Internet-connected televisions are already making a mark when it comes to growing advertising impressions. Some of these devices include "Smart TV," Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 (PS3), Google TV, Apple TV and Roku. So far this year, Net-connected TV video ad impressions are five times that of 2011, per Videology, a video advertising/network company. There are also five times more advertisers and 15 times more campaigns when comparing May 2012 versus May 2011. Citing data from Leichtman Research, it is estimated that 38% of U.S. homes have Internet-connected TVs -- up from 30% a year ago. In addition, 70% of consumers have an interest in watching more programming on new digital devices, with 40% saying they will “definitely” watch more this year. Videology says measurement is still hard to determine in the space when looking at video impressions among mobile, tablet, and connected TV devices. "These impressions are not currently reported by comScore or other measurement services that track online video advertising," notes Videology. As a result, "the commitment to these devices by advertisers is not yet fully quantifiable and likely underreported.” Emerging devices comprise approximately 15% of the monthly total of all digital impressions, or over 75 million impressions.
Minneapolis-based Select Comfort Corp., marketer of Sleep Number brand mattresses and related bedding products, is conducting a media agency review, according to sources. The company spent $90 million on ads in 2011, up about 30% from the previous year, according to company documents. The review comes just as the company is undergoing a management transition. COO Shelly Ibach will succeed president and CEO William McLaughlin effective June 1. When it announced the pending shift earlier this year, the company credited Ibach as “one of the key architects” behind much of the company’s growth over the last 18 months. Select describes its growth plan as an “integrated, customer-focused strategy that combines increasing brand and store awareness with accelerated local-market development; elevating the in-store and service experience; and advancing product innovation.” In 2011, net profits nearly doubled to $60.5 million. In its 2011 annual report, the company reported net sales of $743 million while spending nearly $320 million on combined sales and marketing efforts. “Our most significant growth driver has been building brand awareness,” the company stated. As part of the effort, Select recently embraced Sleep Number as its sole consumer brand, discontinuing the use of Select Comfort for brand marketing although that remains the name of the parent corporation. Going forward, the company stated, it will continue to bulk up on national advertising through TV and other traditional media, direct marketing and increasingly, e-commerce. Sources said the company’s ad spending could reach $120 million this year, which would be double the $60 million it spent in 2009. Select is also planning to expand the number of its retail outlets by up to 30 new stores this year, and more in 2013 and beyond. The company also uses several wholesale distributors, including cable home shopping outlet QVC Network. It wasn’t clear whether the company had an incumbent media shop or bought its media in-house. A Select Comfort rep did not respond to a query at press time.
As upfront deal-making moves into the early innings, a top cable executive expects a strong market, but with slower pricing increases than the past two summers. In turn, that might lead networks to sell less inventory. “A little bit of a moderation after two strong years,” said Scripps Networks Interactive CFO Joe NeCastro. Scripps, with Food Network and HGTV, has traditionally sold about half of its inventory -- par in the cable realm. (The broadcast networks go considerably higher.) Last year, however, it sold more to take advantage of the heated market. Speaking at an investor event, NeCastro did indicate that market trends look positive, with scatter pricing up in the single-digit range over levels in the spring of 2011. Separately, NeCastro said Scripps has been paying attention to YouTube’s efforts to launch online channels -- notably the food-oriented outlet led by former Food Network executive Bruce Seidel, although it doesn’t perceive an immediate red alert. HUNGER, from Ben Silverman’s Electus studio, is scheduled to launch July 2. Last week, it announced its programming lineup, which includes a show from Duff Goldman, who hosted “Ace of Cakes” on the Food Network for years. He will also help with talent and programming at HUNGER. The YouTube outlet will launch a show with Urbanspoon.com, where bloggers will help craft a show around culinary discoveries nationwide. One weekly series, “Casserole Queens,” is set at the Austin, Texas eatery of two best friends specializing in comfort food. Another weekly series, “Brothers Green,” focuses on two musician-caterer brothers in Brooklyn facing a challenge each show. Speaking broadly about YouTube and other Web efforts, NeCastro said the company spends about $500 million a year in programming, while Web ventures will be spending considerably less. “We also think we have opportunities to build video businesses that are more engaging but in a better environment … food-specific or lifestyle-specific,” he said. Also, talent or formats that break out on YouTube could move to cable for broader reach; YouTube could become a version of a farm system. At the same time, food or other lifestyle-oriented content could increase interest in the genre.
