Viacom completed its upfront advertising sales, getting double-digit price increases, according to sources familiar with the situation.
Despite falling ratings across the industry, Viacom was able to maintain volume levels by doubling commitments across digital social and advanced advertising products. Viacom’s Vantage, which targets ads based on data, doubled its upfront sales.
Overall, this years upfront has been strong, with most networks getting double-digit price increases on a cost-per-thousand viewers basis.
Over the past few years, Viacom was hit particularly hard by the trend away from traditional cable consumption on networks like Nickelodeon as young viewers in particular turned to digital platforms for entertainment.
Over that time, ad revenue at Viacom have been falling on a quarterly basis. But this year, the company has said it expects it ad revenue to turn positive in the second half and in the upfront that was reflected by some of the company’s strongest price increases in years.
Viacom has also been one of the leaders in pushing advanced advertising using data to better target commercials, with products including Viacom Vantage, Viacom Video and ramping up its influencer, brand content, shopper marketing and experiential capabilities.
Earlier this year Viacom acquired Pluto TV, an ad-supported free streaming television service, giving its a huge amount of over-the-top streaming ad inventory that can be targeted like digital advertising.
Viacom has been adding channels and content from its media networks to Pluto TV, including permanent channels Nick Pluto TV and Nick Jr. Pluto TV, and pop-up channels Dora TV (Dora the Explorer) and Totally Turtles (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), move aimed at reaching young cord-cutters and cord-nevers. Viacom is also aggressively expanding Pluto TV's footprint globally.
Original source: Broadcasting & Cable.
From Variety:
Viacom Sees Flat Volume in TV’s Upfront Market
Viacom relied on Madison Avenue’s interest in new forms of video advertising to drive activity in the industry’s annual “upfront” market, but captured a level of advance commitments that was similar to last year’s benchmarks, a signal that the current ad market is proving more robust for broadcast TV than it is for cable.
The New York owner of Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and MTV secured a volume of advance ad commitments that was flat with last year’s, according to a person familiar with the matter, even as it saw media buyers double the commitments they made to the company’s digital and social outlets as well as to its growing advanced advertising business.
Other cable programmers have experienced similar dynamics. WarnerMedia, the owner of cable outlets like TNT, TBS and CNN, saw advertisers spend approximately the same amount on traditional linear TV as they did last year, according to a person familiar with the situation, even as they increased the emphasis they placed on new forms of content. Each year during TV’s “upfront” market, U.S. TV networks try to sell the bulk of their commercial inventory for the coming programming cycle.
The results emerge as many of the broadcast networks have seen surges in demand for their primetime schedules, with NBC seeing a volume increase of approximately 8%; CBS notching a volume increase of between 5% and 6%, and Fox capturing an increase in volume of between 8% and 9%. Disney has been taking more time to sell its inventory, according to executives familiar with negotiations, with its recent acquisition of the bulk of the former 21st Century Fox creating new complexities for its sales process.
Viacom faced some challenges in its sales process, according to people familiar with this year’s talks. Advertisers rushed to some of TV’s biggest venues for audience, ready to pay sizable price increases in exchange for getting ads in front of the medium’s bigger audiences. But recent declines in viewership – the result of audiences migrating to new streaming-video outlets – mean the cost of reaching viewers is increasing. As rates increased, advertisers had less to spend after doing business with the owners of the most successful content, and some of that dynamic has crimped cable’s ability to keep ad money flowing.
Even so, Viacom was able to secure double-digit increases in the rate it charged to reach 1,000 viewers, a measure known as a CPM that is integral to these annual discussions between Madison Avenue and TV networks. The company notches some of its highest CPM rates in over a decade, according to the person familiar with the matter.
Viacom highlighted a suite of “advanced” advertising capabilities, including the opportunity to use data to reach narrower cuts of demographic with commercial schedules. the company also spotlighted growing initiatives that make use of influencers, branded content and experiential efforts. Viacom for the first time sold advertising for its advertising supported streaming-video outlet, Pluto TV. Advertisers showed interest in the venue, particularly in some recently launched channels on the service that are based on the company’s popular cable outlets.
