While average commercial minute ratings are seen by most advertisers as a significant improvement over program ratings, many marketers are still pushing for a system that measures the audiences for specific spots. They may want to push harder for that advancement, given a provocative new analysis of the so-called C3 ratings system by P.J. Leary, the North American CEO of media audit firm Ebiquity. In effect, Leary argues that the C3 ratings approach, put in place for the 2007-08 network TV season, almost forces broadcasters to game the system -- to the potential disadvantage of many advertisers. Historically, he says, broadcasters have insisted that they strive to offer a fair and equitable rotation of premium pod positions. Now, he states, "that's no longer in their interest." Ebiquity research has found that ads running in the first position of a commercial pod average 28% higher awareness compared to advertisers receiving mid-break placements. The basic problem with the C3 system, Leary contends, is that the audience levels for the spots are based on average ratings for each break. As a result, the position of a commercial in the break, the length of the break and commercial length do not have any impact as far as calculating the numbers are concerned. But for broadcasters, the position in the break now makes a huge difference -- it determines how much they can charge and therefore, how much money they can make, argues Leary. In theory at least, a clever, engaging ad in the first pod position will keep larger audiences tuned longer in the break, while a dumb or boring ad in the first slot will chase viewers away immediately. "C3 Ratings incentivize broadcasters to influence the sequencing of ad content. And if broadcasters can increase their ratings by changing the ad sequence, you can bet they'll do it," he says. "Their goal is to minimize the audience exodus and maintain a higher average viewership across the break, thereby increasing advertising revenue." In a bid to minimize commercial zapping, broadcasters are likely to lead pods with catchy ads for a new tablet, followed by a movie premiere ad, Leary argues. There is nothing sexy about ads for toilet paper and high cholesterol medications or spots for other prosaic essentials, which "are likely to get buried in the middle -- and less effective -- portion of the break," Leary states. "Broadcasters have an agenda in programming ad positions -- and the ratings methodology encourages them to do it," the analysis concludes. His recommendation to advertisers: "prepare yourselves with data, collect relevant insights and negotiate your best position. Advertisers are right to fight for gold standard positions in pod (first, second or last) and should insist that they get their fair share or better." A switch to a system that measures specific commercials -- favored by the National Association of Advertisers -- would put pressure on advertisers and agencies to deliver highly engaging, ratings-grabbing spots all year round -- and not just for events like the Super Bowl or the Oscars.
Audi's new advertising campaign for the 2012 A6 sedan is showing us our roads. The effort is all about how lousy American roads are becoming as our infrastructure falls apart -- and the only thing in good supply are morons and the criminally insane, who populate our highways in cars that shouldn't have gotten a pass at the DMV. Okay -- that's the New York version and not how Audi would have put it (they're based, after all, in civilized Virginia, not -- like Mercedes-Benz and BMW -- in New Jersey, where drivers are lunatics and even the roads are scared.) The message of the new campaign, "making the road a more intelligent place," also happens to be about how the automaker designed the new vehicle to handle what has happened to the once-great American highway. Elaborated in print, online and broadcast advertisements beginning this month, the effort talks up the Audi A6's ability to overcome obstacles, while enhancing driver safety and enjoyment. The TV creative shows roads with more holes and ruptures than the budget, flanked by signs as comprehensible as the tax code. Then there are the drivers: one guy reads a newspaper while driving, a woman is texting, a truck carrying a precarious stack of car tires dispenses them like immense black Cheerios as it careens down the road. There are shots of roads where skid marks head directly toward ruptured retaining walls, overpasses are half complete, broken TV sets and abandoned lounge chairs litter the margin. Voiceover: "The road is not exactly a place of intelligence. Across the nation, over 100,000 miles of roads and bridges are in disrepair. Add to that countless distractions every mile. Half a million cubic yards of debris, and the 38 million drivers who couldn't pass the driver's exam today." Enter a guy in an A6 who uses the car's MMI touchpad that recognizes handwriting (in multiple languages, no less) to navigate past a traffic jam and onto those more Elysian roads we are used to seeing, at least in car ads. A second execution points out that highway repair is underfunded, costing drivers $67 billion per year. The ads with the tagline "The road is now an intelligent place" will run in national and cable buys with print in national newspapers and online beginning this month. Additional print ads will appear in automotive magazines. Scott Keogh, Audi's CMO, tells Marketing Daily the campaign addresses a collision of technology-driven driver behavior, societal trends and the economy. "You always need a smart cause and you need a solution to it," he says. "First, it's absolutely obvious to every person behind the wheel that we have a big intersection of technology and mobile technology and people using it in cars; a road system that has been left unmaintained; an environment where there's a host of people behind the wheel who haven't been trained; and a lot of construction projects going on. Merge that with traffic stress." Besides the touchpad, the effort also talks up Audi's integration of Google Earth in its Navigation system. The system combines 3D terrain modeling with aerial views and a detailed street network. It also has wireless Internet for real-time weather, traffic, news and live fuel prices. The ads also feature Standard Drive Select, where you can set different suspension criteria for the car depending on road surface. Keogh says the A6 was designed "to be a tool to help you navigate complexity of roads." He says that the new technologies are also in the 2012 A7 and the A8 -- "and most will work their way into other cars, as well." Audi is on track to have a record year despite an economy recovering -- if that's the word -- at a glacial pace. Sales are up 15% year-to-date. "I think we are as braced for this economy as any company can be," says Keogh. Last month, Kelley Blue Book's KBB.com gave Audi the brass ring among luxury brands for having the lowest average Total Cost of Ownership for the initial five-year ownership period.