Over-the-top mobile video services -- and TV Everywhere services from content owners -- are generally better performers when it comes to iPad downloads than TV Everywhere apps from multichannel video retailers. SNL Kagan says free video iPad apps on mobile devices from major content owners, including Walt Disney, Viacom and Time Warner, scored higher in iPad downloads than multichannel video distributors. For example, in the second quarter of 2011, Walt Disney held the top spot in more weekly appearances in the top 100 iPad downloadable apps: 36. Turner/CNN Interactive, Hulu, Netflix, imdb.com, Flixster, NPR, Pandora Media and Weather Channel were next with 12. Comcast’s Xfinity free app and HBO free app were next with 10 appearances. Time Warner Cable had nine. In addition, those pay over-the-top (OTT) apps (Hulu Plus and Netflix) are more consistent and perform better with consumers than TV Everywhere apps from traditional multichannel video operators -- those coming from cable, telco and satellite companies. Although multichannel video distributors' TV Everywhere apps do launch strong initially -- in the top 100 downloaded apps -- they “quickly disappear,” says the SNL Kagan report. These TV Everywhere apps include Time Warner Cable, Comcast’s Xfinity TV, Cox, Bright House, DirecTV and Cablevision’s Optimum service. By contrast, Over-The-Top services like Netflix and Hulu Plus have remained in the top 50 or so iPad apps. The report says this is also because Hulu and Netflix have been around longer, and their on-demand film and TV titles are greater.
If eight ABC stations have their way, viewers will go to sleep after watching “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and wake up listening to their branded alarm clocks. Call it a different version of “Good Morning America.” The ABC-owned Houston station has launched an app featuring an alarm clock that offers news and weather information, as well as traffic reports. If it clicks with users, the information would be tempting enough for consumers to wake up and turn the ABC station back on for morning programming. The free app works via an iPhone or iPod touch and versions of the “ABC13 Houston Alarm Clock” will soon be available locally through all eight stations owned by ABC in markets including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Users can customize the wake-up tones, choosing a waterfall, rooster crowing or the voices of local anchors. The app was developed by the ABC-owned station group’s digital operations in conjunction with the Disney/ABC Television digital group. The app “makes the trusted content gathered” by the stations “even more accessible,” stated Carla Carpenter, senior vice president in digital media for the station group.
Fox network has filed what analysts believe will be the first of many TV network lawsuits against Dish Network for its new commercial-skipping feature called AutoHop. In return, Dish has countersued Fox, as well as NBC, CBS, and ABC. "We were given no choice but to file suit against one of our largest distributors, Dish Network, because of their surprising move to market a product with the clear goal of violating copyrights and destroying the fundamental underpinnings of the broadcast television ecosystem," according to a Fox statement. "Their wrongheaded decision requires us to take swift action in order to aggressively defend the future of free, over-the-air television." As opposed to manual fast-forwarding of time-shifted shows, AutoHop allows mass elimination of commercials of TV shows. Dish’s feature allows viewers to skip the four networks' prime-time commercials, allowing viewers to see TV shows commercial-free the next day. In its complaint, Dish is suing "for a declaratory judgment that the AutoHop feature does not infringe any copyright." Dish says the AutoHop technology is not much different than fast-forwarding -- where, according to some research, up to 75% of the time viewers can be found fast-forwarding through TV ads. David Shull, senior vice president of programming for Dish Network, stated: “Viewers have been skipping commercials since the advent of the remote control; we are giving them a feature they want and that gives them more control… We don’t believe AutoHop will substantially change established consumer behavior, but we do believe it makes the viewing experience better."
