love to skip commercials," said Vivek Khemka, vice president of product management for Dish, in a press release. He adds: "With the Auto Hop capability of the Hopper, watching your favorite shows commercial-free is easier than ever before. It's a revolutionary development that no other company offers and it's something that sets Hopper above the competition." Viewers can screen early-evening prime-time shows without commercials after 1 a.m. the next day. Auto Hop does not work for live broadcasts. Dish already has a feature that skips commercials in 30-second increments. Other companies such as DirecTV and TiVo DVR units have disabled this function on some of their machines. TV networks have looked to go further in the recent past -- to get DVR manufacturers/TV distributors to disable the “fast forwarding” function of some machines. Depending on estimates, consumers with DVR machines fast-forward through 60% to 85% of TV commercials. Some analysts suggest “Auto Hop” makes it easier for what consumers already do –- the “manual” process of fast-forwarding. Other analysts wonder whether TV networks might now look to reconfigure carriage/retransmission agreements that would take into account the new Auto Hop feature.
The privately held media company that owns the San Diego Union-Tribune is in negotiations to buy The Orange County Register along with 24 community newspapers owned by Freedom Communications, according to a number of local press reports citing comments made by San Diego Union-Tribune CEO John Lynch at a meeting of a local civic organization. The deal would also include Coast magazine, another publication owned by Freedom. The news comes about six months after the San Diego Union-Tribune itself was sold by Platinum Equity to MLIM, LLC, a company owned by San Diego real estate developer Doug Manchester. That deal was announced in November 2011; in March of this year, Manchester hinted that he was interested in acquiring the OC Register as well as the North County Times, another regional daily. Freedom Communications filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September 2009, then exited bankruptcy in April 2010 (with its total debt of $775 million reduced by $425 million) under new ownership including Alden Global Capital, Angelo Gordon & Co. and Luxor Capital Group. More recently, the company paid off its remaining debt of over $300 million by selling a number of TV stations to Sinclair Broadcast Group. According to the most recent report from the Audit Bureau of Circulations, the Orange County Register had a total average circulation of 280,812 in the six-month period ending March 2012 -- up from 182,964 in 2011, due in large part to new digital and branded editions. Over the same period, the San Diego Union-Tribune’s total average circ increased from 218,614 to 230,742, again thanks mostly to digital editions.
Using Yahoo’s IntoNow system, ABC will allow viewers to enter a sweepstakes while watching freshman drama “Revenge” live. An IntoNow app allows users to “tag” content by pointing a mobile device at the screen, which kick-starts a version of interactive TV. For this season’s final two “Revenge” episodes, viewers can enter to win a week-long trip to the Hamptons -- where the show is set -- in a promotion backed by Lexus. IntoNow, which is available on tablets, was acquired by Yahoo last year and could benefit from the emerging second-screen viewing trend. The companion use will also allow “Revenge” viewers to interact with others via Facebook and Twitter as the show airs, answer trivia questions, and watch related videos ABC and Yahoo used IntoNow functionality earlier this year during a Republican presidential debate. The IntoNow functionality can also be deployed to allow viewers to point a device at the screen to identify programming, including particular episodes. The company’s database is compiling an index from over 160 channels. On the marketing front, last year Pepsi ran a program where IntoNow users could point an Apple device at the screen during a Major League Baseball-themed spot and have a digital coupon -- via a barcode -- sent to the device. The user could then take the barcode to a store, where it would be scanned to redeem a free bottle of Pepsi Max. Pepsi was the first advertiser to take advantage of IntoNow.
DirecTV’s Audience Network, which partnered with NBC to air “Friday Night Lights” and carries the “Dan Patrick Show,” has commissioned its first original scripted drama. The series, “Rogue,” is set to launch in the summer of 2013. The ad-free Audience Network is available only to DirecTV’s approximately 20 million subscribers and has carried new episodes of FX’s “Damages” and brought hits from other countries to the U.S. “Rogue” stars Thandie Newton, who was in “Crash” and “Mission Impossible 2,” and comes from Entertainment One Television and Greenroom Entertainment. The series focuses on “a morally and emotionally conflicted cop, Grace (Newton), who is tormented by the possibility that her own actions contributed to her son’s death.” “Rogue” will also air on outlets in Canada. Entertainment One (eOne) will have global distribution rights. The Audience Network launched in 2008 as the 101 Network. DirecTV posted slight subscriber growth in the U.S. in the most recent quarter, climbing 3% to 19.97 million. The network is available to subscribers on various mobile devices via DirecTV Everywhere.
