www.spotsndots.comSubscriptions: $350 per year.

This publication cannot bedistributed beyond the office

of the actual subscriber. Need us? 888-884-2630 or

sales@spotsndots.com Copyright 2020.The Daily News of TV Sales Tuesday, January 19, 2021

AT-HOME PANDEMIC TRENDS HELP LIFT RESULTS Holiday retail sales rose 8.3% from 2019, according to data released by the National Retail Federation, as consumers embraced the gift-giving season as a way to cheer themselves up during the COVID pandemic. “Faced with rising transmission of the virus, state restrictions on retailers and heightened political and economic uncertainty, consumers chose to spend on gifts that lifted the spirits of their families and friends and provided a sense of normalcy given the challenging year,” Matthew Shay, president and CEO of the NRF, said in a statement. That’s more than the major retail trade group expected and more than double the average annual increase, CNBC reports. NRF predicted in November that 2020 holiday sales would rise 3.6% to 5.2% year over year, amounting to $755.3 billion to $766.7 billion. It said Americans would spend more as they had fewer travel and dining out expenses and felt hopeful about the distribution of the COVID vaccine. Holiday sales on average have increased 3.5% for the past five years, and they rose 4% in 2019, the NRF said. The sales exclude automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants. The pandemic shook up typical holiday shopping patterns. Many retailers started sales as early as October and kept stores shut on Thanksgiving Day. They put more deals online and expanded contactless options, such as curbside pickup to tamp down on the number of shoppers crammed in stores. Even so, there were some factors out of retailer’s hands, such as economic uncertainty and unemployment during the recession and fewer gatherings with family and friends. NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz said the sharp increase in holiday sales is “really quite phenomenal given the extremes that this economy has gone through.” He said month-to-month numbers have reflected the push and pull of factors, from temporary store closures and furloughs to stimulus payments. Holiday sales reflected pandemic trends, too, such as cooking and exercising at home and tackling DIY projects. Online and other non-store sales saw the largest jump, up nearly 24% year over year, according to NRF. Sales at building materials and garden supply stores were up nearly 20%. That was followed by sporting goods stores sales, which were up about 15%, and grocery and beverage stores, which were up nearly 10%. Sales at health and personal care stores and at furniture and home furnishing stores grew 5% and 2%, respectively. Sales at general merchandise stores

(Continued on Page 3)

NRF: HOLIDAY SALES UP BETTER-THAN-EXPECTED 8.3%ADVERTISER NEWS Macy’s has opened a second small format store in Texas. It is part of a new retail strategy that presents an edited as-sortment since stores are small and require careful curation. Stores in this smaller format are usually in strip-centers that have easy parking access... America’s pandemic-era pet cul-ture may have reached a peak with the arrival of ice cream... for dogs. Ben & Jerry’s has announced the debut of Doggie Desserts: four-ounce cups of mostly non-dairy frozen treats, one featuring pumpkin with cookies and another with peanut butter and pretzels. It’s non-dairy because some dogs, like some people, don’t tolerate lactose well; the base is sun-flower seed butter, the same as Ben & Jerry’s non-dairy fro-zen confections for humans... Nestlé Prepared Foods has recalled more than 760,000 pounds of Hot Pockets after an inspection turned up “extraneous materials” in the brand’s

pepperoni hand-held sandwich item. The contaminated products pose a “choking or laceration risk” to consumers who may at-tempt to eat them… As makeup begins a possible recovery, Ulta Beauty is laying off an unspecified number of corporate employ-ees, Retail Dive reports. The total number

was “a meaningful, but relatively small number of our total associates,” the spokesperson said. The layoffs resulted from a restructuring that eliminated current and open roles across all functions in the company, reorganized certain positions, expanded others and added new positions to in-vestment areas... Another restaurant chain is emphasizing its drive-thru business. Shake Shack will open its first-ever location with a drive-thru ordering option in mid-late 2021, at Vineland Pointe, a 450,000-square-foot center in Orlando, Fla. The company plans to expand to five to eight drive-thrus across the U.S. by mid-year... Kia is dumping “Motors” from its corporate name as part of a global brand re-launch that’s meant to position the South Korea automaker as a mover in electric vehicles and new mobility. In changing its name to Kia Corp., from Kia Motors Corp., the company is reaching

(Continued on Page 3)

PAGE 2 The Daily News of TV Sales @ www.spotsndots.com

STUDY: STREAMING SURGE REFLECTS PANDEMIC With what it said were “dramatic” impacts to traditional staples like live sports, and an “anxiety-inducing hyper news cycle,” 2020 was a truly transitional year for streaming video, according to a study from Nielsen. The firm noted that while the massive spikes in media usage that sparked streaming enablement into near ubiquity weren’t unexpected given nationwide lockdowns, the aftermath reflected a permanently altered media landscape that began to coalesce in the spring summer period of the year. The result is video streaming accounting

for a larger share of overall media consumption than in previous years. Assessing the key individual content pieces for the year, Nielsen said streaming platforms have become “video wellsprings” for content-hungry consumers, with originals like Ozark, The Boys and The Mandalorian grabbing much of the spotlight. It noted that during 2020 consumers binged nearly 30.5 billion minutes of Ozark across a total of 28 episodes.

