IKEA splits global media biz between Dentsu Aegis and WPP
Swedish furniture maker IKEA has ended its months-long global media review, splitting the business between incumbents Dentsu Aegis and WPP. The business will be divided in various markets between Dentsu Aegis and WPP’s GroupM. The Canadian market was not included in the major global review and the account remains with Jungle Media.
IMG Canada shutters Toronto Fashion Week
The Toronto Fashion Week is no more. IMG Canada announced this week that it has decided to pull the plug on the annual fashion event on account of a shortage of financing for the event. The company bought the event in 2012 from the Fashion Design Council of Canada, which had run the event for 12 years prior to selling it. The twice-yearly event’s biggest sponsors in the past – Mastercard and L’oreal – elected not to continue their sponsorship. The closure also impacts the Mercedes-Benz Start Up program for emerging designers, which ran during the duration of the week.
Tube Mogul’s video ad completion rates up
In the first quarter of 2016, about 57% of TubeMogul’s video ads were seen to completion, according to the company’s reports. That number is up 10% from the same period a year ago. Meanwhile completion rates for connected TV ads were about the same at 90%, while pre-roll (on desktop) through the programmatic platform saw a completion rate of 70%, down 7% over the same period last year.
Queen’s Plate wins it for CTV and TSN
Sir Duggley Digges, the dark bay who crossed the victory line at the 157th Queen’s Plate event at the Woodbine Track, was seen by an average audience of 314,000 viewers on CTV and TSN, according to Numeris data via Bell Media. Those viewership numbers were triple those of the previous year’s event. Overall, 1.2 million Canadians watched the Queen’s Plate, with audience levels peaking at 559,000 viewers.
Free Agent Frenzy brings in record viewership for TSN
More viewers than ever before tuned in to watch the seven-hour broadcast of Free Agent Frenzy on TSN on Canada Day. The show follows a full day of free agent hockey signings and has been broadcast since 2006. This year the show saw an average audience of 317,000, 7% more than the previous year. The channel’s digital platforms also saw more than 500,000 video views.
Global announces new competition series and a comedy
Two new shows have been added to Global’s summer schedule: Spartan: Ultimate Team Challenge in the 8 p.m. slot on Thursday, and comedy Better Late Than Never, will air in the 10 p.m. slot on Tuesday starting Aug. 23. The competition show follows teams as they compete against one another to complete a mile-long obstacle course, while Better Late Than Never follows five Hollywood stars (Henry Winkler; William Shatner; George Foreman; Terry Bradshaw; and Jeff Dye ) as they travel through Asia.
Sony Pictures adopts dual Snapchat camera option for Ghostbusters promo
To build social energy around its soon-to-release Ghostbusters film, Sony Pictures has adopted Snapchat’s Sponsored Lenses unit to engage with users of the mobile platform. The company is the first to use the Snapchat feature in its updated form: Snapchatters can use the front-facing camera to “bust” ghosts and the rear-facing camera to “slime” people.