Despite the uncertain economy, one revenue stream that local TV can count on next year is political money -- and there's likely to be a record amount of it, according to Kenneth Goldstein, president, Kantar Media CMAG. Speaking at the TVB's Forward Conference in New York Wednesday, Goldstein predicted that stations will reap at least $2.5 billion in political advertising in 2012. And that's at the low end of Goldstein's prediction. If all the stars align properly, local TV spending could reach $3.3 billion. By comparison, the previous record for TV spending was $2.4 billion, set in 2010. Political spending, Goldstein added, is "a recession-proof business." Thus, even if the worst fears about the near-term economy are realized, the campaign dollars should still hold up well, he said. Goldstein pointed to several factors boosting fund-raising efforts in the current campaign cycle, including the Citizens United Supreme Court decision that loosened spending restrictions on political action committees. The ceiling on individual donations to federal candidates has also been raised to $2,500 from the previous $2,400. And when contributions to all sources are factored in, such as political parties and PACs, individuals can contribute up to $1,500 more in 2012 than they could in 2010. Also, in 2008, Republican Candidate John McCain accepted federal campaign financing in lieu of private donations and was outspent several-fold by the Obama campaign. "It is inconceivable that that will happen again," Goldstein said, adding that it's very likely the Republican candidate this time around will have $200 to $300 million to spend, versus the $80 million that McCain had in the last presidential election. Meanwhile, next year's political spending will translate to local station sales growth of 10% to 13%, analysts at the TVB conference said. But consumer confidence in the economy, which has been trending downward of late, could be a spoiler. According to Mike Simonton, managing director, Fitch Ratings, recent research has shown a "close correlation between consumer confidence and retail sales." He added that the direction the economy takes could hinge on the ability of consumers to "adjust to the reality of a weaker economic climate and move forward." While TV stations have a political spending cushion to rely on next year, another relatively new stream of dollars -- fees from cable operators for the right to retransmit their signals -- may not do much to boost their revenue coffers long-term, said Nomura Securities media analyst Michael Nathanson. That's because the TV networks are pressuring stations to surrender most of those fees to help pay for expensive programming. Nathanson predicted that "seventy-five cents of every dollar" that stations earn in retrans fees "could end up back at the networks." That may be justified, he said, noting that the network TV business is a "low-digit business" in terms of profit margins. The alternative for stations -- no network programming -- would clearly hurt their viewing levels and financial valuations. Bob Liodice, president and CEO of the Association of National Broadcasters, told TVB attendees that marketers believe in the long-term future of the TV medium. "TV is alive and well and flourishing," he said. He also quoted a litany of top marketers praising the platform, particularly when it's used in combination with other channels, like mobile and the Internet. "I believe television is the growth medium of the future," Liodice said. There are ways to make it grow even faster, Liodice said. Scaled addressability, where households receive different ads depending on product and message relevance, "will drive more dollars," he said. For marketers, addressability is "the holy grail." While average commercial minute ratings are an improvement over program ratings, Liodice said marketers would rather have a system that provides audience estimates for specific commercials. "That's our goal," he said.
Netflix now admits to messing up. But it won't change its pricing plan -- just a product name. Its big DVD-by-mail service, which streams TV series and films, will now be called Qwikster -- and compete with its own management. Netflix veteran Andy Rendich will be the CEO of Qwikster. The name "Netflix" will be just for streaming video service. In July, Netflix said the DVD-by-mail service, which included a smaller streaming video business, will be split into two -- and raise its collective monthly price from $10 to $16. Soaring programming and other costs have been cited as the reason. Last week, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said its projections for growth will be much lower -- effectively losing 600,000 customers and a projection of 1 million less than anticipated. This caused its stock price to crumble by 20%. In a follow-up communication, a Sunday night blog, Hastings said: "We realized that streaming and DVD by mail are becoming two quite different businesses, with very different cost structures, different benefits that need to be marketed differently, and we need to let each grow and operate independently." Hastings takes further blame: "It is clear from the feedback over the past two months that many members felt we lacked respect and humility in the way we announced the separation of DVD and streaming, and the price changes. "That was certainly not our intent, and I offer my sincere apology .... When Netflix is evolving rapidly, however, I need to be extra-communicative. This is the key thing I got wrong. In hindsight, I slid into arrogance based upon past success," he added. When it comes to its streaming service, Hastings says that additional and substantial streaming content will be available in the next few months.
To remind holiday shoppers about its free shipping, L.L. Bean is launching a new ad campaign, stressing the retailer's positioning of "doing what's right." In addition to underscoring the universally free shipping offer, it builds on the Freeport, Maine-based company's commitment to both customer service and quality, David Hughes, account director at GSD&M, which handles the account, tells Marketing Daily. Testimonials include a deckhand on a frozen ferry testing a water-repellant sweatshirt, an engineer sledge hammering a signature Bean boot out of a block of ice, and a boot rebuilder figuring out exactly how its owner wore it out. The testimonial and tried-and-true testing methods are part of spots set to begin running on network TV Sept. 19 as well as in print and online components, including videos on the site's landing page. Since its founding in 1912, the retailer has always guaranteed customer satisfaction 100%, no questions asked -- which means it only offers products that pass its rigorous standards. "This campaign focuses on all the ways that L.L. Bean stands for quality and customer satisfaction," he says. "So the idea of this campaign, which is extending the free-shipping offer we began in the spring, is the promise that we do what's right even when it is not easy. Doing things right has always defined what we do, and now it even defines the way we ship." Ads -- with a media schedule that includes all three networks, as well as A&E, Bravo, Food Network, Travel Channel, and the Weather Channel -- are aimed at those in the 40 to 50 age range, especially those who may not be customers yet, he says. Depending on the category, he says, Bean competes with such stores as REI, Cabela's, The North Face, Patagonia, Columbia and Lands' End. "We hope these drive people both to the stores, as well as the site," he says.
Kaiser Permanente has launched an ad campaign encouraging consumers to improve their health by finding their "thing." Created by Warren, Mich.-based Campbell Ewald, the work is based on research that found the key to sticking with an exercise regimen is motivation, and that occurs when people activate three components, finding the reason, partner and activities that move them to a healthier lifestyle. The new work taps into the common phenomenon that we put off until tomorrow what we should do today. For example, in the TV spot "Find Your Thing," a well-intentioned health "newbie" endures a trial-and-error process of finding the exercise that fits her best. The campaign continues to use the Oakland, Calif.-based health care insurance provider's "Thrive" tagline, introduced in 2004. The integrated campaign launched across media channels in regional markets on Sept.12, with TV airing in spot markets on shows such as "Dancing with the Stars," "Glee," "Grey's Anatomy," "Modern Family" and "Private Practice." Print ads will run in regional editions of Better Homes & Gardens, Cooking Light, Sunset, Time, Newsweek and National Geographic. Web ads will appear on sites including foodnetwork.com, meredith.com, aol.com, gsn.com and tasteofhome.com. Mobile ads will appear on sites including pandora.com, mapmyfitness.com, and graystripe.com. The campaign also features out-of-home placements that include bus wraps, billboards and food trucks, as well as eight radio spots. The campaign helps elevate Kaiser's brand message from health advocacy to health activation, says Christine Paige, senior vice president of brand marketing at Kaiser Permanente, in a release. "Improving one's health is highly personalized and Kaiser Permanente wants to provide the tools and resources to not only help people get started, but stay with their health and wellness programs," she says. Meanwhile, a national study reveals that parents have a harder time talking to their teens about their weight than about sex or drugs. The national "Raising Fit Kids" study was conducted as part of "fit," a program developed by Sanford Health and WebMD to deliver specialized children's health, nutrition and wellness resources to consumers and healthcare professionals. Fit (www.fit.webmd.com) aims to promote health and wellness and preventing childhood obesity among kids ages 2-18. The program focuses equally on the four key contributing factors to childhood obesity risk: Food (nutritional fitness); Move (physical fitness); Mood (emotional fitness); and Recharge (restorative fitness). The study finds that, while around one in 20 parents of teens report struggling with the subjects of alcohol, drugs and smoking and about one in 10 are uncomfortable talking with their teens about sex, nearly a quarter of parents are hesitant to talk to their teens about being overweight. Many parents of kids ages 8-17 may be avoiding the subject of weight altogether. More than one in five parents admit they have never brought up the subject of maintaining a healthy weight to their kids, despite more than one-third say that being overweight poses an immediate health risk to their kids. According to the American Heart Association, about one in three American kids and teens are overweight or obese.
