Intelligence Briefs

In the view of American Enterprise Institute Visiting Scholar Mark Jamison, White House control of FCC regulatory analysis is a bad idea. A better idea, he says, is to set transparent standards for such analyses, including public review.

As you read this, our Editor-in-Chief's mother-in-law is driving from South Florida to New York, as thousands of Snowbirds do each Spring. In years past, she could be tuning to a multitude of radio stations in between CDs. Today? Nope. This begs the question if Radio is missing out by not courting highway travelers, as it desires to be more local than ever.

In an investor note, Craig Moffett discusses how, for the first few months of the year, investors focused on the threats to Cable. "All the talk was of fiber builds, fixed wireless broadband, and regulatory risks," he says. "In recent weeks, the narrative has turned."

How did it go for popular audio streaming company Spotify in the first quarter of 2021? Futuresource Consulting lead market analyst for music and audio Alexandre Jornod digested the numbers early today from London, and offers up the details.

International marketing intelligence service WARC's latest Global Advertising Trends report has been released. In it, WARC outlines "the new, long-term shifts in e-commerce, social media, online video and gaming for brands and consumers." What's the key takeaway for broadcast media executives? Linear television advertising plummeted.

"Effective communication skill means connecting with the other person in a way that invites them to offer you valuable information as well as willingly receive what you say," notes sales training expert Barrett Riddleberger. In this column, he asks readers to determine which of four personality traits they believe they exhibit.

A newly released report from S&P Global Ratings offers an update of its pay-TV video subscriber forecast. It assesses how any changes could affect S&P Global Market Intelligence ratings on companies in the U.S. pay-TV ecosystem.

A 2017 webinar featuring Veritone executive Paul Cramer yielded some eye-opening details on an"AI"-powered way to "aircheck" for an advertiser. That webinar came on a day when Google's Chrome browser was experimenting with a "mute" setting for autoplay video ads that start playing when one scrolls to the ad on a web page. The discussion remains timely.

Deloitte just released the results of its 15th annual Digital Media Trends Survey. It reveals how COVID-19 and shifting generational preferences are reshaping the U.S. media and entertainment landscape. How this may impact the future growth of broadcast television and radio makes this essential reading for your organization.

Kagan is putting the finishing touches on its annual Sports report. It examines how 2020's sports programming numbers stacked up against prior years. The report also provides status updates on the latest in the sports programming market and how pay TV operators are responding to the increases in sports programming costs.

Edison Research and NPR have jointly released their findings from a first-of-its-kind study on Radio. The report identifies six segments of radio listeners, their listening behaviors and their attitudes toward advertising. 

"As consumers have spent more time at home throughout the pandemic, headphones really have become an integral device in our daily lives," the U.K.-based research house Futuresource finds. "Households have spent more time multitasking." What defines their audio choices?

Hispanic consumers are gaining more confidence in the nation's economic outlook and their own finances as COVID-19 vaccines become widely available and government support helps hard-hit households recover from the devastating pandemic. That's according to new research from Florida Atlantic University.

Have you assessed the maturity of your consumer data? What about the level of capabilities seen across your organization? It may be a fine time to do so. The Mobile Marketing Association has just released its findings of a survey powered by EY that reviewed consumer data accessible to senior U.S. marketing leaders. Your clients have a lot of work to do.

In 2010, radio industry veteran Lee Abrams penned the following RBR + TVBR Intelligence Brief. In this Classic RBR+TVBR Media Information Bureau column, Abrams discusses how selling a new idea internally is often harder than the execution itself.