Outdoors, Indoors – There’s Summer Fun Everywhere

2. Outdoors, Indoors – There’s Summer Fun Everywhere • Everything about summer is appealing – nature is alive and green and the sun is warm, providing the perfect landscape and climate for endless fun, family gatherings and opportunities to relax. • Some might think watching TV is the antithesis of summer instead of being physically active, enjoying the outdoors and exploring new places, meeting new people and broadening one’s experiences. • Actually, they are very complementary. TV is an excellent resource to discover new adventures and to pique one’s curiosity and it is a calming activity at any time during a summer day.

3. TV Is Where To Be During Summer and Every Season • According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2017 American Time Use Study, watching TV continued to be the #1 leisure activity for all persons 15 years of age and older – or 2.8 hours/day EVERY DAY OF EVERY SEASON. • New research (November 2018) from GfK MRI revealed 48% of TV time is spent co-viewing and almost half (49%) of all adults 18+ are watching TV with at least one other person more than they did during 2016. • Multiple research sources indicate people pay more attention to TV commercials than any other form of advertising. By simply being what it has always been, TV is an invaluable education and consideration resource for today’s consumers.

4. More TV Inventory for Summer Retailers • The Summer Olympics, the FIFA World Cup and that no-holds-barred “sporting event” known as politics are missing from the summer 2019 schedule, providing more opportunities for you to sell TV time and for advertisers to reach larger audiences. • The Women’s World Cup (June 6–July 7) will be the only event of this type, and it should certainly be on your radar and your prospects’ and clients’, as the popularity of this global competition has increased significantly. • Of course, as during any summer, baseball will be the dominate sports programming as well as the major golf and tennis tournaments, which are specifically useful for advertisers trying to reach upscale, higher-income consumers.

5. Very Interesting Summer TV Viewing Habits • According to a survey of Gen Z and Millennial consumers from Fuel Cycle, a consumer-insights platform, 73% of respondents said they watch more TV June through September, because they travel more and have more free time. • Another 78% said they like to watch TV during the summer to view shows, or episodes of shows, they may have missed. • Their favorite summertime TV program genre was comedy, at 39%, and although most, or 31%, of respondents said the watch TV alone, the other 69% watch with others: family, significant other, friends and pets.

6. Summertime Is for Entertainment • Summertime is concert, festival, fair – and blockbuster movie – season, providing many opportunities for local advertising when they are scheduled in your market as well as promotional tie-ins for local advertisers. • Major movie releases, such as Avengers: Endgame, Toy Story 4, The Lion King, and The New Mutants (X-Men) will result in big box-office attendance and ticket sales. • Major musical artists will be filling the nation’s arenas, festival sites and theaters and summer is the time for music, folk, food and beverage festivals and many state fairs.

7. Pack Your TV with Your Summer Travel Luggage • Summer is the traditional vacation/road trip season, but people won’t be leaving their TVs at home. The ubiquity of TV beyond the living room and the power of mobile devices will allow many people to take their favorite programs with them. • The out-of-home (OOH) viewing of TV content continues to increase, especially among younger audiences. According to Nielsen, 53% of total summer 2018 OOH linear TV sports viewers were 18–34. • Their average age was 38 and a 62%/38% split of men to women. Plus, their average household income was $67,000. Most of their OOH TV viewing was in groups of 3 or more.

8. OOH TV’s Advertising Effectiveness • Research from Engagement Labs, an industry-leading data and analytics firm, found OOH/TV viewing is even more social than at home, as OOH/TV viewers are less distracted, as they watch at home while enjoying their hobbies or even working. • Engagement Labs’ research also revealed OOH/TV viewing typically generated more conversations about advertised brands, significantly lifting brand awareness and recall. • Although there are some restrictions to watching TV content away from home via streaming bundles, such as Sling TV, YouTube TV, etc., most subscribers are still able to access a substantial number of channels and programs when traveling.

9. A Moderate Economy May Be Better for Summer Retailing • Although 2018 was a good to above-average year for retail, various sources forecast slightly less overall growth for 2019. For example, the National Retail Federation is still forecasting a 3.8% to 4.4% increase in 2019 retail sales, or $3.84 trillion. • To be successful (and confident), retailers need a stable economy, and a forecasted moderate GDP increase of 2.9% will actually be more beneficial, as it should keep inflation low. • In addition, employment gains are still substantial and the stock market has been performing better during January and February than Q4 2018.

10. Preparing for Economic Challenges • Deloitte’s 2019 Retail Outlook report provides some strategic insights and recommendations for retailers as they head into 2019, such as understanding their customers better and focusing on their prime products and/or services. • In an age of many delivery options, consumers rate convenience as a major factor when determining where to spend their money, which means convenience must be an integral component of retailers’ customer relationships. • Retailers must also be bold and inspired to look beyond their comfort zone, adding new products/services to attract new audiences and/or forging partnerships and joint business opportunities.

11. Emerging Technologies Will Enhance TV Advertising • Most TVs in homes and being sold are smart, or connectable, devices and they generate non-personally identifiable information (PII), exclusive for each household, allowing the placement of commercial messages to different TV devices. • DAI technology makes it possible to send different commercials/messages to different households. Although DAI is available today, it isn’t yet ready for broadcasters and advertisers’ industry-wide use. • DAE technology adds a technical layer to an advertiser’s pre-existing spot, which generates a “popup” (for want of a better term), allowing a viewer to provide contact information, for example, to receive a coupon for the featured product.

12. It’s Time for Local TV News To Evolve • Local TV news programs are typically the “crown jewel” of any station’s programming slate, attracting the largest audiences and top advertising rates. • Unfortunately, the structure and presentation of local news has remained largely unchanged for decades and is not compatible with how many viewers, especially young adults, search and access news. • With fewer big TV events scheduled for summer 2019, it is an excellent opportunity for local stations to start the process of evolving their news programming and try some new ideas to reach a wider audience.

13. Ideas to Enhance Local TV News To Attract Younger Viewers • According to a February 2019 report from Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and Northeastern University’s School of Journalism, local TV news needs to reinvent its “storytelling” method. • The report suggests local TV news, among other recommendations, would benefit from breaking the production mold, hiring an animator, hiring Gen Z and Millennial journalists and presenting stories in authentic ways. • The report also included a survey of 613 adults 18–49 and they said the strongest quality of TV news programs is “feeling comfortable and familiar,” at 75%, and “has a news team that is warm and inviting” closely followed, at 74%.

14. Attract the Community and Consumers with Summer Promotions • With a “Special Day USA” promotion, retailers can capture those traveling through the market, honoring/highlighting a state or city with special merchandise, social media engagement and a discount for travelers from that location. • One or more retailers can host and sponsor a street party and fair in a neighborhood that could be selected via an online contest. Erect a large tent and invite a few food trucks and street performers to participate and capture it all on social media. • Stores can host one or more Gen Z Days, inviting small groups of high school and/or college undergraduates to a retail learning experience, such as learning inventory management and customer service, with lunch, a gift and/or coupon.