Doors Floors and More

Cited: Time

With cable channels, video games and the Internet competing for April’s attention, the audience of network television is eroding and it is no secret. Even big hits such as Dancing with the Stars, American Idol and CSI are all down in the ratings from 9.2% to 19% respectively, according to Nielsen data. ABC, Fox and CBS have seen these declines. What are people watching? Sports.

But amid this sagging performance, television appears to be experiencing a resurgence in a surprising place: sports programming. Of the 13 television programs that drew over 30 million viewers over past year, 11, or 85%, were sports-related, according to a new research report from Horizon Media, a media buying and planning agency. The only non-sports related shows were the Oscars and the first episode of the CBS reality show Undercover Boss — which debuted immediately following the network’s broadcast of the Super Bowl. Back in the 2004-2005 television year, 19 programs hit the 30 million mark, and only nine, or 47%, were sports shows.

Any conversation about a sports resurgence must begin with football. This year’s Super Bowl, between the New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts, became the most-watched television show in U.S. history, as it averaged 106.5 million viewers throughout the broadcast, up 8% over last year. The NFC championship game was up 51% year-over-year; the AFC game saw a 15% rise, and regular-season ratings jumped as well.

But the NFL, by far the most successful pro sports league, isn’t the only one enjoying astounding success. The 2010 Kentucky Derby was the most-watched race since 1989. The Stanley Cup turned in its strongest ratings performance in 13 years, and Game 6 between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Philadelphia Flyers, a 4-3 Blackhawks overtime win that gave Chicago its first Stanley Cup victory since 1961, was the most-watched NHL game in 36 years. Compared with 2006, average World Cup soccer viewership was up 41% on ABC and ESPN.

In college basketball, the 23.9 million audience for the championship game between Duke and Butler was the highest since 1999, and a 36% leap over 2009. In college football, viewership for the BCS championship game between Alabama and Texas reached 30 million for only the second time in the 12-year history of the event. The NBA enjoyed its most-watched finals since 2001; baseball, its best World Series performance since 2004; the Winter Olympics, the second-most watched Games in its history. The Vancouver Games trail only the 1994 event in Lillehammer, home to the infamous Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan skating scandal, in total viewership. In fact, the Winter Olympics became the first program to beat American Idol head-to-head in six years.

Not all sports are rising. Baseball’s 2010 All-Star game turned in its lowest-rating ever. Perhaps viewers are finally fed up with the ridiculous rule that grants World Series home field advantage to the league that wins this exhibition. NASCAR is suffering a notable slide, tennis surely isn’t tearing it up, and while the Masters performed well because of the Tiger Woods comeback, golf is still too dependent on Tiger’s success, and his recent woes are hurting ratings.

Still, for the most part sports are surging, and the question is why. “I think part of it is HD TV,” says Brad Adgate, senior vice president of research at Horizon Media, and author of the new report. “It’s the killer app for sports.” According to the Consumer Electronics Association, 65% of U.S. homes now own at least one high-definition television set, an increase of 13 percentage points from last year. And sports ratings are 21% higher on HD TVs, according to Nielsen. While watching American Idol in HD is surely nice, getting a glimpse of Ryan Seacrest’s dimples isn’t quite as exhilarating as feeling you’re right on the football field. “With HD, you get to see the blades of grass, and the beads of sweat,” says Adgate. “It’s a much richer viewing experience.”

DVRs have cut down on appointment television; people are consuming their favorite shows whenever they want, wherever they want. Sports, however, still offer morning-after water cooler fodder. The drama lies in the live action; if you wait two days to watch, you’ll miss out. Give the web credit too. The Internet hasn’t cannibalized sports viewership, as many expected, it has complemented it. Social media sites like Twitter and Facebook have turned games into a communal experiences, and even casual fans are eager to join the conversation. Sports lend themselves to in-game analysis (and snark) in a way prime-time programs don’t. Fans can’t resist the opportunity to be their own color commentator.

Sports, it must be pointed out, have also benefited from pure luck. As the Horizon report notes, the three largest U.S. markets — New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago — have the current champion in pro baseball, basketball, and hockey, respectively. For the first time since 1993, the top seeds in both football conferences met in the Super Bowl, and New Orleans storyline — a hard-luck city, and franchise, chases its first title — made the game an even bigger draw. The USA-Canada gold medal hockey game and the USA-England opening round World Cup soccer game were dream match-ups.

However, if the World Series or hockey have bad showing things could change for prime time. Then again, as long as technology keeps advancing, sports fanatics will get more bullish about 3-D TV. Even Twitter will allow you to yell at the ref from your couch, which means that people will probably continue to watch sports.

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My Take: I am not into sports; however, I have noticed that there are more sports channels on cable. There are a lot of people that are into sports activities either in person or on TV. Sports enthusiasts watch the sports channels all the time like ESPN and its many sub channels. I watched a soccer game on one of the ESPN channels and it wasn’t much different than watching a regular channel. Only difference once you saw more sports nutrition supplements commercials than regular TV. I know sports supplement are very important to the health of an athlete, so it makes sense.

All the commercials are advertising for sports related advertising for pole pads or wall padding. There were even some advertising for bleacher enclosures. They even threw in a few advertisements for denim jeans. I don’t understand the difference between Levi and Mek jeans, jeans are jeans.

