News about media and the regulatory environment both inside and beyond Canada's borders.

IN THE NEWS

Are Listeners Talking About Your Station?

LA: Bob Lefsetz’ latest newsletter, about Oscars, has some pertinent points that broadcasters might be wise to ponder. Included amongst his pointed thoughts: 

“Remember when going to the movies was de rigueur?

“Remember when you had to go in order to function in the culture, when films were the main topic of conversation amongst your peers?

“Now people talk about television. But mostly they talk about themselves, on social media.

“As for going to the theatre...

“In an on-demand culture who wants to show up at an appointed time and overpay to endure twenty minutes of commercials, talking and texting people and crying babies? Certainly not me …”

 

Pandora Ups Its Game

New York: Dynamic personalized ads and sequential messaging are coming to Pandora. The new addition to the music platform’s existing set of tools for marketers will enter a testing phase later this year.

A partnership with A Million Ads gives marketers working with Pandora a better reach to and understanding of the streaming platform’s 81M active listeners – AdWeek

 

Media Cashing in On Trump Bump

New York: Donald Trump’s presidency has been an unqualified success in ad revenue for the networks and shows that are covering it. Cable news networks and Saturday Night Live saw hefty year-over-year increases in January, according to new data from Standard Media Index.

According to SMI, which tracks 70 percent of national ad spending from global and independent agencies, ad unit costs for the two SNL episodes that aired in January—one hosted by Felicity Jones, the other by Aziz Ansari—jumped 86% from a year earlier, to $111,045 for the Jones episode and $119,442 for Ansari’s.

That’s due in part to increased CPMs this season as NBC reduced SNL’s ad load by around 30%, removing two commercial breaks per episode. That ad reduction will be made up in part by the addition of branded content spots.

But even with that reduced ad load, SNL’s estimated ad revenue jumped 34% year over year for the first January episode, to $2.1M, and 22% for the second episode, to $2.0M. Broadcast and cable news also enjoyed a Trump bump in January, with ad revenue up 10.3% from a year earlier – AdWeekly

 

View the Latest Ad Spots

New York: Every weekday, Ad Age delivers new and trending TV commercials tracked by iSpot.tv, the real-time TV ad measurement company with attention analytics from 10 million+ smart TVs. The Most Engaging ads are ranked by digital activity (including online views and social shares) over the past week.

Among the new releases, Expedia presents a striking shot of a geisha quietly riding in a Tokyo cab as a way of illustrating a tagline: "It's our little differences that can make a world of difference." Tropicana wants you to "Bring out your best you" (by drinking Tropicana orange juice, of course) in a gently comedic spot that involves a realtor accidentally breaking into a house (the wrong house). And Henry's Hard Soda introduces a grape-flavored variation to its lineup with a tagline, "Live hard," that it quickly revises to "Live hard-ish" – view here

 

CRTC Shepherd’s In Kiwi Spam Plan

Gatineau: The federal regulator reports having signed a memorandum of understanding with the New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs “to fight unsolicited commercial electronic messages (spam) and the threats they pose to consumers in both countries”.

The agreement includes sharing information and intelligence regarding commercial electronic messages.

"This agreement demonstrates our ongoing commitment to work closely with partners to fight unlawful communications and protect Canadians from spam and the threat of embedded malware,” CRTC Chair Jean-Pierre Blais said at the time of the announcement. “Partnering with agencies like New Zealand's Department of Internal Affairs will help reduce the number of unsolicited commercial messages Canadians receive in the future."

Now, back to counting sheep!

 

The Edge Sharpens Its Edges

Toronto: 102.1 the Edge has announced a mitt full of changes, effective this coming Monday—Feb. 27. The new morning show is to be called Edge Mornings with Melani (Mariani) & Adam (Ricard). Mariani has been the Mel part of the (Fearless) Fred and Mel weekday mornings show and remains an early riser with the Corus FM.

Fearless will forthwith have his early mornings uninterrupted as his shift now runs 2-6pm, significantly improving his social life, and giving him time to walk the dog before work begins.

And “professional music geek” Alan Cross has his weekday show bumped from early afternoons to 6-7pm. His Ongoing History of New Music remains in its Sunday slot, between 6pm and 7.

Oh, and there’s a new logo for the station that is less edgy and more Corus-like.