Tablet PC Ownership, Interest Increases Interest in owning a tablet PC has increased among people with household incomes over $100,000, even as overall tablet ownership rates have also increased, according to “Catching the Tablet Wave,” a new study from Ipsos MediaCT. Overall tablet PC ownership increased from 10% in September 2011 to 16% in March 2012, according to the Ipsos study, which broke down ownership rates by various factors. Ownership among men increased from 11% to 15% over the same period, while among women it more than doubled from 8% to 17%. With respect to age, tablet PC ownership among adults 18-34 increased from 12% to 19%; among those 35-54, from 12% to 13%; and among 55+, from 9% to 15%. Among individuals in households earning less than $100,000 per year, tablet PC ownership edged up from 9% to 12%, while among individuals in households earning more than $100,000 per year, ownership increased from 21% to 28%. At the same time, interest in owning a tablet increased from 59% to 65% of people in households earning over $100,000 per year. The proportion of adults who are either “probably” or “definitely” planning to buy a tablet PC this year increased from 17% in September 2011 to 26% in March 2012. Among men it increased from 20% to 28% over this period; among women, from 14% to 24%. Among people in households earning less than $100,000 per year, it increased from 11% to 25%, while among people in households earning over $100,000 per year, it increased from 21% to 41%. Publishers and advertisers are scrambling to keep up with the surge of interest in tablet computers and digital publications designed for them. Last week the American Association of Advertising Agencies sent an open letter to the MPA asking publishers to provide more specific information to advertisers about digital magazine readership on tablets. Their list of requests includes breaking out tablet-audience metrics into subscription and single-copy sales, as well as distinguishing between subscribers who bought a new digital-only subscription and subscribers who simply verified a pre-existing print subscription to receive the digital counterpart; unduplicated numbers for readership on tablets, other digital and online platforms, and print; “an accredited, third-party research vendor for measuring readership across these new devices,” along with a consistent template for reporting tablet readership metrics from different publishers; data on consumer engagement with digital magazine ads; and separate print and digital ratebases. Wired Introduces Wired Live ExpoWired is launching a new event in the business-to-consumer space, the Wired Live Expo, which will help technology companies meet consumers with a retail component, according to Folio, which reported the news earlier this week. The Wired Live Expo is targeted at categories including science, technology, music, fashion, cars, space travel, entertainment, computers, and mobile phones, Folio reports. Expo participants will include NASA and TEDx, which will be discussing the future of space exploration. Scheduled to take place at the Washington, D.C. Convention Center from November 15-18, the Wired Live Expo should attract 50,000 attendees, according to Folio. Outdoor Life Launches Sportswear Line at Sears In September of this year Bonnier Corp.’s Outdoor Life will unveil a branded line of sportswear for men at Sears, the magazine publisher announced this week. Available at over 800 Sears locations nationwide, the sportswear line will target the “guy’s guy,” combining “utility, comfort, and quality for the outdoorsman.” Lana Krauter, senior vice president, Sears Holdings, and president, Sears Apparel, stated: “Through this collaboration, Sears and Outdoor Life will provide outdoorsmen with clothing that fits their lifestyle and their budget with convenient mall based shopping.” Sears Outdoor Life collection will appear in branded Outdoor Life mini-shops and include items like cotton flannel shirts, thermal crews, Henley shirts, hooded fleece zip jackets, and cotton canvas cargo pants, among others. Bennet to EIC, The Atlantic James Bennet has been promoted from editor to editor in chief of The Atlantic -- the first time in the 155-year history of the publication that someone has held that role. Atlantic Media Co. President Justin Smith also promoted editorial director Bob Cohn to editor of Atlantic Digital, and The Atlantic Executive Editor Scott Stossel to editor of the magazine.
Given the speed of change in the digital world, along with general dissatisfaction by most marketers with their agency lineups, Forrester Research has issued a new report calling for an “agency roster reboot” that would require marketers to embrace new agency models and relationships. The reboot is designed to prepare marketers for the day -- in the not-too-distant future -- when there is little, if any, distinction between digital and traditional shops as most channels increasingly take on digital attributes. The changing landscape has rendered the so-called “lead agency model” insufficient, Forrester concludes, and marketers should jettison it. “Campaign planning that starts with the 30-second ad and tries to force-fit it to the web blunt interactive possibilities,” the report states. “The time has come for a clean slate.” Replacing the lead agency model should be a process that is “more open and flexible and that allows each discipline greater freedom to express the campaign strategy.” The first task for marketers in the reboot process is to identify which media and channels matter most “based on your target audience’s habit and preferences for gathering information and for engaging and transacting with your brand.” Another big step: a critical self-evaluation that explores both a marketer’s culture, marketing challenges and staff capabilities as well its current working relationships with agencies. “Have you established processes and best practices in working with your current agencies?” Forrester asks. If not, now is the time to do so. Clients must assess their agencies as well. The report suggests drawing a roster map that addresses individual agency skills in areas such as strategic contribution, collaboration, breadth of capabilities, metrics and facileness with data and technology. Once gaps and overlaps have been identified, clients can determine what assignments need to be shifted and which agencies should be retained or let go, followed by searches for replacements.
