Ad Spending In 2014: Still A Slow Go

If the U.S. media economy was measured on the growth of digital, cable and spot television alone in 2014, it would be a boffo year indeed, according to medialifemagazine.com.

But declines in print will once again offset big gains in those three categories and lead to limited growth in total ad spending in 2014, according to a trio of forecasts released today by London agency Zenith Optimedia, GroupM and U.S. agency Magna Global.

All three caution the general economy remains in recovery mode and that some advertisers are still holding back on spending.

Zenith predicts that U.S. ad spending will rise 3.5 percent next year, up slightly from a prediction of 3.4 percent in its previous forecast in September.

Magna foresees stronger growth, up 5.5 percent, owing largely to Olympic and midterm election spending. But that’s down from a prediction of 5.9 percent growth in September.

GroupM puts 2014 U.S. ad spending growth at 2.9 percent, the same as its most recent forecast in August.

All three project that spot television will see another huge windfall from political advertising, with the 2010 Supreme Court ruling that opened spending to special interest groups and businesses generating record numbers for the third straight election cycle.

Cable television will continue to pull ad dollars from broadcast, with the addition of more high-quality programming and the move of major sporting events from broadcast to cable.

But the biggest growth in ad spending will once again be seen in digital.

Magna predicts a 12.5 percent increase, 4 percentage points higher than the next-fastest-growing medium, television.

In other words, advertisers don’t want to waste their time on media where people are spending less time, and digital’s rise has come at the expense of print.

Newspaper advertising will dive down another 8 percent in 2014, Zenith predicts, while magazines will slide 2 percent.

Radio and out-of-home advertising, meanwhile, remain somewhere in between the rosy fortunes of digital and the dour predictions for print.

Radio will be up 1.9 percent next year while out of home will grow a solid 5 percent. Magna is less optimistic about radio, predicting a 0.4 percent decline, though it also sees out of home increasing by 4.8 percent.

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CCM+E, SFX Agree To Content Deal

SFX Entertainment, Inc. and Clear Channel Media and Entertainment, the leading media company in America with a greater reach in the U.S. than any radio or television outlet, announced today an innovative marketing and content partnership centered on the fast-growing electronic music category.

The partnership, which combines the largest player globally in EMC with the world's largest radio and digital broadcaster, contains three key initiatives: a national DJ/Producer contest in partnership with Beatport; a weekly Beatport Countdown show; and an original live event series. Specific plans for 2014, include:

The creation of a national DJ talent contest airing live on select Clear Channel stations nationwide, as well as on Evolution, iHeartRadio’s dance music hub, with parts of the competition taking place at iHeartRadio Theaters in New York and Los Angeles. The winner will appear at Mysteryland, SFX’s newest U.S. festival taking place on Memorial Day 2014 weekend on the hallowed grounds of Woodstock in New York, and also receive a recording contract with Beatport and a major record label.

The creation of a weekly Top 20 Countdown from Beatport, to air on Clear Channel stations nationwide. With almost 40 million unique users per year, Beatport has become the premier on-line destination for dance music downloads, mixes, live DJ performances and news. Top Clear Channel stations airing the Countdown include Z100/WHTZ FM in New York; KIIS-FM in Los Angeles; 103.5 KISS-FM/WKSC in Chicago; WILD 94.9 FM/KYLD in San Francisco; 106.1 KISS-FM/KHKS in Dallas-Ft. Worth; Hot 99.5/WIHT-FM in Washington D.C.; Q102 Philly/WIOQ-FM in Philadelphia; Power 96.1/WWPW-FM in Atlanta; Evolution 101.7 Boston/WEDX-FM; Channel 95.5/WKQI-FM in Detroit; and Y100/WHYI-FM in Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood, among others.

The original live event series provides a framework for event creation in the electronic music space, specifically a national EMC event program focused around Halloween 2014.

