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sales@spotsndots.com Copyright 2018.The Daily News of TV Sales Friday, May 3, 2019

MEREDITH STATIONS COULD BE NEXT TO MARKET The buying and selling of stations that’s punctuated the television business during the past few years continues to reshape in the industry in 2019. Just this week, Scripps closed a $521million acquisition of 15 stations from Cordillera Communications. And while Meredith declined to comment, the company is reportedly looking to spin off its TV stations. Reuters says Apollo Global is in discussions to buy Meredith’s 17-station group in a deal that could top $2 billion. Apollo has already struck a deal to buy a majority stake in 14 stations owned by Cox Media Group. But its effort to expand hit a speed bump when another deal was announced this week. Apollo came up short in its bid to buy 19 stations from Nexstar, which needed to sell the stations to acquire Tribune. Instead Tegna and Scripps were the winners, and so Meredith could, in effect, be Apollo’s backup plan. Justin Nielson, a senior analyst at Kagan, says he’s been hearing for a while that Meredith was considering exiting TV to focus on publishing. “Apollo makes the most sense as a buyer. They have only one overlap that they would have to spin off — either the ABC or CBS station in Atlanta — they could keep all the rest,” he says. While Meredith has a reputation for running a tight ship expense-wise, Nielson says it’s not often assets in markets like Atlanta or Phoenix come on the block. One of the big questions at this year’s NAB Show was: Who sells next? Names like Gray Television and Graham Media were most frequently mentioned. Nielson says he’s also keeping an eye on Fox Television. “Is Fox going to look at acquiring any of these stations in markets they don’t have, or in sports markets they want but don’t have?” he asks. Patrick Communications managing partner Greg Guy says brokers like him see no letup in the scramble to get bigger. “Anyone not buying stations has a target on their back that they’re the one to be bought.” Guy says the period of time a company can sit back after buying has grown shorter, or else they too look to be up for grabs. “At this point in consolidation, everything’s on the table,” he says. With a growing belief the FCC isn’t going to roll back the 39 percent national reach cap after several previous proposals led to federal court challenges, some operators may be deciding there’s no incentive to wait to see what the current review of ownership limits brings. That’s because there’s growing pressure to merge, since larger TV groups have more leverage when negotiation retransmission revenue deals with the networks or streaming services. Bigger groups are also able to strike better deals with syndicators. “Size is the endgame for the next few years,” Guy says. “There’s an accelerating wave of consolidation, and it’s moving faster and faster.”“I think there are another few deals to happen this year,” Nielson predicts. “Maybe not in the multibillion dollar-range, but there’s going to be some smaller deals for sure.”

TELEVISION’S OWNERSHIP DECK KEEPS SHUFFLINGADVERTISER NEWS Nordstrom waited decades to expand in Manhattan, but now it’s making up for lost time, The New York Times reports. It introduced its men’s store last year and is opening a seven-story flagship store this fall. In September, the upscale department-store chain will open two small Nordstrom outposts in New York, in the West Village

and on the Upper East Side, as part of its new Nordstrom Local chain, the retailer says. The two smaller stores will not carry merchandise. Rather, they will be hubs for online pickups and returns, as well as services

like tailoring and personal styling... Fortune reports that convenience store chain 7-Eleven is testing beer delivery in 18 local markets in Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, Virginia and Washington state. The service, which will be tied to its 7Now app, will make the convenience store chain the biggest retailer to enter the alcohol delivery market... CVS Health is closing 46 of its stores, saying the locations were “underperforming” as the drugstore chain continues to shift more of its retail presence toward health care services. USA Today says the move cost CVS about $135 million as a “store rationalization charge” in its first-quarter earnings report. The cuts represent less than 1 percent of the approximately 9,600 CVS Pharmacy stores nationwide. CVS remains a solidly profitable business. The company expects to record an operating profit of $11.8 billion to $12 billion this year... Athletic wear brand Under Armour posted earnings of 5 cents per share in the first quarter, exceeding the break-even position forecast by analysts. The brand’s North American sales were down 3 percent during the quarter... Kellogg shares fell yesterday after the company posted sales that just missed projections last quarter, dragged down by continuing challenges with breakfast foods. The packaged-food giant reported revenue of $3.52 billion in the first quarter, shy of the $3.54 billion analysts had estimated. Cereal sales have been on the decline for years, as the breakfast-food category has been getting increasingly competitive with on-the-go bars and restaurants making a bigger play for consumers... Discount Tire/America’s Tire has adopted a new marketing campaign featuring the tagline “Let’s Get You Taken Care Of,” a message the company said embodies its “culture of helping drivers feel at ease.” The message will be woven throughout all Discount Tire brand messaging going forward, including digital, print and radio advertising, billboards, in-store signage, web banners and more Tire Business reports... In the strongest market debut so far this year, Beyond Meat shares surged 163 percent yesterday, giving the maker of plant-based meat substitutes a market value of $3.77 billion. The company’s opening trade of $46 was later than expected, hitting after noon. Then, after shares soared 125 percent, trading was paused due to volatility. When trading resumed, the stock rocketed even higher. The company is trading on the Nasdaq under the symbol BYND.

