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sales@spotsndots.com Copyright 2020.The Daily News of TV Sales Wednesday, February 10, 2021

ONLINE RATE TRIPLE THAT OF PHYSICAL RETAIL The surge in pandemic-fueled online shopping has created a new urgency to solve a decades-old problem: returns. Companies such as Walmart and Amazon.com are telling customers to keep unwanted items, The Wall Street Journal reports. Some retailers are introducing virtual dressing rooms and made-to-measure clothing so that shoppers keep more of what they buy. Others are scoring shoppers based on their return rates, much the way credit-ratings firms tally consumers’ creditworthiness. Behind the push is a painful economic reality of e-commerce. The share of online purchases that are returned averages 30% or higher, depending on the category, three times the rate in physical stores, according to industry executives. “There was a huge shift to online shopping, and the numbers won’t go back to where they were before the pandemic,” said Oliver Lange, who runs H&Mbeyond, the brand’s innovation lab. Consumers got comfortable buying everything from groceries to makeup online, as brick-and-mortar stores temporarily shut and anxiety mounted about spending time indoors. In a recent survey by technology company Pitney Bowes, 42% of consumers said they plan to shop even more online once the pandemic ends than they do now. That shopping shift is placing more importance on solving a problem that dates to the early days of online shopping. Free shipping and other accommodating return policies have gotten consumers used to ordering multiple sizes and colors and returning what they don’t want. The number of e-commerce packages returned in 2020 rose 70% from 2019, according to Narvar, which processes retail returns. One big reason is improper fit, executives say. For a typical retailer, every $1 million reduction in returns can translate to $500,000 added to the bottom line, according to Navjit Bhasin, the chief executive of Newmine, which makes software that helps retailers understand the reason for returns. “Consumers are looking to recapture some of the magic that happens when you walk into a store and can try things on,” said Raghav Sharma, a co-founder of Perfitly, a tech company that powers virtual fitting rooms for retailers. Replicating the in-store experience online is tricky, industry executives said. The technology is still nascent, customers don’t always measure their bodies accurately, and they can get annoyed if the process is too long and cumbersome.

SELLERS TRY TO LIMIT RETURNS OF ONLINE PURCHASESADVERTISER NEWS The 56 Super Bowl LV advertisers generated 6.31 billion TV impressions, 26 million earned online views and 63.95 billion social impressions, according to Ad Age research conducted with iSpot.tv. Mountain Dew captured the largest “share of voice” (21.78%) with John Cena urging viewers to send tweets guessing the number of bottles shown in the ad, while Amazon Echo garnered (13.95%) for its humorous spot. Jeep ranked in third place (10.64%) for its “The Middle” spot featuring rocker Bruce Springsteen... Second-hand clothing platform Poshmark appears well-positioned to grow its business fueled by consumer behavior that focuses on value, online shopping and sustainability. Poshmark, with

its “asset light” business, has more than 30 million active users who spend an average about 27 minutes per day on the app... Walmart is adding an eight-pump fuel station and a convenience store in the parking lot of a Supercenter in Sacramento County in California. The concept is part of a broader company strategy to make shopping at Walmart more convenient for its customers. Walmart began piloting the c-store/gas concept in 2017 at a location

in Arkansas and another in Texas… Burger King is running a pilot of Royal Perks, an app-based loyalty program, in Los Angeles, Long Island, Miami, New Jersey and New York City. The program allows members to earn 10 “crowns” for every dollar spent at the chain, which can be redeemed to upsize orders or get free food… Walgreens has teamed with Uber in a four-market pilot program to get people to the retailer’s pharmacies and clinics to receive their COVID-19 vaccines. Uber will give free rides to people with vaccine appointments who live in underserved areas in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston and El Paso, Texas, starting as soon as next week… Walmart and its suppliers will soon begin using reusable plastic containers from IFCO Systems to package produce for delivery to local stores. The retailer struck a seven-year agreement with IFCO for the containers, which can be reused up to 100 times before being recycled.

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

AVAILS KOLD News 13 in Tucson, Ariz., has an immediate opening for a Regional National Sales Manager to lead our national and political sales efforts. Candidate must possess strong leadership, highest level of customer service and sales skills, along with a proven track record of success with negotiating and servicing national agencies. Achieving digital and broadcast sales objectives, continuously building relationships, communicating clearly and concisely, accurate forecasting,

budgeting, developing and executing a strategic plan is critical. Come join our dynamic sales team! Apply at KOLD News 13, a Gray Television station. EOE. Join our winning team in the Mile High City – DENVER! Nexstar Media seeks a dynamic Local Sales Manager to lead a team of winning Account Executives at Fox 31 and Colorado’s own-2 (CW). 3-5 years of television sales management experience is preferred. 5+ years television sales experience mandatory.

