Intelligence Briefs

After years of product development and experimentation, wearable tech has started to gather pace, building an ecosystem of connected devices that is capturing the hearts and wallets of consumers. Futuresource Consulting's continuing series on top CES 2020 topics continues with this column from James Manning Smith on the "rapid acceleration of device uptake" it is seeing, resulting in a global market value of $108 billion by 2023.

On Tuesday, RBR+TVBR offered commentary from Futuresource Consulting's Luke Pearce on how esports is "edging its way into mainstream consciousness." Today, Pearce offers his analysis on the demand for consumer music hardware -- and the rise of smart speakers.

For their Alternative FCC Compliance Inspection tours, hundreds of Radio and TV Public Inspection Files have been prepped, from scratch, by Ken Benner and his wife, Karen —potentially saving millions of dollars in fines and legal expenses for broadcast licensees. In her honor, Ken shares a published newspaper column he wrote back in June of 1988 that contains great advice for 2020.

On Thursday, an editorial co-written by the Mayor of Dayton, Ohio and a former FCC Commissioner appeared in USA TODAY. It slams the Commission for its approval of Cox Media Group's Apollo deal, which requires the Dayton Daily News to reduce its print schedule from daily distribution in order to comply with FCC rules. In a retort, our editor-in-chief says the FCC isn't to blame: the Third Circuit Court of Appeals is.

So, who are the top 10 advertisers of 2019 by ad spend? How much did these companies spend on TV advertising? Ad sales business intelligence firm MediaRadar crunched the numbers, and has revealed the details just in time for New Year's Eve. One interesting takeaway: There were more than 2,000 newcomers to television advertising in 2019, including PostMates.

Consumer attention has increasingly shifted to connected TVs and the streaming content and advertising that goes along with this new living room. What does this mean for broadcast TV's future? Anthony Acquisti, the Senior Director of Client Success, Advanced Media and Analytics at TiVo -- just acquired by Xperi -- offers these thoughts in an encore column for RBR+TVBR. 

“In an odd-numbered year when there are no major sporting events such as a World Cup or Olympic Games, once again sports has proven to be a most capable genre at bringing millions of viewers around the world to watch their TV.” That's the positive assessment from the author of the just-released Yearly Sport Key Facts report.

In a RBR+TVBR Observation, our editor-in-chief shares just a little bit of his bachelor party weekend experience in Key West, Fla. Really? Well ... he's got some things to say about what a carful of guys listened to on a four-hour car ride, both ways, and about Dish Network.

For many years, the legendary Jerry Miller served as Chief Engineer for a Twin Cities AM. Upon his retirement, Miller joined FCC staff across the U.S. and columnist Ken Benner to greatly improve the integrity of the Alternative Broadcast Inspection Program. This encore column from Benner could save your media properties cash.

Short :06 ads have now become a regular feature of the digital media landscape. Now, new research conducted by MediaScience for online video portal Vevo suggests there's an even greater potential opportunity associated with such short ads.

Multiviewers are moving through a growth curve. According to a new industry report from Futuresource Consulting, total market value increased annually by 3% worldwide in fiscal 2018, with North America in the top slot. What does this mean for broadcast media companies?

When crafting a deal, what you don’t do can be every bit as important as what you actually do. In short, it’s easy to make the kind of error that can give the advantage to the person or team sitting on the other side of the table. Deal-making expert Eldonna Lewis-Fernandez details seven things to avoid.

Despite solid growth from the U.S. and Britain, GroupM's Brian Wieser is predicting ad growth deceleration on a global level in 2020. Wieser has specific thoughts about both radio and TV. Are global trends in line with what is expected domestically in the year ahead?

From 5G to shopvertising, e-sports, influencer marketing, brand activism, and media in-housing, which are the major trends that marketers and media owners need to be aware of over the next 12 months?

In this RBR+TVBR Observation, our editor-in-chief comments on the rise of recording artist Arizona Zervas, an internet sensation who was recently signed to a major record label and is now getting global attention thanks to Radio. His point: Spotify, and Radio, are guilty of lack of external exposure.