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

AVAILS Lockwood Broadcast Group is seeking General Manager candidates for oversight of its ABC station, KAKE, in Wichita, Kan. We’re looking for a dynamic leader with a strong record of success in broadcasting who can create an environment for collaboration amongst stakeholders in order to drive station revenue and innovation while also holding station teams accountable for the attainment of station goals. Candidates aspiring to grow their careers with a solid broadcast group should send a resume to awanveer@lockwoodbroadcast.com.

EOE. KCCI, the market-leading Hearst Television CBS affiliate in Des Moines, Iowa, seeks an experienced account executive. If you are motivated by an excellent product, great compensation, and working with a talented team of professionals, look no further. You will work in one of America’s top cities for business climate and quality of life. We need someone with superb sales skills, a positive attitude, and a desire to

WIN! If you want to work for the best, we want to hear from you today! CLICK HERE for more info or to apply now. EOE. National Sales Manager: KTVI-KPLR, St. Louis market leader and one of the top FOX affiliates and top CW affiliates in the country, has an immediate opening for a National Sales Manager. Ideal candidate will have previous television/digital, management experience. National Sales knowledge/experience is a plus. CLICK HERE, and search for Job ID: 2019-49319 for complete details or to apply now. KIRO TV, Cox Media Group, Seattle, seeks a Digital Sales Specialist to work with the media sales team to grow digital revenue by accompanying the media sales team in the field to conduct customer needs analysis and present client-facing solutions. The Digital Sales Specialist must understand all CMG Local Solutions digital product offerings and how to leverage them to meet the client’s strategic objectives. Digital assets include all kirotv.com core products and platforms inclusive of display advertising, streaming media and native advertising. CLICK HERE to apply. WHBQ, Memphis, Tenn., has an opening for a Director of Sales. The DOS is responsible for managing the sales strategies of a multiple media portfolio. Leading a team of sales managers and account executives, the DOS will create a culture of cross-platform and cross-product selling, including WHBQ FOX 13 and multiple digital products. The Director of Sales will develop strategies with a sharp customer focus and consistently deliver on revenue expectations. CLICK HERE for complete details or to apply now. EOE.

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NETWORK NEWS ABC has picked up a sixth season of its hit comedy series black-ish for the 2019-2020 season. In addition, the network has given an early season order to mixed-ish, a spinoff about Rainbow Johnson’s (Tracee Ellis Ross) experience growing up in a mixed-race family in the 1980s. The black-ish renewal is not a surprise for the praised single-camera comedy, which centers on an affluent African-American family struggling to raise their kids in the largely white culture of well-to-do suburbia... PBS and Smithsonian Channel will simultaneously debut When Whales Walked: Journeys in Deep Time, a two-hour film tracing the evolutionary secrets of some of the world’s most majestic creatures, from crocodiles and birds to whales and elephants, on Wednesday, June 19 at 9 PM (ET). Also debuting on June 19, at 8 PM (ET), the three-part Rivers of Life will explore the animals, landscapes and people who live alongside three iconic rivers: the Amazon, the Nile and the Mississippi... Staying with PBS: The three-part series Ancient Skies, which discusses how centuries of knowledge, experimentation and engineering helped our ancestors explore outer space, will launch on Wednesday, July 24 at 8 PM (ET). It leads into five-part NOVA called The Planets at 9 PM (ET). It tells the story of our solar system, spanning billions of years through the discoveries of the most groundbreaking space missions. The series treats viewers to an up-close look at faraway worlds, including Saturn’s 45,000-mile-wide rings, Mars’s ancient waterfalls and Neptune’s winds, which are five times stronger than any hurricane felt on Earth.

SINCLAIR TO ACQUIRE DISNEY SPORTS NETS TV-station giant Sinclair Broadcast Group has struck a deal valued at more than $10 billion to acquire 21 regional sports networks from Walt Disney, people familiar with the matter tell The Wall Street Journal. The agreement is expected to be announced as early as today. For Sinclair, already is the nation’s biggest owner of local TV stations, the acquisition would instantly make it a force in cable programming. Among the properties it is acquiring are sports channels in Los Angeles and Detroit. Disney acquired the sports networks as part of its purchase of entertainment assets of 21st Century Fox and agreed to sell them to pave the way for approval of the deal. “Sinclair got a great deal and should be able to cut costs and leverage the RSNs and their stations together effectively” with distributors and advertisers, said Patrick Crakes, a sports media consultant. Sinclair has separately partnered with the New York Yankees to acquire the YES Network, another of the networks once controlled by Fox, in a deal valued at $3.45 billion, people close to that deal said. That sale, which hasn’t been finalized, also includes Amazon.com as a partner. The price tag for the RSNs is less than some industry observers initially anticipated. When Disney began preparing to sell the networks, the price tag likely bidders and industry analysts forecast was $16 billion to $20 billion. For Sinclair, the deal represents a big win after its efforts to buy Tribune Media last year were thwarted by the FCC.

