Weekly Spots

POSTED: August 1, 2011

(White Plains, NY) August 1, 2011 – According to Arbitron, Detroit is the 11th largest radio market with a population of 3,824,400.

• The city name comes from the Detroit River, which in French is le détroit du Lac Erie, meaning "the strait of Lake Erie".

• Detroit fell to British troops during the War of 1812 in the Siege of Detroit, was recaptured by the United States in 1813 and incorporated as a city in 1815.

• Following the death of President Abraham Lincoln, George Armstrong Custer delivered a eulogy where he called the Michigan Brigade during the American Civil War the "Wolverines”, which is now the name of the mascot of the University of Michigan.

• In 1896, a thriving carriage trade prompted Henry Ford to build his first automobile in Detroit, and in 1904, the Ford Motor Company was founded there, too. Ford's manufacturing — and those of automotive pioneers William C. Durant, the Dodge brothers, and Walter Chrysler—reinforced Detroit's status as the world's automotive capital.

• In the 1940s, Detroit's blues scene featured the likes of John Lee Hooker, but the biggest musical breakthrough came when Berry Gordy, Jr. founded Motown Records in the 1960s and launched the careers of Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Diana Ross & The Supremes, and Marvin Gaye. Aretha Franklin is another Detroit R&B star, but was on the Atlantic Record label out of New York.

• The Detroit Lions joined the NFL in 1934 while the Detroit Tigers was one of the founding teams of Major League baseball (1901). The powerful Detroit Pistons moved to Detroit in 1958, while the Detroit Red Wings started as the Detroit Cougars, but in 1932 the team unveiled its new logo, a winged wheel and the club's nickname changed to the Red Wings.

• Some of the famous people from Detroit: Ellen Burstyn - actor, Francis Ford Coppola - film director, Charles A. Lindbergh - aviator, Madonna - singer, Dick Martin - comedian, John N. Mitchell - attorney general, Ted Nugent - singer, Gilda Radner - actor, Della Reese - singer, Diana Ross - singer, Bob Seger – rock star, Tom Selleck - actor, Lily Tomlin - actor, and Danny Thomas - entertainer.

DETROIT SPOT TEN

In the Motor City last week the #1 radio advertiser was the MICHIGHAN DEPT. OF COMMUNITY HEALTH with 1,292 spots. THE HOME DEPOT was #2 with 865 spots, while KROGER took #3 with 576 ads. BORICS was #4 airing 540 announcements and GEICO rolled into #5 with 503 spots. SOUTHEAST MICHIGHAN FORD DEALERS ran 496 spots to land in #6, while CHRYSLER JEEP DODGE was #7 with 496 spots. MEIJER leaped from #25 to #8 running 455 spots and XFINITY BUNDLE connected at #9 with 452 spots. And coming in #10 FORD LINCOLN MERCURY was #10 with 443 spots.

CASINO SPOT TEN

NATIONAL STATISTICS -

Lots of people gambling these days and the national numbers on Casino time-buys are in. #1 was AMERISTAR CASINOS going all in with 1,189 spots. HORSESHOE CASINO galloped into #2 with 858 spots and HOLLYWOOD CASINO glittered at #3 airing 691 announcements. HARD ROCK HOTEL & CASINO rolled into #4 with 667 spots, while TULALIP RESORT CASINO landed on #5 with 552 spots. SANDIA RESORT & CASINO drew #7 and dealt 523 spots to take lucky #7. ISLE CASINO RACING POMPANO PARK trotted into #7 with 444 spots and FALLSVIEW CASINO RESORT held #8 with 438 spots. ROUTE 66 CASINO HOTEL was a solid #9 with 436 spots and FOXWOODS RESORT CASINO took reservations at #10 running 931 spots.

NATIONAL SPOT TEN

NATIONAL STATISTICS -

THE HOME DEPOT is back on top with 57,702 spots. GEICO fell back to #2 with 42,053 spots, while the NAB: THE FUTURE OF TV got to #3 with 26,145 spots. MCDONALD’S was #4 with 25,720 spots and FORD LINCOLN MERCURY was #5 with 25,361 spots.

Posted: August 1, 2011

CBS Corporation is a mass media giant that reaches back to the beginning of the broadcast industry. The name is derived from the initials of Columbia Broadcast System, its former name.

In 1928, William S. Paley bought the former United Independent Broadcasters Inc. and changed the name to CBS, Columbia Broadcast System. The network consisted of sixteen separate radio stations. By January of 1929, Paley had turned 16 stations into 49 stations that reached 42 cities.

On July 21, 1931, CBS experimented with W2XAB, a broadcast station, in New York City to start a television program featuring interviews, news, etc. It was a success.

By the time 1935 arrived, CBS was thriving with 97 radio stations making it the leader of the pack. The Columbia Workshop was introduced in 1936 as a way to bring the theater to radio. Names such as Orson Welles and Burgess Meredith helped make the Columbia Workshop a triumph.

The famous reporter, Edward R. Murrow, who had first joined CBS in 1935, was moved to London in 1937 to become the European Director for CBS. He would make his broadcasts from London. In 1938, the popular “World News Roundup” began airing on radio with correspondents around the world detailing critical news from different countries.

It wasn’t until 1939 that the machinery necessary for CBS Television was installed at the Grand Central Terminal with transmitters relayed to the Chrysler Building Tower. By 1941 CBS’s television station WCBW began television broadcasting for fifteen hours a week, with news as its main theme. The hours were cut to only four hours a week for the duration of World War II.

The CBS Television Network was born in 1948, and within one year, had thirty affiliate station members. On April 6, 1948, Chairman William S. Paley told the public that a television broadcast from Alvin Theater in NYC would air. This show was the first in “Tonight on Broadway”.

