National TV Sales Organizations of the Year Awards -

Univision is the MyersBizNet national television 2014 sales organization of the year, based on ratings in six performance categories as judged in more than 1,000 surveys completed by the advertiser and agency clients of 70 TV companies. Scroll down for network TV sales organization winners in eleven categories. Univision and NBCU Hispanic ranked first and second respectively among the 70 organizations*, reflecting the strong loyalty the leading Hispanic networks have generated among their clients. Both groups significantly improved perceptions in this year's survey over prior years, with Univision achieving a 75% average positive rating (4/5 on a five point scale) in the six measured attributes. NBCU Hispanic followed closely with a 67% positive rating. In the next several weeks, MyersBizNet will publish the leaders in each specific attribute category measured (see attribute list below awards categories). The full methodology is available to MyersBizNet member companies; premium members have received detailed survey reports. The study was conducted in October; this is the 30^th anniversary of the MyersBizNet Survey of Advertising Executives,the industry quality performance standard for media sales organizations.

Sales Organization of the Year: Univision

Among 70 organizations, Univision ranked first in all six attributes evaluated by advertisers and agency buyers and planners. While the respondent base to Hispanic networks is smaller than several broadcast and general interest networks (responses are limited to those who have a relationship with each network), it remains unusual for one organization to lead across all six attributes. NBCU Hispanic (Telemundo) ranked second in three of the six categories.

General Entertainment Sales Organization of the Year: Viacom Music & Entertainment Group

Viacom Music & Entertainment ranked first overall in the six measured categories among general interest non-Hispanic networks, achieving an average positive (top-two box) rating of 58.5%, followed closely by ABC Family (57.5%) and Turner Young Adults (55.7%). The Turner YA organization outperformed all networks except Univision in the category "Quality Sales Team & Customer Service" with a 73% positive rating.

Kids & Family Sales Organization of the Year: Nickelodeon Kids & Family Group

Nick ranked 3^rd overall among all network sales organizations, but was topped by ABC Family in the categories "Delivers Value for the Investment" and "Quality of Content Justifies Premium Pricing." The Nickelodeon sales team, however, was a leading performer for "Quality of Sales Team," "Offers Valuable Multi-Platform Digital Opportunities" and "Provides Advanced Research Support & Intelligence."

Broadcast Network Sales Organization of the Year: ABC-TV

ABC-TV topped all broadcast networks in this year's MyersBizNet survey, with an overall 55.5% positive rating. NBCU's Entertainment Group followed with a 51.4% positive rating.

Sports Sales Organization of the Year: ESPN Customer Sales & Marketing

Perennial industry leader ESPN edged out both NBCU Live News & Sports and Turner Sports this year. ESPN ranked fourth overall among the 70 sales organizations. ESPN Deportes was also the highest ranked Hispanic network following Univision and NBCU Hispanic. ESPN ranked first among all networks for "Multi-Platform Digital Opportunities" and third overall (after Univision and AMC/We/IFC) for "Quality of Content Justifies Premium Pricing,"

News Sales Organization of the Year: NBCU Live Group

With a merged news and sports sales organization under Seth Winter, NBCU emerged as the news category leader, with especially strong performance in "Provides Innovative and Creative Opportunities" and "Delivers Value for the Investment."

National TV Multi-Network Company of the Year: Disney/ABC-TV

With ABC-TV leading the broadcast network sector, ESPN leading the sports sector, and with strong competitive performance from Disney Media and ABC Family (8^th and 10^th overall among 70 sales organizations), the Disney/ABC family of networks is a force to be reckoned with.

Most Improved Sales Organization of the Year: NBCUniversal

After dramatic restructuring and personnel changes at NBCU under Linda Yaccarino, the company experienced significant across-the-board improvements in ratings and rankings for its organization. The stand-alone NBC-TV, USA and Syfy organizations averaged a 42% positive rating last year with NBC-TV ranked last among broadcast network sales organizations. This year, the NBCU Entertainment Group, representing NBC-TV, USA and Syfy, achieved a 51.4% positive rating. The NBCU Lifestyle Group, a combined force representing Bravo, E!, Oxygen, Esquire and Sprout, generated a 49% positive rating this year, compared to an average of the individual networks' positive ratings last year of 32%. The sports, news and syndication units also all improved year-to-year, and the NBCU Hispanic Group achieved exceptionally positive results.

National Broadcast Syndication Sales Organization of the Year: Warner Bros

National broadcast syndication established itself as a competitively viable industry sector in this year's MyersBizNet survey, with Warner Bros, 20 ^th Television, NBCUniversal Television, and Disney*ABC Domestic Television achieving overall positive performance ratings above 50%. Warner Bros was the stand-out, ranking 8^th overall among 70 sales organizations, including 3^rd ranking for "Delivers Value for the Investment." Warner, NBCU and 20^th TV were ranked in the top ten for "Quality Sales Team & Customer Support."

Newcomer Sales Organization of the Year: Pivot

In its first year of inclusion in the MyersBizNet survey, Participant Media's Pivot turned in an impressive performance, ranking fourth among all 70 sales organizations for "Provides Innovative & Creative Opportunities." Sean Combs' music network Revolt also achieved impressively positive results.

Most Impressive Sales Performance of the Year: Hulu

Perhaps no sales organization delivered as impressive a performance as one that sells network TV on an exclusively digital platform: Hulu. Also included in our survey for the first time, Hulu's 56% overall average positive ratings positioned it in 11^th place among the 70 sales organizations in the study, outperforming all its broadcast network owners. Of course, the digital network performed well among those respondents with multi-platform video responsibility, and had the obvious advantage of generating strong ratings for digital offerings. But it also ranked fourth for advanced research support & intelligence, and 17^th for innovative and creative opportunities.

MyersBizNet Survey of Advertising Executives on Network TV Value and Sales Organization Performance – 2014

Attributes Measured:

• Quality of Sales Team & Customer Service

• Provides Innovative & Creative Opportunities

• Delivers Value for the Investment

• Quality of Content Justifies Premium Pricing

• Offers Valuable Multi-Platform Digital Opportunities

• Provides Advanced Research Support & Intelligence

*All rankings are based on top-two box ratings (4/5 on a five point scale), market leader to market loser. In the full report, detailed 1-5 ratings are provided, and rankings data based on top box (5) ratings are also provided. The full methodology is available to MyersBizNet members by contacting Jack Myers at jm@jackmyers.com . Full detailed 114-page reports are provided to MyersBizNet premium members who are included in the study.