This Week in TV News: ‘One Day at a Time’ and U.S. Smartphone Use

This week, we’re talking about March Madness ad spend, Netflix’s cancellation of a small show with a devoted fanbase and Theranos.

Netflix cancels “One Day at a Time.” After three seasons, Netflix cancelled the comedy about a Latinx family with Justina Machado and Rita Moreno. Netflix said it was a “very difficult decision” and that it’s disappointing that more viewers didn’t discover the show. This week at INTV, Netflix head of original content Cindy Holland said the company is “about stretching investment dollars as far as we can; making good investments of our members’ money.” (Deadline)

March Madness TV ad spend. Last year, the men’s college basketball tournament generated about $1.3 billion in ad revenue. Kantar found that ad spend during the tournament has grown 3.4% annually since 2013. (MediaPost)

A deep dive into Theranos’ marketing. Health tech startup Theranos was once valued at $10 billion, and Founder Elizabeth Holmes was once hailed as the woman who “invented a way to run 30 lab tests on only one drop of blood,” Then it all came crashing down when it became public that the company was using traditional blood testing machines instead of its supposedly cutting-edge technology. Read Adweek’s take on the story, “Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes: the Marketing of Silicon Valley’s Favorite Villain.”

U.S. smartphone use will rise 3%. This year, 232.8 million people or 70% of the U.S. population will use smartphones, according to eMarketer research. By 2022, nearly half of U.S. media ad spending will be on mobile platforms. (Mobile Marketer)

See last week’s TV trends.