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sales@spotsndots.com Copyright 2017.The Daily News of TV Sales Friday, May 26, 2017

AMERICANS PREFER LOCAL BROADCAST NEWSSUBSTANTIAL LEAD OVER CABLE NEWS An article published at the website Poynter.org by writer James Warren outlines the preference of most American viewers to turn to local news on local broadcast television stations to get their information in the morning. Warren points out that during the last week, cable news outlets were understandably fixated on the Manchester concert bombing and intrigue in the White House. The coverage was wall-to-wall as pundits and politicians were cycled through the cable nets giving their take on the terrorist attack and a White House in turmoil. But Warren says most of the nation’s viewers were tuned elsewhere. Chicago’s WGN Morning News was cited as an example of local news that viewers in the Windy City prefer, pointing out the strong lead that WGN’s Morning News has over the cable news morning shows. During the Nielsen February Sweeps, the local broadcast on WGN had an average of 127,770 viewers ages 25-54 watching between 5 AM and 8 AM local time. By comparison, Fox and Friends averaged 33,520 demo viewers in the same time span. Morning Joe on MSNBC had 20,360 total viewers, CNN’s New Day had 18,600, 5,650 tuned into HLN’s Morning Express and 3,030 watched CNBC’s Squawk Box. The gap closes on WGN when the other broadcast stations are included in the comparisons but the station still maintains the number one position with 148,000 25-54 viewers between 7 AM and 9 AM local time. Good Morning America on WLS delivered 128,120, The Today Show on WMAQ posted 76,820, and CBS This Morning on WBBM drew 46,380 viewers. Nielsen shows similar positive results for local stations in other large markets. In New York City, for instance, the local broadcast stations, WABC, WNBC, and WCBS all have more viewers that Fox News Channel’s Fox and Friends, CNN’s New Day and MSNBC’s Morning Joe. While in the Los Angeles market Tribune’s KTLA, a CW affiliate, and Disney’s KABC substantially lead their competitors in the 25-54 demo between 5 AM and 7 AM local time. Although variances will exist, local broadcast news shows will almost always out deliver the cable shows by a substantial margin. “In most markets, you would have to aggregate the top five to 10 cable channel audiences to even come close to the top local television station’s audience,” said Larry Wert, president of broadcast media at Tribune Media and former president and general manager of WMAQ, the NBC O&O in Chicago. The cable networks certainly aren’t suffering too much from having fewer viewers than the local broadcast stations. Their audience remains an elite group and one that is coveted by advertisers.

ADVERTISER NEWS Fiat Chrysler responded to the civil suit filed against it by the Justice Department by denying any wrongdoing and suggesting a software update is all that’s needed to address regulators’ concerns about excess diesel emissions. A lawyer for the automaker would not concede the vehicles in question actually do produce excess emissions, saying there are complicated regulations about emissions control devices……Sears’ domestic same store sales were down

12.4% in its first fiscal quarter, noting declines in the home appliances, apparel, and lawn & garden categories. Comps were down 11.2% at Kmart with particular weakness in the grocery & household, pharmacy, apparel and home categories. And the company remarked “advertising expense declined as we shifted away from traditional advertising to the use

of Shop Your Way points awarded to members”……There haven’t been many retailers beating expectations in the current round of quarterly reports, but Best Buy provided an unexpectedly good report with its comp sales up 1.6% and online comp sales up 22.5%. CEO Hubert Joly said “our revenue was higher due to strong performance in gaming, a better-than-expected result in mobile and the improvement of overall sales trends due to the arrival of delayed federal tax refund checks”……The Wall Street Journal reports private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management is working in tandem with American Eagle Outfitters to make a possible bid for Abercrombie & Fitch. The paper notes there may be competition in the bidding from other buyout firms and also from Express Inc……Another apparel retailer, Chico’s FAS, had a discouraging quarter with same-store sales down 10% at its namesake chain and off by 9.7% at smaller sibling White House Black Market. Comps for the rest of the year are now predicted to be down in the mid-single digits… Convenience Store News reports A&W Restaurants is expanding into the convenience channel with five c-store/restaurants due to open this year and six more in development. A&W had been owned by Yum Brands for several years before a group of franchisees purchased it from Yum five years ago… (Continued on page 3)