DirecTV is nearing the launch of Nomad, a product that will allow customers to transfer programming captured on an HD DVR to mobile devices and view it outside the home. The device will carry a projected one-time cost of about $150, with no ensuing subscription charges. There are no prohibitions on content that can be moved to a laptop, iPad or smartphone -- except it can't come from the DirecTV Cinema VOD vault or a pay-per-view stream. The HD DVR requires a high-speed Internet connection to link with Nomad, according to DirecTV customer service. Speaking to investors last week, DirecTV CFO Patrick Doyle did not offer a specific availability date, but indicated that Nomad is part of a trio of new offerings, joining a new HD user interface and the Home Media Center. Nomad will allow "importing content onto a device that you can take with you," he said. Nomad's promotional Web Page features star quarterback and longtime DirecTV endorser Peyton Manning's image on portable devices. DirecTV already offers "NFL Sunday Ticket" subscribers the chance to watch NFL games on the go with portable devices. Separately, Doyle said negotiations with content owners on rights are still proving to be a hurdle in ramping up the industry's "TV Everywhere" offering. (While it won't allow for live TV, Nomad would seem to be a relatively easy way for someone to do it themselves.) "The biggest issue and it will get resolved, but I think it will take time, is just agreeing on the rights and the ability to get the content to customers," Doyle said.
Media research company TRA is now moving to the Internet to help online advertisers with its product purchase/TV research. TRA has struck a deal with digital ad network Adap.tv for its personal consumer-targeted research Purchaser Targets for the Internet, which goes beyond typical TV media buying age-sex buying segments. The company says this will allow advertisers to "fill in" their TV schedules with online video buys. TRA's patented single-source methodology matches TV tuning data with the actual purchasing data of 60 million households. Buyers can use video to increase the reach and frequency. TRA says Purchaser Targets can now be accessed through Adap.tv's two main ad network products: Adap.tv for Advertisers and the Adap.tv Marketplace. To drive accountability, both Adap.tv and TRA will conduct return on investment tracking actual sales improvements. Toby Gabriner, president of Adap.tv, stated: "The beauty of TRA's methodology is that it overlays personal purchase history and therefore is a much better predictor of future purchase patterns. This type of measurement is invaluable to advertisers and a first in our industry." Mark Lieberman, chairman/CEO of TRA, said: "TRA clients ... are enjoying increased TV ROI by using TRA's solution to reallocate their TV spend. Now TRA metrics have been adapted to increase the proven ROI of the Internet."
Ally Bank is launching an ad campaign centered on the concept of "people sense" -- with creative focused on the financial institution's goal of doing right by customers, because it also makes good business sense. TV, which breaks Sept. 19 at 9 p.m., includes the tagline "No nonsense. Just people sense." Spots will air on networks including ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, ESPN, HGTV and the Golf Channel. The campaign also includes print, radio, digital and outdoor advertising. There are two TV spots, two radio and various print, digital and outdoor, with more to come, according to a spokesperson. Print will be featured in financial and lifestyle publications, including Money, Fortune, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Digital includes CNNMoney.com, Yahoo, MSNBC, AOL, Kiplingers.com, Real Simple and Bankrate. This is the first work from new agency Grey New York, a bank spokesperson tells Marketing Daily. Grey won the account in April after a review which included Leo Burnett in Chicago, Venables Bell & Partners in San Francisco and the primary incumbent, Bartle Bogle Hegarty in New York. This is the first new work for Ally in almost exactly one year. The last campaign broke last September and had a "love theme." One spot included a job applicant who lists the love of his bank as one of his interests. Creative for the other two spots includes a dog owner who teaches her pup to "say" the words "We love our bank" and a rock singer who interjects an ode to his bank in his song lyrics. The commercials ended with: "Ally. Do you love your bank?" The Detroit-based bank rebranded from GMAC to Ally in May 2009. In July, Ally Bank launched several new products and services including its debit rewards program, Ally Perks; a person-to-person payment service, Popmoney; a 4-year term of its popular Raise Your Rate CD and a suite of IRA products. Ally Bank is a direct bank in the U.S. that offers online savings, interest checking, money market accounts, certificates of deposit and IRA plans.
With the U.S. Department of Agriculture's new MyPlate icon driving home the message that healthy eating means making vegetables and fruits half of each meal and First Lady Michelle Obama aggressively promoting her "Let's Move" initiatives to stem childhood obesity, Birds Eye sees an unprecedented opportunity to get more of its frozen vegetables onto Americans' plates. The Pinnacle Foods Group brand is launching an overarching marketing initiative, "Discover the Wonder of Vegetables," including a new advertising campaign themed "At Birds Eye, It's Always Vegetable Season." The core concept behind "Wonder of Vegetables" -- a multimillion-dollar integrated marketing effort led by TBWA/Chiat/Day on advertising, Optimedia on media, Weber Shandwick on PR/social media and Tenthwave on digital assets -- is a dual approach that combines inspiring people to want to eat more of the brand's frozen veggies, and providing recipes, solutions and tasty products that make it easy to act on that inclination. Americans know that they need to eat more vegetables, and want children in particular to form this dietary habit early in their lives, observes Rod Troni, VP of marketing for Birds Eye. However, while frozen vegetable sales are increasing, the category is not fully leveraging the "tailwinds" in its favor, Troni tells Marketing Daily. "Some other companies are taking the approach of 'hiding' vegetables in other foods" to help parents get their kids to eat veggies, Troni says. "While that works in the short term, it doesn't work over the long term. The solution lies in changing behavior by making vegetable consumption desirable, rather than pushing it as a 'must do.' Our mission is to inspire and enable people -- especially kids -- to eat and enjoy vegetables because they want to, not because they 'have to.'" Birds Eye's strategy and "simple tips and solutions" are informed by child-focused research it has commissioned from food psychologist Brian Wansink, director of the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University and author of Mindless Eating, reports Troni. The "Wonder of Vegetables" marketing campaign kicked off on Sept. 15 with an event at the farmer's market in New York City's Union Square. Birds Eye showcased spokesperson chef Marcus Samuelsson (co-owner of New York's Aquavit and Chicago's C-House restaurants) against a "vegetable farm in the snow" backdrop that tied in with the brand's "Always Vegetable Season" ad campaign theme. The chef gave cooking demonstrations and offered tips on inspiring "vegetable wonder" among children. One of the many efforts in Birds Eye's marketing push is a branded "My Perfect Veggie-Powered Plate" Facebook app through which Samuelsson, a vocal advocate of the new USDA/MyPlate guidelines, shares recipes and tips for creating tasty meals that start with vegetables. As part of Birds Eye's ongoing "Feed Kids Better" initiative, every "veggie-powered" plate created by the brand's Facebook fans will trigger a donation of vegetables for 10 meals to Share Our Strength, the nonprofit dedicated to ending childhood hunger in America through its "No Kid Hungry" campaign. (From Sept. 1, 2011 through Sept. 30, 2012, Birds Eye will donate up to 250,000 pounds of vegetables.) "The app connects the inspirational and enabling