Sports Broadcasting Services and their Providers; What happens?

On April 8, 2020 By David SonIn Brand, Cable, Comcast, Consumer behavior, coronavirus, coverage, Distribution, Media Covergence, Partnerships & Copyright, Sports, TelevisionLeave a comment

One would think because of the Coronavirus pandemic, people would more likely be inside spending time watching T.V. Although this seems logical, because many of these people are becoming unemployed, they are more likely to cut cable to save extra money. The FCC has already issued warnings to distributors and local T.V. stations about renewed contracts.

As this crisis ensues, cable operators and programmers have called a temporary truce to set aside questions regarding refunds on undelivered programming, such as the NBA, NHL, Olympics, and many other big television marketing programs.

Distributors agreed to pay programmers a certain amount of money based on the shows the are supposed to deliver. Many sports media channels are the reason consumers pay big bucks too, so a resolution must be brought up.

“CBS is not going to pay for this season and have no financial recourse at all,” Pilson said. “The networks are not paying for games that aren’t delivered. They may have a formula where certain monies change hands and eventually they’ll get credit for that.”

AS the NCAA basketball tournament has been cancelled, the effect chain goes further than professional sports. The colleges that had a contract with programmers that are now diminished as well with the fees.

Professional sports on the other hand, may have a more difficult time with the contracts they had with distributors. Professional sports like, NBA and MLB don’t have clear provisions on how to demand refunds in case of a unavoidable cause. While there are mentions of natural causes such as tornados, hurricanes, or what have you, there is no specifications for pandemics.

NFL is working on renewing TV rights with their partnerships, like ViacomCBS, NBCUniversal, Disney and Fox. While they are most likely to stick with these distributors until 2022, there are programmers who are on the fringe of stealing a partnership. Companies such as Apple, Google, and Amazon are likely competitors.

These distributors payed a lot of money for these games to be broadcasted. NFL and MLB hold a lot of weight, in being able to not refund the broadcasters fully for what they have paid. Streaming service DAZN has informed leagues that it will not pay rights fees for any games that have been suspended. CBS, ESPN, and NBC all have not demanded refunds or threatened to withhold payment for games yet.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/01/coronavirus-sports-cancellations-set-up-media-fights-over-refunds.html

How Antigua and Barbuda Plan To Both Encourage and Capitalize Off Of Americans During The Covid-19 Pandemic

On April 5, 2020April 5, 2020 By Kirsten BeachIn Brand, coronavirus, Environment, Instagram, Marketing, Social Issue(s), Social Media, UncategorizedLeave a comment

It seems as though the Covid-19 pandemic will be our reality for the next few months now, and other countries (or should I say islands) are well aware of this too. So, as an effort to make Americans and other people around the world feel a little bit more secure and happy during these unprecedented times, Antigua and Barbuda created a social media campaign called, ‘Message in the Sand’.

As bored, lonely tourists in the wake of the Coronavirus crisis imagine where they’d like to be or where they might go once the green flags fly again, a pair of Caribbean destinations are using social media to send an S.O.S. to the world.

Antigua and Barbuda are islands in the West Indies that rely specifically on tourism to drive their economies–in saying that they have decided to launch this social media campaign to not only spread kindness and encourage people in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic to keep their heads up but to also encourage travelers to keep Antigua and Barbuda in mind for future trips when the pandemic subsides.

For their first post, they took to Instagram to write the message, “Be well” in the sand, followed by this caption:

𝘚𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦. .

𝘉𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘔𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 365 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮. .

𝘉𝘦 S𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘉𝘦 W𝘦𝘭𝘭. .

#𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥 #𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘶𝘥𝘢 #stayhome #staysafe

You can view each message across all of Antigua’s social media channels and interact with them as well! In my opinion, this is an incredible marketing strategy that I am interested to see whether or not it will increase tourism activity in the respective locations when people are allowed to travel freely again.

Sources: https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnscottlewinski/2020/04/05/antigua-and-barbuda-kicking-sand-on-social-media-during-covid-19/#5c1b7eec3b2d

Hundreds of Journalists Are Being Laid Off When The Public Needs Them Most

On April 1, 2020 By Kirsten BeachIn ads, Brand, Commercials, News Media, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Yes, this is, in fact, another coronavirus article–but unfortunately, it’s imperative to talk about this pandemic and the way we receive information about it.

