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sales@spotsndots.com Copyright 2018.The Daily News of TV Sales Tuesday, May 21, 2019

PROGRESS SLOW, BUT GROWTH INEVITABLE Have e-commerce grocery sales in the U.S. turned the corner? According to Forbes, the answer is yes. And no. According to a 2019 Coresight Research study, some 36.8 percent of U.S. consumers bought groceries online in the past year, up significantly from just 23.1 percent a year prior. Not surprisingly, it’s older millennials (30-44) who are leading the charge, with 45 percent having purchased groceries online. However, the study found that nearly three-fourths of millennials tend to buy just a small proportion of their grocery products online. So progress has been made, but there is a long way to go to significantly alter customer shopping patterns. Food retail is currently sitting at just 2 percent e-commerce penetration, compared to 12 percent overall. And given that food is far and away the largest retail category, its laggard position represents both the biggest challenge and biggest opportunity for e-commerce. The reasons for the low penetration are well documented, from inherently low margins and bulky multi-temp products to the consumer need for selection (ripeness of banana, trim on meat, etc.). That said, there’s so much activity being directed to this space that growth (as evidenced by the survey) is inevitable. It’s also apparent that there is no one-size-fits-all solution for grocery e-commerce, and companies will continue to attempt a multitude of approaches to “profitably” get groceries to American consumers. Equally important is who will ultimately prevail in the grocery e-commerce wars. Coresight’s survey tells us where customers are shopping today. Amazon was mentioned by 62 percent of shoppers with Walmart the next closest at 37 percent. Walmart, however, had the biggest gain, up a full 12 points from a year prior, and Target jumped past Kroger, mentioned by 16 percent of consumers. Amazon is hitting customers on all fronts, from the immediacy of Prime Now, through full-service offerings from Amazon Fresh. Walmart has focused heavily on click and collect but also offers delivery options. Target bought Shipt to provide immediacy of delivery, and Kroger will soon have it all (ClickList for pick-up, Instacart for immediacy and a partnership with Ocado for automated home delivery). Will one of these delivery methods prevail? Not likely. Consumers reported an even split between pick-up and delivery, with pick-up mentioned by nearly half of consumers as their main source of fulfillment and delivery at 48 percent. There are continued efforts on both of these options with Walmart rolling click and collect to more than 2,100 locations today and with plans to reach 3,000, and Kroger’s aggressive move with Ocado to streamline home delivery.

E-COMMERCE GROCERY STILL AWAITING ITS MOMENTADVERTISER NEWS Target rolled out a Vineyard Vines collection over the weekend with perhaps inevitable results: buyers snapped up lower-priced versions of the upmarket brand, irritating some shoppers looking for a less predatory retail experience, Bloomberg reports. “So it begins, everything is already sold out online and posted to eBay,” Kayla

Griffin, 30, a photographer in Washington who wanted to purchase products from the new line, said on Instagram. The tie-in with Vineyard Vines is the latest for Target, which has collaborated in the past with a number of well-known, often high-end clothing and housewares brands. More than 300 products from preppy Vineyard Vines, at prices ranging from $2 to $120, went up on Target’s website Saturday and

are aimed at attracting younger buyers. Prices compare with $14 to $400 on the Vineyard Vines website, separate from the Target collaboration. Vineyard Vines also has about 70 retail stores... The number of customers using Walmart’s mobile app has grown to 58.5 million people, putting it ahead of Amazon (54.4 million), Uber (52.1 million), Starbucks (44.2 million) and others, according to a new study from Cornerstone Advisors and StrategyCorps... It’s closing time for a 57-year-old women’s apparel chain. Dressbarn announced it is winding down operations, including the eventual closing of its approximately 650 stores. The retailer, which is owned by Ann Taylor and Lane Bryant parent Ascena Retail Group, has retained A&G Realty Partners to assist on real estate-related matters. Currently, all Dressbarn stores are open and doing business as usual... The men’s personal care product category is expected to grow to $166 billion by 2022, according to Allied Market Research. Sales of skin care products for men has grown 7 percent in the past year, according to NPD... Nordstrom has apologized to members of the Sikh religious group after selling a Gucci turban that many found to be offensive, The Washington Times reports. “We have decided to stop carrying this product and have removed it from the site. It was never our intent to disrespect this religious and cultural symbol. We sincerely apologize to anyone who may have been offended by this,” the department store announced on Twitter... Little Caesars is partnering with Impossible Foods to test plant-based sausage as a topping on one of the chain’s pizza menu items. The Impossible Supreme Pizza will have traditional sauce and include a blend of mozzarella and Muenster cheeses as well as caramelized onions, mushrooms and green peppers in addition to the fake sausage... A Whole Foods Market store in New York City is the test site for a convenience store concept called Whole Foods Market Daily Shop. According to Business Insider, local and organic products are paired with the ease of a convenience store, and shoppers can make their own acai bowls or get seasonal kombucha on tap.