elements of our mission by providing consumers with vegetable-focused meal solutions and at the same time with a way that they can help American kids get the vegetables that they need for healthy nutrition," says Troni. Birds Eye is also among the brands partnering with the USDA to build awareness of the new dietary guidelines/MyPlate icon (USDA's "Make Half Your Plate Fruits and Vegetables" education initiative also launched this month). The MyPlate message is prominent on Birds Eye's Web site and Facebook page. Birds Eye's new advertising campaign will not launch until later this month, and Troni declined to share its creative specifics at present. However, he confirmed that ads on television, print and online will serve to drive consumers to the brand's site and Facebook page to engage with the inspirational and enabling elements. Troni also reports that the magazine print ads, which will start with October issues, will be product-specific -- noting Birds Eye's recent launch of a Chef's Favorites line that offers chef-inspired, restaurant-style vegetables combined with sauces and seasonings. That line includes risotto varieties, such as Primavera Vegetable Risotto and Lightly Sauced Mushroom & Green Bean Risotto. A major part of changing behavior is providing families with vegetables that "taste great" -- options that change perceptions among kids and adults who perhaps got turned off by being served "mushy broccoli when they were five years old," Troni says. The TV ads, to begin airing late this month, will take a "disruptive" creative approach rather than hew to the "family with a plate of vegetables in front of them" tack that's been used for over a decade, says Troni. Messaging will stress that Birds Eye's vegetables are picked at the peak of their freshness, fresh-frozen and packaged to offer maximum preparation convenience, he notes.
Longtime TV programming analysis executive for media agencies Steve Sternberg has been named senior vice president of sales research for ION Media Networks. In the new position for the network group, Sternberg will be responsible for developing sales research presentations and audience analysis to support the ION's advertising sales efforts. He will report to Stephen Appel, president of advertising sales for ION Media Networks. Sternberg had been working with ION as a consultant over the last year, developing a consumer value index for the mini-broadcast network, among other research tools. "Steve's smart, innovative practices and contribution to sales research over the years have made him a leader in the industry," states Appel. A nearly three-decade media agency veteran, Sternberg had been a senior research executive focusing on television programming at media agencies such as Magna Global, TN Media and Bozell. Most recently, he had was involved with the film and TV research company Baseline. ION Media Networks owns and operates ION Television, which gets to over 99 million homes, including Qubo, a kids' TV channel, and ION Life. It operates 60 full-power DTV television stations.
CW picked a good night to launch a new drama. Only three network shows were in originals on this Thursday in September -- ABC's Wipeout" and CW's "Vampire Diaries" and its new "The Secret Circle." At 9 p.m., "Circle," in its season premiere, posted a nice preliminary Nielsen 1.9 rating/5 share among the network's key women 18-34 viewers. Better still, this number was pretty close to the lead-in of "Diaries" season premiere, which took in its usual healthy 2.2 rating/7 share in the demo, just down a bit from last season's premiere. A key motivating factor for "Circle," about a teenage girl who discovers she's a witch: It was up 6% in women 18-34 a year ago when "Nikita" ran in the time period. The network's heavyweight show, "Vampire Diaries," had a season premiere down 12% among 18-49 viewers at a 1.4/5 versus a year ago -- somewhat typical for an established show. Overall for the night, for the broader 18-34 viewers, CW had 1.4 rating/5 share -- in third place after Univision (1.7/6), and ABC (1.5/5). Finishing up on its summer reality effort, ABC's two-hour finale of "Wipeout" garnered a 2.2/7 among 18-49 viewers, down about 20% from last year's finale. For the night among 18-49 viewers, CBS tied ABC for the top spot, as both networks tied with a 1.8 rating/5 share. CBS won in overall viewers (8.1 million for CBS; 5.6 million for ABC). Univision came in at third place among 18-49 viewers with a 1.6/4; followed by CW at a 1.4/4; Fox with a 1.0/3, and NBC at a 0.9/3.
When it comes to viewing premium video, consumers have more options than ever, from TVs to PCs, tablets and game consoles. How are people dealing with all these choices? A new PwC study finds that while traditional TV is still king, consumers are more receptive to new video platforms than they were a year ago, especially tablets. But the willingness to embrace alternative screens does not appear to extend to mobile phones, whose small screens and slower network connections limit their appeal for watching TV shows and movies. The large screen of the home TV remains the favored way to watch video, with two-thirds of those surveyed indicating interest in tuning in the TV set. Still, more than half (58%) said they spend more time now viewing movies and TV shows online than they did a year ago. "This was further validated in qualitative discussions, where consumers confirmed that they spend more time using their Internet-connected devices, especially iPads," stated the PwC report. The study emphasized that people considered tablets a "wholly different mobile viewing experience" compared to smartphones, given screen size. Less than one-quarter (23%) had an interest in watching premium video on smartphones. PwC said the lack of enthusiasm for mobile video is consistent with research it has done over the last 18 months. Nielsen estimates that about 10% of U.S. mobile users watch video on their handsets. Other data suggests this audience may be small but that viewing activity is growing. Mobile video ad network Rhythm NewMedia said video views of full-length TV shows increased 200% in the second quarter. Among other platforms, the PwC study did not quantitatively measure video consumption through game consoles. But it noted some consumers mentioned them as a convenient alternative for watching video. "This choice was primarily influenced by which room the console was in when they decided to watch a movie. It was definitely not considered to be their primary platform for viewing movies," the report stated. The research also noted growing interest from a year ago in cloud- based media storage offerings. The idea of a digital locker for music, shows, movies or other content especially appealed to more mature audiences, people in their late-30s to mid-40s, given their understanding of storage technology. Younger people were also intrigued, but had concerns about pricing. Film studios including Warner Bros., Miramax and Universal this year have begun offering movie streaming through Facebook, while Facebook commerce (F-commerce) provider Milyoni's "social theater" platform allows people to interact while watching movies on the social-networking site. The PwC study found social media was the channel people were least willing to pay extra for to obtain premium content, in part because there's typically no charge for using most social networks. Two-thirds of survey participants said they wouldn't pay anything to watch movies and TV via social properties. But because distribution through social media is still nascent, the consulting firm suggested there is still an opportunity for Hollywood studios and TV networks to leverage Facebook and other social sites. Overall, the report showed people would rather rent rather than buy when it comes to video-on-demand because they view it as less expensive and less of a burden on their computers' hard drive. Getting faster access to movies (within four weeks of the theatrical release) rated as the most appealing feature of VOD offerings, but most viewers were willing to pay only an extra $5 to do so on top of an existing price. The PwC findings were based on a survey of 312 U.S. adults ages 18 to 59 conducted in spring 2011.
