Media Ad Sales Organizations: Top Performers

The Myers Report

For over four decades, The Myers Report has been a benchmark in assessing media sales organizations, analyzing the perceptions of agency and brand clients. Traditionally, we've chosen to protect the identities of underperformers while spotlighting the top achievers. However, in a shift towards transparency, we're now disclosing not just the top performers but also those rated as "adequate" and "underperforming" among 132 ad sales organizations, as evaluated by 4,200 industry respondents.

The Myers Report recently published the top 50 performing sales organizations based on the results of the 2023 Survey of 4,200 Advertising Agency and Brand Media Decision-Makers and Influencersand we delve more deeply into the data in this report. A notable 21 organizations have surpassed the 50% positive performance threshold, with six exceeding 60%. The evaluation criteria are rigorous and multifaceted, combining data-led measures with subjective insights from the industry.

THE 21 TOP TWO-BOX 50%+ (50%+ Rating top-2 box on a 5-pt. scale)

The leaders in the industry, rated as Top Performers by a majority of their clients, include:

CLEAR CHANNEL OUTDOOR
DISNEY/ABC TV STATIONS
DOTDASH MEREDITH
THE ECONOMIST
ESPN
GOOGLE
IHEART MEDIA
INTERSECTION
LAMAR OUTDOOR
LOCALITY
META
NBCU LOCAL
NBCUNIVERSAL
NBC SPORTS
NPR
OUTFRONT
SPOTIFY
SXM/PANDORA
TALON OUTDOOR
VISTAR MEDIA
YOUTUBE

The industry's average performers, those who have shown satisfactory but not exceptional results, are also recognized. The following are the sales organizations that average a "3" on the 1-5 scale (adequate). These 65 companies (listed in alphabetical order) received positive performance ratings by 33% to 50% of those respondents in a business relationship with them.

THE 65 TOP-TWO BOX 33%-50% (Rated as Top Performers by 33%-50% top-2 box on a 5-pt. scale)

ABC NEWS
AMAZON PRIME
AMPERSAND
APPLE TV
AUDACY
BALLY SPORTS
BEASLEY
BUSTLE MEDIA GROUP
CADENT
CAPTIVATE
CBS NEWS
CBS SPORTS
CBS TELEVISION STATIONS GROUP
COX MEDIA GROUP
COX RADIO
COMCAST ADVERTISING
CONDE NAST
CUMULUS/WESTWOOD ONE
DIRECTV
DISH/SLING
EFFECTV
FOX AD SALES
FOX NEWS
FOX SPORTS
FOX TV STATIONS
FREEWHEEL
GSTV
GRAY TELEVISION
HEARST INTERACTIVE MEDIA
HEARST TELEVISION
KATZ DIGITAL
KATZ TELEVISION
LG ADS
MLB.COM/MLB-TV
NBA TV
NBC NEWS
NEW YORK INTERCONNECT
NEW YORK TIMES
NEXSTAR MEDIA GROUP
PARAMOUNT GLOBAL
PINTEREST
PREMION
ROKU
SAMSUNG ADS
SINCLAIR BROADCAST GROUP
SIMULMEDIA
SNAPCHAT
SPECTRUM REACH
STITCHER
TEGNA
TELEVISA/UNIVISION
TIKTOK
TRUSTED MEDIA BRANDS
USA TODAY
VEVO
VIZIO
VOX MEDIA
WALL ST. JOURNAL
WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY
WASHINGTON POST
WBD SPORTS (FORMERLY TURNER)
XACTV
YAHOO
YAHOO NEWS
YES NETWORK

The Myers Report also reflects the challenging environment faced by media sales organizations. It examines the decline in positive perceptions since 1984 and the various market pressures, from budget cuts to the dominance of programmatic buying, impacting the industry. Despite these challenges, a few organizations continue to thrive by investing in innovative strategies and maintaining strong client relationships. For each sales organization evaluated, detailed insights are available by respondent group, agency affiliation, responsibility, and decision-making influences. Custom research is available on a respondent-level basis to assess not only perceptions but also respondent interest in learning more about and connecting with each of the 250+ sales organizations included in the survey.

The Myers Report underscores the necessity for sales organizations to adapt and enhance their strategies continually. It's a call to action for industry leaders to invest in professional development, market intelligence, and innovative approaches to stand out in an increasingly competitive and transaction-driven marketplace. The full analysis, including a list of underperforming organizations and additional insights, is available to The Myers Report subscribers and by request to jack@mediavillage.org. For more information visit www.myersreports.com.

SOURCE: The Myers Report 2023 Survey of 4,200 Advertising Agency and Brand Media Decision-Makers and Influencers; 4,200 respondents. Fieldwork August/September 2023. For details visit www.myersreports.com. The evaluation was determined on a five-point scale positive performance based on top-two box rating. Only those respondents who are in a business relationship with each sales organization and influential in decision-making for that media company were eligible to rate each organization. While data was collected on an additional 150 advertising sales and service companies, including programmatic, research, and commerce, they were not included in in the performance ratings. Of the 132 media sales organizations evaluated 38 have been evaluated and data is available by request but are not included in this summary report. Their positive (top 2-box) ratings fell under 33% of respondents but their negative ratings (bottom 2-box) were fewer than 25% of respondents. While these companies should address and improve perceptions, they did not meet our standard of clear underperformance.

Underperforming sales organizations are defined by having fewer than 33% of their clients rating their average performance positively (top 2-box) and more than 25% rating them Bottom 2-Box (Could be Better/Underperforming).