Buoyed by increases in a number of categories, out-of-home advertising revenue increased 4.5% to $1.4 billion in the first quarter of 2012, according to the Outdoor Advertising Association of America. This marks the eighth consecutive quarter of year-over-year revenue growth for the medium. In terms of categories, the biggest increase in dollar terms was miscellaneous services and amusements; major increases were also seen in government, politics and organizations, reflecting increased political ad spending during an election year. OAAA said political ad spending will continue to grow as November elections draw closer. The OOH medium has sustained a steady growth rate over the last few years, following a strong recovery from the general advertising downturn during the recession. From the second quarter of 2010 to the last quarter of 2011, OOH posted year-over-year quarterly increases of 3.6%, 7%, 6.5%, 4.2%, 4.5%, 4.2%, and 3%, respectively. Total out-of-home revenues increased from $5.9 billion in 2009 to $6.4 billion in 2011. The industry is also growing thanks to the rapid expansion of digital out-of-home networks and associated advertising revenues. According to a recent analysis by PQ Media, total U.S. DOOH revenues grew 15% to $2.05 billion in 2011. They are on course to grow another 12.5% to $2.3 billion in 2012. Cinema advertising, which is counted in the OAAA figures, has also experienced strong growth, with National Cinemedia -- the nation’s largest cinema advertiser -- reporting first-quarter growth of 11.7% to $79.1 million. However, DOOH has hit a snag. Digital billboards continue to face resistance at the local and state levels in some parts of the country.
Food Mags Unveil New Cookbooks Two leading food magazines are helping consumers get ready for summer and eat healthy with free digital cookbooks. Every Day with Rachael Ray has created two free mini-cookbooks devoted to the art of the grill, "The Summer Grilling Hot List" and "Grill-Out Faves" -- marking the first time the magazine has ever made recipes available this way. "The Summer Grilling Hot List" includes recipes for dishes like salmon steaks with grilled pineapple and corn, stuffed pork chops and chicken, plum and red onion kebabs. Users can download the "Summer Grilling Hot List" at the site’s Facebook page. "Grill-Out Faves" features popular recipes from the magazine, including Sweet-Tart Ribs & Potato-Zucchini Boats and Ginger-Peach Ice Cream in Grilled Peach Cups, and is downloadable at the magazine’s Web site. Every Day With Rachael Ray was sold to Meredith Corp. by the Reader’s Digest Association in October of last year, including the signing of a 10-year licensing agreement with Watch Entertainment Inc., the company established by the celebrity TV chef to manage all aspects of her media and brand presence. RDA sold the magazine because its ability to expand the brand was limited by its agreement with Rachael Ray herself, who retains control of her media brand and presence in areas outside the print magazine. Also this week, Meredith’s EatingWell announced the launch of a new mobile app, “Recipes 2 Go,” sponsored by Pfizer’s Lipitor, which is used for cholesterol control. The free app, which is available on iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and Android phones and tablets, offers resources to help consumers manage their heart health. This includes 200 healthy recipes for appetizers, entrees, side dishes, snacks and desserts. The “Recipes 2 Go” app extends the newly launched Lipitor For You and Smart Living site, www.lipitorsmartliving.com, which features over 500 additional healthy recipes from EatingWell.AV Insider Launches Transferring old audiovisual content to digital format for preservation is one of the most important tasks facing media companies and museums with large archives of analog AV content. A new magazine, AV Insider, is targeting this international AV archival community, including AV production companies, filmmakers, TV producers, specialist archives, technology developers, vendors, strategists, funders, and policy makers. The magazine introduces readers to digital AV media preservation, showcasing current issues, new developments and future perspectives in their domain. AV Insider is published by The PrestoCentre Foundation, an Amsterdam-based nonprofit whose mission is supporting AV professionals in keeping their archival collections available for the long term. Marius Snyders is AV Insider editor in chief. Ross to Fashion Director, Departures Amanda Ross has been named fashion director for American Express Publishing’s Departures, which is published for Amex Platinum Card and Centurion members. Ross has been a contributor to Departures since her Uptown Girl column debuted in the September 2011 issue. She will be responsible for overseeing all fashion and jewelry coverage. Ross previously served as market director of Harper’s Bazaar and global fashion director at W Hotels. She also helped launch C magazine in Los Angeles. Romer To Associate Publisher, The Atlantic Hayley Romer has been named associate publisher of The Atlantic, where she will help publisher Jay Lauf lead advertising efforts across all the magazine’s platforms. Prior to joining The Atlantic, Romer spent five years at the Condé Nast Media Group, most recently as executive director of corporate sales. Before joining Condé Nast in 2007, Romer managed the luxury account list at Forbes Media. She began her career in publishing at American Heritage.