AMC Networks posted soaring advertising sales growth for its first-quarter results. The group of networks -- which includes AMC, WE tv, IFC and Sundance Channel -- witnessed almost a 30% spike in advertising revenue, mostly as a result of its AMC channel. AMC didn't break out actual advertising revenue results, but it said overall revenue -- including affiliate fees -- was at $304 million, 20.8% higher than in the prior-year quarter. Affiliate fees climbed 15% during the period. Overall company revenues -- including international networks -- climbed 19.5% to $326.3 million. Net income leaped to 44%, to $43.2 million from $29.8 million. Josh Sapan, president and chief executive officer of AMC Networks, said there were record ratings gains for some of its shows -- notably AMC's "The Walking Dead." He says the season finale of "Dead" -- posting nine million total viewers -- was also the highest scripted drama in basic cable history in key advertiser demos. "Mad Men" in its fifth season is also at record highs. Sapan said: "These successes underscore the strength of our original programming strategy, which continues to drive audience and advertiser demand for our networks.”
Since I launched my own business more than 25 years ago, one of the many joys has been not having to keep a resume handy in case I get fired or decide to move to the next corporate job. Even when I did have a resume, it was utterly factual. But clearly that is not the cool thing these days. Let's see where I can make some improvements: 1986 - Present - President of George H. Simpson Communications, a PR firm that focuses on advertising, marketing and Internet trade media relations. Every one of his more than 200 clients saw improvements in their businesses -- nearly all of them to the point they were acquired for zillions of dollars, making their owners wealthy beyond their dreams, some of whom still walk the beaches of the world while their Maybach Landaulet's wait in parking lots for their return. Others rework plans for their 45,000-foot, 25-bedroom homes on a bluff overlooking Puget Sound and/or East Hampton (if on an island near Richard Branson's, don't forget the sprinkler system). Those few who did not succeed, have thrown themselves off bridges and/or tall buildings leaving behind notes absolving Mr. Simpson of any culpability in their failure to get press. Their brains have been donated to medical science to determine if there is a definitive link between the buffeting from VC presentations and such disorders as depression, dementia and Alzheimer's. 1985 - 1986 - Vice President of Corporate Communications with leading global book publisher Simon & Schuster. Mr. Simpson worked a miserable six months for Dick Snyder, one of the most notoriously difficult individuals ever to occupy a CEO chair. Snyder in turn worked for Marty Davis, then Chairman of Gulf & Western and perennially ranked among the top 10 worst bosses in America. It was in their presence that Mr. Simpson, in his infinite wisdom, casually suggested that "Gulf & Western is a stupid name for a company that was fundamentally now in the entertainment and publishing businesses." After which Mr. Simpson was promptly shown the door. Not too much later, the company changed its name to Paramount Communications (just too good a story to embellish) 1972 - 1985 - marketing and corporate communications at Newsweek. The global publicity orchestrated by Mr. Simpson's department is largely credited with buying the venerable newsweekly a few extra years of profitability before being disposed of by The Washington Post in a fire sale to a guy in, what else, the audio electronics equipment business, who then merged it with InterActiveCorp's The Daily Beast. It was during Mr. Simpson's proud tenure that Newsweek was scammed into announcing it had discovered the long-lost "Hitler diaries," and ad money from the tobacco industry kept the magazine from aggressively covering the growing evidence of the health risks of smoking. During Newsweek's 1983 multi-city 50th anniversary dinners, the also notoriously difficult Katharine Graham decided that Mr. Simpson was incapably of picking appropriate flower arrangements, asking Hollywood superagent Swifty Lazar's wife to pick them for the dinner in Los Angeles. What showed up were nightmarish centerpieces, the worst of any FDT Florist's catalogue. For which Mr. Simpson took great glee (after offering up to $10k to any florist who could provide 50 better centerpieces at the last minute). The president of Newsweek later showed Mr. Simpson an internal WP memo laying the blame for the flowers on Mr. Simpson (also just too good a story to embellish). Freelance Writer - Mr. Simpson wrote "The War Room at Bellevue" for New York magazine, which was later adopted by a dozen college textbooks as a sterling example of narrative style. He has also been published by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Glamour, Cosmopolitan and numerous online publications. For Glamour, Mr. Simpson gave a couple of year's of relationship advice to the magazine's multimillion young women under the "Jake: A Man's Opinion" nom de plume. The vast majority of them are now divorced or in abusive relationships. Education - University of North Carolina, where, when he wasn't chasing sorority girls or taking hallucinogenic drugs, Mr. Simpson took up space on the football team and went to enough journalism classes to keep his parents off his case. One of his coaches called him a "hippie" for writing passages from Marat/Sade on the locker room blackboard. It was the start of a long career annoying those in authority.