B&C News | B&C Blogs | B&C Events | B&C Jobs | SubscribeToday's Top Stories#1Rentrak, MasterCard to Merge Data The deal is meant to improve media planning and buyer analytics. The credit card
company will provide information from billions of consumer payment transactions and the digital measurement and research company will combine that with its TV set-top box viewing pattern data.Why This
Matters: The collaboration will allow local and national advertisers and agencies, networks and TV stations to plan, buy and sell TV programs on the basis of consumer product consumption trends in
categories including retail, telecom, grocery, entertainment, travel and QSRs.2 Takes: B&C | MediaPost#2WPP Partners With Microsoft on Digital Ad Front Under the terms of the three-year deal,
Microsoft Advertising Exchange will become the exclusive third-party digital ad exchange for Real Media Group, a division of 24/7, WPP's digital ad technology company. Clients represented by WPP
agencies will be able to advertise on Microsoft-owned websites and Microsoft and its ad partners will have access to content publishers that partner with WPP agencies.Why This Matters: As The New York
Times reports, Microsoft has been trying to increase its share of the digital ad marketplace to compete with companies like Google. The partnership with WPP will add digital premium ad space for
Microsoft partners, and allow Yahoo and AOL access to WPP brands. Microsoft has a previous deal with Yahoo and AOL that allows the three companies to sell remnant inventory for each other.A Take:
NYT#3Band-Aid Offers Innovative Way to Market Bandages to Kids The Johnson & Johnson brand is now marketing the free Band-Aid Magic Vision app for iPhones and iPads that is linked to Muppets
Band-Aids. The New York Times reports that after a bandage has been applied, with the app in place, children can point mobile devices at a bandage and a Muppet character will appear to emerge onscreen
from bandage. The app is from JWT New York in conjunction with mobile technology company Qualcomm.Why This Matters: Says Joanna Peña-Bickley of marketing services agency Ryan Partnership, the app
can "create an emotional bond between parents and children and the Band-Aid." It's also much cheaper than running a full-scale national media campaign and the results could eventually bring in a
better return on investment. Also, it's a clever, direct way to cheer up kids.A Take: NYT#4 Starcom's Ad Spending Boycott of Dish Due to Ad Skipping Technology (MediaPost)#5 Can Motorola's Cloud-Based
DVR Kick-Start TV Everywhere? (paidContent)MBPT SpotlightShorter-Arc Serialized Dramas Could Be a Boon to AdvertisersBy John Consoli When Fox premieres its drama The Following, starring Kevin Bacon,
on Monday nights next spring, the series will run for 13 consecutive weeks with first-run episodes, airing in a shortened season arc.Fox Entertainment president Kevin Reilly is a big fan of shorter
seasons for serialized drama series, but says the studios have not been that eager to do 13 weeks or less in season arcs. From the studio's perspective, serialized dramas don't do as well in
syndication, so they want to sell as many episodes of a series as they can for broadcast airing; if a series works, they want to get that entire 22- or 24-episode order each season.But Reilly believes
22 episodes, and repeats in between, has become too good a recipe for viewer fatigue: episodes are skipped and ratings suffer. Plus, the broadcast landscape is filled with examples of serialized drama
series that start off with sizable audiences and wind up being cancelled because, along the way, the networks have to mix in those repeats that interrupt the flow and turn viewers—and
sets—off. Putting a serialized drama on hiatus, while waiting for the back order of episodes to be completed, can and has also doomed serialized dramas.So, Reilly is hoping to start out by
airing shorter-arc serialized dramas in the spring and running them straight through with fresh episodes. Fox did just that this spring with Touch, which performed relatively well, averaging 8 million
viewers and a 2.3 18-49 rating."The days of the 'one size fits all' model in broadcast television are over," Reilly says. "With series more procedural like House or Bones, you can do the 22 episodes
