Adbiz

A fresh integration between a digital audio ad firm and one of the world's biggest tech giants will open up Pandora to audio ad buys via its "Display and Video 360" tool.

The nation's No. 1 owner of radio stations just made another debtor-in-possession move designed to bring more profits to the company that hopes to lower its debt to $5 billion. Two months after making a big podcast push, iHeartMedia is acquiring the tech company that powers its SoundPoint programmatic ad platform.

There's little fluctuation from the previous Media Monitors Spot Ten Radio report released by the iHeartMedia-owned ad tracking service, with home improvement, retail and a big QSR being joined by a cold-and-flu season favorite.

GEICO may once again be the leader -- by a big margin -- on the latest Media Monitors Spot Ten Cable report. But, there's an entrant on this week's report that is now challenging Taco Bell in the QSR category.

Across the final weeks of 2017, one of the nation's largest retailers weaved its way back to radio by investing in a holiday season campaign that very much included the medium. With 2018 efforts expected to appear in the next Media Monitors reports, Walmart is emerging as an e-retailing giant -- something radio GSMs and AEs may wish to take note of.

A cross-platform planning solution available at both the local and national level that allows users to understand cross-media reach, frequency and duplication through the use of advanced audience segments now includes Radio as a media type available within the optimization tool.

Audience-based buying across linear and digital ecosystems is a growing necessity among today's marketers. As such, Nielsen has responded to the need with the launch of Nielsen Advanced Audience.

The latest Media Monitors Spot Ten Radio report is out, and GEICO isn't No. 1. While that is noteworthy in and of itself, there's a new leader that certainly is an active user of radio to reach consumers. This week, this brand — The Home Depot — holds a 20,000-plus play count lead over GEICO.

Happy Veterans Day. Oh, and Feliz Navidad, too. Holiday greetings in English and Spanish are popping up all across the U.S., and fueling the longer-than-ever shopping season tied to Kwanzaa, Chanukkah and Christmas are two venerable department store chains. They are No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, in the latest Media Monitors Spot 10 TV report.

Shocker: GEICO is the big No. 1 brand using spot cable to reach consumers for another week. But, the No. 2 brand in the latest report from Media Monitors is a heritage department store chain that has stepped it up with more than 40,000 spot plays at the cable TV networks the iHeart-owned service keeps tabs of.

Ask anyone in the radio industry what the biggest boost has been in the past year for audience building, and you'll likely get two responses: podcasts and Smart Speakers. It is the latter that is "bringing radio back in the home." Now, there's evidence that suggests radio broadcasters' sales coffers could further grow thanks to the nascent use of Smart Speakers as a shopping tool. For that to happen, it must take eyeballs away from the top consumer shopping aide of today -- also a radio industry must.

In a move designed to transform its auto marketing and measurement capabilities, Westwood One and a growing podcast technology for publishers and advertisers have each selected the Nielsen Auto Cloud, fueled by J.D. Power to handle the job.

Forget about Election Day. The holiday shopping season has already started, and retailers are anticipating a banner year for sales. According to newly released data from eMarketer, low unemployment, strong income growth and high consumer confidence will combine to make the 2018 Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa shopping season an exceptionally strong one for retailers. Both e-commerce and brick-and-mortar retailers are poised to benefit.

Jelli, known primarily for its audio advertising buying and selling programmatic platform, has expanded its partnership with one of the top media buying shops in the U.S. in a move that makes it the first agency to power all of its automated radio ad buying operations through Jelli's SpotPlan demand-side platform.

Surprise: GEICO is again the top brand using spot television to connect with consumers, according to the latest Media Monitors Spot Ten TV report. But, what's newsworthy this week is the presence at No. 2 of a big health and beauty aid, and the new entry at No. 3 for one of GEICO's biggest competitors.