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From Adweek:
Viacom Finishes Upfront With Double-Digit CPM Gains as Potential CBS Merger Talks Loom
New acquisition Pluto TV helps drive advanced advertising demand
Its long-term future as a standalone company is up in the air, but Viacom has finished its upfront business, crossing the finish line with double-digit CPM (cost per thousand viewers reached) increases, according to a source close to negotiations.
The company secured its highest rate of change in CPMs in more than a decade. Volume was flat this year.
During last year’s upfront, the company secured CPM increases in the mid- to high single digits for its non-kids networks and double-digit growth among its Nickelodeon networks. It had been Viacom’s strongest upfront pricing increases in a decade.
Viacom wrapped its upfront negotiations as CBS is reportedly preparing an offer to re-merge with it, which would be the third time in the last three years that the companies have considered such a move.
Buyers were interested in Viacom’s newest upfront offering, Pluto TV, the free ad-supported streaming platform that it bought earlier this year for $340 million.
As part of the company’s advanced marketing solutions (AMS) portfolio, Pluto drove shifts to Viacom’s premium digital video inventory.
The company doubled its upfront sales year-over-year for data platform Vantage.
In April, Viacom CFO Wade Davis told Adweek that boosting Viacom’s AMS business was “at the core” of its Pluto acquisition, which will triple Viacom’s premium, full-episode addressable video supply next year.
The addition of Pluto strengthened ad sales chief Sean Moran’s “Viacom Everywhere” push this upfront, Moran told Adweek earlier this year.
“When you put together our linear offerings, our OTT offerings and Pluto, we’re able to reach over 50% of all 18-34s in the country,” said Moran, adding that Viacom’s reach extends to 80% when adding in its social capabilities via the Viacom Digital Studio and influencer marketing company WhoSay.
In the upfront, Moran also leveraged Viacom’s big purchases last year: WhoSay’s influential capabilities, experiential via VidCon—the world’s largest conference for YouTube and other online video producers—and branded programming through multichannel network AwesomenessTV.
Viacom held five separate lavish upfront events annually as recently as three years ago, but they have all been eliminated; this was the first upfront season that did not kick off with Nickelodeon’s usual event. Instead, the company has switched over to intimate dinners with agencies, during which the network presidents, CEO Bob Bakish and Moran woo buyers.
Most other networks and media companies have already completed their upfront business, including The CW, CBS, WarnerMedia, Fox and NBCUniversal.
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From MediaPost:
Viacom Upfront: Double-Digit Percentage CPMs, But Volume Flat
While deeply involved in a merger talks with CBS, Viacom has finished its TV upfront advertising deal making -- across all platforms -- posting low double-digit percentage pricing gains with flat overall upfront revenue.
According to media executives, Viacom maintained upfront dollar volume across its networks/platforms by “doubling” media agency deals across its digital, social and advanced advertising businesses.
Viacom took in 12% to 14% average gains in CPMs -- the cost per thousand viewers -- across its media networks, which includes MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, VH1, BET and Paramount Network.
For its fiscal year 2018 ending last September, Viacom posted a 4% declined ($157 million) in U.S. domestic advertising revenues to $3.6 billion, due to lower linear TV viewership.
Typically, anywhere from 65% to 75% of a TV network’s advertising inventory is sold in the upfront advertising sales period that occurs before the September-to-August TV season.
Viacom representatives had no comment regarding upfront activities.
In fiscal 2018 year, Viacom’s Advanced Marketing Solutions -- which comprises addressable ad inventory and Viacom brand solution across platforms -- pulled in more than $300 million in full-year revenues.
Deal-making for Viacom during this upfront period also included higher revenue for Advanced Marketing Solutions, influencer, branded programming, shopper and experiential campaigns.
CBS and Viacom set a August 8 deadline for their merger talks, according to reports.
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