Notice more TV ads lately? You’re not imagining it. The amount of commercial time on cable TV keeps increasing as networks try to make up for shrinking audiences by stuffing more ads into every hour of television. That’s despite years of promises to cut back on ads. Last quarter, commercial time rose 1 percent, according to Michael Nathanson, an analyst at MoffettNathanson LLC. After declining in 2017, the volume of ads increased every quarter last year and expanded again in the first half of 2019, he says. Fox was the only major cable network group to lower its ads last quarter, cutting them by 2 percent, according to Nathanson’s analysis. As TV viewership declines and more consumers jump to streaming services like Netflix, media companies have only a couple of options to generate the advertising revenue that Wall Street expects: They can raise prices, run more commercials or do a little of both. “Look at the decline in ratings,” Nathanson says. “Everyone’s got pressure to make their quarterly numbers. Long-term, it’s a very bad decision, but you don’t want to miss your numbers and have your stock go down.” Media companies are adding more commercials because sponsors are more sensitive to price increases than to clutter, says Brian Wieser, global president of business intelligence at the advertising giant GroupM. And if a TV network were to cut the time allotted for commercials, it would need to boost advertising rates to make up the difference—a tough sell if... Continue reading at 'Advertising Age'
[ Advertising Age | 2019-08-02 17:18:39 UTC ]
ESPN The Magazine is now the latest publication to abandon print. Regular editions of the monthly will cease after the September release of “The Body Issue” and the publication will go online-only, Walt Disney Co.’s ESPN said in a statement. “Consumer habits are evolving rapidly, and this... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-04-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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American Media Inc. is selling the National Enquirer to Hudson News Deputy Chairman James Cohen, according to The Washington Post, letting the embattled publisher jettison the tabloid after being accused of trying to blackmail the world’s richest man. Cohen will pay $100 million for the... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-04-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The National Enquirer, the tabloid that billionaire Jeff Bezos accused of extortion earlier this year, is on the block to be sold by parent company American Media Inc. American Media’s board conducted a review of its tabloid business, including the Globe and National Examiner brands, and... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Netflix is planning its first magazine, but you won’t find it on a newsstand. The world’s largest online TV network plans to publish a journal—with the working title Wide—to promote its programs and stars ahead of this year’s Emmys, the biggest awards gala in TV. The 100-plus page inaugural... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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From the day in 2016 when AT&T announced its $85.4-billion merger with Time Warner, through three years of antitrust wrangling over the deal, the big telecommunications company promised that it would mean lower prices and more choices for consumers. Now AT&T has a message for everyone... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-03-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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When AT&T announced in August that it had acquired the rights to a pay-per-view golf duel between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson on Thanksgiving weekend, its rechristened entertainment divisionWarnerMediafaced a challenge: how to create a golf event that would appeal beyond the sport's... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2018-11-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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AT&T is acquiring ad tech platform AppNexus, with plans to integrate it into its advertising and analytics unit, the company said Monday. The move will undoubtedly shake up the current ad landscape as well as challenge the so-called duopoly of Google and Facebook.AppNexus, which has been... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2018-06-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Time Warner Inc. is no more. Late Thursday, AT&T Inc. announced that it completed its $85-billion acquisition of Time Warner Inc., just two days after a federal judge in Washington gave the deal the green light. AT&T wasted little time consolidating its hard-fought prize — a blockbuster... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-06-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The government on Monday made its final plea to a federal judge to block AT&T Inc.’s $85.4-billion purchase of Time Warner Inc. or order it significantly scaled back, arguing that the combined company would be so powerful it would hinder competition and raise pay TV prices for consumers.... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-04-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Time Warner Inc.’s chief executive testified Wednesday that the government’s assertions that AT&T Inc. wanted to buy the company to use its programming as leverage over distributors “makes no sense” because it would limit viewership. “I think it’s ridiculous. It’s not how this works,” Jeff... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Citizens of Lilliput, unite! We must subdue the evil Gulliverer, Zuckerberg!Variety's just-released cover story doesn't exactly say that, but that's the subtext of the trade magazine's "Gulliver's Travels"-inspired cover illustration (above right). In his piece headlined "Facebook Under Fire:... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2018-04-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The biggest U.S. antitrust case of this century kicked into high gear on Thursday as a government lawyer warned that AT&T Inc. wants to buy media giant Time Warner Inc. to “weaponize” its must-have content — a move that would raise prices for consumers and hinder innovation. “Time Warner... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-03-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The U.S. Department of Justice has sued to block AT&T’s proposed $85-billion purchase of Time Warner Inc. — one of the largest media mergers in American history — arguing that a bulked-up AT&T would stifle competition and lead to higher prices for consumers. “This merger would greatly... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-11-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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AT&T’s proposed $85-billion purchase of Time Warner Inc., which owns CNN, HBO and Warner Bros. studios, is encountering resistance from the U.S. Department of Justice. For months, the Dallas telecommunications giant has been confidently predicting that it would finalize the takeover of Time... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-11-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Telecommunications giant AT&T has secured the blessing of Brazilian regulators for its $85-billion takeover of Time Warner Inc., moving the blockbuster deal closer to the finish line. The Dallas phone company on Wednesday said Brazil’s antitrust authority, the Conselho Administrativo de... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-10-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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AT&T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson indicated that President Trump’s tensions with CNN should not factor into the federal government’s blessing of AT&T’s proposed $85-billion purchase of Time Warner Inc., which owns the cable news network. “I don’t know what the relevance is of CNN... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-10-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mashable is exploring strategic options including the sale of all or part of the online media company, according to people with knowledge of the matter.Mashable, founded in 2005, may draw interest from buyers in Europe and the U.S., said one of the people, who asked not to be identified... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2017-08-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google has begun developing a cloud-based measurement tool that it says could help advertisers gain more insights while protecting privacy across devices. In a blog post published today, Google said it's working with measurement companies such as comScore, DoubleVerify, IAS, Moat and Nielsen... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2017-01-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Media ownership is being overhauled as companies try to figure out their place in a world where 85 percent of digital dollars are going to two companies: Facebook and Google. The platform giants' dominance were factors in AT&T's $85 billion bid for Time Warner and other mega deals that were... Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2016-12-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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