and mix in repeats, but it is no longer working with serialized dramas."How does Fox's Major League Baseball coverage affect the shorter-arc mix? And why does Reilly believe this arrangement will help
increase viewership in spring?For more, click HEREFates & Fortunes• Initiative is restructuring its Innovations team through two promotions and a new hire. The media agency is instituting a dual
lead management team for its West Coast office. SHANE RODACK has been promoted to director of Innovations and co-lead of the Los Angeles office. SHANT TUTUNJIAN has joined Initiative also as director
of Innovations and co-lead of the LA office. KENTON LANGSTROTH was promoted to Director, Innovations for the New York office. Rodack will continue to spearhead projects for Hyundai, Kia, Vizio and
Carl's Jr., working with the agency's digital and traditional media teams. Tutunjian will focus on Lionsgate, among other clients. Langstroth will oversee the Innovations staff in New York and focus
on Hasbro, Arby's and The Art Institute, among other accounts. All three will report to Dave Rosner, executive VP, director, Innovations, who heads the unit in North America. Tutunjian was most
recently at E!, where he worked with the marketing solutions team to develop integrated sponsorships. Prior to that, he operated his own consultant company. He previously held marketing positions at
Stardoll and at the Game Show Network.• JACK BAMBERGER was named president, digital in North America, at media agency MEC. He joins MEC from Dentsu America, where he was chief consumer
engagement officer. He succeeds Carrie Frolich, who was head of MEC Interaction, who left the agency last year. Prior to Dentsu, Bamberger was chief client officer at appssavvy, and before that was
executive VP of Katalyst, where he was hired by co-founders Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg to create and implement the company's digital strategy.• MATT MacDONALD and RYAN KUTSCHER were named
co-chief creative officers of JWT's New York office. MacDonald was most recently executive creative director at JWT, New York, while Kutscher joins the agency after freelancing there since earlier
this year. Prior to that, he was creative director at Crispin Porter + Bogusky. Kutscher was hired by Jeff Benjamin, chief creative officer, JWT North America, with whom he worked at CP&B. Benjamin
joined JWT in January.• DENNIS WOODSIDE was named new chief executive of Motorola Mobility following the company's acquisition by Google. He replaces Sanjay Jha, who resigned. Woodside has been
with Google since 2003, and was most recently president of Google Americas.• CINDY HOLLAND was promoted to the newly created position of VP of original content at Netflix. In that role, she will
be responsible for the acquisition and launch of all Netflix original series. Holland was most recently VP of content acquisition in the U.S. JASON ROPELL was named the new VP of content acquisition
at Netflix, succeeding Holland. He was previously head of Latin America/Canada content acquisition.• JANET BALIS was named to the newly created position of publisher of the Huffington Post Media
Group. She was most recently senior VP and head of sales strategy, marketing and partnerships for AOL. In her new role, Balis will oversee all advertising and marketing strategy for the Huffington
Post. MORITZ LOEW was named senior VP sales at Huffington Post Media Group. He was most recently chief agency officer at NBC News Digital.What They're WatchingBROADCAST RATINGSFinales Power Fox to
Tuesday VictoryFox was able to win Tuesday as the first night of American Idol's two-night finale fell from last year to hit its lowest-rated performance finale ever. Glee's third season ender was up
from last week, but down from last year's finale. ABC's Dancing With the Stars finale put the network in second place (but first in total viewers). The two-hour finale was down in double-digits from
last spring to its lowest-rated finale. NBC, in third, saw America's Got Talent slip slightly from last Tuesday, but the show beat both the Glee finale and Dancing With the Stars in the 9 p.m. hour.
