09/25/17: Report: T-Mobile and Sprint are nearing merger

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Good morning. It’s Monday September 25, 2017 and this is your your first early morning Digital briefing!

TODAY’S CODEBREAKER

Lead Magnet: A lead magnet is an offer that a marketer makes to potential buyers, often in exchange for contact info such as a name, email address or phone number. In email marketing, lead magnets are often meant to entice users to join an email list. The offer contained in a lead magnet can be pretty much anything, ranging from a coupon for a service to free access to premium web content.

JUST IN…

T-Mobile and Sprint are likely merging. According to a report from Reuters, the two telcos are “close” to reaching “tentative” terms on a merger, and a deal could be announced as early as late October. The deal would reportedly grant Deutsche Telekom, which owns T-Mobile, a majority stake in the combined company. Sprint’s owner, SoftBank, would own somewhere between 40 and 50 percent. The reported deal terms demonstrate just how much times have changed: Sprint first proposed a merger with T-Mobile several years ago, with the goal of acquiring the then-struggling carrier.

ADVERTISING

Google announced plans to automate the refund process for DoubleClick Bid Manager buyers who fall victim to ad fraud. The new technology will scan through over 180 automated filters and detection algorithms to identify invalid ad traffic. The new policy also applies to ads that are purchased through select ad-tech partners, including AppNexus, OpenX, and others. Google says it will refund money for any invalid traffic that’s detected up to 30 days after monthly billing.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM WICT

WICT NY EXECUTIVE WOMEN’S LUNCHEON

10/26/17 | 11a-2p | Gotham Hall

The Future IS Female: Grooming the Next Generation for the C-Suite

Panelists include: HBO’s Bernadette Aulestia, Refinery29’s Amy Emmerich, Lionsgate TV’s Laura Kennedy, eshapTV ’s Evan Shapiro and Freewheel’s Diane Yu – Moderated by CNNMoney’s Maggie Lake

Join WICT NY and a powerhouse panel of business leaders as they discuss the challenges and opportunities of ensuring equal representation at the highest levels of leadership.

Reserve your ticket or table today!

APPS + PLATFORMS

Back in June, Apple announced that the Amazon Prime Video app was finally coming to the Apple TV device. Since then, a next-gen Apple TV has been announced – but the Amazon app still hasn’t arrived on the platform. Business Insider reached out to Amazon for an update: A representative simply confirmed that the company has no specifics to share regarding a launch date at the moment. Nonetheless, BI speculates that the app will likely arrive on Apple TV soon. Perhaps the biggest reason is that Amazon now has the live-streaming rights to NFL Thursday Night Football games. In other words, it’s extremely urgent for the company to get such a high-profile, expensive piece of programming in front of as many eyeballs as possible; Amazon is likely pushing to finalize its terms with Apple as soon as it can.

Reelgood is now available for mobile devices. The service is designed to help cord-cutters find new movies and shows to watch across the streaming service ecosystem. Reelgood works by highlighting info that can help users make viewing decisions, such as trailers, IMDB ratings and plot summaries. In one of the app’s sections, called Discover, suggestions are grouped into categories such as “Trending,” “New Movies,” “Popular,” or “New TV.” The service also offers suggestions based on genre. At the moment, the mobile app is only for iOS devices.

PROGRAMMING

MasterClass, an education startup that sells online video classes that are taught by celebs like Kevin Space and Gordon Ramsay, just landed a preeminent filmmaker: Martin Scorcese will teach an online course on filmmaking. Pre-enrollment is already available. The course comes at a $90 cost; it’ll grant users access to over 20 video lessons. It’s the first time that Scorcese has ventured into the world of e-learning

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

Harnessing the Power of the New Hispanic Demo

Cynopsis Latest Webinar: Thursday, October 12

TV consumption among U.S. Hispanics is undergoing a major shift in both what’s being watched, and where. Crafting programming that gains a foothold with this growing and influential group, representing 18% of the country’s population (with buying power reaching $1.4 trillion annually last year with U.S.-born and foreign-born Hispanics).

