US Digital Display Ad Spending to Surpass Search Ad Spending in 2016
The categories of video, sponsorships, rich media and "banners and other" will together account for the largest share of digital ad spending: 47.9% (via eMarketer).
+ Online Local Ads Forecast To Grow 37%, SMBs Increase Digital Spend (via MediaPost)
NBCU Ad Sales Chief Slams Nielsen for TV Measurement Problems
"Yes, Nielsen just debuted their Total Audience metric, but progress is slow, and we have some serious questions about their methodology" (via Variety).
+ NBC Says Netflix Doesn't Yet Pose a 'Consistent' Threat to Broadcasters (via AdWeek)
+ NBCU Says Rio 2016 Ad Sales Outpacing London Olympics (via WSJ).
ESPN Targeted for Ad Spending Gains in 2016
Media buyers might not be happy with the way its New Year's Eve college football playoff games performed, but most plan to spend more money on ESPN in 2016 (via Broadcast & Cable).
+ Survey: Most Subs Would Drop ESPN to Save $8 (via Broadcast & Cable)
ESPN.com to cover e-sports with same 'rigor' as it does the big leagues
"The storyline was so compelling that we decided there was no reason we shouldn't be doing this on a daily basis with the same rigor we cover the National League Football or other sports" (via LA Times).
Turner Launching Lab to Reinvigorate Advertising
"Video advertising needs to evolve into a better experience, one that benefits all key parties – consumers, publishers and advertisers" (via Broadcast & Cable).
+ Turner's Kevin Reilly at TCA: "TV is the Best Advertising Delivery Mechanism Ever Invented."
+ Turner Says the Post-Millennial Generation Should Be Known as 'Plurals' (via AdWeek)
NFL May Split Thursday Night Games Among Multiple Networks
For the past two seasons, CBS has shared the package with the NFL Network. Now the league may try to bring at least one more network into the deal (via WSJ).
Ad Executives Scout Out Latest Tech at CES for Marketing Inspiration
From the slew of new virtual-reality products that are flooding the marketplace to the onslaught of wearable technology like rings and socks that are equipped with sensors that monitor health data, Madison Avenue is already salivating over the possibilities (via WSJ).
+ Hulu Exec: 'We Are Spending A Lot of Time on Virtual Reality' (via Variety)
+ Snapchat Is Looking to Buy an Ad Tech Startup (via Re/code)
+ Reality, Not VR: Newspapers Work
Mediacom is using webcams to measure emotional reactions to ads
New partnership with emotion measurement company Realeyes, uses technology that can be applied at scale and globally (via Digiday).
Apple To Disband iAd Sales Team
The iAds platform will be updated so publishers can sell through it directly. No word of impact on Rubicon Project, MediaMath, and other ad tech companies that had been overseeing programmatic buying on the platform (via Buzzfeed).
PewDiePie Now Has His Own YouTube Network Within Maker Studios
You can expect one-off videos, original series featuring multiple YouTubers and more YouTubers joining the network. An animated series featuring PewDiePie is in the works (via TechCrunch).
+ Netflix Orders Scripted Series Based on YouTube Star Miranda Sings (via Variety)
How CBS is trying to get big-name advertisers into podcasts
"There are some that have bought into the on-demand world and they're in hook, line and sinker… There are others who are more cautious and still want to figure it out" (via Digiday).
+ iHeartMedia's digital audio inventory now available through STRATA's media buying system (via Radio Ink)
Inside Yahoo's troubled advertising business
The company's ad business, which brought in $1.15 billion in the second quarter of 2015, is reportedly rife with ad fraud. One company that used Yahoo's programmatic video ad platform said it discovered 30 to 70 percent of its ads were not running in areas where Yahoo was claiming they were (via CNBC).
The Death of 'Huffpost Live': How to Fail at Video
For media relevance, look to Facebook, AJ+ and Vice—not NYT or cable news (via Observer).
People on the Move
iHeartMedia has promoted four of its senior executives into newly-created roles as division presidents. Hartley Adkins, Greg Ashlock, Matt Martin and Tom McConnell were formerly executive vice presidents of operations (via Business Wire).
Univision Communications has created a new music division, appointing Jorge "Pepo" Ferradas as its president responsible for developing an integrated music strategy covering all music efforts across the company's many platforms (via Billboard).
Video Picks
Gannett Aims To Scale Local Branded Content Nationwide (via BeetTV).
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