NBC had some good reason to cheer for its new comedies on Wednesday -- though helped in large part by the season finale of "America's Got Talent." The biggest news was "Up All Night" -- which, in its season premiere, took in a healthy Nielsen preliminary 3.7 rating/10 share in the 10 p.m. time slot coming after NBC's big summer reality competition show, "America's Got Talent." A special two-hour "Talent" posted a 3.5/10, down 10% from last year's season finale. Another NBC comedy, "Free Agents" at 10:30 p.m., couldn't keep the momentum, posting a lower but fairly decent 2.1/6 for an overall lower-performing broadcast network time period. "Up All Night" and "Free Agents" will begin their regular time periods Wednesdays at 8 p.m. and 8:30 EST, respectively, on Sept. 21. CBS offered some steady results: The season premiere of "Survivor: South Pacific" earned a 3.4/9 -- 15% lower than last season's start. The finale of its big summer reality show "Big Brother" landed with a 2.9/8, lower than last year's finale. CW's new reality show "H8R" didn't register with audiences much -- just a 0.6/2 managing around 1.3 million viewers overall. The reason: stronger reality competition on the other networks. Even CW's more stable "American's Next Top Model" had a tougher time -- in part because it also went against summer series finales, only getting to a 0.9/3 and 1.9 million viewers overall. From CW's point of view, "H8R" was its most-watched reality start in more than two years among key demos. Among its more key 18-34 viewers, CW struck a low-ish 0.9/3 for the night overall. Other notables: ABC's "Primetime Nightline" special at 10 p.m. took a 1.2/3. A new episode of Fox's "Buried Treasure" at 8 p.m. fell a half a rating point to a 0.8/2 and (2.75 million viewers overall). Strangely, a repeat of the show at 9 p.m. posted better numbers at a 0.8/2 and 2.9 million viewers. NBC won the night with a 3.3/9. CBS was close behind with a 3.1/9; Univision was next with a 1.8/5, followed by ABC at a 1.4/4; Fox at a 0.8/2, and CW at a 0.7/2.
Even with sports such a crucial part of its brand, DirecTV may be looking to trim costs by limiting the number of narrowcast sports networks it offers. CFO Patrick Doyle said DirecTV is looking to drive a harder bargain on rights fees for the burgeoning amount of networks focused on specific teams and leagues. For his money, Doyle said rising content costs are "the No. 1 issue" for pay-TV distributors, even more than cord-cutting. Sports costs are spiraling up so fast, Doyle said the movement is more troublesome than the relatively new retrans-consent payments to carry local stations. The trend of "kind of slicing and dicing" sports content to bring more channels is particularly frustrating, he added. Distributors may have expressed some blow-back recently by refusing to carry the ESPN-backed Longhorn Network, which is focused on University of Texas sports. "I was glad to see that that really didn't get [wide] reception and the distribution," Doyle said last week at an investor event. Verizon is the only large operator to agree to carry LHN. Doyle cited the coming Pac-12 channels and a regional sports network focused on the Los Angeles Lakers (owned by distributor Time Warner Cable) as further issues. If the Big Ten Network were launched today, DirecTV may not be so willing to carry it. In 2006, it was the first distributor to sign a deal, but that was largely because of corporate synergy. At the time, News Corp. held a controlling stake in DirecTV and had a 49% share of BTN. Doyle said the industry should "be much more disciplined in how we deal with content owners and their ability to just assume distribution." One area he cites to hold a harder line is programmers pursuing bundling strategies. "We're negotiating harder on stuff that we consider marginal product, where a content owner might have some desirable content, along with stuff that we don't see as desirable," he said. "Those conversations are going differently." Since it launched in 1994, DirecTV has made sports a cornerstone of its identity, largely through "NFL Sunday Ticket." Since it pays the NFL enormous rights (a reported $1 billion a year) to offer the package, the satellite operator doesn't make money on it directly, but it attracts higher-paying customers who are turning the deal into a net positive. "We view that as almost part of our brand," Doyle said. "Lately, I would say we don't really make money on the "Sunday Ticket" itself, but we clearly make money on those customers. We keep track of them. They buy more services other than "NFL Sunday Ticket." They're high-end customers that buy all sports programming, so we don't have any doubt that its value accrues." He indicated that type of high-powered exclusive content may be the last of its kind. Cable operators have railed against DirecTV having "Sunday Ticket" exclusively. At the same time, cable operators owning regional sports networks have not made some of them available to DirecTV. Comcast and Cox have been on both sides of the disputes. "There's more resistance within the government and other places to not have content widely distributed ... I think you'll see less and less of that and not more of it," Doyle said.
TV customers' anger at Netflix, once perceived as the "anti-cable" company, has now cost the company some real business -- and a hit on its stock price. Netflix says it expects to lose 600,000 subscribers -- as well as cutting its estimates by 1 million customers -- all due to its radical pricing changes announced in July. As a response, Netflix shares dropped a massive 19%, closing at $169.25 on Thursday. Its pricing plan went into effect this month, eliminating its all-you-can-eat-formula -- which included DVDs rentals by mail and its streaming video. Now U.S customers can have a streaming-only plan for $7.99 per month -- and/or separately -- a DVD plan starting at $7.99 per month for one disc out at a time. Previously, Netflix expected 25 million total U.S. total customers for the third quarter of this year -- 10 million streaming-only, 3 million DVD-only and 12 million for both plans (22 million in total streaming customers). Now the company estimates 24 million total customers -- 9.8 million streaming-only, 2.2 million DVD-only and 12 million on both (21.8 million total streaming). Writing to Netflix shareholders on Thursday, CEO Reed Hastings and CFO David Wells said: "We know our decision to split our services has upset many of our subscribers, which we don't take lightly, but we believe this split will help us make our services better for subscribers and shareholders for years to come." Analysts have wondered whether this could be a turning point for the streaming video/DVD rental company. Netflix's rapid growth fed on its ability to position itself as the "anti-cable" company for viewers who were fed up with high prices for TV programming. But in a weakened economy, price-sensitive entertainment consumers show no loyalty to any new video services, say analysts.