Sponsored by: El Rey Network

CYNOPSIS SHORT FORM VIDEO FEST

The Cynopsis Short Form Video Festival & Conference will recognize outstanding work in this emerging space, showcasing fresh and surprising storytelling across platforms. (Cynopsis defines short form video as content that runs from 5 seconds to 10 minutes; content from any platform is eligible!) Watch our sizzle reel and submit your video before October 20th.

VIRTUAL + AUGMENTED REALITY

MindMaze has a high-profile new investor. Leonardo DiCaprio invested an undisclosed amount of money into the Swiss tech startup as part of an ongoing funding round; he’ll also join the company’s board. MindMaze was founded in 2012, with the goal of capturing brain activity through human computing interfaces. At first the company focused on medical applications, but has since begun applying its technology to facial expression capture for augmented and virtual reality. Earlier this year, the company unveiled the MindMaze “mask,” a product designed to capture bio-signals from users’ faces while they’re wearing VR headsets.

UPCOMING DIGITAL PROGRAMMING…

… for the week of Monday, Monday, September 25, through Sunday, October 1

– People Now at People.com, Monday-Friday at 8:30a ET and 11:30a ET. Guests include Zoe Perry (CBS’s Young Sheldon), TV personality Kelly Bensimon (Bravo’s The Real Housewives of New York City), and TV personality and dog trainer Travis Brorsen (Animal Planet’s My Big Fat Pet Makeover)

– Netflix: Def Comedy Jam 25, a new comedy special, debuts Tuesday, September 26

– Netflix: Terrace House: Aloha State, a Hawaii-set Japanese reality series, makes its return on Tuesday, September 26

– Crackle: The new season of drama series StartUp debuts Thursday, September 28

– Netflix: Big Mouth, a new adult-oriented animates series, debuts Friday, September 29

– Netflix: Season 3 of Mexican comedy-drama series Club de Cuervos debuts Friday, September 29

– Netflix: Gerald’s Game, a film adaptation of the Stephen King novel of the same name, debuts Friday, September 29

– Netflix: Long Shot, a new documentary film, debuts Friday, September 29

– Netflix: Magic School Bus Rides Again, a revival of the classic kids’ show, debuts Friday, September 29

– Netflix: Our Souls at Night, a new drama film, debuts Friday, September 29

– Paul Hollywood’s Big Continental Road Trip, a new reality show, debuts Friday, September 29

– Netflix: Real Rob, a new comedy series starring Rob Schneider, debuts Friday, September 29

– Amazon Video: The Star, a new 10-episode drama series starring Tim Roth and Christina Hendricks, debuts Friday, September 29

TRIVIA

You’ve undoubtedly heard of Tina Fey. But you may be less familiar with her longtime collaborator, who worked on 30 Rock and co-created Netflix’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. What’s his name? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and state.)

Amazon’s first Indian original series, set in the world of pro cricket, debuted in July. What’s it called? Answer: Inside Edge. Kudos to Andrew Bellamy-Producers Guild of America/NY, Andy Pittman-TAMU/TX, Mathew Tombers-Intermat, Inc./NY, Susan Nessanbaum-Goldberg-M and S Entertainment/CA, David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Federal Credit Union/CA, Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/CA, and Tiff Mau-The Walt Disney Studios/CA

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

Get a grip on this elusive and highly unpredictable demographic:

How to Connect and Engage with Gen Z

In our latest webinar, our expert panel sheds light on what we now know about this demographic that accounts for 26% of all U.S. TV homes – and in 2020, will make up 40% of all consumers. If you wait until 2020 to adapt your marketing strategy, you’ll miss the boat.

DIGITAL SPOTLIGHT

Is the new iPhone 8 as durable as Apple wants you to believe? YouTuber JerryRigEverything put the question to the test the only way he knew how: By trying to scratch, burn, bend, and otherwise mangle the device. Check out the results here.