With the Coronavirus pandemic well underway, the economic state of our country is steadily plummeting it seems. To combat the spread of the virus, our governments (both federal and state) have implemented initiatives to keep people at home and stop them from coming into work where they could potentially contract the virus and further spread it to individuals they encounter. Although in theory, this may sound like a great plan, it has been at the expense of many hardworking peoples’ livelihoods. For people who have to support themselves, their children, and/or their families during this pandemic and have gotten laid off for the sake of the virus’ spread is extremely unfortunate and upsetting.

In this specific case, I am talking about journalists who are now unemployed due to Covid-19. According to CNN,

On Sunday at least 100 people in local newsrooms in the US lost their jobs in March. By Friday, that number shot up to at least 300 people as the impact of coronavirus continues to roil newspapers and digital media companies.

While some companies, like Buzzfeed, are implementing salary reductions instead, this is not the case for many news sources/companies. And the sad, most unfortunate part about these layoffs and restructuring is that they have come at the most inconvenient time–when the public is hungry for information about the pandemic. But because of these layoffs, there are now fewer journalists to provide vital information about it. Traffic is up for many sites and TV ratings have increased as people are stuck at home watching the news, however we lack the adequate resources of journalists to provide us with accurate information on the virus. Unfortunately, all we can do is hope that our country gets back to normal in time.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/27/media/media-layoffs/index.html

Coronavirus Anxiety Causes Grocery Frenzy And Empty Shelves

On March 16, 2020March 16, 2020 By Kirsten BeachIn Brand, Consumer behavior, coronavirus, Marketing, Media Covergence, National coverage, News Media, UncategorizedLeave a comment

With the number of coronavirus cases growing by the day, anxieties have risen to new heights–causing people to take drastic measures.

As President Trump declared a national emergency last Friday, hordes of shoppers rushed to various grocery stores across the country–filling their carts completely and emptying shelves to prepare for the unknowns surrounding the coronavirus.

For many stores (such as Target and Walmart), hand soap, sanitizer, toilet paper, and other necessities like tampons and cold and flu medicine were completely sold out. People flooded stores trying to obtain some of these items only to find that they were completely cleared from shelves by other anxious shoppers around the country. Stores were not only being cleared of their resources, but they were also overwhelmed with long lines of stressed customers waiting to check out their large quantities of groceries.

“Soon after the 9 a.m. opening on Friday of the Trader Joe’s in Hoboken, N.J., a line of nervous customers stretched along the block in the rain, waiting to pick through the mostly bare shelves inside. There was no chicken available, nor garbanzo beans, coffee or chips. The store was restocking regularly, but many of its registers were unstaffed” (NY Times).

Unfortunately, this grocery store frenzy has gotten so bad to the point where stores are beginning to ration products and put limits on how much a customer may buy. Even online grocery shopping resources have been affected by the coronavirus panic–making it that much harder to obtain groceries in a timely manner if using those grocery shopping sites.

I wonder how much longer this panic will last, and if we will ever be able to buy more toilet paper.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/nyregion/coronavirus-panic-buying.html

Why Food Giant ‘Unilever’ Has Vowed To Stop Marketing Its Ice Cream Products To Children

On March 9, 2020March 9, 2020 By Kirsten BeachIn ads, Brand, Content Restriction, Data, Marketing, Uncategorized

Food giant, Unilever announced recently that they were going to change the way they market their products to children due to the rising childhood obesity rates in America. According to their company,

“By the end of 2020, we will stop marketing and advertising foods and beverages to children under the age of 12 in traditional media, and below 13 via social media channels…We’re implementing strict controls concerning the placement and content of our ads, and we won’t use any influencers, celebrities or social media stars who primarily appeal to children under the age of 12.”

The company plans to implement a “Responsibly Made For Kids Promise” specifically for their ice cream business that ensures all ice creams will be responsibly communicated, responsibly sold, and responsibly developed. What this means is that they are shifting their advertising to speak to parents and caregivers – the people they feel should be the decision-makers when it comes to their children having a treat. In addition to that, they are going to sell their products with a “Responsibly Made For Kids” logo to further communicate their promise, and by the end of 2020 they are going to make sure that every ice cream in the kids’ range will have no more than 110 calories and a maximum of 12g of sugar per portion.