Consumers watched more than 57 billion minutes of The Office, which ended its run on Netflix in December, but that viewing covered 192 episodes.

LOCAST SAYS IT HAS 2.3M REGISTERED USERS Locast said that it has surpassed 2.3 million registered users for its nonprofit streaming service that provides local broadcast channels to consumers, Next TV reports. The service, which operates on voluntary donations of $5 and above from its users, also announced expansion into Madison, Wis., ahead of this past Saturday’s NFL playoff matchup between the Green Bay Packers and Los Angeles Rams, which was broadcast by Fox. The expansion opens Locast up to 650,000 additional homes. Locast delivers more than 30 local TV channels in the Madison designated market area (DMA), including WISC-TV CBS News 3, WMTV NBC 15, WKOW ABC Ch. 27, WMSN Fox Ch. 47, PBS Wisconsin and PBS Kids as well as CourtTV, AntennaTV, the CW, Bounce, Movies!, LAFF, Mystery, Grit, ION, CometTV, True Crime, Charge! and Azteca America.

RETAILERS TO CONSUMERS: SKIP THE RETURNS The Wall Street Journal says retailers have a new message for consumers looking to return an item: Keep it. Amazon, Walmart and other companies are using artificial intelligence to decide whether it makes economic sense to process a return. For inexpensive items or large ones that would incur hefty shipping fees, it is often cheaper to refund the purchase price and let customers keep the products. The relatively new approach, popularized by Amazon and a few other chains, is being adopted more broadly during the COVID-19 pandemic as a surge in online shopping forces companies to rethink how they handle returns. “We are getting so many inquiries about this that you will see it take off in coming months,” said Amit Sharma, chief executive of Narvar, which processes returns for retailers.

NETWORK NEWS Fox dominated Sunday ratings with the NFC Divisional Playoff game between Tampa Bay and New Orleans, which earned an 8.0 in the adults 18-49 demo while a staggering 28.8 million viewers tuned in to watch the Buccaneers defeat the Saints 30-20 to advance to the NFC Championship. The matchup between future Hall of Fame quarterbacks Tom Brady and Drew Brees was the top-rated telecast of the weekend and the top-rated NFL broadcast since Super Bowl LIV in February. It drew a 21.2/39 overnight rating, Fox said... Young Rock, a comedy about Dwayne Johnson’s early life, starts on NBC on Feb. 16. It leads into the series premiere of the Kenan Thompson comedy Kenan. Johnson, Joseph Lee Anderson, Stacey Leilua, Adrian Groulx, Bradley Constant, Uli Latukefu, Ana Tuisila, Fasitua Amosa and John Tui are in Young Rock. Johnson was known as The Rock in his wrestling days... Kenan is about the recently widowed host of Atlanta’s No. 2 morning show, struggling to balance his job and his young daughters, and the “help” he gets from his father-in-law and his brother/manager. Thompson, Chris Redd, Kimrie Lewis, Dani Lane, Dannah Lane and Don Johnson star... Staying with NBC: Following its sixth episode of the season Feb. 9, Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist will go on hiatus and return in the spring... And Ray Brady, a longtime CBS News correspondent who focused on business and the economy, died Jan. 12 at his home in Manhattan. He was 94. Brady spent 28 years with CBS News, starting in 1972 when he joined CBS Radio. He retired in 2000 after 23 years as a correspondent for the CBS Evening News.

COVID-19 PRESSURES DECEMBER RETAIL SALES U.S. retail sales fell for a third straight month in December as renewed measures to slow the spread of COVID-19 triggered job losses, further evidence that the wounded economy lost considerable speed at the end of 2020. Retail sales dropped 0.7% last month, the Commerce Department said last week. Data for November was revised down to show sales tumbling 1.4% instead of 1.1% as previously reported. Sales rose 2.9% on a year-on-year basis. The monthly decline in sales was led by a 4.5% plunge at restaurants and bars after many authorities banned indoor dining over the holiday season. Online sales tumbled 5.8%. Receipts at electronics and appliance stores dropped 4.9%. Consumers also cut back spending at sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument and book stores as well as beverage stores. That offset a 1.9% rebound in sales at auto dealerships and a 2.4% increase in receipts at clothing stores. There were also gains in sales at building material stores as well as health and personal care outlets. Excluding automobiles, gasoline, building materials and food services, retail sales tumbled 1.9% last month after a downwardly revised 1.1% decline in November. These so-called core retail sales correspond most closely with the consumer spending component of gross domestic product. They were previously estimated to have decreased 0.5% in November.

