Adbiz

As Pandora Media weighs its options as an ongoing concern, the Oakland, Calif.-based company released its Q1 2017 earnings report on Monday afternoon. Here's the good news: Total revenue grew to $316 million, from $297.3 million, in the quarter. That's thanks to a $3 million year-over-year boost in ad revenue, to $223.3 million. That's where the good news ends for the streaming audio company's Q1 financial report.

Slower automotive sales may be leading the way to softening ad revenue in radio, but the radio industry still has significant revenue opportunities in automotive. That's the key takeaway from a new report from The Media Audit. Noting that TV will attract one-third of all ad dollars in 2017, now is the time for radio to act. Learn how you can bounce back from new ways to attract local and regional dollars. We've also chimed in with an RBR + TVBR Observation on radio's automotive spots.

On a day when Entercom's head revealed that his company's revenue, "on an apples-to-apples basis," was essentially flat, CBS Radio made good on its "business as usual" mantra ahead of its tax-free merger with Entercom by ensuring its 117 stations across 26 markets continue to receive measurement services from the ratings giant.

A big advertiser that does the bulk of its business in the first quarter of every year has elected to bring its media buying and planning, social strategy, and creative all under the same umbrella. In doing so, Publicis Groupe has snagged a media assignment valued at $146 million, according to industry estimates. For the TV and radio industry C-Suite, now is the time to set appointments to win over business from this "taxing" client.

"Enhanced capabilities" with Nielsen's Social Content Ratings that support the analysis of owned activity and organic activity within the total social TV conversation have been rolled out by the audience measurement giant.

Some 117 radio spots and campaigns have made it to the finals of the 2017 Radio Mercury Awards, which honors outstanding radio created by advertising agencies, production companies, radio stations and students. BBDO NY, DeVito/Verdi, and iHeartMedia Creative Services lead this year’s entries throughout multiple categories. The awards will be handed out at a June 1 event in New York.

Thanks to a deal announced Thursday, audience segments from the Lotame DMP will now be fed directly to SintecMedia's front-end proposal system, OnBoard. With the connection of detailed viewership data with Lotame’s audience data, local sellers have been empowered with enhanced targeting to clients, the companies note.

This year's “Radio Marketer of the Year” Award, which recognizes a brand's advertising and promotional endeavors over the past year at AM and FM radio stations across the U.S., is going to the No. 1 bidder in the FCC's incentive auction.

Attention, radio and TV sales executives: If your station is not presently enjoying an advertising relationship with the top 25 retailers and restaurants on The NPD Group's just-released 2016 Checkout Penetration Index, you better start scheduling some appointments with key media planners and brand managers right now.

NBCUniversal has taken a big step in reaching mobile consumers by striking a deal with mobile advertising player Kargo. The newly forged relationship will allow NBCUniversal to bring to fruition "the world's largest premium ecosystem for mobile advertising."

The Media Rating Council (MRC) has given its blessing to a pair of digital TV ratings offerings from Nielsen, in addition to Mobile Web and Mobile In-Application Display and Video Viewable Ad Impressions and related viewability metrics from comScore.

Consumer behavioral research firm IRI has enhanced a tool designed to offer improved measurement of the offline sales impact of TV advertising campaigns. The company's IRI Lift solution now includes "Lift for TV," which the company says can allow clients "to optimize media effectiveness and deliver in-flight metrics on the success of both digital and television advertising campaigns."

Attendees at the recent ARF Annual Conference in New York got a first-hand look at the latest findings from the Council for Research Excellence (CRE)'s two-pronged study designed to better understand how consumers view TV programming and advertising in a multi-platform world. We've got full details of what CRE found in the in-home phase of the study, "The Mind Of The Viewer."

If the estimates of UBS analyst John Hodulik are correct, a wireless carrier said to be courting Sprint and one of the nation's biggest MVPDs are the top two bidders in the just-concluded Forward Auction.

IPG Mediabrands' MAGNA has released its 2017 advertising forecast for U.S. media, and domestic ad spend is expected to grow by 3.7% this year. But, to little surprise, it is digital ad sales that will power this growth. Meanwhile, it believes radio advertising will continue to struggle in 2017 due to weakening pricing power.