This Week in #TVNews: Elton John, Smart TVs and Mobile Ad Spend

This week, we’re taking a look at John Lewis’ annual holiday ad, a Netflix and Paramount deal and an IAB report on 2018 digital ad spend.

John Lewis’ Christmas ad celebrates… Elton John. If you love advertising, you know that every year, John Lewis offers up two minutes of warm-and-fuzzy British holiday perfection that moves many to tears and some to buy a new appliance from the retailer. This year, the department store took a different approach, showing an emotional reverse-chronological depiction of Elton John’s career. At the very end of the ad, toddler Elton unwraps a piano and a tagline: “Some gifts are more than just a gift.” Not everyone is happy with the ad, with some saying it’s blatant promotion for Elton’s new film. (Sky)

Smart TV adoption is on the rise. eMarketer says 46 million US households will use a smart TV at least monthly this year, up 16% increase from last year. In the past, just because someone has a smart TV doesn’t mean they use its internet-connected capabilities. That’s changing with improved user interfaces in newer smart TVs, eMarketer says, offering more access to apps and streaming services than yesterday’s smart TVs. (eMarketer)

Nearly two-thirds of digital ad dollars go to mobile. Marketers spent about $31 billion on mobile advertising in the first half of 2018, about 63% of total digital ad spend, up from 54% of total digital spending last year. Nearly 75% of time spent on the internet is through a mobile device, the report from the IAB found. Digital ad spend totaled nearly $50 billion in the first half of 2018, a 23% year-over-year increase, according to the IAB. (WSJ)

Netflix and Paramount team up to make movies. Paramount Pictures signed a deal to make movies with Netflix, according to Deadline. On an earnings call, Paramount CEO Jim Gianopulos said the agreement represents an evolution from the days when studios were making MOWs (movies of the week) for networks. The difference now, he said is that “the quality of some of these films is much higher, making these relationships even more valuable. And it plays to the strength of a large, well-established studio like Paramount.”

See last week’s edition of This Week in TV News.