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sales@spotsndots.com Copyright 2020.The Daily News of TV Sales Thursday, July 2, 2020

NISSAN, HYUNDAI, PORSCHE ALSO SEE DECLINES U.S. vehicle sales in Q2 for General Motors, Toyota Motor and Fiat Chrysler plunged by more than 30% as the coronavirus caused consumers to stay at home, and dealerships and factories to shutter, CNBC reports. The hefty declines are in line with what Wall Street expected. Nissan Motor, Hyundai Motor and Porsche also reported significant drops in sales between April and June compared with a year earlier. U.S. vehicle sales were forecast to fall by about 34% in the second quarter, according to auto research firms Edmunds and TrueCar’s ALG. Q2 is expected to be the worst of the year for the automakers due to the pandemic. Year over year, GM reported a 34% decline in sales in Q2, while Fiat Chrysler said vehicles sold fell 38.6%. Toyota said sales dropped 34.6% during the three months ended Tuesday compared with a year ago. Both GM and Fiat Chrysler said full-size pickup truck sales performed exceptionally well, and overall sales showed signs of recovery, especially deliveries to retail customers. “GM entered the quarter with very lean inventories and our dealers did a great job meeting customer demand, especially for pickups,” Kurt McNeil, GM’s U.S. vice president, sales operations, said in a release. “Now, we are refilling the pipeline by quickly and safely returning production to pre-pandemic levels.” Jeff Kommor, head of U.S. sales for Fiat Chrysler, said retail sales to consumers have been rebounding since bottoming in April. However, fleet sales to governments and businesses have been canceled or delayed. “This quarter demonstrated the resilience of the U.S. consumer,” Kommor said in a release. “Retail sales have been rebounding since April as the reopening of the economy, steady gas prices, and access to low-interest loans spur people to buy.” Fleet sales were expected to come to a grinding halt for many automakers during the first half of the year as corporate customers cut costs and some struggled to stay afloat. That includes rental cars, highlighted by the bankruptcy of Hertz. Automakers across the U.S. and other countries had to end vehicle production due to the pandemic. They’ve also cut or deferred executive and white-collar salaries and withdrawn guidance for the year. Other automakers reporting June or Q2 sales include Nissan, which reported its Q2 sales declined 49.5%. Hyundai’s sales fell 23.7% to 141,722 units compared with a year ago, including a 21.9% slide in June. Volkswagen posted a roughly 29% decline in sales to less than 70,000 vehicles sold during Q2. And Porsche, a unit of VW, reported its sales fell 19.9% to 12,192 vehicles, helped by a 30.1% increase in its 911 models. Mazda, meanwhile, said its Q sales were down 9.6% to 61,199 vehicles sold.

GM, TOYOTA, FIAT CHRYSLER AUTO SALES TANK IN Q2ADVERTISER NEWS Macy’s reported a loss of $3.58 billion in the first quar-ter as the retailer saw its sales nearly cut in half as stores were forced to close due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. “While our stores are re-opened, we expect that the COV-ID-19 pandemic will continue to impact the country for the remainder of the year,” CEO Jeff Gennette said in a state-ment… Albertsons, Target and Southeastern Grocers are among the latest major companies that have stopped buying ads on social media, a move the grocers say is intended to fight the continuing spread of hate speech and misinforma-

tion on online platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Coca-Cola, Her-shey, Conagra and Unilever have also pledged to suspend social media advertising over similar concerns... L’Oreal Group is fol-lowing Estee Lauder into livestream shop-ping as the beauty industry adapts marketing during the coronavirus pandemic. Shopping

platform Livescale has benefited from e-commerce partner-ships, and livestreams often include tutorials, giveaways and shipping deals... NPC International, the largest Pizza Hut franchisee, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The compa-ny operates more than 1,200 Pizza Hut restaurants and 400 Wendy’s… McLane, the largest wholesaler to the conve-nience store industry, and United Parcel Service, the larg-est commercial delivery service in the U.S., have teamed up with TuSimple to launch a self-driving freight network. The partners are looking to begin running driverless networks next year and have the service operating nationwide by 2024… Retailers only paid about 60% of the rent they owed to landlords in April and May. As stores begin to reopen with limited customer capacity, retailers are looking to renegotiate lease terms based on the ongoing realities... Stein Mart’s Q1 showed the strains of COVID-19 as losses hit $65.7 million, compared to net income of $4 million in the same period last year. All of the discounter’s stores reopened by mid-June. CEO Hunt Hawkins said in a press release that sales have exceeded expectations and traffic has steadily increased. However, he added that they remain below last year’s fig-ures and the company “expect[s] it will take some time” for sales to recover... Kroger Health, the healthcare division of The Kroger Co., says the FDA has granted Emergency Use Authorization for the COVID-19 Test Home Collection Kit. The kits will allow users to collect a sample for testing for the virus from home, with the help of a health professional via telehealth. Users will then ship their sample to a labora-tory for processing, with results coming back in 24-48 hours. The kits are currently available only to Kroger’s frontline as-sociates, based on medical need... Walmart is getting into the movie business — sort of. It’s partnering with Tribeca Enterprises to temporarily turn 160 of its U.S. store park-ing lots into contact-free drive-in movie theaters. Beginning in August and running through October, Walmart will roll out the drive-in experience for a combined 320 showings.

