The Broadcasters Foundation of America held its annual breakfast Wednesday during the NAB Show in Las Vegas. The Foundation honored several industry leaders. Six honorees received the Leadership Award, and Erica Farber received the Lowry Mays Excellence in Broadcasting Award. L-r: Mike McVay, president, McVay Media Consulting; Kathleen Kirby, partner, Wiley; Don Bouloukos, CBS and ABC Radio executive; Erica Farber, president-CEO, Radio Advertising Bureau; Frank Comerford, chief revenue officer/president, commercial operations NBCU Local; John Rouse, EVP, ABC Affiliate Relations, Disney Platform Distribution; and Traug Keller, president ABC Radio Network/SVP, ESPN Radio.
Frank Comerford: NBCU Is Building A Multi-Currency Future That Local Advertisers Can Count On
“Precise measurement and accurate counting are the foundation of a healthy and high-functioning TV advertising ecosystem. When marketers have the right data, they can make the right decisions. That’s why we’re unifying our audiences and ushering in a modern-day approach to measurement for local advertisers. To better reflect today’s sophisticated consumer, we are vastly increasing the number of households we measure: We used to measure 1 in every 1,600-2,000 homes in a Local DMA. Now we’re going to measure 1 in every 2-5 homes—giving advertisers an unprecedented understanding of the true size and value of their audience, while also allowing them to pinpoint the exact audience they want to reach. And there’s more: With 48-hour TV measurement reporting at this scale, we’ll be able to help our clients optimize and improve the precision of their media buys in near real time.”
Executives from NBCUniversal Local (Frank Comerford, above), Tegna, Sinclair and Hearst told a TVNewsCheck webinar they’re bedeviled by persistent gaps in the available buying/selling pipeline, which have bogged down the transaction process and added to their expenses. Those woes are leading some broadcasters to bring more of their automated functions in house.
TVN Webinar Dives Deep Into Automating Spot TV Buying And Selling
Executives from Tegna, Sinclair, NBCU stations and Hearst will evaluate the industry’s progress towards automating key elements of the spot TV buying and selling process in a TVNewsCheck Working Lunch webinar on May 19. Register here.
TVN Executuve Session | NBCU Grows Pay-Per-Performance Deals
Frank Comerford, NBCU Owned Television Stations’ CRO and president of commercial operations, says its Post-In Flight deals are starting to take off and could eliminate much of the post-buy work for both the station group and ad agencies. He says Spot ON, NBCU’s OTT/CTV product, is also bolstering business development and making it easier to communicate with advertisers.
Focus On Advertising | Local Spot Revenue Shows Signs Of Life
A TVNewsCheck webinar on optimizing spot TV in this COVID-challenged economy last week found spot revenue picking up in some places, with steady rises since April’s low point. But concerns are afoot about Nielsen’s sample base and problems that may stem from its addition of broadband-only homes to the local TV currency.
Exclusives
Digital Turning ‘Broadcast’ Sales Upside Down
The great challenge for local TV is not only to create compelling digital products and services, but to find and train people to sell them. Station groups are stepping up those efforts, hoping to latch on to some of the dollars that are migrating from broadcast to digital. “Digital, social, secondary channels, websites, mobile – it’s literally a laundry list that each sales rep needs to understand, then master himself,” says sales consultant Adam Armbruster. Part II of this special report tomorrow will address integrating new programmatic or automated selling platforms with existing sales, traffic and billing workflows. Also see today’s Open Mike on sales compensation for new hires.
