Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Auto Ad Spend Boosts Radio Sales...

Global ad spend continued to grow as the economy improved in the first half of 2010, according to a new report from The Nielsen Company. First half advertising for all media spending grew 3.8% and that growth was fueled by a 27% increase in automotive spending, thanks mostly to General Motors which was up a phenomenal 73% over the first half of 2009. Ford and Toyota also grew their ad spending by 15% and 22% respectively. An increase of 82% for UAW Health Care Trust contributed to the first half growth in the auto insurance category. In all, auto insurance was up 22.62%. All other categories, except department stores (+5%) and restaurants (+2%) showed declines in the first six months of the year...

"Advertisers spent as estimated $54 billion during the the first half of 2010. The increase in U.S. advertising reflects a modest improvement in U.S. consumer confidence in the first half of the year, as advertisers look to highlight value deals and increase promotions in the hopes of spurring consumer spending" says Nielsen. They also issue this heads-up: "Confidence is still well below pre-recessionary levels, automotive was one of only a few bright spots in the top 10 product category ad spending." It should also be noted that in the first half of 2010, network radio was up only 0.61% from the first half of 2009. Spot radio was down 2.23% year-over-year in the first half of 2010...

Newly-released Media Monitors numbers show Geico as radio's top national advertiser today, Home Depot placed second and Satellite Auto Glass, Rite Aid & McDonald's rounded out the top 5...

10 Timeline Memories:
1.1492] Lost and Found: Christopher Columbus reaches the New World when he sights a Bahamian Island believing he has reached East Asia. Hey I get lost trying to find aisle 8 in Food Emporium...
2.1892] Pledging our love: The Pledge of Allegiance written by Francis Bellamy is first recited in unison by students in U.S. public schools...
3.1960] Put an egg in that shoe and beat it: Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev disrupts a U.N. General Assembly session by pounding the podium with a shoe during a dispute...
4.1967] Fall Classic: The 'Impossible Dream' ends. Red Sox pitcher Jim Lonborg makes a valiant attempt to pitch on two days rest but loses game 7 of the Boston-St. Louis World Series. Final score 7-2 Cardinals. I was at that game, played at Fenway Park...
5.1971] "Happy Trails": Gene Vincent dies from a ruptured stomach ulcer at 36...1997] John Denver is killed in a plane crash when he runs out of fuel. Denver was 53...1999] Basketball Hall Of Famer Wilt Chamberlain dies in his sleep of a heart attack at 72...
6.1973] Nixon picks a Ford: President Richard Nixon nominates House Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford (R-Mich) to succeed Spiro T. Agnew as VP. Agnew goes on a search for 'nattering naybobs of negativism.'...
7.1998] Tragic death: Matthew Shepard, a gay student at the University of Wyoming, dies five days after he was beaten, robbed and left tied to a wooden fence post...
8.1999] The day of six billion: The proclaimed 6 billionth living human in the world is born. This link to the World Clock will give you the latest total population up to the millisecond...
9.2000] Death on a destroyer: Two suicide bombers in an explosives-laden boat ram into the destroyer the USS Cole in Yemen. 17 sailors are killed...
10.2007] Keeping the peace: Former VP Al Gore and the U.N.'s Intergovernment Panel on Climate Change wins the Nobel Peace Prize for sounding the alarm over global warming...

Music Memories:


Commentary:
Microphone Technology & Multi-Dimensional Sound - A Symposium, hosted by Agnieszka Roginska & Jim Anderson (NYU) & James G. Williamson (AES) will be held Saturday, October 16, 2010 at James Dolan Recording Studio at the Steinhart Center at NYU. For additional information: http://www.aes.org/sections/ny/ ...

"Happy Birthday...happy birthday": Bode Miller (33), Hugh Jackman (42), Susan Anton (60), Chris Wallace (63), Sam Moore (75) & Dick Gregory (78)...

Timeline Countdown: 17 days until the World Series opener, 21 nights until Halloween, 27 days until Standard Time and 44 days until Thanksgiving...