By making these positive changes, Unilever strives to promote a company that is not only transparent with their consumers but who also puts children at the forefront.

Source:

https://www.unilever.com/news/news-and-features/Feature-article/2020/why-we-are-changing-the-way-we-market-products-to-children.html

Clearview of Your Personal Life

On February 26, 2020 By David SonIn Artificial Intelligence, Brand, Data, Media Covergence, News Media, Regulation, Social Issue(s), TechnologyLeave a comment

Hoan Ton-That an Australian techie and onetime model is inventing technology that would end the ability to walk down the street anonymously. Providing this technology to local cops in Florida, F.B.I. and Department of Homeland Security

In this article by Kashmir Hill, a company called Clearview by Hoan Ton-That can disclose any personal information of you. His company has created an app where anyone can take a picture of a person and upload it. The app will then retrieve all the online data of that person using facial recognition. The database for this facial recognition can be anything a person has ever posted online, including Facebook, YouTube, and even Venmo. This technology goes beyond anything any of the Silicon Valley giants or United States government has ever created.

Federal and state law enforcement officers have used this app to help solve cases of shoplifting, identity theft, credit card fraud, murder, and child sexual exploitation cases.

This technology is often frowned upon though, because of its invasion of privacy. Google’s chairman in 2011 said this piece of technology was the only thing they refrained from because it could end up harming society more than it is helping. San Francisco has barred police from using this technology.

This company has made ways through law enforcement. More than 600 law enforcement companies have used this technology without publicly announcing that they have been using it. Clearview is also refraining from disclosing this list of companies who are using it.

This technology goes beyond identifying criminals. The computer code has been analyzed by The New York Times and it has been discovered that this technology is being linked with augmented-reality glasses. Users could identify anyone through wearing these pair of glasses. This would be including an activist in a protest, an attractive classmate, anyone. This would not only reveal their name, but also where they live! It can reveal a lot of information about that person, even what they did and who they know.

Cancel Culture–Harmful or Effective in Holding Our Fellow Celebrities Accountable?

On February 10, 2020February 10, 2020 By Kirsten BeachIn Brand, Commercials, Diversity, Instagram, Media Covergence, Music, News Media, Social Media, Television, Twitter, Uncategorized, YouTubeLeave a comment

For those who aren’t as familiar with what cancel culture is, canceling and cancel culture have to do with the removal of support for public figures in response to their objectionable behavior or opinions (which can include boycotts or refusal to promote their work.)

In late 2018, comedian Kevin Hart publicly stated he would be hosting the 2019 Oscars; an announcement that triggered intense public scrutiny regarding homophobic jokes and tweets he had previously put forth. While the backlash against Hart came from many different directions, a majority derived from the social media platform, Twitter. Although ‘cancel culture’ is not a new phenomenon, it is evident that it was brought to the forefront of American pop culture after Hart’s “canceling,” and has continued since.

With this idea of “canceling” in mind, the question many have is whether or not canceling is harmful or effective in holding these celebrities and public figures accountable.

Last night during the Oscars, Joaquin Phoenix gave a discursive speech in which he both criticized “cancel” culture and advocated for social justice while accepting the Oscar for best actor for his performance in “The Joker.” In his speech he said,

“I have been a scoundrel all my life, I’ve been selfish. I’ve been cruel at times, hard to work with, and I’m grateful that so many of you in this room have given me a second chance,” Phoenix said. “I think that’s when we’re at our best: when we support each other. Not when we cancel each other out for our past mistakes, but when we help each other to grow. When we educate each other; when we guide each other to redemption.”

Like Joaquin, many believe that cancel culture is merely harmful to society and those individuals being “canceled,” but, according to the article on Daily Toreador, many also feel that it’s unfair that celebrities can seemingly “get away” with hurting other people or making damaging and harmful statements, even after being canceled for a little while. At the same time, however, it is both concerning and detrimental that as a society, we perpetuate a culture of simply canceling someone instead of encouraging them to be better and holding them accountable in a constructive way (similar to what Joaquin said.)