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New York City Broadway Shows and a History

With around forty large theaters lining the streets of New York City’s theater district, there are a host of Broadway shows to choose from should you decide to visit this historic area of Manhattan. As a part of the city since1750 when one of the first major theaters in the city was built, the theater district of Manhattan has enjoyed a near consistent success, halting shows only in times of war, like during the Revolutionary War. From the plays of William Shakespeare to the 19th century performances of P.T. Barnum’s circus entertainment, Broadway has had a colorful 300 year history.

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Cited: Wall Street Journal

It seems that consumers are being a little bit more cautious this holiday shopping season. They are doing more price comparison than impulse buying. This seems to be evident from the trends suggesting electronics sales will be more solid than apparel, particularly women’s styles. Women’s apparel sales just might plummet the season.

Spurred by the release of a hot videogame and earlier-than-usual promotions on televisions, U.S. shoppers spent 6.1% more on electronics in the first half of November the month, through Nov. 14, than a year ago, according to a recent analysis from MasterCard SpendingPulse, a unit of MasterCard Advisors.

The new data, based on MasterCard SpendingPulse data, which reflect estimates on all payment forms, including cash and checks, comes days before Thanksgiving, the traditional kickoff to the holiday selling season, when consumers traditionally spend several hundred billion of dollars. Retailers count on holiday sales for as much as 40% of their annual sales and half their annual profits.

In contrast with electronics, women’s apparel sales fell 3.3% in the first half of November. Sales in the category have fallen for more than a year, with nine months of double-digit declines from the year-earlier period since October 2008, according to SpendingPulse. Spending on luxury goods showed the largest drop, with a 9.2% year-to-year decline, after posting an increase in October, MasterCard SpendingPulse said.

Overall, U.S. households are expected to spend about 7% less on gifts this season, shelling out an average of $390, according to a report released November 22 by the Conference Board. This year, 39% of households are planning to spend less than $200, up from 35%. The Conference Board survey covers a sample of 5,000 U.S. households.

Sales of electronics in the preseason were aided by the hottest videogame of the season, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The game came out early this month and shattered records, likely boosting sales for the category overall. Call of Duty made $550 million in its first five days of release, according to developer Activision Blizzard Inc., which said that was an entertainment industry record. The results surpassed all videogame, movie box office and book sales records for five days after release.

In addition, retailers such as Best Buy Co., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. have begun earlier-than-usual promotions on TVs and videogames. And many people are buying laptops and netbooks loaded with Microsoft Corp.’s new Windows 7 operating system.

Preseason Internet sales of a range of merchandise were up 19.4% over the first two weeks of November 2008. Mark Snyder, chief marketing officer for Kmart, part of Sears Holdings Corp., said he has seen evidence that shoppers are plotting purchases. Kmart’s layaway program, which expanded to online this year, is proving popular.

“The thing that is most different this season is the preparedness of our shopper,” Mr. Snyder said. “Last year, the economy hit her right between the eyes. This year, instead of being defensive, she is being offensive and really scouring for bargains early, realizing the power is with her.”

Mr. Snyder said Kmart has also witnessed a trend toward gifts of lasting value, which is why the company is planning to sell 100% cashmere gloves and scarves, for $9.99, and down comforters, for $19.99, on Black Friday—the day after Thanksgiving and the biggest shopping day of the year for many retailers.

“Retailers have to dig deep and pull out their A-game right now, because it is a very competitive environment,” Mr. Snyder said. “Whereas you might have given something more trendy in the past, a down comforter is relevant to what is happening right now.”

For the first two weeks of November, sales within the specialty apparel category were down 5% from a year earlier. The decline was a sharp turnabout from October, when spending on specialty apparel rose 3.4%, providing a short-lived glimmer of hope before the Christmas shopping season. Men’s clothing fell by 1% in early November. Sales of shoes, which had shown two consecutive months of year-to-year increases in September and October, fell by 1.5% in the first two weeks of the month.

The National Retail Federation said earlier this fall that it expects U.S. retail sales to fall to 2005 levels in the 2009 holiday season, though the expected decline of 1% isn’t as deep as the 3.4% plunge of the 2008 holiday season.

According to a preliminary Black Friday shopping survey conducted for the National Retail Federation by BIGresearch, up to 134 million people plan to shop this Friday, Saturday or Sunday, up from 128 million who planned to last year. According to the survey, 57 million people say they will definitely hit the stores, while another 77 million are waiting to see what retailers are planning before heading out the door.

According to the survey, the biggest attractions for consumers this weekend will be discount and department stores with 66% going to discount and 62% going to department stores. Many people were planning to go to their favorite big-box store as well. Of the survey, 36% of consumers are planning on visiting clothing or clothing accessory store and 41% said they plan on shopping at electronics stores.

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My Take: I think that it will depend on two things this season, income and family size. A person’s income is going to be more important because it will indicate how much they can afford. Combined with income will be the size of their family and how many gifts we need to purchase. Of course, there will be a percentage of people who will not worry about how much they can afford.

There are going to be some people who will go out and buy gifts like designer perfume because they want to try and impress some, usually a guy. Then you have the child who knows his or her mother loves name brand perfumes and will spend their whole allowance on their mother. I would fall into this category.

Then you have the people that are not going to be spending a lot on Christmas because they do not have family. These are the people who will be visiting an online casino during the holidays. Of course, online poker can be fun, but not as fun as a roomful of people celebrating the holidays.

Then you have the people who are single-minded and on a mission to lose weight. Lose weight during the holidays? That is a unique mission! These people will go out and purchase a membership in Pilates fitness program to accomplish their task. Then they will spend their holidays with a Pilates DVD and give their family the best gift of all, their life.

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PS3 Trophy Collection

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