META Meta Platforms Inc

By Mike Shields 

TV FRENEMIES: Viacom, Turner and Fox are working together to take on Google and Facebook? Not exactly. But as marketers look to make TV advertising work more like digital advertising, i.e., lots of data and tech that can be used for better ad targeting, ad buyers have complained some TV networks are starting to act like walled gardens--meaning they hoard their data within their own walls, much like they accuse Facebook and Google of doing. That makes it harder for the advertiser that want to reach specific audiences, such as new parents or people in the market for a new car, to do so on a bunch of TV networks at once. "As demand for this kind of targeting has grown, adoption has been limited," said Sean Moran, Viacom's head of sales, marketing & partner solutions. Thus, Viacom, Turner and Fox have joined forces to launch OpenAP, a web interface where marketers can crunch data from various sources for ad targeting on all three companies' networks, CMO Today reports. The idea is that they'll be able to do so with more scale and efficiency. In other words, the antiwalled garden. It's a pretty intriguing move, but one that won't have as big an impact as it could until all the TV giants (paging NBCUniversal and Walt Disney Co.) get on board.

AD BLOCK PLUS ONE: Media companies continue to dislike ad-blocking companies, since the products generally threaten their ability to make a living. The Interactive Advertising Bureau hardly minces words, labeling the companies extortionists. Google, for one, has -- reluctantly -- paid to have some of its ad products deemed "acceptable," but most media companies don't have Google's deep pockets. So you'd think any reputable media brand or marketer wouldn't want to have anything to do with Eyeo, owner of popular ad-blocking tool Adblock Plus, even if Eyeo invited the company to be on an Acceptable Ads Committee. Yet among the companies listed on the committee, which claims to be focused on figuring out the best web ads for consumers and publishers, are executives from Dell and Conde Nast, publisher of Vogue, Business Insider reports. This seems a less-than-desirable association. In fact, after BI's report came out, a Conde representative tried to downplay the committee slot, telling Ad Age, "Conde Nast is committed to participating in every important industry conversation, but we oppose the practices of Eyeo." This makes you wonder if the folks from Eyeo maybe jumped the gun on their PR strategy.

THIS IS US: There was a time when single copies of US Weekly, Star, National Enquirer and other celeb-filled weeklies flew off the shelves and captured the pulse of American gossip, thriving off every move Britney, Bennifer and Brangelina made. But that was about 10 seasons of "Keeping up with the Kardashians" ago. The gossip landscape has shifted to the web and social media, and print publications have struggled. In a sign of either strength in numbers or a desperate move for survival, American Media, which publishes the National Enquirer and runs gossip site Radar Online, has agreed to acquire US Weekly from Wenner Media for $100 million, CMO Today reports. While this move helps Wenner pay down some of its debt, the plan for American Media is to tap into US Weekly's broader advertiser base while ratcheting up its digital reach. But you have to wonder, wasn't there a cheaper way to do that? Over time, US Weekly and any other weekly magazine is going to see its ad pages decline. "They'll be able to quickly achieve significant backroom savings, but there is a continued downward pressure on premium advertising rates," said David J. Fishman, a media consultant. Meanwhile, upstart gossip websites can build audiences with a handful of young editors skilled in using social media and sell ads using programmatic technology.

GENIUS MOVE: Big digital technology companies often express consternation when asked whether they want to be defined as media companies. They typically like the neutrality, not to mention the profit margins and valuations associated with tech companies. So it's a bit unusual that the company Genius, known for its ubiquitous song annotations, has been firing engineers, de-emphasizing its tech platform, and pivoting toward the media business and more specifically making money from video, the Verge reports. Not even six months ago, Genius co-founder Ilan Zechory talked on the WSJ Media Mix Podcast about creating a " universal platform of knowledge" employed by distribution platforms and publishers across the web. Now the company is focusing on video and the crowded video advertising landscape. The Verge notes this isn't the first time Genius has pivoted and rearticulated its mission, with mixed results. Often, that's the unfortunate symptom for many startups that raise lots of venture capital--and Genius has raised more than $50 million to date.

Elsewhere

The U.S. Justice Department has charged two members of Russia's Federal Security Service with hacking Yahoo in 2014, which led to a massive consumer data breach. [ WSJ]

Meanwhile, hackers were able to post pro-Turkish messages to Twitter via a third-party app. It isn't yet clear how many accounts were involved. [ WSJ]

President Donald Trump's new budget is expected to feature major cuts to public TV, but organizations such as PBS and NPR may be able to survive on donations from corporate sponsors. [ Washington Post ]

Meanwhile, NPR says its ratings have never been better, as the broadcaster reached 37.5 million listeners last fall, up 4 million from the same period a year earlier and representing an all-time high. [ NPR]

Nielsen has failed to report overnight TV ratings for the past several days, rankling TV executives, after a power outage hit the research firm's main facility in Florida last weekend. [ Deadline]

Time Inc. has had decidedly mixed results launching digital-first publications that aren't tied to its magazine brands, exemplifying the challenges faced by many legacy media companies in prioritizing resources and finances while also trying to reach younger consumers. [ Digiday]

Google is rolling out Family Link, new software designed to give parents more control of their kids' tablet- and mobile-screen time. [ WSJ]

Forget financial-crisis coverage or interviews with presidents. The Wall Street Journal's chat with the dad whose BBC interview was interrupted by his two kids, creating a viral video sensation, yielded the Journal's most-trafficked story in its history. [ Adweek]

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 16, 2017 08:07 ET (12:07 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.