“Partnering with the clear leader in broadcast and digital radio is a key strategic relationship for SFX,” said Robert F.X. Sillerman, Chairman and CEO of SFX Entertainment. “The framework we have established with Clear Channel, whose stations include KIIS-FM and Z100, brings the electronic music category to a broader audience and delivers on what we believe the young music consumer wants today. It also allows us to amplify the promotion of DJ/Producers who are the life-blood of our industry.”

“The demand for electronic music continues to increase across all of our platforms at Clear Channel,” said John Sykes, Clear Channel’s President of Entertainment Enterprises. “This strategic partnership with SFX will give our audiences access to a deeper selection of music content and live events."

Cumulus Improves Ad Demos With Merlin Stations

Cumulus Media Inc., which owns 465 radio stations across the U.S., is more than doubling its reach in Chicago through a deal under which this week it started operating WLUP-FM “97.9 the Loop” and WIQI-FM, formerly known as Q101, and will likely buy the stations.

According to chicagobusiness.com, Cumulus reached the agreement with Chicago private-equity firm GTCR LLC, majority owner of the two stations by way of its interest in Merlin Media LLC, the company led by former Tribune Co. CEO Randy Michaels.

Cumulus will now reach “several” million homes in the Chicago market, compared with less than half that by owning just WLS-FM and WLS-AM, said Lew Dickey Jr., chairman and CEO of the Atlanta-based media company.

“The name of the game in national advertising is scale, so we're expanding our footprint,” Mr. Dickey said in an interview.

Not only will operating the two additional Chicago stations expand the company's reach with listeners, it also will let Cumulus tap more deeply into the younger, coveted 25-to-54-year-olds market, Dickey said.

Lew Dickey

An industry executive familiar with the pact said it's a four-year agreement that could allow Cumulus to buy the stations as soon as next year.

Industry broker Robert Heymann, who leads the Chicago office of Jacksonville, Fla.-based Media Services Group Inc., says he could see each station attracting a price in the range of $30 million to $40 million. Based on his sale of an FM station back in 2001, he noted that prices have dropped about 80 percent over the past decade, largely due to new Internet radio competition.

Donna Baker, who has been overseeing the WLS stations, will lead all three Cumulus stations as the market manager, Mr. Dickey said.

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Liberty's SiriusXM Plans Could Lead To TWC

Liberty Media Corp. unveiled a proposal Friday to make satellite-radio provider Sirius XM Holdings Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary, a move that would give the media-investment company access to a new source of capital as it pursues a big cable merger, according to Marketwatch.

Liberty currently owns about 52% of Sirius. Taking 100% ownership of the company would "eliminate ambiguity in the long-term relationship between Sirius and Liberty," Greg Maffei, Liberty Media's president and chief executive said during a conference call with analysts Friday. The deal would allow Sirius shareholders to convert from a noncontrolling stake in a subsidiary into a direct equity position in Liberty, he said.

Liberty, which is controlled by cable pioneer John Malone, bought a 27% stake in cable operator Charter Communications Inc. last year and has been pushing for industry consolidation. Charter has made buyout offers to Time Warner Cable Inc., one of the largest cable competitors in the U.S., but has been unable to reach a deal.

John Tinker, an analyst at Maxim Group, said the Sirius transaction would help the merger push by Charter and Liberty. "They want to buy Time Warner Cable and they need the money," he said. "If you want to step up, you need Sirius's balance sheet."

Sirius has improved its performance and boosted earnings in recent years. The company reported net additions of 513,000 subscribers for the third quarter, bringing its total to 25.6 million. But Sirius is facing increasing competition from Pandora Media Inc. and new in-car services being developed by Google Inc. and Apple Inc.

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Ryan Seacrest Sued By Blackberry

Ryan Seacrest

BlackBerry Limited has announced that it has filed a lawsuit against Typo Products LLC ("Typo").

Typo, founded by entrepreneur Laurence Hallier and TV host and media personality Ryan Seacrest, announced the Typo Keyboard would be available for pre-order this month.  (See original posting: Click Here)

The complaint against Typo alleges patent infringement and that Typo has blatantly copied BlackBerry's keyboard with its iPhone keyboard case designed to slip on to iPhone devices.