PAGE 2 The Daily News of TV Sales @ www.spotsndots.com

NETWORK NEWS The NFL Pro Bowl game will air on ABC next year, and the game will also be broadcast on ESPN with a Spanish-language production on ESPN Deportes. The game will be played on Sunday, January 28th in Camping World Stadium Orlando for the second year in a row. This will the first Pro Bowl telecast for ABC in 15 years. The network previously televised the game 22 times, while ESPN has carried it 14 times. Sean McDonough, Jon Gruden, and reporter Lisa Salters will call the game……ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live: Game Night will return for the tenth consecutive year in conjunction with the 2017 NBA Finals. Guest will include Kevin Hart, Robert Downey Jr., Tom Holland, Will Ferrell, Owen Wilson, Jamie Foxx and Billy Crystal. The special episodes will air during primetime each night of the NBA Finals, beginning on June 1st at 8 PM (ET). ABC will air the program following the NBA game on the West Coast……An audience of network and advertising executives were presented findings of an analysis by Civic Science that found CBS’s Seal Team and Fox’s The Gifted are the most anticipated new broadcast shows of the 2017-18 season. The results were from a psychographic-based web and mobile survey measuring audience interest in 14 new broadcast shows. The participants in the survey were asked how likely he or she was to watch a show based on the early buzz from the broadcast upfront presentations and related announcements. Using those responses, Civic Science found Seal Team to have the highest audience-intent score of any of the 14 shows considered. The Gifted had the second highest score followed by The Orville on Fox, The Brave on NBC, The Gospel of Kevin on ABC, Valor on CW, Champions on NBC, Wisdom of the Crowd on CBS, The Good Doctor on ABC, Me, Myself and I on CBS, The Resident on Fox, Dynasty on CW, Reverie on NBC, and The Mayor on ABC……The Hollywood Reporter was given access to the first three days of location shooting for the new season of CBS’s Survivor. Reports from the set say that the show is staying in Fiji, but ditching its most recent returning player format in favor of refocusing on a new group of 18 contestants. Season 35 will be titled Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers.

NBC, CBS CLAIM RATINGS VICTORY NBC and CBS are claiming victory for the 2016-2017 TV season. NBC will finish first in 18-49 viewers for the third time in four years, ending the season with a 2.1 Nielsen live program/same-day time-shifted rating, about the same as last year. Fox was also flat at 1.9 18-49 Nielsen rating. CBS was down 22% to a 1.8 rating; ABC, off 11% to a 1.6; and CW, slipping 12% to 0.7. CBS finished first in total viewers the 14th time in 15 years -- at 9.6 million, down 12%. NBC was flat at 8.1 million; ABC, fell 9% to 6.2 million; Fox, gained 1% to 5.8 million; and CW, down 9% to 1.8 million. Industry estimates are that broadcast TV ratings are generally down 10%, and cable networks have dipped 7% during the 2016-2017 season, according to MediaPost.

AVAILS Comcast seeks a Regional Advertising Sales Manager for a position in Atlanta, GA. This position is responsible for identifying client business challenges and identifying solutions that drive strategic initiatives. Develops objectives and procedures that are consistent with the overall direction of all sales activities within the regional market area. Accountable for the management of an ad sales team in a major regional market. CLICK HERE to apply. Comcast is an EOE/Veterans/Disabled/LGBT employer.

KHOU Media Solutions in Houston is seeking an Project Manager to manage the day-to-day responsibilities of key accounts with team members. The Project Manager works in tandem with Account Executive, Customer Insights Manager, Research Director and Creative Services to develop sales presentations. This position provides an optimal customer experience by having a deep understanding of the company’s multimedia solutions. Minimum 2 years

of account engagement in a professional, fast paced sales environment required. CLICK HERE to apply. No phone calls please. EOE. KHOU Media Solutions, Houston, is seeking an Account Manager to manage the day-to-day responsibilities of key accounts with team members. The AE has daily interaction with existing agency and direct client business; this responsibility includes maintenance of client schedules on television and online in addition to implementation of special projects and promotions. Minimum 2 years of account engagement in a professional, fast paced sales environment required. Qualified candidates can APPLY ONLINE. No phone calls please. EOE. WTAE-TV, the Hearst-owned ABC affiliate in Pittsburgh, PA is seeking a dynamic individual to become an Account Executive. The AE will be responsible for increasing the station’s active advertiser customer base through the development of new business. Candidate should have 1-3 years of experience in Media Sales and have a proven track record of generating new business revenue across multiple media platforms. CLICK HERE to apply. EOE. CBC New Media Group seeks a Digital Marketing Strategist to develop customized digital solutions for businesses in the Raleigh, NC area. This individual will work closely with AEs to establish and manage successful client relationships for our digital products. These include display advertising on WRAL.com and other CBC websites, as well as complete digital marketing services, social media management, PPC campaigns, SEO projects and more. CLICK HERE for more info or to apply now. EOE M/F. All Capitol Broadcasting Company properties are tobacco free.

