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Research

➢ Despite pandemic-related advertising declines in 2020, spending picked up near the end of the year. Global ad agencies expect a notable rebound in 2021.

➢ 18% of all television ads were COVID-themed. As restrictions began to loosen up, that fell to 12% in 3Q20 and to 11% in 4Q20.

➢ Many consumer segments are optimistic about returning to “normal” in 2021. 73% of US consumers are very or somewhat eager to emerge from COVID restrictions and take a vacation.

➢ Ad-supported and linear streaming platforms have grown to account for over 1/3 of the total share of streaming in 2021 among homes that are capable of doing so.

(Source: Nielsen Total Audience Report)

Up Ahead

March 26: The Faxies Entry Deadline

April 9: Starz #TakeTheLead Transparency Talk

April 9: Cablefax 100 Nomination Deadline

May 13: WICT Rocky Mountain Virtual Walk of Fame

Quotable

“I would support two specific changes [to Section 230], especially for large platforms. For smaller platforms, we need to be careful about any changes that we make that remove their immunity because that could hurt competition… First, platforms should have to issue transparency reports that state the prevalence of content across all different categories of harmful content… the second change that I would propose is creating accountability for the large platforms to have effective systems in place to moderate and remove clearly illegal content… I think it would be reasonable to condition immunity for the larger platforms on having a generally effective system in place.”
– Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg at House Commerce’s Thursday hearing on social media’s role in spreading disinformation and extremism

The Daily

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ESPN’s WrestleMania Plan Marks a Linear TV First

WrestleMania 42 isn’t just the first to be exclusive to ESPN platforms but also the first time part of the main card has aired live on linear television.

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