A chill is finally in the air, and football's back on television. I love this time of year, especially now that NFL owners and players settled their differences ($$) and my New York Jets are once again the most entertaining team on the planet. Football is a funny thing in the TV world. It drives ratings through the roof and audiences to sofas across the country for hours at a stretch. It's a powerful mix, and one that brings out the best advertisers have to offer. And yet, here's the kicker, so to speak: There's actually not much football action to watch during a football game. In the three-plus hours it takes to broadcast a supposedly 60-minute football game, do you know how much time the teams actually spend playing the sport? Not quite 11 minutes! Don't believe me? Check out this breakdown of a three-hour football broadcast, from a Wall Street Journal article that ran last year (commercial time is excluded): · Filler Shots of Players, Coaches, & Wives: 67 minutes · Instant Replays: 17 minutes · Actual Game Play: 11 minutes Having spent time in the publishing world, I can't help but consider how the ever-important ad/edit ratio comes into play here. (For purposes of this blog, we'll call gameplay the "edit.") Factoring in the typical hour of ads that run during a football game, you see that the filler-to-edit ratio is about the same as the ad-to-edit ratio: about 6-to-1. In other words, if the edit (that is, the "action") is what you're tuning in for, then you are getting six times as much advertising as you are action. (Hour-long TV programs reverse this ratio, with 15 minutes of commercials to 45 minutes of programming, for a 3-to-1 edit-to-ad ratio.) And yet football fans continue to tune in, as I said, for hours at a stretch. Why? Well, did you turn off the Jets-Cowboys game in the fourth quarter when the Jets were down 24-10 and won with a last-minute field goal last week? (This week's Jets rout of the Jags did not produce any such excitement.) Still, networks face a distinct challenge when they air football games. It's up to them to decide how to fill, in the most compelling way possible, the time between periods of active gameplay. The type and amount of content they broadcast varies from network to network -- ESPN favors instant replays, while on NBC you'll see more of the sideline action -- but it's also the contextual relevance of the ads that keep viewers tuned in. Sound familiar? After all, a truly excellent ad during a football game -- whether it's a funny beer spot or an engaging car commercial -- can sometimes seem as much a part of the game as the cheerleaders. Just the "filler content" needs to be contextual to keep viewers, so do the ads. Running contextual ads on television brings its own set of challenges, but two factors have been shown to influence the effectiveness of advertising: viewer engagement and "content congruence" (aka contextual relevance). Turner Networks has understood this for years. But making ads contextually relevant can be challenging for the networks that broadcast football games. We know that football fans are extremely engaged in the programming they watch. This is reflected in the ratings of football broadcasts and in the cost to advertise during those broadcasts ($900,000 for a 60-second national spot on one of the games the Journal analyzed). It's up to advertisers to bring the relevant, topnotch creative that will seal the deal with viewers, and keep them from flipping the channel. And it's up to us, the technology providers and data folks, to tell them what they need to know about their audiences -- for example, actual consumer purchase behavior -- to make their ads relevant. Armed with our data -- the fact, for instance, that in the week of October 25, 2010, the energy drinks, men's razors, and Honda over-indexed in NFL games -- brands like Honda, Red Bull, and Gillette can tell they have a vested interest in placing ads during football games. By contrast, Major League Baseball broadcasts score high for BMW and Toyota, while NBA games are a slam dunk for carbonated soft drinks, shampoo, and Nissan. Everyone scores when you reach the right audience and find the viewers who are most receptive to your message, with ads as relevant and interesting as the game itself -- all 11 minutes of it!
Media waste is something TV advertisers talk about it when it comes to their media buys, especially these days. But what about consumers who are increasing looking improve their media efficiency -- in other words, paying for programming and channels they actually watch? This doesn't get much play. But it is part of a bigger financial issue that cable and broadcast networks are slowly starting to grumble about -- namely, demanding higher subscription fees from their video distribution partners, be they cable operators, satellite companies or telcos. AMC says it wants to double the fees it currently gets -- to around 75 cents a subscriber -- because of all the quality shows it delivers to consumers, such as "Mad Men," "Breaking Bad," "The Killing" and "The Walking Dead." At the same time, IAC/InterActiveCorp. chairman and longtime TV executive Barry Diller says to expect broadcast networks to look for double the money they currently get from retransmission. Many who are getting 50 cents to $1 a subscriber could ask for a dollar, two dollars, or more in future years -- especially considering the number of viewers broadcasters pull in versus the cable networks. To complicate the picture even more, another report suggests that up to 20% or more of the cable/satellite/telco industry's existing subscriber base could depart in future years -- to such companies as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu Plus, Apple TV, or Google TV -- because of price. Now you know why cable networks have been moving so quickly to digital platforms and mobile apps. And think about this: Some people believe a future wave of mobile tablets may only cost $30 to $50. What would mean for the traditional cable business? All networks will demand more -- but not all will get it. Cable operators will have to make a tough decision to let go of some networks in future years. This will go one while many consumers abandon older subscriber TV models. A la carte efforts? When that was the topic du jour a couple of years ago, cable networks said a la carte would crush their business model - that consumer prices would actually rise. And the topic then seemed to go away. But as the confluence of business factors squeeze the industry, cable operators might have no choice - bringing in a la carte networks whether the operators like it or not. That means smaller, mid-size networks can only hope the new digital and mobile platforms - or, again, the likes of Netflix, Amazon and Apple TV -- can replace the cable/satellite/telco distribution system that has previously worked fairly well. Even with all the talk about better-quality cable TV content -- dramas, unscripted shows, news andsports -- there is the long-time sentiment that a lot of waste is going on in TV. Some continue to have the complaint: While there are 500 or 1,000 channels, there seems to be nothing to watch. Cable advertising sellers and media buyers understand media buying waste. But how much do they understand consumer media waste - the programming they pay for but don't watch? Successful new digital video services will answer this very green question.
Part of the appeal of digital out-of-home signs is their potential for interactivity, which can be used to catch the attention of passersby in ways that static signs just can't. This week brought news of two new campaigns employing interactive DOOH signage to break through the visual clutter of everyday life. In the first campaign, CBS Corp. is using signs equipped with digital cameras paired with mirror-like displays to convey the eerie feeling of surveillance pervading its new fall drama, "Person of Interest." Pedestrians walking by the displays who linger to look in the mirror see a startling notification reading "person of interest," which then counts down to their photo being taken three seconds later (giving them the option of moving along if they wish). The camera then snaps a photo and displays it alongside other people who have been photo-captured by the same display. In July I wrote about TNT's elaborate digital out-of-home campaign in New York City to promote the second season of murder mystery "Rizzoli & Isles," which combined DOOH with experiential advertising. With Pearl Media, TNT created a 100-foot-long display showing a fictional murder scene; passers-by could help the eponymous crime-fighters by gathering clues from the scene, which included open pill bottles, footprints, fingerprints and a sheeted "corpse" in the center of the scene. An interactive video wall allowed participants to dust for fingerprints, survey the crime scene, look at DNA evidence, and view an autopsy report to determine which of three suspects committed the crime. As each clue was logged, part of the crime scene would light up. After solving the crime, the participant received a photo showing him or her with TV characters Rizzoli and Isles, which appeared in the DO display and could also be shared via Facebook. Meanwhile another campaign, launched by a Canadian nonprofit called Preventable in partnership with AOR Wasserman + Partners and The Media Merchant, is using interactive DOOH to deter speeding in school zones, on behalf of the British Columbia Automobile Association's Road Safety Foundation and the cities of Surrey and Burnaby. The 10-foot wide mobile digital LED billboards snap pictures of speeding cars and display them instantaneously, with a message reading "Before you rush through here, have a word with yourself." The British Columbia displays have several advantages over more "pedestrian" speed monitors of the type seen on many American roads, which simply display "Your Speed." For one thing, the latter fail to identify specific cars as breaking the speed limit, which makes it difficult to know that you've been singled out in heavy traffic. The American displays also lack the human element of a personalized message, which might make it more likely that drivers will actually heed the warning.
