Headlines
Political Kicks Off Early In Sluggish Ad Market
The 2024 federal election is still 18 months away, but the campaign spending is already underway. “In April we experienced the earliest spending from a presidential race in the company’s history, with early bookings from the Trump, DeSantis and Biden PACs,” Nexstar Media Group CFO Tom Carter told analysts in the company’s quarterly conference call.
NBC Will Air Most Of Marquee Olympic Events From Paris Live During Daytime
NBC will have at least nine hours of weekday daytime coverage, expanding to at least 11 hours on weekends. With Paris six hours ahead of New York, the marquee finals will air live in the morning or late afternoon.
FCC
Reminder About Broadcasters’ FCC EEO Obligations After the April's First 2023 Audit of Station Performance
The FCC has promised to randomly audit approximately 5% of all broadcast stations each year. As the response (and the audit letter itself) must be uploaded to the public file, it can be reviewed not only by the FCC, but also by anyone else with an internet connection anywhere, at any time.
Sway Play: Soo Kim, TEGNA and Deal Detractors Meet at FCC
For Standard General, led by Soohyung Kim, “momentum” is building for the FCC’s Commissioners and its Chairwoman, Jessica Rosenworcel, to step in and hold a full Commission vote on the deal before it’s too late. Will that happen?
Television
Bob Iger Is ‘Bullish’ on Combining Disney, Hulu Content, But Won’t Predict Buying Comcast Stake
A new clue as to whether The Walt Disney Co. might buy Comcast’s minority stake in Hulu may have surfaced as Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that Hulu content would be available to subscribers through the Disney Plus app.
Radio
Lawmakers Urge FEMA To Act On AM Radio In Cars Crisis.
A pair of lawmakers want FEMA to get more involved in the issue of automakers excluding AM radio from new car models.
Moms Are Streaming Audio More, But Still Discovering Podcasts And Listening To Radio.
Programmers interested in the evolving media habits of today’s moms could learn a thing or two from “Moms and Media,” the annual study from the Research Moms at Edison Research released just in time for Mother’s Day.
Podcast Ad Revenue Tops $1.8 Billion In 2022, Faster Growth Expected This Year.
Despite economic headwinds, podcast ad revenues posted strong growth in 2022, increasing 26% to a new record of $1.8 billion, according to the Internet Advertising Bureau. “For the second year in a row podcasting is the number one growth channel across all digital media,” said Eric John, VP of the IAB’s Media Center, who released the report Thursday during the IAB Podcast Upfront. He pointed out that podcast’s growth rate was twice that of digital advertising overall.
CTV/OTT
NBCUniversal And Amazon Strike New FAST Channel Deal For NBC And Telemundo Stations
NBCUniversal and Amazon announced new NBC and Telemundo owned stations’ local news channels on the Amazon News app on Fire TV. NBC owned stations are also now available on Echo Show devices. U.S.-based customers can access premium local breaking news coverage and original content from NBC and Telemundo stations in the top TV markets 24/7, by streaming the stations’ free ad-supported TV (FAST) channels.
Netflix Cancels In-Person Upfront For Next Week, Will Be Streaming-Only
The Hollywood Reporter reported that the presentation, which originally was slated to be in-person, beginning May 17 at 5 PM, followed by a reception with ad execs, will now be streaming-only.
Digital
In-Store Digital Ads and Consumer Buying
The digitization of physical stores is the next mega-trend in retail. So believes Cooler Screens, wpowering in-store digital media and merchandising for retail.
Musk To Announce New Twitter CEO
ELON MUSK said THURSDAY (511) afternoon that he has found a new CEO for TWITTER, which is now being called X CORP. He did not name the person, but said she will be starting in about six weeks.
Media
Warner Bros. Discovery Adds 6 New Measurement 'Partners' Heading Into Upfront
New measurement partners for WBD Ad Sales include 605, ABCS Insights, DISQO, EDO, LoopMe and Pilotly, to add "greater attribution and efficacy of advertising campaigns" to work on cross-platform and advanced audience deals. For "awareness," WBD touts ABCS Insights, DISQO, and LoopMe -- and for "consideration," 605, EDO, ABCS Insights, and DISQO.
Verticals
Sleep on This! Mattress Firm sells for $4B
In a cash ($2.7B) and stock ($1.3B) transaction, Tempur Sealy International, Inc. just bought Mattress Firm, the largest multi-location retailer in the U.S.
Digital banking calls for digital marketing
Digital banking is the new norm, and regional banks battling for consumers and deposits must adjust their marketing strategies to reach consumers on digital platforms.