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Hawaii ABC-affiliate KITV as well as its second digital channel, MeTV, have chosen Oregon-based Rentrak to provide audience measurement data after a decades-long relationship with Nielsen.
KITV President and General Manager Joe McNamara was not able to comment on the deal earlier this month, but, now that the agreement is signed, said company officials feel “the time is right for KITV to adopt Rentrak’s measurement currency.”
“Rentrak’s stable daily demographics and advanced ratings give us the powerful tools we need to provide our advertisers with the best and most relevant audience information available every day of the year,” he said in a statement released Friday.
The parent company of Hawaii News Now, Alabama-based Raycom Media, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in November that the ongoing ratings period with Nielsen would be its last. Hawaii News Now stations include CBS affiliate KGMB-TV, NBC affiliate KHNL-TV and independent KFVE-TV. Officials cited concerns that Nielsen’s technology and sample sizes have not kept pace with changing media consumption habits.
As of mid-November, management of KHON-TV had no plans to part company with Nielsen, long regarded as the leader in broadcast audience measurement. KHON is Hawaii’s Fox affiliate, while its second digital channel airs programming from The CW Network.
Worry over China sends stocks plunging
NEW YORK >> A wave of late selling pummeled U.S. stocks Friday and pushed the market to its worst week in four years.
The dismal start to the new year comes as investors worry that China’s huge economy is slowing down. That has helped send the price of oil plunging to its lowest level since 2004, the latest blow to U.S. energy companies.
Industrial and technology companies such as Boeing and Apple that do a lot of business in China also fell sharply this week. Mining companies such as Freeport-McMoRan plunged as copper prices have fallen. China is a major importer of copper.
Indexes wavered between small gains and losses for most of the day but took a decisive turn lower in the last hour of trading. That made this the worst week since September 2011, when the market was roiled by the fight over the U.S. debt ceiling and Standard & Poor’s move to cut the credit rating of the U.S. government.
Earlier in the day, the U.S. Labor Department said employers added a robust 292,000 jobs last month, and the unemployment rate stayed low at 5 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 167.65 points, or 1 percent, to 16,346.45. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 21.06 points, or 1.1 percent, to 1,922.03. The Nasdaq composite index shed 45.80 points, or 1 percent, to 4,643.63.
The Dow and S&P 500 were each down about 6 percent for the week. The Nasdaq composite fell even more, 7.3 percent. That index is heavily weighted with technology and biotech companies, both of which were highfliers last year.
On the Move
Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort has hired Joyce Tang as the resort’s assistant director of finance. She has 20 years experience in the travel and hospitality industry. Tang previously served as an independent hospitality financial professional as well as as an associate for Apertor Hospitality, a national advisory and asset management firm.
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Hawaii Realty has announced that Nicole R. Lemas has joined their company as a real estate agent. She was previously a real estate agent for Keller Williams Realty.
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