The network also aired the Dateline: 20th Anniversary Special. CBS aired all repeats for fourth, while The CW aired The L.A. Complex, which was steady.For more, click HERECABLE RATINGSNBA Playoffs,
'Pawn Stars' on Top Monday NightThe 9:43 p.m. NBA Playoffs Round 2 was the night's highest-rated cable program, earning a 3.7 adults 18-49 rating. The 7 p.m. game, with a 1.8 rating, was the No. 2
cable program of the night. Pawn Stars tied with a 1.8 and was the highest-rated non-sports program at both 10 and 10:30 p.m.For more, click HEREOvernight Ratings: Tuesday, May 228
PMNETSHOWA18-49RatingTOTAL VIEWERS(MILLION)FOXAMERICAN IDOL4.214.4UNIVISIONUNA FAMILIA CON SUERTE1.84.5NBCAMERICA'S GOT TALENT (R)1.65.3ABCDANCING WITH THE STARS (R)1.38.8CBSNCIS: LOS ANGELES
(R)1.17.5CWHART OF DIXIE (R)0.30.99 PMNETSHOWA18-49RatingTOTAL VIEWERS(MILLIONS)NBCAMERICA'S GOT TALENT3.29.3FOXGLEE3.07.6ABCDANCING WITH THE STARS2.916.8CBSNCIS (R)1.69.2UNIVISIONABISMO DE
PASIÓN1.64.2CWTHE L.A. COMPLEX0.20.410 PMNETSHOWA18-49RatingTOTAL VIEWERS(MILLIONS)ABCDANCING WITH THE STARS3.418.1CBSNCIS (R)1.89.3NBCDATELINE NBC1.65.1UNIVISIONLA QUE NO PODÍA
AMAR1.64.0TOMORROW'S BIG RATINGS STORIES TODAY• 'The Middle' Lives Up to Its NameThis ABC sitcom about a working-class family from a small fictional town in Indiana, costarring Patricia Heaton,
ends its third season at 8 p.m. Wednesday with neither a ratings bang nor a whimper. All telecasts of the series, including repeats, average 7.2 million viewers, similar to the 7.3 million it posted
last season, ranking it ninth among all broadcast network comedies. Playing to a bit of an older audience, it averaged a 2.2 18-49 rating, up from 2.1 last season, to rank it among the top half of all
broadcast sitcoms at 14th. The series was called upon to open ABC's Wednesday night comedy block and has performed well in that role this season, particularly in the second half of the season when it
grappled with Fox's American Idol. It will get a chance to do it all again when it returns this fall for a fourth season in the same time period, after what should be a perfectly average
finale.• A Growing 'Modern Family' in Season ThreeBased on the personal lives of series creators Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan, this ABC sitcom, featuring not only an ethnically-mixed
family, but also a family with a gay male couple raising a child, grew its audience this season while again pushing the TV envelope with its storylines and forthright dialogue. The Emmy-winner,
starring Ed O'Neill, Sofia Vergara, Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell, Eric Stonestreet and Jesse Tyler Ferguson, averaged 10 million viewers this year for all episodes, including repeats, up slightly from 9.6
million it posted last season. In terms of viewers, it was the fifth most-watched sitcom on television, and in the 18-49 demo, it averaged a 4.0, up from a 3.8 last season, to rank it third among all
sitcoms. In a testament to just how acclaimed, groundbreaking and successful the series has been, several new sitcoms next season will be based around same-sex relationships. Modern Family will
conclude its season head-to-head with the second hour of Fox's American Idol finale on Wednesday at 9 p.m., but expect the series' avid fans to still tune in in droves.• In Case You Haven't
Heard: 'American Idol' Winner Announced WednesdayAll the singing is finished, along with the millions in fan voting to decide the victor in the 12th season finale of (still) TV's most popular
competition show. Phillip Phillips and Jessica Sanchez will just have to wait through the live telecast starting Wednesday at 8 on Fox, same as the more than 20 million viewers expected to tune in,
until Ryan Seacrest says something like, "And the winner is.........to be announced right after this message." Meanwhile, questions abound. Will Jessica win, and break four straight years of guy-Idol
dominance? Also, will all the judges be back next season? And will the series recover a bit from its 2011 downturn, when it lost about 25% in viewers and 30% in the 18-49 demo? The series did still
average 17.8 million and a 5.4 demo number for its competition shows and 16.4 million and a 4.8 rating for results shows this season. But here's the final question: Will Idol be able to top its finale
ratings from last year, when it drew 29.2 million viewers, which was up from 24 million in 2010? Either way, we’re expecting it’ll be the most-watched regular primetime series episode this
season.Was this copy of Media Buyer & Planner Today forwarded to you?Start your own subscription by clicking here.Media Buyer & Planner TodayEditorial TeamJohn Consoli, Contributing EditorPhone:
201-314-0424 | Send EmailJon Lafayette, Business Editor, Broadcasting & CablePhone: 917-281-4735 | Send EmailBrian Moran, Managing Editor, Broadcasting & CablePhone: 917-281-4708 | Send EmailB&C News
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