The New Orleans Times-Picayune is ceasing daily publication and moving to a new print schedule of three days a week, according to Advance Publications. Advance is also slashing the publication schedule for three Alabama newspapers: The Birmingham News, The Huntsville Times, and The Mobile Press-Register. While a number of big metro dailies have closed, and other papers have dropped Saturday delivery, this marks the first time that a major American newspaper has opted to reduce its publishing schedule quite so drastically. Going forward, the Times-Picayune, previously published seven days a week, will only appear on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. The newspaper will continue to publish daily online. Like other newspapers in the area, the Times-Picayune has suffered from the combined effects of the secular downturn in the newspaper business, due to the migration of readers to the Web and collapsing demand for print advertising, as well as the loss of population resulting from Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. The total population of New Orleans dropped from about 437,000 before the storm in July 2005 to 158,000 in January 2006, before slowly rebounding to about 358,000 in 2011 -- down 18% from pre-Katrina levels. Ken Doctor, a newspaper analyst and author of Newsonomics: Twelve New Trends That Will Shape the News You Get, warned that the reduction could mean the loss of as many as 50 newsroom jobs. That would leave about 100 newsroom staff -- down from 265 before Katrina. One of America’s oldest newspapers, the original New Orleans Daily Picayune was established in 1837 to serve the burgeoning English-speaking population of New Orleans -- the first English-language publication in the former French colony. It was published continuously throughout the Civil War except for one two-month period, and its archives provide historians with insights into the changing Deep South from the 19th and 20th centuries.
In a rare moment of candor, and departure from the usual languid "Try rebooting the box" communication expected from cable companies, Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt apparently said at the National Cable & Telecommunications Association annual cable show: “There are too many networks.” “There are a lot of general-interest networks that have lower viewership, and the industry would take cost out of the system if they shut those networks down and offered lower prices to consumers,” he said. “The companies involved would make just as much money as they do now because of the costs.” Most cable subscribers are forced to pay for hundreds of networks, but they routinely watch less than 20. So why not allow consumers to choose cable channels on a channel-by-channel basis (so-called a la carte offerings)? The blame is often laid at the doorstep of the content providers that bundle little-watched channels with more popular networks. Kind of like when the nets say you can only have ad inventory on hit prime-time shows if you also buy some in other, far less popular dayparts. Then there is that dumb-assed argument that bundling supports diversity of programming, providing comfort for the 12 people out of 3.5 million subscribers who want to watch something in Hindi or Urdu. Most industry studies say that a la carte pricing would be a bad deal all around, but a study by some academics from Middle Tennessee State University and Drexel University found..."that consumer welfare goes up unambiguously under a la carte pricing. The expected monthly expenditure per household falls by approximately 15 to 20 percent and consumer welfare increases considerably." But then reality rears its ugly head: "On the other hand, cable operator profits will fall (and) some programming networks benefit from a la carte pricing, while others are harmed (due, at least partially, to increased competition among close substitutes)." While the cable and media companies point fingers at each other, lots of folks are making a cable-cutting end run and catching "TV" on some combination of Internet-delivered options like NetFlix, Hulu or replays posted on the Web by the networks themselves. So the way I see it, by not stepping up and allowing consumers to buy only what they want via cable or dish, the nets and cable companies are slowly painting themselves into a corner where the only must-see-in-real-time offerings are major breaking news and big sporting events (which exactly explains the fantastical ad rates for NFL games). Interestingly, the TV landscape can change in a season or two. Time was that nobody much watched AMC or Starz until they cranked some cool original programming -- and suddenly what would not have been on your a la carte list last year is a must-see now. One could argue that you would never have had that exposure to the new offerings without the 500 channel lineup. But let me be the judge of that. I could easily pick 30 or so channels from my cable system and dump all of the rest. I can even think of a couple of the Big 3 (sorry, Fox -- never was, never will be) networks I could live comfortably without if it would lower my cable bill, their programming is that pathetic. Although cost is the primary driver for a la carte pricing, navigation and search is also a pain in the ass with hundreds of channels to plow through. Here's an idea. Now that every channel is its own "brand," put the lineup in alphabetical order instead of by number. And let me delete from the menu the channels I have never -- and will never -- watch. Those alone would be improvements. That is, until you get around to a la carte pricing.