David Teich
Roberta Caploe Publisher @robertacaploe	Diane K Schwartz Senior Vice President Media Communications Group	Cynopsis Ad Sales Mike Farina \| 203-218-6480 VP, Sales	Cynopsis Job Listings Sales Trish Pihonak \| 203-899-8459 Director of Operations

CYNOPSISJOBS – For More jobs, please visit Cynopsis.com

JOB OPENING: NEWS DIRECTOR/KUVN 23/Dallas: Forward thinking, creative and exp’d candidate to lead news operation in fast-paced media mkt. High level of news judgment, journalistic integrity & people mngmnt skills. Digital knwldg a must. 10yrs exp facets of TV news prod, writing, editing, camera ops & reporting. Full info/apply HERE (9/30)

JOB OPENING: AD SALES ASSISTANT/GSN/NY: Deal maintenance, traffic, mtg. prep., and admin duties; Excellent math skills; Knowledge of gen media terms; Strong knowledge of Microsoft programs incl. Excel, PP, MS Word and Outlook is req.; College deg req; Send Res and CL to [email protected] (9/30)

JOB OPENING: CFO/NYC Production Co: Direct financial planning & analysis. Corporate & production operating review, forecast & budgets. Manage systems, provide leadership & expertise to accounting dept. Must understand fast paced TV prod. 10+ yrs exp. Resume/cover & for full info: HERE (9/29)

JOB OPENING: SENIOR JAVA SCRIPT ENGINEER/Fox News Channel/NYC: Lead dvlpmnt of high traffic JavaScript apps and implement front end user design defining behavior of visual element. Develop new software applications from concept to finish. 3+ year of expert level JavaScript dvlpmnt. Full info/apply HERE (9/29)

JOB OPENING: DIR, DIGITAL ANALYTICS/A+E Networks/NY: Oversee reporting & analysis for A+E Networks’ portfolio, drive growth in Digital business by delivering recommendations that influence content, prod. & distribution strategy across the organization. Full Info/Apply HERE (9/29)

JOB OPENING: SALES ASSOCIATE PROGRAM/NBCU/NYC: Accelerated development exp for early-career sales professionals. This highly competitive program identifies outstanding aspiring media sales professionals who bring diverse backgrounds to the org. Min 1-5 yrs exp work exp, sales related pref’d. Full info: HERE (9/29)

JOB OPENING: SALES PLANNER, AD SALES/Outdoor Channel/CHI: 2 yrs exp. sales asst or media plan’r/buyer. Resp for dvlpmnt/fulfillment of integrated media plans, all platforms. Monitor/steward accounts, support Account Execs w/mktg, rsrch projects. Solid understanding of media math. Wide Orit exp a +. Full info/apply HERE (9/28)

JOB OPENING: DIGITAL ACCOUNT MANAGER/FOX/Chicago: Ownership of post-sale client relationship. Responsible for creation of all proposals/media plans. 2-5 years’ operating in an Agency- Account Management role. Digital Advertising experience preferred. Full info/apply HERE (9/28)

JOB OPENING: MANAGER, S 7 ALES OPERATIONS/NBCU NBC Owned Stations/NYC: Responsible for managing various systems, tools and processes to support traffic, sales, research, finance & mktg users across our division. 2+ yrs at a station, similar sales operations function, or a related vendor role. Full info/apply HERE (9/28)

JOB OPENING: DIGITAL SPECIALIST/NYRA/NYC: Act as primary web editor for daily updates. Maint both NYRA.com & BelmontStakes.com. Asst Social Media team w/mngmnt of social media channels. BA deg & 2-4 yrs work exp req’d. Exp w/CMS Sys, SEO, SEM, basic HTML, Photoshop, InDesign & Illustrator. Full info/apply HERE (9/28)

JOB OPENING: DIGITAL MARKETING MANAGER/ASPIRE TV/ATL: Dev. content strategy across digital platforms; understanding of digitl analysis; exp. w/using digitl platforms to drive brand awareness; 4+ yrs strategic content plning & exec.; prof. w/Google Analytics, Photoshp, WordPress. Res: HERE (9/27)

JOB OPENING: AD SALES PLANNER/Baby First TV/NY: Reports to AE & EVP Ad Sales. Home office flexibility. 2-3 Years Direct Response experience required. Detailed & organized. Entrepreneurial environment. Must have Excel experience. Reply to [email protected] (9/27)