Mobile local advertising revenues will grow from $1.2 billion in 2012 to $9.1 billion in 2017, BIA/Kelsey projects in its U.S. Local Media Forecast. Location-targeted ads represent a .9 percent share of local media ad revenues in 2012 and will grow to a 6.1 percent share in 2017.

BIA/Kelsey projects total U.S. mobile ad spending will grow from $3.2 billion in 2012 to $16.8 billion in 2017. Local targeted mobile ads are expected to grow to 54 percent in 2017, from 38 percent in 2012. The report says the growth will be driven by increased usage of smartphones, which reach 56 percent of mobile subscribers.

The NBC Owned Television stations have appointed Tony Chiulli as senior vice president of national sales for the East Coast. In his new role, Chiulli will oversee sales efforts in New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Atlanta.

It is a move within NBC for Chiulli, who has been the local sales manager at WNBC in New York for the past six years.

“I have worked closely with Tony for many years and am thrilled to promote him to this role leading national sales for the East Coast,” Frank Comerford, chief revenue officer for the NBC Owned Stations, said in a statement. “With his decades of experience, his leadership abilities and his proven success, I am confident he and [West Coast counterpart] Cathy Jones will together bring our national sales efforts to the next level.”

WNEP, the ABC affiliate in Scranton, is refusing to air an ad for Dunder Mifflin (video above) during the Oscars on Sunday, “most likely because the fictional brand is too connected to rival network NBC,” AdWeek reports:

A de-fictionalized version of [NBC's "The Office"] paper brand has been sold in real life since 2011 by Staples-owned Quill.com, thanks to a licensing partnership with NBCUniversal. A Quill.com representative tells Adweek that WNEP won’t air the Dunder Mifflin ad “apparently because of the brand’s NBC ties”. WNEP declined to comment on whether it had rejected the ad, citing corporate policy.

Dunder Mifflin aired a similar ad during the Super Bowl on WYOU, Scranton’s CBS affiliate.

Last year, Super Bowl viewers in North Platte, Neb., were the only people in the country to see an Old Milwaukee ad featuring Will Ferrell when it aired on TV during the game. And it appears Old Milwaukee has done it again, albeit in different markets, this year.

According to Reddit, the below ad aired on two stations: KXII in Sherman, Texas-Ardmore, Okla. and KXGN in Glendive, Mont.

[via Slate, BuzzFeed]

If you’re planning on watching the Super Bowl in Scranton this weekend, you’ll see a commercial that the rest of the country won’t.

Paper company Dunder Mifflin is airing a 30-second spot (watch it below) only in the Scranton-Wilkes Barre market, on CBS affiliate WYOU. The Dunder Mifflin brand name was made famous as the fictional company in NBC’s “The Office,” which takes place in Scranton. Staples manufactures a line of paper with the Dunder Mifflin name under license from NBC’s parent company, Comcast.

The one-market ad buy is similar to a tactic used by Old Milwaukee beer last year. The ad, featuring Will Ferrell, aired only on KNOP in North Platte, Neb.

To watch more of this year’s Super Bowl ads, visit our sister site, AgencySpy.

Univision Communications has announced the creation of the “Univision Agency,” a new internal advertising and media unit that will centralize Univision’s look and feel across all of its properties.

“We have created a first-of-its kind Agency to instill one voice and one vision for Univision, UniMás, Galavisión, and all of our media properties – something no other media company has done,” said Univision president and chief executive officer Randy Falco. “Forming the Univision Agency is a strategic step towards developing a promotional and creative vision that will set the standard in our industry.”

The “Univision Agency” is headed by newly appointed senior vice president Joni Fernandez.  She will report to Jessica Rodriguez, who is credited with spearheading the effort. Read more

In a nod to second screen viewing habits, where viewers interact with their laptops, tablets or smart phones while watching TV, Nielsen has partnered with Twitter to create the “Nielsen Twitter Rating.”

The new ratings system will allow TV stations to measure both who is watching their show and who is talking about it in the social media sphere, which may help advertisers and TV stations alike engage with their audiences more effectively.

“Twitter has become the world’s digital water cooler, where conversations about TV happen in real time,” said Chloe Sladden, Twitter’s vice president of media. “This effort reflects Nielsen’s foresight into the evolving nature of the TV viewing experience, and we’re looking forward to collaborating with Twitter ecosystem partners on this metric to help broadcasters and advertisers create truly social TV experiences.” Read more

We’ve all experienced the commercial or two that seem way louder than the show we’re watching.  Well today, the FCC, urged on by Congress, is ending the national pastime of riding the remote during commercial breaks when it begins enforcing the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act, or CALM Act.

The CALM act requires all TV ads maintain the same average volume as the programs in which they appear.  The FCC rules do make allowances for some variations in volume, though.

A commercial may have louder and quieter moments, but, overall, it should be no louder than the surrounding programming. This may mean, however, that some commercials will comply with the new rules, but still sound “too loud” to some viewers.

The FCC is relying on viewers to file complaints if they find a commercial that is louder than the program it accompanies.  The complaint form can be found by clicking here.  Instructions on filling out the form can be found here.  After the jump you can see what information the FCC is looking for when a complaint is filed. Read more

When local TV stations go all out to cover weather events like Hurricane Sandy, the first thing to go are commercial breaks.  While this allows stations to keep their news teams on-air as long as possible, it also means a possible loss in revenue both for the stations and for the ad agencies.

Advertising Age is reporting Hurricane Sandy took an already cloudy financial forecast for the ad industry and made it downright stormy,

In a new report that cites the impact of the hurricane and other economic variables, media-research firm Pivotal Research Group lowered its U.S. ad forecast to a 0.5% decline in the third quarter, a 1.4% decline in the fourth quarter and zero growth for the full year.

According to Advertising Age, Brian Weiser, a senior research analyst at Pivotal, “estimated Sandy will cost the advertising industry about $500 million in lost revenue, due to interruptions in local TV and radio programming and also factoring in decision-making by media buyers in the wake of the storm.”

President Obama‘s team plans to blanket the Tampa airwaves with ads during the last week of August while the Republican party holds their national convention in the area.

Obama for America has bought up more than $181,000 in ad time from Tampa stations for the week of the convention, Politico reports.  Obama’s campaign team spent $73,720 for 49 spots on Tampa CBS-affiliate WTSP, $54,500 for 75 spots on ABC-affiliate WFTS, and $53,750 for 42 spots on NBC-affiliate WFLA.

The Republican National Convention will be held August 27-30 in Tampa.  Recent poll numbers show Obama with a slight edge in Florida.