Here & there
ABC: Newsstand sales fall 9.1 percent
By Louisa Ada Seltzer
Feb 8, 2010 - 1:02:19 AM

ABC: Newsstand magazine sales fall 9.1 percent
After seeing bigger and bigger slides for three straight reporting periods, newsstand magazine sales saw a smaller decline during the second half of 2009 compared to the first half, though they were still off a fair bit. Single-copy sales, seen by many as the best indicator of the magazine industry's health, declined 9.1 percent during the six-month period through December 2009 compared to the same time the previous year, according to Audit Bureau of Circulations numbers released this morning. ABC says single-copy sales declined from 39,305,023 to 35,729,494 for the 472 titles audited. By comparison, sales were off 12.36 percent for the sixth-month period ended in June 2009, and they were down 11.1 percent and 6.34 percent for the two periods before that. Overall total paid and verified circulation was off 2.23 percent in the most recent period, to 328,369,963, the biggest decline in the last four reporting periods. Paid subscriptions were off 1.12 percent, to 278,957,593. Check back with Media Life tomorrow for complete charts and a breakdown of how specific magazines performed.

Friday overnights: CBS wins and CW hits season high
CBS’s dramas led it to another first-place finish among viewers 18-49 on Friday, according to Nielsen overnights, as the network showed strong week-to-week gains in the demo.

CBS averaged a 2.1 overnight rating and 7 share in the demo, up 17 percent from the previous week’s 1.8/6. ABC was second for the night at 1.6/5, with Fox third at 1.5/5, Univision and NBC tied for fourth at 1.3/4, and CW sixth at 1.2/4, its best Friday night in over a year and a half.

As a reminder, all ratings are based on live-plus-same-day DVR playback. Seven-day DVR data won’t be available for several weeks. Thirty-four percent of Nielsen households have DVRs.

CBS led each hour of the night, beginning with a 2.2 at 8 p.m. for “Ghost Whisperer,” with ABC second with a 1.5 for “Supernanny.” Fox and Univision tied for third at 1.3, Fox for a repeat of “House” and Univision for “Hasta que el Dinero Nos Separe,” while the CW and NBC each posted a 1.1 that hour, CW for “Smallville” and NBC for a “Law & Order” rerun.

At 9 p.m. CBS was first with a 2.2 for “Medium,” followed by Fox with a 1.8 for “Kitchen Nightmares.” Univision was third with a 1.7 for “Sortilegio,” NBC fourth with a 1.5 for “Dateline,” ABC fifth with a 1.4 for “Shark Tank” and CW sixth with a season-high 1.3 for more “Smallville.”

CBS was first again at 10 p.m. with a 2.0 for “Numb3rs,” while ABC moved to second with a 1.8 for “20/20.” NBC was third with a 1.2 for “The Jay Leno Show” and Univision fourth with a 0.9 for “Rosa de Guadalupe.”

Among households, CBS led the night with a 5.6 average overnight rating and a 10 share. ABC was second at 4.1/7, NBC third at 3.7/6, Fox fourth at 2.4/4, CW sixth at 1.8/3 and Univision sixth at 1.7/3.
 
Saturday overnights: Fox races to win with Bud Shootout
On Saturday night, Fox’s coverage of the NASCAR Budweiser Shootout led the network to a 2.5 average overnight rating and 8 share among 18-49s for the night, according to Nielsen overnights, flat to last year and good for an easy first-place finish for the night.

Fox averaged 7.51 million total viewers on the night, according to early numbers, down slightly from 7.55 million a year ago.

As a reminder, ratings for Fox’s live NASCAR coverage are approximate as fast nationals measure timeslot and not actual program data.

Also, all ratings are based on live-plus-same-day DVR playback. Seven-day DVR data won’t be available for several weeks. Thirty-four percent of Nielsen households have DVRs.

At 8 p.m. Fox was first with a 2.4 for its first hour of racing, followed by ABC with a 1.0 for the first hour of the movie “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.” CBS and Univision tied for third at 0.9, CBS for the first half of the movie “Front of the Class” and Univision for its first of three hours of “Sabado Gigante,” with NBC fifth with a 0.5 for a repeat of “Mercy.”

Fox led again at 9 p.m. with a 2.5 for more NASCAR, while ABC remained second with a 1.3 for “Harry Potter.” CBS was third with a 1.2 for the second half of its movie, and NBC and Univision tied for fourth at 0.9, NBC for a “Law & Order” rerun and Univision for more “Sabado.”

At 10 p.m. NBC was first with a 1.4 for a repeat of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” with ABC second with a 1.3 for the final hour of “Harry Potter.” CBS was third with a 1.2 for “48 Hours Mystery” and Univision fourth with a 0.9 for the last hour of “Sabado.”

Fox also led the night among households with a 4.0 average overnight rating and a 7 share. CBS was second at 3.8/7, NBC third at 2.9/5, ABC fourth at 2.2/4 and Univision fifth at 1.5/3.
 
Study: Ad network usage is soaring
There's no doubt that ad networks are grabbing off an ever-growing share of online ad buys, but just how much and how quickly might appear stunning. A new study, by Adify Media, an ad network, says more than two thirds of media planners, 69 percent, now regularly use ad networks in their online buying. That figure is up 24 percent in just the last year and a half, and a big reason is cost, getting more for less. The study, done in December, surveyed 216 media folks at the nation's largest media and ad agencies: Carat, Mediavest, MPG, Ogilvy, OMD, Starcom, and Universal McCann. In a May 2008 survey, just 45 percent of media buyers were using ad networks in their buys. But cost efficiency appears to be coming at the expense of engaging creative, warns Adify. Other findings of the study: Branding has taken the place of direct marketing as the driving factor behind online campaigns, with more than 80 percent of respondents allocating half or more of budgets to branding as compared to direct.



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