Few will dispute that voting members of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences largely got it right this year. In most categories they chose the best shows and performers for Emmy nominations and kept their usual oversights to a minimum. That makes the competition tougher than usual and the winners more difficult to call, as we'll see on Sunday during the 63rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. Nowhere is this challenge more obvious that in the category of Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. Bryan Cranston of AMC's "Breaking Bad" deservedly nabbed this one three years in a row, but "Bad" wasn't on during the qualifying period for this year's Emmys, so that leaves an open field for the three men who have repeatedly lost to him: Hugh Laurie of Fox's "House," Michael C. Hall of Showtime's "Dexter" and Jon Hamm of AMC's "Mad Men," plus Kyle Chandler of DirecTV/NBC's "Friday Night Lights" (who also lost to Cranston last year) and first-time nominees Steve Buscemi of HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" and Timothy Olyphant of FX's "Justified." Hamm is the front-runner here, but it can be argued that every one of these men has earned the award, especially Laurie, who inconceivably has never won, and Chandler, because the quietly brilliant "Lights" deserves some last-chance recognition. Prediction: Jon Hamm or Steve Buscemi. Preferences: Jon Hamm, Kyle Chandler. The category of Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series is no less challenging. Kathy Bates of NBC's "Harry's Law," Connie Britton of DirecTV/NBC's "Friday Night Lights," Mireille Enos of AMC's "The Killing," Mariska Hargitay of NBC's "Law & Order: SVU," Julianna Margulies of CBS' "The Good Wife" and Elisabeth Moss of AMC's "Mad Men" were all simply sensational, though I would have preferred to see Kyra Sedgwick of TNT's "The Closer" in Hargitay's place. A win for Margulies seems inevitable, but when I saw the first episode of "The Killing" I predicted that Enos would take home an Emmy, so I'll stand by that -- though part of me would like to see Britton win, for the same general reasons that have me rooting for Chandler. Prediction: Julianna Margulies or Mireille Enos. Preferences: Connie Britton, Mireille Enos. I think the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series comes down to Alan Cumming of "The Good Wife" and Andre Braugher of TNT's "Men of a Certain Age," with Cumming having a slight edge, though one should never underestimate the power of HBO, which makes Peter Dinklage of "Game of Thrones" a serious contender. Rounding out this category are Josh Charles of "The Good Wife," Walton Goggins of "Justified" and John Slattery of "Mad Men." Prediction: Alan Cumming. Preferences: Peter Dinklage, Walton Goggins. The nominees for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series are Christine Baranski of "The Good Wife," Michelle Forbes of "The Killing," Christina Hendricks of "Mad Men," Kelly Macdonald of "Boardwalk Empire," Margo Martindale of "Justified" and last year's winner, Archie Panjabi of "The Good Wife." I cannot imagine a scenario in which Martindale does not win for her uniquely powerful portrayal of deadly mountain woman Mags Bennett. Prediction: Margo Martindale. Preference: Margo Martindale. I think it will be (and should be) a fourth consecutive win for "Mad Men" as Outstanding Drama Series but, again, HBO has put all of its promotional power behind "Boardwalk Empire," so nothing is certain. A win for any of the other nominated series - "Dexter," "Friday Night Lights," "Game of Thrones" and "The Good Wife" -- would be a huge surprise, albeit a pleasant one. Prediction: "Mad Men" or "Boardwalk Empire." Preference: "Mad Men" or "Friday Night Lights." ABC's "Modern Family" will likely be honored with a second consecutive win for Outstanding Comedy Series, but the real winner of this category is broadcast television itself. Every one of the six series nominated -- "Modern Family," CBS' "The Big Bang Theory," Fox's "Glee" and NBC's "The Office," "Parks and Recreation" and "30 Rock" -- is on a broadcast network. When's the last time that happened? Prediction: "Modern Family." Preference: "Modern Family." The nominees for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series are Alec Baldwin of "30 Rock," Steve Carell of "The Office," Louis C.K. of FX's "Louie," Johnny Galecki of "The Big Bang Theory," Matt LeBlanc of Showtime's "Episodes" and last year's winner, Jim Parsons of "The Big Bang Theory." Carell is the sentimental favorite, but don't rule out another award for the singularly sensational Parsons. Prediction: Steve Carell or Jim Parsons. Preference: Jim Parsons, Louis C.K. Laura Linney of Showtime's "The Big C" has the heat among the nominees for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, but a second win for Edie Falco of the same network's "Nurse Jackie" won't be a surprise. Melissa McCarthy of CBS' "Mike & Molly" and Martha Plimpton of Fox's "Raising Hope" don't have a chance, but Tina Fey of the tiring "30 Rock" and Amy Poehler of cult hit "Parks and Recreation" are industry favorites, so this may actually be a four-way race. Prediction: Laura Linney or Edie Falco. Preference: Edie Falco, Martha Plimpton. Will "Modern Family" stars Ed O'Neill, Eric Stonestreet, Ty Burrell and Jesse Tyler Ferguson cancel each other out in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, leaving either Jon Cryer of CBS' "Two and a Half Men" or Chris Colfer of "Glee" to take home the award? I hope not, because as much as I admire the very gifted Colfer, I think Burrell is the most consistently funny of the group. Prediction: Chris Colfer. Preference: Ty Burrell. With apologies to her fellow nominees, Julie Bowen of "Modern Family," Jane Krakowski of "30 Rock," Jane Lynch of "Glee," Sofia Vergara of "Modern Family" and Kristen Wiig of "Saturday Night Live," how can beloved Betty White of TV Land's "Hot in Cleveland" not take home the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series? Prediction: Betty White. Preference: Betty White.