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

BIG STREAMERS HIKE NATIONAL TV SPEND Video streaming services have increased their national TV ad spend by 145% during the pandemic, to reach a collective $185 million, according to a new, previously internal VAB analysis of iSpot data. That’s one of numerous COVID-driven streaming trends in a new report from VAB, most of which aggregates research from various sources conducted during the past several months, MediaPost reports. Amazon Prime Video spent the most on national TV between March 16 and May 24 of this year: $63 million, up

136% versus the comparative period in 2019. Hulu was a fairly distant second, at $38.5 million, but it had the largest percentage increase: 216%. They were followed by Apple TV+ ($37.5 million); AT&T TV ($30 million); Quibi ($24.7 million); Pluto TV ($24 million); Peacock ($21 million); Disney+ ($16.6 million); and Sling TV ($12 million). Leading streamer Netflix spent just

$8.8 million — and that was an increase of 138%, reflecting mounting competition and Netflix’s global expansion push. HBO Max also spent relatively little through May, even though it launched on May 27: $5 million. Only CBS All Access and Tubi TV spent less: $3 million and $1 million, respectively.

THIS AND THAT The valuation analysts at Kelley Blue Book report the estimated average transaction price for a light vehicle in the U.S. was $38,530 in June 2020. New-vehicle prices increased $1,141 (up 3.1%) from June 2019, while rising $160 (up 0.4%) from last month. Supply and inventory challenges remain a concern across many parts of the country and in high-demand segments, due to factory shutdowns this past spring... One-quarter (26%) of influencer marketers in the U.S. say they will use the channel less after the COVID-19 pandemic ends, according to a May survey from influencer marketing platform Linqia. This is higher than the share of practitioners who plan to use influencers more after the outbreak, with 21% falling into this group. Half (53%) say there’ll be no change in their use of influencer marketing.

BUMPY ROAD AHEAD FOR PREMIUM AUTO SALES? The luxury-vehicle market could face tough times in coming months. So says Charlie Chesbrough, senior economist for Cox Automotive, a company that owns Autotrader, Kelley Blue Book, Dealer.com and various other automotive digital providers. Virtually all vehicle segments are struggling because of COVID-19’s effect on the economy and auto industry in particular. But Chesbrough says premium segments may suffer more in the weakened economy as affordability becomes a larger consumer issue, even for the affluent. “High-priced products are going to be vulnerable,” he said during Cox Automotive’s online mid-year market review. “People are looking to save money, not spend it.” The U.S. entered 2020 with a vibrant economy. Then the pandemic hit. Public-health orders in many states closed non-essential businesses, including car dealerships. U.S. unemployment in May was a disturbing 13.3% compared with 3.6% same-time 2019. The stock market has fallen. “We entered the year with this incredible economy but it’s different today,” Chesbrough says. “People will be looking for different things,” including less expensive vehicles. Michelle Krebs, Cox Automotive’s executive analyst, agrees. “Surveys indicate luxury buyers are really pulling back,” she says. “This will be a segment to watch.” People at the other end of the socio-economic spectrum may face hard times financing and buying any vehicle, even inexpensive models, says Jonathan Smoke, Cox Automotive’s chief economist. For now, “credit is easy to get as long as your FICO score is above 620,” he says, noting that in recent months financial institutions have curtailed subprime lending. “People with low FICO scores may not be able to buy a vehicle,” Chesbrough says That could hurt subcompact CUV and car sales, he adds.

NETWORK NEWS CBS competition series Tough As Nails, hosted by Phil Keoghan, debuts Wednesday at 8 PM (ET). Competitors will be tested for their strength, endurance, agility and mental toughness in challenges that take place in the real world. In the series premiere, 12 hard-working Americans take on navigating a wheelbarrow and test their brick-laying skills to win the opportunity to choose their teams... CBS will honor comedy legend Carl Reiner with a colorized hour-long special. The Dick Van Dyke Show – Now In Living Color! A Special Tribute To Carl Reiner, will feature two colorized back-to-back classic episodes of the beloved 1960s series tomorrow at 8 PM on CBS. Reiner died of natural causes Monday at the age of 98... NBC has given its first series order to a 2020 pilot, picking up sci-fi drama Debris, starring Jonathan Tucker and Riann Steele, from Almost Human creator J.H. Wyman, Legendary Television and Universal Television. Debris was one of two pilots NBC put on a series pickup track earlier this month. The other, drama La Brea, received a six-script order and will be in consideration for a straight-to-series order later this year.