5/3/2019

Conan O’Brien

I told my therapist, ‘I just want to be as happy as a

Trader Joe’s cashier.’

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

RENTS UP, VACANCIES DOWN AT RETAIL CENTERS Rents at shopping centers rose by almost 5 percent in the first quarter of 2019 compared with the same quarter last year, according to CBRE’s Q1 retail report. The average asking rent hit $17.84 per square foot, the highest it’s been since 2008. Higher rents tend to go hand-in-hand with lower availability rates, and that’s the case in Q1. The availability rate fell to 6.2 percent in the quarter, down 10 basis points from Q4 2018. Open to rent space declined at malls and lifestyle, neighborhood, and strip centers. A 10-basis-point increase to

7 percent was recorded by CBRE in the power center segment. The global real estate services firm reported a 3.2 percent year-over-year increase in retail sales. Non-store retailers set the pace with year-over-year gains of 10.8 percent. Health and personal care retailers and food and beverage establishments both posted sales increases of around 5 percent. The poorest performers were sporting goods, hobby, book, and music stores

with sales declines near 9 percent as well as department stores, which were down almost 4 percent.

THIS AND THAT CBS Corp. met Wall Street’s expectations for first-quarter earnings at $1.37 per share, but fell short of revenue targets by $140 million despite reaching a company-record level for the quarter at $4.17 billion. Revenue rose 11 percent over the same quarter a year ago, powered by stronger ad revenue, including Super Bowl LIII sales. Affiliate and subscription fee revenues rose 13 percent... Publicis Groupe’s Leo Burnett Worldwide Executive Chairman and Global Chief Creative Officer Mark Tutssel is planning to retire at the end of June. He’ll work with Publicis Groupe CCO Nick Law and the Leo Burnett global creative council to ensure a smooth transition, the agency told Ad Age... Peter Mayhew, the actor known for playing Chewbacca in the original Star Wars trilogy and two other films in the series, has died. He was 74. Mayhew died Tuesday at his North Texas home, his family announced on Twitter.

5/3/2019

Larry The Cable Guy

You know who gets mad at you for marrying a younger woman? Older women! Not all of them, though. Just my

wife’s mom, her aunt and both grandmas.

WEDNESDAY NIELSEN RATINGS - LIVE + SAME DAY

PROGRAMMATIC TV: AUTOMATION IS IMPROVING Despite being in its infancy, eMarketer expects programmatic TV ad spending will reach $4.73 billion by 2020, or 6.8 percent of TV ad spending that year. While linear TV programmatic ad placement differs from digital, some progress has been made on local and national levels, such as increasing automation and speeding up the transaction process. “Decades-old TV systems that keep track of available ad inventory, order management and tracking and billing are now being overlaid with technological workarounds to facilitate automation,” said eMarketer television contributor Gerard Broussard. “This transformation will enable more streamlined communication between systems and is expected to significantly speed up workflow.” There’s still a lengthy process in which both parties need to establish business terms — identifying advanced target audiences, setting CPM goals and gathering data sources for TV viewing patterns and product consumption— before automation can take over. But these systems are capable of delivering advance target data that traditional seller systems can’t. “Programmatic TV transactions will likely be conducted with limited available inventory in a highly-curated, rules-based fashion for the foreseeable future,” Broussard said. “But through automation, the TV industry is taking steps to streamline all TV ad transactions, not just programmatic.”

OUTLOOK: MOTHER’S DAY SPENDING TO RISE 4% Spending on gifts for Mother’s Day is likely to be up 4 percent compared to a year ago, with growth in the spa category. Mother’s Day celebrants intend to spend on average $233, according to Brand Keys. Men, following a long-standing tradition, spend more than women, reporting an anticipated average spend of $255, with women reporting an anticipated spend of $211. This year, besides the traditional cards, flowers and clothing, spa services have come into their own, as they are seen as more personalized and customizable gifts, says Robert Passikoff, president of Brand Keys, the New York-based consumer loyalty consultancy. The spa category continues to grow, with an 11 percent increase over last year. That’s more than twice the growth for gift cards, the next-largest growth category.

U.S. JOBLESS CLAIMS STEADY AT END OF APRIL The number of Americans filing applications for new unemployment benefits was unchanged last week, after rising sharply in mid-April. Initial jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs across the U.S., was a seasonally adjusted 230,000 in the week ended April 27, matching the previously published level, the Labor Department said. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expected 215,000 new claims last week. The four-week moving average of claims, a steadier measure, rose to 212,500. The latest reading remains near historic lows, signaling the labor market remains strong heading into the summer months.