I think we can all agree that public outrage against celebrities is expected and sometimes even justified in some cases, but is it possible that sometimes cancel culture can go too far? What do you think?

Sources:

http://www.dailytoreador.com/opinion/opinion-what-another-hostless-oscars-says-about-cancel-culture/article_b66c13f6-4ba0-11ea-ae0d-9fe86d0364ea.html

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/joaquin-phoenix-criticizes-cancel-culture-in-oscars-acceptance-speech/

The Commercial That Stole The Show On Football’s Biggest Night

On February 4, 2020February 4, 2020 By Kirsten BeachIn ads, Brand, Commercials, Data, Google, Marketing, Media Covergence, News Media, Search Engine, Social Media, Sports, UncategorizedLeave a comment

It’s quite evident that football’s biggest night is the perfect opportunity for companies to persuade all who are watching to utilize/buy their products through the use of captivating commercials. In saying that, this year’s Superbowl had commercials that ranged from happy, to humorous, to serious/emotional, to completely strange and seemingly pointless.

To get a professional opinion on these commercials, KDKA sat down with Shannon Baker–the president of a local ad agency to get her opinion on which spots were the winners and the losers on football’s biggest night. Baker is president of the Gatesman Agency in Pittsburgh and has 18 years of experience in the ad business (so she knows a good bit about how companies and clients can accurately convey a message that resonates with audiences and further persuades them to either adopt an idea, utilize a software, or buy a product.)

According to Baker, she believes that if you craft a story that is short, tight, and memorable, it is going to make people feel something–which is critical to the success of the commercial.

She says Google set the bar very high with its emotional “Loretta” ad, and many others would agree. Millions of people were raving about the heartfelt tearjerking ad that was based on a true story. For those who didn’t get to see the commercial, it begins with a man typing into Google “how to not forget,” and then asking his Google Assistant device to show him photos of his late wife named Loretta. The man continues to ask Google to remember certain things about her, like the fact that she hated his mustache, loved going to Alaska, and always snorted when she laughed. In the end, Google recites all of the things the man had asked the device to remember. It closed out with the man saying, “remember I’m the luckiest man in the world.”

Overall, Baker and many others believe that Google set the bar very high with their ‘Loretta’ ad because not only did it tug on the emotional heartstrings of audiences, but it also marketed the product in a simple yet compelling way.

Sources:

Pittsburgh Ad Agency Says Which Super Bowl Commercials Were The Most And Least Impressive

https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/unruly-ranks-google-tearjerker-loretta-as-the-most-effective-ad-of-super-bowl-2020/

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/entertainment/a30751020/super-bowl-google-commercial-ad-true-story/

Penn National Gaming Purchases Stake in Barstool Sports

On January 29, 2020 By Jared RohlfingIn Brand, Media Covergence, News Media, SportsLeave a comment

Penn National Gaming recently purchased a stake in the online media sports site Barstool Sports. The purchase will make Penn the new official gaming partner for the next forty years. According to CNN, Penn purchased a thirty six percent stake in Barstool worth 163 million dollars. The report states that the company will increase their stake in the company in the next three years. Penn National Gaming operates dozens of casinos and racetracks around the country so their presence in the gambling business is already quite substantial. The Supreme Court in 2018 struck down the longtime ban on sports betting so the purchase overall makes sense and is not totally unexpected. Many companies in the industry are now beginning to expand their operations as sports betting is projected to hugely increase in its exposure nationwide.

Barstool Sports in recent years has become a juggernaut in the sports media industry, becoming one of the dominant forces in the online community with their blog posts. In their article covering the purchase by Penn, CNN made a great point that the purchase will begin to blur the line between sports media companies and the sports betting industry. I found this article in particular to be interesting as I’ve witnessed over the past few years Barstool’s rise from an unknown blog site to one of the biggest media companies in the sports industry; specifically in its appeal to the younger demographic. I also found it incredibly interesting that Penn will be Barstool’s official betting partner for the next forty years. This substantial amount of time, which I’m sure was done solely for legal purposes, shows that Penn sees tremendous value in Barstool as a brand because of this huge commitment.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/29/media/barstool-penn-national-gaming/index.html

Current Issues In Media Management

Category: Brand