7/2/2020

Conan O’Brien

They say muscle weighs more than fat. During

the pandemic I’ve gained nine biceps.

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

NATIONAL TV SINKS 23% IN MAY AD REVENUES National TV networks witnessed a sharp 23% decline in TV advertising to $716.4 million in the month of May — with sports programming ad revenues down a massive 66% — according to Standard Media Index. Taking sports out of the picture presents a slightly better result, with national TV ad revenues down 15%. Sports TV advertising lost ground due to the pausing of NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball, as well as NASCAR races and two big horse-racing events — the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes.

Sports TV generated just $52.8 million dollars. That comprised 8% of all national TV ad dollars, compared to 17% in May 2019. For the month, all cable TV networks were 24% lower to $446.6 million in national TV ad revenues, while broadcast TV networks were down 23.9% to $234.9 million. Not all national TV media dropped: national TV news ad revenue grew nearly 10% to $103.9 million — which accounted

for 15% of all national TV revenue, up from 11% in May 2019. Also, for the second month in a row, national TV syndication grew — up 2.6% for May to $34.9 million.

NEW FURNITURE ORDERS PLUNGE 61% IN APRIL New orders for furniture took a huge hit in April, falling 61% compared with April 2019 and down 52% from March levels. That’s according to the latest Furniture Insights survey of residential furniture manufacturers and distributors from High Point accounting and consulting firm. All survey participants reported a decline in April orders. With the full impact of COVID-19-related shutdowns throughout April, that left year-to-date orders down 21% compared with 2019’s first four months. April shipments were half those of April 2019, and also off 50% from March, when shipments were down 11% compared with March 2019. April’s decline brought year-to-date shipments down 15% from levels at the same point last year. March year-to-date shipments were down 4%.

7/2/2020

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HOW TO TARGET FANS OF PRO BASKETBALL If the NBA basketball season happens this summer as experts predict, fans will have to tune in on TV to watch their favorite players. More than 69% of pro basketball fans typically watch at least three hours of TV every day. Of course, they’re 102% more likely than others to say sports are their favorite programs, but they’re also 66% more likely to enjoy awards shows and 58% more likely to watch late-night talk shows. Many of pro basketball fans’ purchases within the next year will be related to sports. They’re 115% more likely than others to pay for sports programming on cable TV, satellite TV or the internet; 84% more likely to purchase sports memorabilia; and 53% more likely to buy a new video game system (possibly for playing sports games). A quarter will also enjoy watching the game on the new high-definition TV they plan to purchase. Their other planned purchases for the upcoming year may surprise you. Pro basketball fans plan to pay for manicures and pedicures (25.9%), cosmetics (24.6%) and lottery tickets (26.2%). They’re also 44% more likely than other consumers to purchase an e-reader. Keep in mind that just over 40% of these fans are female. Nearly 55% of pro basketball fans say TV offers the best coverage for the sports and teams they care about. Last year, 64.2% of these fans were swayed by TV commercials. Not only that, they’re 20% more likely than others to believe TV has the most creative advertising. Source: AudienceSCAN from AdMall at SalesFuel.

NPD: SPENDING SHIFTS AS CONSUMERS GO OUT Spending by U.S. consumers is changing as more Americans leave their homes and go into stores, Chain Store Age reports. That’s according to The NPD Group, which said that while the importance of enhancing a homebound lifestyle remains, consumers are increasingly showing interest in products with a more personal focus. Week-over-week dollar gains that began early for categories like small appliances and toys began to expand into more discretionary categories such as apparel and beauty in April and May, which pulled even more of the consumer’s spending in the first half of June, according to The NPD Group/Point-of-Sale Early Indicator Report. “Right now, retail is reflecting the consumer’s need for normalcy in a sea of change,” said Marshal Cohen, said NPD’s chief industry advisor, retail. “Purchases are becoming less about making our extended time at home more pleasant, and more about finding ways to enjoy ‘getting out’ and once again expressing yourself as an individual in public.” In May, more than two-thirds of consumers said they would be comfortable with shopping in a store once stay-at-home requests related to the pandemic were relaxed, and nearly one in ten said going shopping in a store was the first thing they planned to do. While sales of apparel, footwear, beauty, and fashion accessories are still down compared to last year, year-over-year losses have been softening since mid-April.