"Heads will roll." You hear that on lot on TV. (Currently there's a rogue UBS trader in London who has "some 'splaining" to do.) But this phrase might also apply to Hulu's next owner -- namely, who will be making Hulu's TV content deals, and with what business model? Some senior European TV executives believe Hulu has already "failed" in this regard --because senior Hulu officials haven't given up control of TV shows' advertising revenue. Ideally, content providers want two revenue streams -- from advertising and from some sort of customer fee. Possible Hulu buyers are already concerned about the kinds of TV and movie content commitments -- exclusive or otherwise -- that could come along with the premium video site. Perhaps they should also be concerned about whether any of those big content owners will want to own a piece of the ad revenues, through a sharing arrangement or other means. The new digital world can be fleeting, after all. Netflix now says that estimates for its customer base should be downgraded by around 1 million. That's a lot. On Thursday, the once high-flying company also got another downgrade when it received a 20% reduction in its stock price. Back to Europe: Gerhard Zeiler, the chief executive of big European network group RTL TV, says advertiser deal points revenues are the main reason that not one big European terrestrial broadcaster has made a deal with Hulu. What's to stop that same resistance from a new wave of TV producers and media companies who sense that ad revenues are also the most important upside in their financial future? (See the history of U.S. syndication ad revenues for some historical perspective). Some producers, like Steven Levitan of "Modern Family," already feel that digital exposure of their shows has failed. What happens to sites like Hulu then? Heads may roll.
Cable TV has been an extraordinary industry. From modest, rural roots planted in the late 1940s and 1950s, this business has grown consistently over most of those years, with multichannel video program distributors in the U.S. generating tens of billions of dollars in revenue and profits each year. They are one of the few media-related businesses to generate revenue from both advertisers and users. But, is the cable TV subscription -- or satellite or teleco TV subscription -- business ready to break? Most think it can't keep growing unchecked. Will Internet-driven Web video bypass and kill cable? Will connected, smart TVs do it? Many think it might. Will a double-dip recession cut into viewers' ability to pay those growing monthly bills? Will Netflix (or a similar player) break its back? Some think so. Another possibility that might break the stranglehold these companies have over studio-produced TV shows and networks is the potential of viewers able to purchase a la carte subscriptions to their favorite TV networks and stop paying for the hundreds of channels they get but never watch. For example, they could pay a fee only for a CBS, HBO, ESPN and Turner Networks custom package, which would be significantly less than what they're paying today. Yesterday, at the Paley Center's International Council in L.A., I heard what might be the factor that could break the multichannel subscription package, and it wasn't one of those I mentioned earlier. In an on-stage interview, IAC's Barry Diller decried what he called the "false counting systems" of fees paid by cable operators to some cable networks that were once popular, but are no more, and the relatively small fees paid in retransmission for broadcast network programming that is much more popular. Diller predicted that when the current three-year deals between the big networks and operators are up for renegotiation, the networks are certain to demand much higher fees -- likely double what they get now -- and the operators are likely to have a tough time paying them. Diller seemed to suggest that we could see an irresolvable stand-off. This could be the straw that finally breaks the camel's back and causes both sides to recognize that a one-size-fits-all TV package is no longer sustainable, with programmers and operators breaking their bundles and creating a la carte offerings. I think that Barry Diller is right. I think that the next phase of transmission fees is likely to break the cable TV world as we know it. What do you think?
CIMM is taking a pro-active role in advancing new media nomenclature and processes with both its Lexicon(terms and definitions associated with Set-Top Box data measurement) and Asset Identification Primer (glossary of asset terms). These documents form the basis of the Word-A-Week column which offers a common language for Set-Top-Box nomenclature that can expedite the rollput of the data for its many industry applications. Last week we began a discussion of those ad-related terms that are common to both the established ad sales marketplace and the STB / Addressable Advertising marketplace (Set-Top-Box Lexicon:The Common Advertising Language). This week is a continuation of common industry accepted terms that relate to commercial packaging, scheduling and commoditizing. Clutter CIMM DEFINITION : All non-program content that wraps programs such as commercials, PSA announcements, billboards, promos, any type of banner, overlays that take place within the context of the program etc. Anything not germane to the actual program that airs alongside or within that program. 2 : All extraneous non-program elements within a given program or time period. (Source: Nielsen) Commercial PodSee also: Pod CIMM DEFINITION : A collection of non-programming content, whether commercials, billboards, PSAs, etc., that are inserted as a block of seconds or minutes, before, during or after a program. PodSee also: Commercial Pod CIMM DEFINITION : A collection of non-programming content, whether commercials, billboards, PSAs, etc., that are inserted as a block of seconds or minutes, before during or after a program. 2 : A group of commercials, promos or announcements contained in a television program break. (Source: Nielsen) Commercial CPM CIMM DEFINITION : The cost for advertisers to run their ad per one thousand viewers or homes of a target consumer segment. 2 : Shows the cost per thousand impressions for the commercials / advertisements. Based on the amount paid for the advertising campaign, this shows the amount paid per thousand impressions of the advertisement for total households or in that target group. NOTE - Demographic CPMs through Set-Top Box data would have to be segmented or profiled. Please refer to the CIMM Lexicon online at http://www.cimm-us.org/lexicon.htm for additional information on these and other terms.
Whatever business metric value you like when looking at NBC in comparison to its broadcast rivals, probably the biggest metric comes down to this number: 20%. "No network has ever been as far behind financially as NBC is," said Steve Burke, president/CEO of NBC Universal, at a recent industry event. He said the rate for commercials -- cost per thousand viewers -- is 20% less than other broadcast networks have been getting. In its heyday -- for most of the 1990s -- NBC was the top dog when it came to the prized 18-49 adults CPM. Burke added the network is a year or two away from where it needs to be. Some have even predicted that NBC might at least get out of its long time fourth place position to get into third place -- pushing perhaps ABC to the cellar. But that 20% differential between NBC and the higher-priced networks -- mostly Fox -- won't be eliminated so fast. And that's the problem. CPM gains -- even at the best of times, with the most improved network shows -- are hard to come by. For this upfront, media buyers say Fox is now at the top, averaging around $41 to $42 for the cost per thousand viewers in the 18-49 demo. ABC and CBS are a bit behind, anywhere between $38 and $39 dollars. NBC is slightly below these numbers. Maybe NBC can have an out-of-the-blue spectacular year this season, perhaps raising overall key 18-49 rating by 10% of more. This may get it some double digit price CPM increases at next year's upfront. But this doesn't mean it'll make up much ground -- because other networks, even with normal ratings erosion, can move in near-lock step in price. Fox, CBS and ABC, maybe perhaps a CPM percentage point - or two -- behind. So it might take years for NBC to make significant gains, or achieve parity with other networks. Cable and syndication TV sellers continue to have this CPM differential problem -- continuing to be sold at a CPM discount, some 15% to 20%, behind that of the broadcast networks, for their top-performing programs. A major concern for NBC is whether it has fallen into this category on a more permanent basis. Still, a couple of new big shows this year, including a full season of NBC's high-rated "The Voice," could at least give national TV advertisers some program -- and pricing -- choices.