"This is a blatant infringement against BlackBerry's iconic keyboard, and we will vigorously protect our intellectual property against any company that attempts to copy our unique design. From the beginning, BlackBerry has always focused on offering an exceptional typing experience that combines a great design with ergonomic excellence. We are flattered by the desire to graft our keyboard onto other smartphones, but we will not tolerate such activity without fair compensation for using our intellectual property and our technological innovations," said Steve Zipperstein, BlackBerry's General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer.

The suit alleges the Typo Keyboard violates BlackBerry's intellectual property rights, and BlackBerry will protect those rights from blatant copying and infringement. BlackBerry's iconic physical keyboard designs have been recognized by the press and the public as a significant market differentiator for its mobile handheld devices.

This lawsuit has been filed in the Northern District of California.

Gracenote Unveils Rhythm For Internet Radio

Gracenote has Rhythm, and they want to share it with the developer community. The new Gracenote Rhythm platform provides developers with new recommendation algorithms, powered by big music data, to build the next wave of killer Internet Radio Apps and services. The API will be made available to commercial customers and developers in February 2014.

Gracenote Rhythm harnesses the power of the world's largest source of music metadata, a global team of music experts and Gracenote-powered algorithms to form the backbone for Internet Radio services. When plugged into a music catalog, it gives developers the ability to create radio stations based on "seed" artists, songs, moods and genres with adaptive controls for "like" and "dislike," ensuring next-generation radio stations get smarter and more personalized the more they are used.  Developers will also control radio-tuning features that allow music fans to dial up more popular artists or dial down to receive more obscure, indie artists and tracks.

"The music industry has seen a lot of music services come and go with the exact same Internet Radio solutions that rely heavily on Web-scraped and auto-generated content. We'd like to see some real innovation in the market," said Stephen White, president of Gracenote. "At Gracenote, we believe there has to be a human component to creating and delivering Internet Radio - technology can't do it alone. The real magic behind Gracenote Rhythm is our unique mix of music experts and machine processes to create world-class radio."

Gracenote Rhythm will tap into descriptive music metadata covering more than 180 million tracks from around the globe. This data intelligence is aided by editorial feedback from Gracenote's global team of music experts – real people with deep knowledge of regional music trends. Combined, Gracenote's metadata, editorial expertise and powerful new algorithms will craft beautiful music stations and channels across all genres.

Gracenote descriptive music metadata focuses on six main categories:

• Genre of the song
• Mood  
• Era the song was recorded
• Tempo
• Origin or region most associated with the artist
• Artist type

These descriptive music characteristics are used to make deep connections between artists and tracks, creating radio stations based on similar songs and artists. Popularity and trending data are layered in to help listeners uncover new and emerging artists and tracks.

IBiqiuty: HD Radio Momentum Accelerates

• In-Car Digital Broadcast Radio Listening Exceeds 3 Billion Hours Annually
• Nielsen Audio Reports 200%+ HD2/HD3 Audience Growth
• Nearly 17.5 Million HD Radio Receivers in Market
• Advanced HD Radio Audio and Telematics Services Launching In More New Cars
• HD Radio Digital Technology is Progressing Towards a North American Standard

iBiquity Digital Corporation, the developer of digital HD Radio Technology for AM and FM audio and data broadcasting, has announced significant growth in audience, receiver sales and digital broadcast services.

In-Car Digital Broadcast Radio Listening Exceeds 3 Billion Hours

With an annual growth rate of over 150% in 2013, digital radio listening to stations broadcasting using HD Radio Technology in cars has exceeded 3 billion hours. This is a result of the explosive growth of the installed base of HD Radio receivers in cars, both factory installed and aftermarket. With 15 million of the almost 17.5 million digital radios installed in cars and trucks already on the road, and an estimated additional 7.5 million receivers to be added in 2014, the number of HD Radio receivers on America's highways is expected to exceed 22 million by the end of the year.  Currently, 2,200 stations offer digital broadcast services to their local audience.  These stations collectively account for 78% of all radio listening in the USA.

