Media Info Bureau

Get ready for installment number four of this six-parter following the broadcast audience to their cable channels of choice. Today we tap into the massive database of Prosper Insights and Analytics to discover just where the middle audiences are going. We think you’ll find the information both fascinating and useful Included in this study are the top 30 basic cable offerings for the overall 18+ operation, followed by every channel that has the support of at least 20% of a given format group.

March 24th: As Jackie Gleason would say, a little traveling music!!! We offer it for radio, vaudeville, Broadway and film performer Belle Baker who became the first person to host a radio broadcast from a moving train, on this day in 1932. That variety program was heard on New York's WABC. Eddie Cantor paid this lady quite the compliment at one time in saying Belle Baker is, "Dinah Shore, Patti Page, Peggy Lee and Judy Garland all rolled into one."

Over the last few years, consumers have increased, not decreased, the time they spend watching television content. This might sound like good news for advertisers, save for two important caveats. First, while attention time dedicated to TV content has been rising, this is not the case for people actually paying attention to the ads on the screen. Second, when consumers are watching TV they are increasingly dividing their attention between the TV set and other devices, particularly tablets and other mobile devices. A 2011 Nielsen Co. survey showed that as much as 40% of time watching TV is spent on such media multitasking activities, and it’s likely that this behavior has accelerated over the past three years. While many advertisers are rightly nervous about multitasking, there could be new opportunities to benefit from this trend. My recent working paper with researchers Jura Liaukonyte and Kenneth Wilbur tries to pinpoint what, exactly, these benefits might be – and how they can be achieved.

With the first phase of the post-incentive auction repack rapidly approaching, licensees of full power and Class A television stations should be mindful of upcoming deadlines for notifications to multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs), medical facilities, and viewers, Wiley Rein associate Ari Meltzer, partner John Burgett and of counsel Joan Stewart note in this report. 

Eleven models are currently available; three will ship by end of December

The accelerative impact of COVID-19 on digital transformation has led to improvements in mobile marketing capabilities for advertisers. Growth in "m-commerce "and use of social media have provided brands with new opportunities to reach consumers, driving up mobile marketing budgets set to be worth $230 billion globally in 2021. There's just one caveat.

With this week’s deal to swap market clusters and cash with Townsquare Media, Cumulus Media is reducing its station count

In this Media Information Bureau column, veteran programming consultant Clark Smidt writes about "Smooth transitions, new styles, new challenges, adjustments, attitude, cooperation and teamwork." It could prove to be a catalyst for positive growth at your radio or TV stations.

An "eye tracking" company recently conducted a study to help understand what makes an engaging TV commercial for today’s always-on, always busy consumer. What were the findings of this just-released report from Tobii Pro? TV C-Suiters and ad sales executives may not like what the results.

Google is presently the center of attention for many advertisers, and it's not for anything positive. The digital ad giant is being assailed by some for its failure to prevent real advertising from appearing on "fake news" sites and for pre-roll to appear on YouTube ahead of "extremist" videos. Our Editor-In-Chief thinks this is a great opportunity for the radio industry and the RAB. Why? It's all about brand security.

In this Media Information Bureau column from expert sales coach Barrett Riddleberger, seven qualities he's experienced and observed of great sales coaches are outlined. "Coaching your reps is the primary function of your job," he implores. "It’s the best pathway to achieving the sales quota."