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The Daily News of TV Sales @ www.spotsndots.com PAGE 3

WEEKEND WILL BE BIG FOR CAR SALES Going to buy a car on the upcoming holiday weekend? A lot of people are expected to do so, according to Edmunds, which says the Memorial Day holiday will be a critical bellwether for the summer selling season. “Generous incentives are keeping traffic flowing to dealer lots,” according to Edmunds Executive Director Jessica Caldwell, “but a lot is riding on Memorial Day sales for automakers to keep momentum strong through the critical summer selling months. As long as high inventories continue to drive attractive deals and the economy remains strong, consumers will be in a great position to take advantage of a buyer’s market this summer.” In total, Edmunds expects the industry will sell 1.527 million new vehicles this month, a 7.5% increase over April and a 0.3% increase over May, 2016. On a year-to-year basis, General Motors is expected to be the big winner, up 5.7%, while Fiat Chrysler is expected to have dropped the most at down 4.8%. Compared to last month, though, Ford and Hyundai/Kia are expected to gain the most, the former up 12.2% and the latter up 11.5%. The J.D. Power/LMC Automotive monthly forecast for retail sales only is less optimistic, coming in at 1,222,000 dealer-sold vehicles, 2.9% down from May, 2016 on a selling-day-adjusted basis.

BUSINESS BYTES hhgregg itself may be closing, but its intellectual property lives on. This Week In Consumer Electronics reports the Hilco disposition house will auction off gregg’s trademarks, domain names, website and customer database (with more than 16 million customer files and 5 million email addresses). TWICE adds about 144 gregg stores are still open and holding fire sales, but all are expected to close after the Memorial Day weekend. Campbell Soup has made a $10 million investment in Chef’d, an online mealkit retailer, making Campbell the largest single investor in Chef’d. Campbell says the investment is a necessity to compete for an online food market it expects will reach $66 billion within five years. Chain Store Age reports Amazon has placed a job description on Linkedin looking for an innovative store designer to join its Architecture, Construction & Engineering team; a “self-starter who thrives in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment and has a deep passion for innovation retail design.” And as speculation grows about Amazon’s desire to open a string of retail food stores, the ad says a grocery and/or commercial kitchen design background is “strongly preferred.” Here’s an interesting side note to Amazon’s attempt to build a cashier-less c-store in Seattle, which has suffered delays in being opened to the public. Progressive Grocer reports a small chain in Utah now gives its customers the opportunity to skip checkout lanes using their phones to scan and pay for items via an app called Skip Checkout. The 12-unit Macey’s chain is now offering the service at five of its stores along with online shopping and curbside pickup at all its locations.

AVAILS KLFY CBS 10, Lafayette, LA is seeking a General Sales Manager to lead our experienced sales teams. Our ideal candidate will possess the passion for leading our sales team to grow and builds stronger customer relationships. The GSM is responsible for successful execution of our TV and Digital revenue/expense budgets, sales strategies, forecasting and team development. 3-5 years of experience in TV sales management required. Strong leadership skills are mandatory. Qualified candidates can

CLICK HERE to apply. EOE. Comcast Spotlight seeks a Regional Automotive Director, Bethesda, MD. The Automotive Director will utilize all Spotlight products and solutions within their respective region and align with corporate initiatives. The role requires high collaboration and integration with Spotlight constituents in Corporate and Region in development of strategies and tactics that can support new business and share growth of automotive advertisers’ marketing spend. 10+

years in related automotive media management and/or automotive advertising sales experiences, with increasing management responsibilities. CLICK HERE to apply. Comcast is an EOE/V/D/LGBT employer.

ADVERTISER NEWS (Continued from page 1) ……Fazoli’s will introduce a new premium menu next month at 122 company-owned locations. Fazoli’s says it had a “record-setting finale” to its last fiscal year including new franchising agreements with 13 groups and its 16th consecutive quarter of same-store growth at company-owned locations……Some very big losers in This Week In Consumer Electronics’ year-to-year tech sales analysis were GameStop (down 18%), Sears (down 21%), RadioShack (-27%), hhgregg (-28%), and GameStop’s Simply Mac (down 32%).

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