Nielsen Audio Reports Continued Growth in Multicast Channel Listening

As the installed base of HD Radio receivers rapidly increases, so is listening to HD2/HD3 programming. According to the latest Spring 2013 Nielsen Audio Nationwide audience estimates, over 4 million people listen to an HD2/HD3 channel in an average week. This represents a 238% increase in Average Quarter Hour audience from the Fall 2011 survey. During the same period, Cume audience (the number of unique listeners) grew at over 200%. Currently there are 1,475 HD2/HD3 programs offered by digital broadcasters.  These are new unique programs made possible through the use of HD Radio broadcast technology.

An example of this fresh new digital programming is the new Clear Channel Media and Entertainment's Nickelodeon channel, called Nick Radio, which can be heard on digital HD2/HD3 stations like New York's WHTZ-HD2.

HD Radio Receiver Sales Approach 17.5 Million Mark

HD Radio receiver sales growth has also accelerated, with a new radio sold every 6 seconds. Almost 17.5 million HD Radio receivers have been sold, with over 15 million factory-installed in new cars or auto aftermarket units. This rapidly expanding installed base is helping broadcast radio retain its dominance in the new digital dashboards.

• All major automakers will include factory-installed HD Radio receivers in 2014
• Over 200 vehicle brands will include HD Radio Technology in 2014, half will be sold as standard equipment
• 5.5 million HD Radio receivers were sold in 2013
• Over 30% of all new vehicles sold last year included HD Radio Technology

This past year also saw the largest SKU count increase in aftermarket HD Radio auto products ever – nearly double that of 2012. CE unit shipments through 2013, now total over 2.3 million. Additionally, 2013 saw a significant expansion of the traditional AV market as both Marantz and Yamaha introduced several new preamp / tuner products incorporating digital technology.

Advanced HD Radio Audio and Telematics Services Launching In More New Cars

Broadcasters and receiver manufacturers are taking full advantage of digital services enabled through HD Radio technology.  A prime example of that is the rollout of Artist Experience, a service that enables stations to provide synchronized images such as album cover art with their audio programming. Currently over 500 stations are now supporting Artist Experience on over 900 digital broadcasts nationwide. Artist Experience is now widely available in new HD Radio car receivers from BMW, Buick, Chevrolet, GMC, Lexus, Mazda, Toyota and Volkswagen as well as CE manufacturers Alpine, Clarion, JVC, Kenwood, Pioneer, Sony and Insignia.

HD Radio Digital Traffic Services enable stations to transmit up-to-the-minute traffic, weather and other information and plot it onto car navigation screens. Two national networks, built by Clear Channel Media and Entertainment and the Broadcaster Traffic Consortium utilize over 600 radio stations across the country to deliver their HD Digital Traffic services. While JVC and Garmin were the first to embrace these services, Honda, Lexus, Mitsubishi, Mazda and Toyota all now offer vehicles with these enhance digital broadcast telematics services subscription-free for the life of the vehicle.

HD Radio Digital Technology is Progressing Towards a North American Standard

HD Radio Technology has been adopted as the digital radio standard for the AM and FM bands in Mexico.  36 AM and FM stations have begun broadcasting digitally, including 13 stations in Mexico City alone. These digital broadcasts reach some 33 million people nationwide - 25% of the Mexican population. Many more stations throughout Mexico are in the process of converting to digital broadcasting. Digital radios are available at 7 major CE retail chains as well as factory-installed in vehicles from Ford, Dodge, Jeep, Lincoln, Mazda, Toyota and Mercedes.

HD Radio broadcasts have also reached Canada.  CMR 103.1FM is broadcasting in Toronto and data services have been tested with Corus Media, one of the largest commercial broadcasters in that country, with the support of the US based Broadcaster Traffic Consortium.  Digital radios are currently available in Canada in new cars from Audi, BMW, Ford, Hyundai, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mazda, Mercedes Benz, Volkswagen, and Volvo and from aftermarket manufacturers Alpine, Clarion, JVC, Kenwood, Pioneer and Sony.  Home AV products are also available from Denon, Onkyo and Yamaha.

