MODERATE HOLIDAY SPENDING INCREASES PROJECTED

The National Retail Federation has released its forecast for Holiday 2024, and they expect a new record spend of $980-$990 billion. This represents an increase of up to 3.5% versus last year, despite headwinds like a shorter Holiday shopping period (five fewer days than last year) and the economic impact of Hurricanes Helene and Milton. E-commerce will be the primary driver of retail growth, with deep discounts and buy-now-pay-later services like Affirm and Klarna offering additional financing options. Those installment plans are expected to drive $18.5 billion in online spending—an 11.4% increase versus 2023. (NRF: Oct 15, 2024)

MLB POSTSEASON HAS BEST VIEWERSHIP IN YEARS

So far, Major League Baseball’s postseason has been a winner for the networks that carry the games. ESPN had its highest Wild Card round viewership ever, with the series averaging 2.8 million viewers—up 25% versus last year. Fox/FS1’s airing of NL Division Series delivered just over 4 million, the best performance since 2014.  Game 5 of the AL Division Series on TBS was the most watched Divisional Series Game airing in the day game time period on any network in 17 years. Okay, that last one was soooo baseball.  “He’s the #1 pitcher among lefties with beards on partly cloudy Tuesday afternoons in June.” Whatever, we’re baseball fans. Bring on a Subway Series! (Sports Illustrated: Oct 15, 2024)

LOCAL ADVERTISERS CAN STAND OUT AMID BIG POLITICAL SPENDS

In her article, Alaina Donnellon, SVP of Local Media at Active International, offers her expert advice on how local advertisers can adjust their strategies to ensure that their messaging cuts through the noise of political advertising. In these final weeks before Election Day, this will be even more important—and not only in the battleground markets you might expect. (TVNewsCheck: Oct 16, 2024)

THE WIDENING GAP BETWEEN STREAMING TV SEASONS

Does it feel like you’re waiting longer than ever for your favorite streaming shows to return with new episodes? That’s because you are. Season Three of The Mandolorian ended in April 2023 and isn’t expected back until 2025. Also due in 2025 is Netflix’s Stranger Things, whose most recent episodes dropped in July 2022. Why does it take three years to make eight episodes? There are a few reasons, among them the scale and scope of programs like House of the Dragon and the fact that streamers often take longer to decide on renewal—choosing to analyze the voluminous viewer data before giving a green light. Luckily, there’s still a lot of great content on good ol’ broadcast TV that follows the traditional 22-episodes-a-season model.  (Vulture: Oct 10, 2024)

THIS WEEK IN VIDEO HISTORY

October 16, 1923 –Walt and Roy Disney founded the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio. Walt passed away in 1966 and Roy in 1971—just months after the opening of Orlando’s Walt Disney World, which Roy oversaw and made his late brother’s final project a reality. One can only imagine how they’d react if they could see their company’s size and technology today, 101 years after its inception.