Experience working in duopoly environment a plus! Top candidates will have excellent motivational, leadership and forecasting skills, along with a proven track record of rate integrity and winning new business. CLICK HERE for more information or to apply now. EOE. WPLG-TV, the ABC affiliate in Miami-Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has an opening for an experienced Account Executive. The ideal candidate will have in-depth knowledge of television and digital, with proven success in cross-platform sales. We’re looking for someone who is creative, with the drive to develop new business as well as grow revenue on existing accounts. You will need to be goal-oriented and client-focused, with the ability to create campaigns and merchandize results. Send cover letter/resume to aprice@wplg.com. EOE. SALES POSITIONS available NOW! We have immediate openings for self-starters who flourish in a sales environment. We seek executive-level individuals who want to become a part of our team and join us in our dynamic sales organization. Existing client list available, prior broadcast sales experience including with Advertising Agencies preferred. Comprehensive training, exciting earnings potential, and a simply fantastic company to work for. Apply at jobs@frontrangetelevision.com or call (307) 277-7888 to apply NOW! Equal Opportunity Employer.

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THIS AND THAT Americans expect the state of their finances to mend significantly in a year, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Its January Survey of Consumer Expectations found households’ expected level of spending a year from now surged to 4.2%, the best reading since June 2015... Jeopardy! remained syndication’s top show in the third week of Ken Jennings’ guest-hosting stint, inching up 2% to a 6.0 live plus same day household rating, according to Nielsen Media Research, to lead all of syndication and the games in the week ended Jan. 31.

SUPER BOWL VIEWING DOWN 9%; STREAMING UP A mostly lopsided Super Bowl LV witnessed a sharp decline of 9% on CBS to a Nielsen-measured 91.6 million viewers. That’s the lowest viewing for the game since 2006, Television News Daily reports. A year ago, Fox aired the game between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs and earned 100.5 million viewers. Although traditional TV viewing was down, CBS says it gained streaming viewers, soaring 65% to 5.7 million viewers in average minute Nielsen-measured viewers over 2019. Fox was at 3.4 million streaming viewers last year, according to the network. The total audience for the big game (for CBS TV networks and all its related streaming platforms) was 96.4 million, down 6% from Fox’s total audience a year ago, at 102.1 million. Total audience results came from CBS and Fox, respectively. The decline was largely due to the lopsided 31-9 win by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers over the Kansas City Chiefs. This year’s game was the lowest viewership for the Super Bowl since 2006, when ABC earned 90.8 million viewers for that game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Seattle Seahawks.

NETWORK NEWS The CW has ordered a pilot for Naomi, an Ava DuVernay project based on the characters from DC. Naomi follows a teen’s journey from her small town to the heights of the multiverse. When a supernatural event shakes up her hometown, Naomi sets out to uncover its origins. Meanwhile, the CW has also ordered a pilot for The Powerpuff Girls, about disillusioned twentysomethings who resent having lost their childhood to crime fighting. It is based on the original Cartoon Network animated series. And last but not least, the CW is going straight to series with The 4400, about 4,400 people who vanished without a trace over the last hundred years and return in an instant, having not aged a day and with no memory of what happened to them. The 4400 previously went for four seasons on USA Network, premiering in 2004... ABC is rounding out its recurring cast for its new Katey Sagal-starring series Rebel. Mary McDonnell, Adam Arkin, Matthew Glave and Jalen Thomas Brooks have joined the cast of the series inspired by the life of Erin Brockovich. Rebel centers on Annie “Rebel” Bello (Sagal), a blue-collar legal advocate without a law degree who cares desperately about the causes she fights for and the people she loves... The doors of Cloud 9 will close for the final time next month. NBC has set at 8 PM Thursday, March 25, for the one-hour series finale of its hit comedy Superstore. The network announced in December that the series would end with its current sixth season and a total of 113 episodes. The cancellation followed the exit of star America Ferrera earlier in the season. The series, set in the fictional big-box store Cloud 9, also stars Ben Feldman, Lauren Ash, Colton Dunn, Nico Santos, Nichole Sakura, Kaliko Kauahi and Mark McKinney.