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

AVAILS Account Executive — Oklahoma City: KOCO 5, the Hearst Television ABC affiliate in Oklahoma City (45th DMA and growing), has an opportunity for a highly motivated Account Executive. Exceed your goals utilizing the top syndicated programming, OU and OSU football, OKC Thunder NBA, OKC’s No. 1 web and mobile sites, and MeTV. The successful candidate will be organized, have strong presentation skills and a passion for developing new business. CLICK HERE to apply. EOE M/F/D/V. Account Executive: Nexstar, Tampa, Fla., WFLA-TV

(NBC) is looking for an experienced television and digital seller. We’re looking for someone with a minimum of 3 years’ television sales experience, who will generate advertising revenue by calling on established advertising agencies and cold-calling new prospects to develop new business as well as digital revenue. Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Advertising or

Mass Communications or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and work-related experience. To apply online go to https://www.nexstar.tv/careers. EOE. WBRC FOX6 News, the dominant No. 1 station in Birmingham, Ala. (market No. 43), has an immediate opening for a talented, motivated Account Executive to join our energetic and professional sales team. We seek a self-starter with a sense of urgency who can sell new business on-air, online and on mobile platforms while maintaining and growing existing business. Candidates must be detail oriented and have excellent communication and customer service skills, plus 1-3 years’ sales success in TV, radio, digital or cable. CLICK HERE to apply. EOE-M/F/D/V.

See your ad here tomorrow! CLICK HERE for details.

19M+ TUNE IN FOR ‘GAME OF THRONES’ FINALE The Game of Thrones series finale was watched by 19.3 million viewers across HBO’s platforms (linear, HBO Go, HBO Now) on Sunday, setting a record for the network, Broadcasting & Cable reports. The finale beat the previous series high of 18.4 million set by Game of Thrones the week before. Fully 13.6 million watched the 9 PM airing, breaking the 13.4 million that the Season 4 premiere of The Sopranos tallied in 2002. Season 8 of Game of Thrones is averaging 44.2 million viewers per episode in gross audience, more than 10 million better than the Season 7 average.

THIS AND THAT Fifteen-second ads continue to dominate YouTube by capturing 47 percent of ads from January 2018 to February 2019, according to MediaRadar, while 30-second spots increased to 24 percent of ads, year-over-year, and 6-second promos dropped to 16.5 percent of ads... Families are expected to spend about $5.5 billion on graduation gifts and celebrations this year, with 53 percent saying they’ll give the gift of cash, according to NRF’s annual survey.

NETWORK NEWS After airing every Indianapolis 500 from 1965 through last season, ABC was outbid for the rights to the iconic auto race by NBC, giving the network exclusivity over the IndyCar Series. Leading the coverage will be Mike Tirico, who spent 25 years with ESPN before heading to NBC in 2016. He’ll host the broadcast Sunday alongside Danica Patrick and other celebrities, analysts and reporters. NBC has poured massive resources into promoting the event. TV spots have been airing since mid-January, often during other major events such as the NHL playoffs. The Today show will air from the speedway on Thursday, with Tom Hanks as a guest host... CBS has slotted a two-night premiere for the Julie Chen Moonves-hosted Big Brother. The summer reality series will return with hour-long episodes on Tuesday, June 25 and Wednesday, June 26 at 8 PM. Following the two-night premiere, Big Brother will air Sunday, June 30 at 8 PM with its regular three-weekly-episode format. Starting Wednesday, July 10, the show moves to Wednesdays and Thursdays (9-10 PM) with the Sunday broadcast remaining at 8 PM. Big Brother continues to be a strong ratings draw. Last summer, all three editions ranked in the summer’s Top 10 in viewers and key demos... CBS News has named its correspondents team for CBS This Morning. David Begnaud, Jericka Duncan, Anna Werner and Vladimir Duthiers are the show’s correspondents. Their reporting will also be featured on the CBS Evening News, CBSN and other CBS News platforms. The co-hosts are Gayle King, Anthony Mason and Tony Dokoupil.

LESS TV SPENDING FOR STREAMING ADS Television News Daily reports that since the first of the year, national TV advertising touting video streaming services saw much lower overall spending, partly due to Winter Olympics comparisons in 2018. At the same time, according to iSpot.tv, it has yielded comparable impressions from the same number of airings. From the first of the year through mid-May, $191.1 million was spent on national (and regional) airings of TV commercials versus $330 million a year ago. This year, Amazon Prime Video ($45 million); Hulu ($31.5 million); Sling TV, ($22.7 million); Netflix, ($21.9 million); and Amazon Fire TV ($14.8 million) were the leading spenders. This amounted to 15.4 billion impressions from 73,415 airings. A year ago, live video streaming marketing on national TV generated 16.7 billion impressions from 73,619 airings. In 2018 through five months, DirecTV Now totaled $86.5 million, with Hulu at $83.7 million; Netflix at $52.3 million and Amazon Prime Video at $26.9 million. A year ago, video streaming services bought heavily into much of sports TV programming, including the high-rated Winter Olympics on NBC, which alone amounted to $40 million in media spend. For the most recent three-month period, Feb. 19 through May 19, Sling TV had 12,967 airings of its ads, with Hulu at 7,653; ESPN+ at 5,048; Curiosity Stream at 4,016; Amazon Prime Video at 3,679; and Amazon Fire TV at 3,238.