With over 15 years of commercialization experience in the U.S. to draw upon, Mexico and Canada are positioned to benefit from the robust collection of know-how represented by the thousands of U.S. broadcasters and the millions of receivers that have been manufactured.

Thousand Of New Products To Be Unveiled At CES

More than 20,000 new products could be unveiled at this week’s International CES,  Consumer Electronics Association chief economist Shawn DuBravac predicted during his opening "‘trends to watch" talk, according to THR.

And while smartphones and tablets are leading spending in the consumer electronics space, the exec offered a broader look at some developing areas.

He commented that consumer electronics is effectively entering the third industrial revolution, which will be based around mass customization. He cited as an example 3D printing, which will be a big story at CES. “It’s a nascent market, [but] it’s starting to grow and develop,” DuBravac said, predicting that in 2014 worldwide shipments might be just shy of 100,000 units.

Meanwhile, wearable tech “will explore,” he asserted, saying that he wouldn’t  be surprised to see 75-100 new products come out of this sector at CES.

He added that while the Smart Watch is still a nascent market, in 2014 it could reach 1.5 million units shipped. “We are still looking for the killer app for that type of device,” he added.

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Consumer Electronics Spending Expected To Be Down

With the consumer electronics industry seeing slower growth in spending on smartphones and tablets, the Consumer Electronics Association predicts that global spending will fall slightly by about 1% to $1,055 billion from the record levels of 2013, according to multichannel.com.

In the CEA's annual predictions for the tech sector presented Sunday before the start of this year's International CES, the North American market will also see a slight 1% decline in spending, to about $254 billion, according to Steve Koenig, director of industry analysis for the CEA.

CEA executives described the current period as a transitional one between the growth spurt produced by the introduction of smartphones and tablets in the last few years and the next big wave of innovation.

“We are waiting for the next cycle of innovation to lift us again,” Koenig said.

On the tablet and smartphone front, unit sales will still be strong and overall spending will grow. But manufacturers are increasingly pushing less expensive products, which is slow the rate of revenue growth at a time when no new “must-have” category of devices has emerged.

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FBN To Cover CES

Liz Claman

Fox Business Network's Liz Claman will broadcast live from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Claman will interview some of the most notable technology leaders and CEOs from around the globe, including Sony president and CEO Kazuo Hirai, Clear Channel chairman and CEO Bob Pittman, Intel president Renee James and Samsung Electronics America president Tim Baxter.

Other notables scheduled to appear are Cox Communications president Pat Esser, Lenovo Americas group president Gerry Smith, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment president Mike Dunn, Dish CEO Joseph Clayton, Qualcomm incoming CEO Steve Mollenkopf and Audi of America president Scott Keogh.

NBC Starts Promos For Jimmy Fallon, The Tonight Show

NBC has released the first promo for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Fallon's new gig as host will start on February 17th. The promo focuses on the late-night talk show's history that spans over 60 years. The show will also be returning to New York after four decades being filmed in Los Angeles.

R.I.P.: MLB Broadcaster, War Hero Jerry Coleman

Jerry Coleman

Jerry Coleman, former New York Yankees second baseman and long-time San Diego Padres broadcaster, has died.

He was 89 according to The Sporting News.

"The San Diego Padres are deeply saddened by the news today of the passing of Jerry Coleman," the Padres said in a statement announcing his death. "We send our heartfelt sympathy to the entire Coleman family, including his wife, Maggie, his children and grandchildren. On behalf of Padres' fans everywhere, we mourn the loss of a Marine who was truly an American hero as well as a great man, a great friend and a great Padre."

Coleman was a Marine Corps combat veteran of World War II and the Korean War, which limited his baseball career to nine seasons in the majors. Still, he played with four Yankees teams and won the World Series and two others that made it there.