CBS Radio and Television become two separate divisions instead of one in 1951. That same year, CBS introduced the public to the first color television broadcast, and just days later began airing its first series in color called “The World is Yours!” On August 11, the first baseball game was aired in color between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Boston Braves.

1951 was when they introduced their timeless logo: the CBS Eye.

The very popular TV show “I Love Lucy” began in 1951 and went on to win two Emmys and Best Situation Comedy. By 1954 CBS News emerged out of the joining of CBS Radio and CBS Television by the News and Public Affairs department of CBS.

CBS Television continued and still continues to air many successful shows and news broadcasts throughout the years including “The Honeymooners”, “The Twilight Zone”, “The Dick Van Dyke Show”, “The Beverly Hillbillies”, “Gilligan’s Island”, “The Munsters”, “Guiding Light”, and the evergreen of the network, “60 Minutes.”

Today, CBS still airs some very popular shows including “NCIS”, “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”, “48 Hours Mystery”, “Big Brother”, “Hawaii Five-O” and the “Big Bang Theory”. Most people are interested in how the reinvented “Two & Half Men” comedy will continue without Charlie Sheen.

The CBS Corporation has gone through many mergers and acquisitions including the merger with Viacom back in 2000 and then becoming the CBS Corporation in 2005. CBS acquired CNET back in 2008. In 2010, CBS Corporation reported revenues of $14.06 billion with a net income of $724.20 million. They employ 25,380 people.

On Local Cable, CBS-TV did not invest a lot. They ran only 29,510 for the last 12 months. The biggest month was the start of the new season in September 2010 with 13,452 spots.

CBS owns Radio station, so of course it is part of their marketing plan. In the last 12 months they ran 128,322 spots on radio with big months in September 2010 with 38,988 spots followed by November with 29,590 ads.

On TV, CBS-TV was very aggressive with 882,450 spots in the last 12 months. The high-water mark was October with 82,405 spots on TV to promote TV.

POSTED: August 1, 2011

Sears, officially named Sears, Roebuck and Co., was founded by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah C. Roebuck in the late 19th century.

Richard Warren Sears was a railroad station agent in North Redwood, Minnesota when he received an impressive shipment of watches from a Chicago jeweler which were unwanted by a local jeweler. Sears purchased them himself, sold the watches for a tidy profit to other station agents up and down the line, and then ordered more for resale. Soon he started a business selling watches through mail order catalogues. The next year, he moved to Chicago, Illinois where he met Alvah C. Roebuck, who joined him in the business. In 1893, the corporate business name became Sears, Roebuck and Co.

The first Sears retail store opened in Chicago on February 2, 1925 in the Merchandise building (in a portion of the company's headquarters at Homan Avenue and Arthington Street). This store included an optical shop and a soda fountain. The first freestanding retail store opened October 5, 1925 in Evansville, Indiana.

From its mail order beginnings, the company grew to become the largest retailer in the United States by the mid-20th century, and its catalogs became famous for more than just ordering merchandise.

Competition and changes in the demographics of its customer base challenged the company after World War II when its rural and inner city strongholds shrank and the suburban markets grew. Eventually its catalog program was discontinued.

Sears Holdings Corporation was formed as a result of the merger between Kmart Holding Corporation and Sears, Roebuck & Company in 2005.

Sears Holding Corporation reported revenues of $43.33 billion with a net income of $133 million. Sears employs 312,000 people.

J. C. Penney Company, Inc, most commonly known today by the name JCPenney or simply Penney's runs a chain of American department stores based in Plano, Texas, a suburb north of Dallas. As of 2010, the company operates 1,106 department stores in every state and Puerto Rico. J. C. Penney also operates “catalog sales” merchant offices nationwide in many small markets.

In addition to selling conventional merchandise, J. C. Penney stores often house several leased departments such as Sephora, Optical, Portrait Studios and Jewelry & Watch repair.

J. C. Penney was founded by James Cash Penney and William Henry McManus in 1902. The original name for the store that started Penney in the dry goods business was The Golden Rule Store, owned by T. M. Callahan and Guy Johnson in Longmont, Colorado. It was later changed to J. C. Penney Company when it was sold to J. C. Penney.

By 1922, the company's oldest active private brand, Big Mac work clothes, was launched. The company opened its 500th store in 1924 in Hamilton, Missouri, James Cash Penney's hometown. By the opening of the 1,000th store in 1928, gross business had reached $190,000,000.

In 1962, J. C. Penney entered discount merchandising with the acquisition of General Merchandise Company which gave them The Treasury. J. C. Penney closed the money-losing discount stores in 1981. In 1963, J. C. Penney issued its first catalog. Today, most J. C. Penney stores are located in suburban shopping malls. In 1994, J.C. Penney stores began offering their products online through jcpenney.com.

In 2010, J.C. Penney’s was deemed the exclusive retailer of Liz Claiborne and Claiborne. In 2011, they brought in the Modern Bride collection.

Most recent stats show J. C. Penney with revenues of $17.76 billion and net income of $389 million. They have 156,000 employees.

Note: The spot counts for Sears, do not include any Kmart commercials.

On Cable, Sears ran 658,661 spots against JCPenney’s 263,204 ads, which was only 40% as many spots as Sears. Sears ran hottest in December with 86,753 spots, while JCPenney ran hot in November with 44,582 and then 42,345 in December.

On the Radio, Sears ran 482,111 ads against JCPenney’s 247,417 spots. JCPenney bought the most in December with 53,866 spots, while Sears ran the most this last May with 50,796 spots.

On TV, they are running about even with Sears at 198,644 and JCPenney at 180,466 spots. JCPenney ran the most in last December with 27,653 spot to Sears big December at 33,859 spots.

Posted: August 1, 2011

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