News & Opinion

The internationally recognized, data-driven public relations and marketing agency, Bob Gold & Associates (BG&A) is thrilled to announce that we recently celebrated 25 years of helping launch and grow nearly 250 clients ranging from hi-tech startups and associations to Fortune 500 companies.   Since our founding in 1997, Bob and his team have established themselves as a premier communications agency for leading hardware and software tech companies alike, expanding far beyond our roots in cable TV to encompass industries including media and entertainment, streaming, IoT, AdTech, enterprise software, blockchain and communication service providers.   “Whether clients are on the upswing or are in trouble, we have stepped up and helped shape their message and meaning to their community,” said President and Founder, Bob Gold. “For a quarter century, we always put our clients’ interests first.  Honesty is so rare today.  We pride ourselves on pushing back, and not being ‘yes folks.’ It is the only way to ensure their company, brand and reputation meet the future head on.”   We stay relevant in order to propel clients’ businesses forward, providing creative solutions and highly tailored communications programs that deliver meaningful results. This not only includes offering a variety of timely and much-needed services, but also creative services to support rebranding efforts and introduce disruptive technologies.   Current and recent clients include next generation smart home services, NFTs for the metaverse, AI-powered energy management, lab-made cheese, social justice campaigns, streaming channels, and highly touted individual shows.   The company’s proprietary BG&A Insight™ is a unique, data-driven approach to PR and brand management that has helped the firm meet every client’s unique needs by implementing proactive and personalized PR campaigns tackling all five pillars offered in the program.   Bob Gold & Associates has received numerous accolades and awards. Most recently, the firm was recognized by Forbes as one of America’s Best PR Agencies for 2021. Recently, we have been selected among the Top California Public Relations Firms by DesignRush. The agency was also recognized as a top place to work by Cablefax Magazine in 2019. That same year, Bob Gold was named Communications Professional of the Year by the Los Angeles Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. Gold was inducted into the Cable TV Pioneers in 2007.   Special Thanks to our friends and partners in the media who have supported and celebrated with us. CableFax Daily highlighted our anniversary! When (Bob) Gold Turns Silver - It’s been 25 years since Bob Gold founded his PR and marketing firm Bob Gold & Associates after getting his start in the industry at HBO and Prime Ticket. As a communications pro, he’s had a bird’s-eye view of cable’s transformation during that period. “This is the 1980s all over again—in terms of connected TVs being the new cable system, in terms of bundling that’s coming together. What’s really interesting is that cable was the brand that everyone loved to hate. It was expensive, you had no choice, and it was bad customer service. So direct-to-consumer streaming was like this cure. Nobody hates that cable operator anymore,” he told CFX. That might be a bit of PR wishful thinking, but cable certainly has come a long way from the days of the evil “cable guy.” The PRWeek Podcast featured our very own Bob Gold! Longtime agency owner talks about celebrating his film’s quarter-century in business, legendary moments in entertainment communications and sports TV rights. Palos Verde Magazine spotlights Bob in the feature story on page 16 -- Rolling Hills Resident and Owner Bob Gold & Associates, Celebrates 25 Years in Business and Discovers a New Chapter in his Book of Life BG&A Founder Bob Gold reminisces about 2+ decades in cable and telecom with Jeff Baumgartner in a recent Light Reading Podcast   Stroll Rolling Hills magazine celebrates Rolling Hills resident Bob Gold on the 25th anniversary of Bob Gold & Associates with a treasure trove of photos starting on page 12.

Hollywood’s most unlikely hero, Danny Trejo, comes to life as a playable character inside the multiplayer open world survivor game, SCUM. In addition, Epik Prime Marketplace will offer Trejo’s first ever NFT collection, titled “The Many Faces of Danny Trejo.”   Epik, the leading global licensing agency immersing major brands into AAA games, in a collaboration with Gamepires’ SCUM, will offer fans the ability to select Trejo as a character with customizable options and accessories to navigate through the multiplayer survival game. Voiced by Trejo himself, the avatar is modeled after his iconic 1990s roles that launched his career.   “I’ve been fortunate to work on some incredible projects throughout my career, but seeing myself in a badass game like ‘SCUM’ has got to be one of the highlights,” said Trejo in a statement. “Working with Epik and Gamepires has been an awesome collaboration. This partnership is an opportunity to engage with fans on a different level.”   READ MORE Danny Trejo to Appear as Playable Character in Survival Video Game, Trilby Beresford, The Hollywood Reporter SCUM: The One and Only Danny Trejo is Now a Playable Character, Jason Nieva, Player.One