5/21/2019

Jim Gaffigan

Am I the only one that finds it odd that Heaven has

gates? Gates? What kind of neighborhood is Heaven in?

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

AVAILS WHEC-TV (News10NBC), Rochester, N.Y., a Hubbard Broadcasting station, seeks an energetic, passionate, analytical and creative Local Sales Manager. This position is responsible for leading a sales strategy that will focus on the development of new enterprise business to successfully deliver customer solutions through an integrated suite of media platforms, including television, digital, mobile and other emerging products. Please contact Travis Cundy, WHEC-TV Director of Sales, at tcundy@whec.com should you have any questions about this exciting opportunity, or

CLICK HERE to apply online. WSOC-TV/ABC, Cox Media Group, Charlotte, N.C., and subsidiaries including WSOCTV.com, Local Solutions and Cox Health Marketing, seek a Local Sales Manager. The LSM co-directs the local sales team and must be organized, goal oriented and structured. This person must possess an entrepreneurial mindset, competitive

spirit and exhibit passion for marketing sales, broadcast and digital. 3+ years of sales management experience or 5+ years established television sales experience, and a proven track record of building, developing and training strong sales teams required. CLICK HERE to apply now.

DONE DEALS Meredith Corp. has named new station managers at its stations in Phoenix, Portland, Ore., and Las Vegas. Blanca Esparza Pap will take over at Arizona’s Family (KTVK/KPHO), Meredith’s duopoly in Phoenix. She was most recently marketing director of the Arizona’s Family brand. Corey Hanson, who was promoted at FOX 12 (KPTV/KPDX) in Portland, was most recently executive news director, overseeing nearly 70 hours of news every week. She has worked for Meredith since 2004, starting as an executive producer at KPTV/KPDX. And Terri Peck is the new station manager at FOX5 Las Vegas (KVVU). Most recently she was director of marketing and creative services. She has been with FOX5 for 16 years.

5/21/2019

Douglas Adams

I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound

they make as they fly by.

SUNDAY NIELSEN RATINGS - LIVE + SAME DAY

FORD CUTTING 7,000 WHITE-COLLAR JOBS Ford is eliminating 7,000 white-collar workers, or about 10 percent of its salaried staff worldwide, as part of a cost-cutting effort it says will save the company about $600 million a year. Ford will begin to notify workers today, CNN reports, and the terminations will be completed by the end of August. About 2,400 of the job cuts are in North America, and 1,500 of the positions will be eliminated through a voluntary buyout offer. The move is an effort to cut bureaucracy within the company and flatten the management structure in addition to its desire to cut costs, according to a letter CEO Jim Hackett sent to employees yesterday. Ford’s layoffs are similar to white-collar job cuts rival General Motors announced in November, but GM’s cuts were deeper. GM eliminated about 8,000 non-union jobs, or 15 percent of its salaried and contract workers. It also closed five North American factories as part of that announcement. Ford has been making cuts over the past several months as part of a massive restructuring that is expected to cost thousands of jobs across the globe. The company committed last year to spending $11 billion to reshape its business, hoping to boost sales overseas and modernize its fleet of vehicles by focusing more on electric and autonomous driving tech.

REPORT: STRONG WEARABLES GROWTH AHEAD The latest report from market research firm Technavio is presenting a solid outlook for the global wearables market, Dealerscope reports. According to the firm’s findings, wearables are expected to see a compound annual growth rate of around 15 percent between 2019 and 2023. A key factor driving that level of growth, according to Technavio, will be the increasing digitization of the global economy. In layman’s terms, the proliferation of things like artificial intelligence, VR and contactless payments into wearable devices will help to drive their growth. In addition, the expanding ecosystem of Internet of Things devices — buoyed by the launch of 5G — will help push wearables into more homes and onto more consumers’ wrists. Technavio also predicts further development in the mobile app ecosystem, which could play a role in the segment’s growth as well.

REPORT: CBS FLOATED $5B OFFER FOR STARZ CBS Corp. has had talks with Lions Gate Entertainment about acquiring its pay-TV channel Starz, people familiar with the matter tell The Wall Street Journal. The talks between the two companies started in recent weeks and a price of about $5 billion was floated by CBS, one source said. The CBS board of directors also gave a green light to the company to pursue the acquisition, another source said. No formal offer has been made by CBS and nothing is imminent. People close to Lions Gate said the film and movie production company is seeking a higher price than what CBS initially suggested.