Videoage International October 2017

34 October 2017 V I D E O A G E U.S. TV Upbeat. Improving With Age, Four-Tier Biz Models, Low Digital ROI I n the two weeks comprising the Upfronts in New York City and the L.A. Screenings in Hollywood, America’s local and national press reviewed the U.S.’s upcoming 2017-18 TV season and in the process outlined their take on the future of television. The NewYork Times opened the salvo onMonday, May15, theUpfronts’ openingday forU.S. broadcast television, declaring that “Viewers’ Eyes May Drift, but Marketers Are Sticking With Broadcast Television,” and followed up with a long and pro-broadcast TV article about Linda Yaccarino, NBCUniversal’s head of advertising sales. At this year’s Upfronts, broadcasters fired back at the digital lobby, buoyed by the fact that advertisers returned to traditional television, having been disappointed by the ROI they saw with digital. NBCUniversal’s Yaccarino commented that, with TV, advertisers know what they’re buying and can ensure their ads won’t be placed next to objectionable content. She added, “we don’t get to grade our own homework” — a code phrase used to criticize digital media for not offering to advertisers third-party verification to show how many viewers saw their ads. Similarly, at the CBS upfront, ad sales boss Jo Ann Ross referred to problems with “viewability,” or verifying that digital ads are actually seen by people, and fraud, where companies invest in ad space on bogus websites served by bots masquerading as human visitors. Ross reminded advertisers that the network delivers “real people watching your commercials in hit shows with zero fraud, all from a source you can trust, unlike some digital platforms.” On May 16, The Los Angeles Times seemed to reinforce themessage with a front-cover article in the business page explaining that, “TV networks adapt to ad-skipping viewers,” but, at the same time, the paper’s headline pointed out that “TV advertising [is] in ‘upheaval.’” Then, on Saturday, May 20, in the midst of the studios’ screenings of the new season, both The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times shifted to the quality and genres of the upcoming series. This aspect of the news is usually received with chagrin by the studios, which go to lengths trying not to have buyers get access to critical reviews of the new shows before they have a chance to screen them. For this reason, some studios exclude journalists from attending screenings, especially thosewho review the new series. While some publications avoid such restrictions by having international buyers register unfamiliar L.A. Screenings Review Disney’s LATAM team headed by Fernando Barbosa (center, back row), invited former Disney Media Distribution president Ben Pyne for the traditional VideoAge photo. CBS Studios, l. to r.: Armando Nuñez, Barry Chamberlain, David Boreanaz ( SEAL Team ), Mark Feuerstein ( 9JKL ), Bojana Novakovic ( Instinct ), Jeremy Piven ( Wisdomof the Crowd ), David Stapf Warner Bros.’ Jeff Schlesinger Pictured below are France’s M6 buyers at a lunch break at CBS screenings. From l. to r.: Alexandre Moussard, Bérangere Terouanne, Christine Bouillet, Bernard Majani, Catherine Molinier. Standing: Thomas Valentin Italy’s Mediaset buyers, from l. to r. (top row): Marco Costa, Sebastiano Lombardi, Carlo Panzeri, Maurizio Colombo. Bottom row: Lucia Carta, Sonia Danieli, Piercarlo Guglielmi reporters with the studios, VideoAge is granted screenings privileges from virtually all studios because its L.A. Screenings Studio Issue lists only the synopses of all new series and no reviews. (Continued on Page 36)