1/19/2021

FunnyTweeter.com

The three words a parent never wants to hear from

their child: “I Googled you.”

The Daily News of TV Sales @ www.spotsndots.com PAGE 3

NRF: HOLIDAY SALES INCREASE A SURPRISE 8.3%(Continued from Page 1)were virtually flat. Electronics and appliance stores, however, saw a 14% drop in sales. Sales at clothing and clothing accessory stores plummeted by about 15%. Some purchases of laptops or pajamas were likely categorized as an online or non-store sale, as customers shopped from their couches or used options like curbside pickup. Also, some electronics purchases may have been made earlier in the year, as people worked and went to school at home. Retailers have started to report some of their individual

sales results. Lululemon, which has seen strong sales in athleisure as people work from home, forecast Q4 earnings at the top end of its expectations because of strong of a strong holiday season. Target said comparable sales online and in stores jumped by 17% in November and December as holiday customers flocked to convenient, contact-free options like curbside pickup. Yet Nordstrom and Urban Outfitters reported disappointing holidays as many shoppers steered clear

of malls.

ADVERTISER NEWS(Continued from Page 1)for a new identity that better reflects its push into new fields, CEO Ho Sung Song said in news release. The move follows the adoption of a new company logo and slogan this month… BMW is shutting down its vehicle subscription pilot at the end of the month. The Access by BMW subscription pilot launched in April 2018 and never expanded beyond its initial Nashville, Tenn., market. It was targeted at affluent customers willing to pay high monthly fees for two tiers of service starting at $2,000. Audi Select, a similar program offered by the Volkswagen Group premium brand, will be discontinued Jan. 31, according to a notice on the service’s website.

1/19/2021

Ad Age

This year’s Super Bowl will be the first time since 2000 that both Coke and Pepsi

skipped in-game ads.

SUNDAY NIELSEN RATINGS - LIVE + SAME DAY

COKE, PEPSI WILL SIT OUT THE SUPER BOWL There is a truce in the Super Bowl cola wars. Coca Cola says it won’t run an ad in the Feb. 7 game. Pepsi-Cola previously stated it would not air a standalone ad for its trademark cola, and instead will focus on its halftime sponsorship. “This difficult choice was made to ensure we are investing in the right resources during these unprecedented times,” Coca-Cola said in a statement to Ad Age. “We’ll be toasting to our fellow brands with an ice-cold Coke from the sidelines.” The last time Coke and Pepsi both sat out the Big Game was in 2000, when Coca-Cola did not run any ads and PepsiCo highlighted Mtn Dew, according to the Ad Age Super Bowl archive. Mtn Dew will run an ad this year, and Pepsi’s halftime show marketing is significant, including a campaign leading up to the game that stars The Weeknd, who is headlining the show. (PepsiCo is also running Super Bowl ads for Cheetos and Doritos.) But the absence of standalone spots for the nation’s two largest cola brands is a significant development, given that Coke and Pepsi often battle for attention during the top-watched TV event of the year. Coke’s decision to sit out the game comes amid corporate layoffs, a major restructuring of the beverage giant’s business and a global creative and media agency review that is expected to last for months.

NPD: DEC. VIDEO GAME REVENUE SURGED 25% The pandemic and new game systems helped drive December video game revenue to $7.7 billion, up 25% from $6.1 billion during the previous-year period. 2020 also set an all-time high in revenue with $56.9 billion, an increase of 27% from $44.3 billion in 2019, according to new data from The NPD Group. The November launches of PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and Series S consoles contributed to hardware revenue jumping 38% to $1.35 billion from $978 million last year — the highest hardware sales in eight years. The tally almost equaled $1.41 billion in hardware sales in 2019. While Sony and Microsoft hardware get the headlines, it was Nintendo’s Switch that quietly proved to be the best hardware seller throughout 2020 when it comes to unit sales and revenue. NPD said 2020 Switch sales were the best for a hardware device since the Nintendo Wii in 2008. Accessories revenue spiked 15% to $546 million from $475 million last year. Accessories totaled $2.6 billion in 2020, up 21% from $2.14 billion in 2019.

THIS AND THAT Analytics firm Tubular Labs reports that 14.9 million people tuned into NBC’s YouTube livestream of Congress picking up the Electoral Vote count again after rioters assaulted the Capitol building. CBS’ live coverage of the attack itself drew almost 3.9 viewers to YouTube... Netflix is projecting subscriber growth of 6 million for the fiscal period ended Dec. 31, 2020 — topping 201 million subs worldwide. But Michael Pachter, media analyst with Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles, said he believes that tally will come in about 1 million less at 5 million, including 300,000 in North America, largely due to recent price hikes.