Weekly Spots

POSTED: November 1, 2010

(White Plains, NY) November 1, 2010 - According to Arbitron Charlotte, NC is the 24th largest radio market with a population of 2,040,000. It was the 25th market a year ago.

• Charlotte is the largest city in the state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. A resident of Charlotte is referred to as a Charlottean.

• Charlotte has become a major U.S. financial center, and the nation's largest financial institution by assets, (Bank of America), calls the city home. The city was formerly the corporate home of Wachovia, until its purchase by Wells Fargo in 2008.

• Charlotte also has headquarters for Lowe's, Nucor (steel producer), Duke Energy, Sonic Automotive, Family Dollar, Goodrich Corporation, and SPX Corporation (industrial technology).

• Universities and colleges in Charlotte: the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Central Piedmont Community College, Johnson & Wales University, Queens University of Charlotte and Johnson C. Smith University.

• Professional sports in Charlotte include the Carolina Panthers NFL, Charlotte Bobcats NBA, Charlotte Checkers Ice Hockey League and the Charlotte Knights minor league baseball.

• Famous people from Charlotte: singer Wilbert Harrison, Murderdolls’ Joseph Poole, banjo player Earl Scruggs, sportscaster Jim Nantz, NBA player Phil Ford, MLB catcher Mike LaValliere, New York Football Giants’ Hakeem Nicks, Steeler kicker Jeff Reed and evangelist Billy Graham.

CHARLOTTE SPOT TEN

The #1 radio spot in Charlotte last week was GEICO with 823 units. Coming in #2 was SCOTT CLARK TOYOTA SCION running 634 spots, while JOHN SPRATT FOR US H.R. was #3 with 563 spots. FOLGER KIA was #4 airing 562 announcements and the HD DIGITAL RADIO ALLIANCE was #5 with 401 spots. WAL-MART came in #6 with 359 spots, while TIME WARNER BUNDLE scheduled 337 spots to land in #7. BOJANGLES’ ran 298 spots to come in #8 and SUE MYRICK FOR US H.R. was #9 with 289 spots. THE HOME DEPOT came in #10 with 287 ads.

MOTION PICTURES SPOT TEN

NATIONAL STATISTICS -

The #1 Motion Picture advertised on the radio last week was PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2 with 4,877 spots nationwide. JACKASS 3D was #2 with 2,051 ads, while SAW 3D was #3 with 1,685 spots. Then we drop to #4 with the UNSTOPPABLE MOVIE with 414 spots and N-SECURE secured #5 by running 256 ads. WARREN MILLER’S WINTERVENTION was #6 with 236 spots, while I WANT YOUR MONEY grabbed #7 airing 173 spots. WHAT IF… was #8 with only 93 spots and MEGAMIND 3D was spending more time on TV promoting while they ran only 34 spots on radio to come in #9. TOY STORY 3 was #10 with 20 spots.

NATIONAL SPOT TEN

NATIONAL STATISTICS -

GEICO remains the top advertiser in the land with 61,714 spots. THE HOME DEPOT is in at #2 running 33,345 spots, while WAL-MART jumps #35 to #3 with 26,611 spots. FORD LINCOLN MERCURY was #4 with 23,777 spots and MCDONALD’S was #5 with 23,266 spots.

Posted: November 1, 2010

BMW, as we know it, or as the German’s call it Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile and motorcycle manufacturing company. Founded in 1916, it is known for its performance and luxury vehicles. It owns and produces the MINI brand, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.

After World War I, BMW was forced to cease aircraft engine production by the terms of the Versailles Armistice Treaty. The company consequently shifted to motorcycle production in 1923 once the restrictions of the treaty started to be lifted followed by automobiles in 1928.

The circular blue and white BMW logo or roundel is often alleged to portray the movement of an airplane propeller, to signify the white blades cutting through the blue sky - an interpretation that BMW adopted for convenience in 1929.

BMW bought the British Rover Group in 1994 (consisting of the Rover, Land Rover and MG brands as well as the rights to defunct brands including Austin and Morris), and owned it for six years.

By 2000, Rover was creating huge losses and BMW decided to sell the MG and Rover brands to the Phoenix Consortium to form MG Rover, while Land Rover was taken over by Ford. BMW, meanwhile, retained the rights to build the new MINI, which was launched in 2001.

BMW reported 98,359 employees worldwide in 2009. That same year they reported revenues of €50.68 billion and an operating income of €289 million and profits of €204 million, or close to $308 million in that year.

In Cable, the biggest months were July (34,736), December (30,577) and March (28,324). In the last 12 months, BNW ran 234,285 spots on Local Cable.

On the Radio, BMW ran 274,649 spots with their big push in December (30,384).

On TV, BMW ran 71,816 ad in the last 12 months, with December again being the big month when they ran 9,944 spots.

POSTED: November 1, 2010

Jenny Craig through its chain of weight management centers markets a meal plan, based on the purchase of its own prepared foods, and provides advisory and motivational services to its customers.

Co-founder Jenny Craig operated a gym in her hometown of New Orleans, before joining the staff at the Body Contour fitness center in 1970. Body Contour was headed by Sid Craig, who Jenny married in 1979, and together they helped turn the struggling company into a thriving business that was reporting $35 million in sales by 1982.