Padres president Mike Dee says Coleman died at a hospital Sunday afternoon. He says the team was notified by Coleman's wife, Maggie.

Coleman began broadcasting for the Padres in 1972 and spent more than four decades in his assignment. He began in broadcasting after his playing career, working for CBS, the Yankees and Los Angeles Angels before landing in San Diego.

He received the Ford C. Frick Award and a place in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005 and enter the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2007.

Coleman spent more than 70 years in pro baseball. He was a Marine Corps pilot and flew 120 missions combined in the two wars. Coleman was awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses, 13 Air Medals and three Navy Citations.


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January 6 In Radio History

In 1838...Morse Code privately demonstrated

In 1941...actor Richard Widmark made his first radio appearance in "The Home of the Brave."


In 1957…Elvis Presley appeared for the third and final time on CBS-TV's "The Ed Sullivan Show." After receiving viewer complaints about Presley's first two appearances on the show and worried about getting more negative audience reaction because of Presley's pelvic gyrations, Sullivan demanded that the cameramen shoot Elvis only from the waist up this time. Presley sang seven songs: "Hound Dog," "Don't Be Cruel," "Love Me Tender," "Heartbreak Hotel," "Peace in the Valley" (at the request of the network), "Too Much," and "When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again." After the last of Elvis' performances, Sullivan attempted to prevent any further controversy by declaring:"I just wanted to say that this is a real decent, fine boy. We want to say that we've never had a pleasanter experience with a big name than we've had with you."

In 1969...Joe O’Brien starts at WNBC 660 AM. He died in a car accident in 2005 at age 90.



In 1971...WJRZ 970 AM sold to Pacific Southern.  It changed its call letters on May 16 of that year and became WWDJ, known on the air as "97-DJ", attempting to take on WABC and replace WMCA as the New York market's second Top 40 outlet. For a brief time, program director Mark Driscoll began imaging the station as "9-J", giving rise to a recorded parody of the station called "Nine" produced by a group that included future disk jockeys Howard Hoffman and Randy West. The station was hampered by a directional signal that covered Manhattan and parts of New Jersey well but suffered in the rest of the Five Boroughs and was virtually nonexistent on Long Island and western New Jersey. Eventually, FM competition from WCBS-FM and adult top 40 station WXLO (now WEPN-FM), and an evolution to adult Top 40 by WNBC (now WFAN), began to eat into WWDJ's ratings. In November 1973 it was ranked 15th in the Arbitron ratings.

In 1974...the CBS Radio Network debuted "Radio Mystery Theatre."

In 1980...the "1940's Radio Hour" closed at the St. James Theater in New York City after 105 performances.

In 2012...WFME 94.7 FM NYC (now WNSH) license changed from non-commercial to commercial.

January 5 In Radio History

In 1923...Legendary music producer Sam Phillips, the founder of Sun Records who discovered Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison, was born. He died July 30, 2003 at 80.



In 1932..."The Shadow" debuted on the Colubmia Broadcast System (CBS).

In 1935...the CBS Radio Network program, "The Hour of Charm", featured Phil Spitalny’s All-Girl Orchestra.




In 1940...the FCC, Federal Communications Commission, was given its first demonstration of FM radio.

In 1973…Bruce Springsteen released his first studio album "Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ." It was recorded in a single week at lower-priced 914 Sound Studios in Blauvelt, New York to save as much money as possible from the advance given by Columbia Records. It sold about 25,000 copies in the first year of issue. Two tracks from the album, "Blinded By The Light" and "Spirit In The Night," were released as singles but neither made a dent in the charts.

In 1979...FCC eliminates Third Class operator requirement for stations

In 1998...Pop star-turned-Republican politician Rep. Sonny Bono, Cher's ex-husband and former showbiz partner, died in a skiing accident. He was 62.


In 2004...the first HD Radio receiver - a Kenwood KTC-HR 100 model - went on sale commercially in Cedar Rapids, Iowa