2/10/2021

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

THE MOST WANTED VALENTINE’S DAY GIFT IS... Experiences are out. Food is in. That’s according to a consumer survey of Valentine’s Day shopping and spending trends by Offers.com, which found that while previous years’ spending and plans revolved around experiences, 2021 is the year of food and staying in. Sixty-two percent of respondents said they are planning for a night in compared to last year when the top plan was going out/having an experience. And last year’s top gift — experiences — is taking a back seat this year to food (29%) and other physical gifts, including flowers or plants and

jewelry (both at 16%). Nearly half (48%) plan on exchanging gifts. Walmart (53%) and Amazon (52%) are the top retailers when it comes to Americans’ Valentine’s Day shopping plans, followed by Target (30%). The survey also found that 69% plan to celebrate Valentine’s Day with their partner and one in three will plan to celebrate with their children. The youngest demographic surveyed (ages 18 to 24) is the most likely of all the

age groups to celebrate with friends (30%). Chocolate and chocolate-covered strawberries, the survey found, are top Valentine’s Day treats.

U.S. JOBS MARKET SHOWING SIGNS OF LIFE The number of help-wanted ads returned to pre-pandemic levels in January, particularly among industries that have weathered the pandemic relatively well, a sign that hiring could pick up from its sluggish pace at the start of the year, The Wall Street Journal reports. Available jobs on job-search site Indeed were up 0.7% at the end of January from Feb. 1, 2020, according to the company’s measure of job-posting trends. The number of postings to the site has grown since hitting a low in May, though the pace of new openings has slowed in recent months, Indeed said. Industries that recovered quickly from the initial shock of the pandemic have led growth in job openings, said Jed Kolko, chief economist at Indeed. Those industries — such as warehousing, construction and delivery services — have held steady over the course of the pandemic.

2/10/2021

Offers.com survey

Walmart (53%) and Amazon (52%) are the top retailers

when it comes to Americans’ Valentine’s Day shopping

plans. Target is third (30%).

MONDAY NIELSEN RATINGS - LIVE + SAME DAY

STUDY: ANTENNA PENETRATION GROWS 38% YOY The picture of TV consumption – platforms and content, traditional and streamed, live linear and S/AVOD – is incomplete without capturing the ongoing, fast-growing and potentially disrupting role of over-the-air (OTA) access to and viewing of TV content. According to Horowitz Research’s State of OTA 2020 study, two in five (40%) TV content viewers 18+ report owning an antenna, up from 29% on a year-over-year basis. With Nielsen estimating that there are 121 million TV households for the 2020-2021 TV season, this translates to approximately 48.4 million households with an antenna. Demographically, the data show large increases in antenna penetration among Black households (YOY 27% to 39%), among White, non-Hispanic households (25% to 43%), and importantly, among 18- to 34-year-olds (20% to 42%), a 110% increase year over year. OTA viewers are largely not OTA-only viewers, Horowitz found: OTA viewers frequently combine their antenna usage with MVPDs and/or streaming services. Antenna users in the State of OTA survey spend 6.4 hours a day watching TV and, on average, spend a third of their viewing time with over-the-air content. Eighty-two percent of antenna users are also streamers and 59% also subscribe to an MVPD.

CLOTHING STRUGGLES AS COVID WOES PERSIST The global apparel industry, reeling from a punishing 2020, is seeing its hopes of recovery punctured by a new wave of COVID-19 lockdowns and patchy national vaccine rollouts, Reuters reports. Some major retailers are still nursing last year’s clothes, which would have been sold off in clearance sales in normal times. In an indication of the scale of the backlog, consultancy McKinsey says the value of unsold clothing worldwide, in stores and warehouses, ranges from $168 billion to $192 billion. That’s more than double normal levels. Retailers are keeping volumes small and lead times tight, according to Ron Frasch, former president at Saks Fifth Avenue, who is now operating partner at private equity firm Castanea Partners, which works with apparel brands. Last year was dire for the clothing industry, which saw sales slide by about 17% versus 2019, according to Euromonitor. Estimates for 2021 range from pessimistic forecasts of a 15% sales drop from McKinsey, to an 11% recovery from Euromonitor.

RECORD POLITICAL ADS BOLSTERS FOX’S Q2 Fox. Corp. reported its fiscal second-quarter financials yesterday, which continued to be affected by the coronavirus pandemic but also benefited from strength at Fox News and local TV stations due to the U.S. elections. The company said its quarterly advertising revenue jumped 14% “primarily due to record political advertising revenues at the Fox Television Stations, continued linear and digital growth at Fox News Media and the impact of the consolidation of Tubi.” Like its peers, Fox took a big ad hit during Q2 of calendar year 2020 due to the pandemic.