That year, the Craigs sold Body Contour to a subsidiary of Nutrisystem, Inc. With the $3.5 million they made from the sale, the Craigs formed Jenny Craig, Inc. in 1983. Initially barred from entering the U.S. diet industry by a noncompetition clause, the company opened its first weight loss center in Australia.

By 1985 there were 69 Jenny Craig Weight Loss Centers in operation in Australia, and the company became one of the biggest players in that country's diet industry. That year, the Craigs returned to the United States, opening 13 centers in the Los Angeles area, which were soon followed by six additional facilities in Chicago.

By 1987, the company had established 46 centers in the United States and 114 in foreign countries; of these 160 units, 45 were franchised operations. Seeking capital from outside investors, the Craigs considered taking their company public but were discouraged by a weak market for initial public offerings. Instead investors from Bear Stearns, New York Life Insurance Co., and TA Associates invested $50 million in Jenny Craig, and two bank loans contributed another $50 million to the company's recapitalization.

In 1991, under improved market conditions, Jenny Craig was taken public, issuing 3.5 million shares at $21 per share. The offering generated $73.5 million in capital, which was used to satisfy the company's bank loans and its debt to the investment group.

When Nutrisystem reported severe financial setbacks in April 1993 and was forced to close its headquarters and 283 of its centers, Jenny Craig immediately began an advertising campaign offering Nutrisystem clients the opportunity to continue their weight loss programs at Jenny Craig at no additional service fee.

Despite the shrinking market, the Craigs continued to expand. In 1993, Jenny Craig added 100 new centers and bought back 48 franchises, bringing its total outlets to 794. The company also introduced a program for those living in areas beyond the reach of its centers, allowing customers to order products by telephone and receive direct shipments.

Nutrisystem was started by Harold Katz, the son of a grocer who received no formal education beyond high school. He decided to start a business that incorporated behavioral counseling, medical supervision, and low-calorie meals.

Katz bet everything he had that his business would succeed. He emptied his savings account, totaling $20,000, and took out a second mortgage on his house, giving him another $20,000. With the start-up capital, Katz opened his first weight-loss center in Willow Grove, a suburb of his native Philadelphia, in December 1971.

Katz's weight-loss centers underwent several name changes during their first decade, becoming Shape-Up Weight Control Centers of America, Inc. in 1976, Weight Loss Medical Centers of America, Inc. in 1977, Nutrisystem Weight Loss Medical Centers of America, Inc. in 1979, and Nutrisystem, Inc. in 1980.

Each Nutrisystem center earned its money through a set-up fee to clients and by charging each client according to the amount of weight lost. The centers earned most of their money from another source, however, recording hefty profits from the sale of private-label food, which Nutrisystem clients were obliged to purchase at least five times a week.

By late 1982, Katz, who owned 67 percent of Nutrisystem's stock, had parlayed his $40,000 initial investment into a fortune valued at more than $300 million.

Katz was immensely wealthy, a stature he relished. He moved the company into a new $2 million headquarters facility in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania and purchased his hometown basketball team, the Philadelphia 76ers.

Katz's chain operated in 50 states during the early 1980s, comprising 500 weight-loss centers, 400 of which were franchised units. Together, the centers generated nearly $50 million in sales a year, a total that was practically doubling every year.

Katz went on a buying spree that lead to major cash flow problems when some of the companies he bought went from profit centers to losers. This caused a rift between Nutrisystem and their franchisees.

Nutrisystem posted a $17.4 million loss in 1984, one year after reaping a $13 million profit. Katz, exasperated by his experience dealing with an increasingly hostile group of franchisees, looked to sell the company.

In 1986, the Katz era came to an end. Their CEO Donald McCulloch and four other executives completed a leveraged buyout of the company, a $69.5 million deal that netted Katz $37.9 million. With the new ownership, came more than 300+ legal battles with customers claiming gallstone and gallbladder problems because of the food. In 1993, the company went into bankruptcy.

As the company entered the late 1990s, the decision was made to abandon its traditional approach to offering weight-loss programs in favor of becoming an Internet-based provider of weight loss solutions. Nutrisystem sold its company-owned centers to Complete Wellness Weight Management, Inc. in 1997 and re-emerged as an e-commerce company with a new name, Nutrisystem.com, Inc. In 2000, the first full year of Internet-based sales, the company generated $20 million in revenue, a total that was nearly matched by the $14 million it lost during the year.

In 2001, Nutrisystem reached an agreement with the shopping network QVC, Inc. to sell the company's food on television, which developed into a sizeable business. By 2004, food sales through QVC accounted for more than one-fifth of Nutrisystem's total revenue.

Last year Nutrisystem made revenues of $527.73 million with a net income of $28.79 million and they have 612 employees.

On Cable, Nutrisystem seems to be in control. Jenny only ran about 23% of what Nutrisystem ran. They cleared 275,039 spots, while Jenny Craig ran 65,255 spots.

It looks like some Radio folk need to enroll in some of these programs and have some meetings with both Nutrisystem and Jenny Craig. Nutrisystem ran only 1,541 radio ads in the last 12 months, to Jenny Craig slim margin 1,689.

On TV, Nutrisystem has a slight lead with 25,162 spots to Jenny Craig’s 20,153 ads placed in the last 12 months.

Posted: November 1, 2010

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