Viamedia, the country’s leading independent provider of ad-sales representation to Cable TV Systems saw a record-setting 42% increase in ad spending for Q1 Midterm political advertising.  The triple-digit -- and higher-- growth was seen across all political categories -- including House, Senate, gubernatorial, local races and issues especially in Battle Ground states.   The data was culled from political advertising purchased on more than 60 multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) of various sizes in more than 70 markets.   David Solomon, President & CEO at Viamedia noted, "We have robust insights into the local ad trends around the country. What we’re seeing, so far this season, underscores the reliability of political advertising directed primarily at linear television platforms.”   The company also saw a significant spike in digital political advertising, driving the portion of spending on digital to 18% of the total in first-quarter 2022 – though the digital spending remains dwarfed by linear TV spending.   READ MORE: Viamedia Sees 42% Increase in 1Q Political Ad Spend, Jon Lafayette, Broadcasting & Cable Inside the Beltway: A haven for conservative news, Jennifer Harper, The Washington Times

With every tech advancement comes greater complexity, presenting new challenges for chief technology officers.  Ironically, the answer to carrying businesses forward with technology is people, people, people — and orchestrating people can be just as challenging as tech. To help ensure your next development project goes off seamlessly, Commit CRO and Managing Director of North America, Max Nirenberg recently shared his perspective with the Forbes Business Council on six questions every CTO should ask when building a team.   Six Questions Every CTO Should Ask When Staffing For Success (forbes.com)

Our hearts break for the needless and senseless suffering created by Vladimir Putin. Our sympathies go to the Russian people who are paying the price for their dictator's war. His cruelty has brought the world closer together and will make us all stronger.   We support our clients in their efforts: On the ground in Poland: Ukrainian refugees reconnect with family and friends with Plume Wi-Fi

Recent research from the Future Today x Variety Intelligence Platform Streaming Study, took an in-depth look at the latest TV viewing behavior and streaming preferences, polling U.S. consumers to identify the emerging trends shaping OTT, advertising, and the broader TV industry.   Data highlights from the report found that the majority of consumers (67.89%) prefer choosing the individual programs they’d like to watch on an on-demand basis, compared to just 12.5% who prefer pre-programmed, linear channels.   Other findings and insights of note: 50.6% of US consumers prefer using ad-supported video services to reduce costs Streaming ads are twice as likely to be relevant to a viewers’ interests than ads seen on cable or broadcast TV 5% of consumers plan to decrease their number of paid subscriptions Of those who have used a free trial in the last 12 months, 41.2% subscribed after the trial ended   “Consumer viewing preferences continue to evolve. Streaming has become the de facto source for watching TV shows and movies, but not all services, platforms and models will thrive in this shifting media landscape,” said Vikrant Mathur, CEO and Co-Founder of Future Today. “Despite some pundits’ expectations, we’re seeing AVOD adoption flourish, and expect this trend will continue to grow for years to come. Our research solidifies that with the right viewing experience, the ad-supported streaming model is ideal for content owners, brands and, most importantly, audiences.”   Helping power VIP+’s analysis throughout the State of Streaming 2021 is exclusive data from third-party firms such as connected TV analytics firm TVision and leading multichannel streaming company Future Today, as well as pollster YouGov and analytics firm Magid.   Read the complete report and analysis from Future Today here.

  AdTech innovator, QTT, Viamedia’s cloud-based television advertising platform, has launched a marketplace to enable automated activation of data-driven linear video advertising inventory, without changing existing workflows or technologies. QTT Marketplace is an open-platform destination for advertisers and agencies accustomed to digital platforms to directly access a wealth of premium, curated local and national television inventory – and for television inventory owners to tap more directly into the rapidly growing digital ad pool.   Initial TV participants include A+E Networks, FOX, Reelz with Magnite the first participating SSP.   “The last mile to activate linear TV advertising through existing digital platforms is finally here,” said John Piccone, president of QTT.   The launch follows the completion of a family of QTT patents delivering seminal steps in the integration of the pan-device digital and linear television advertising ecosystems.   Read more on Broadcasting & Cable here. Check out the full news release on BusinessWire.

Future Today, the only full-stack streaming solution that packages branded channels and delivers the audiences to watch them, announced the launch of three free streaming services on Rogers Ignite TV and Ignite SmartStream: FilmRise, Fawesome and iFood.tv. In addition, the companies have expanded their partnership whereby Rogers Sports & Media (RSM) will now provide ad sales representation for all of Future Today’s streaming channels across Canada.   “Rogers is a dominant force in shaping the TV viewing experience and leads the way in customer-focused offerings,” said Vikrant Mathur, Founder and CEO, Future Today.   In the last 12 months, Future Today has experienced extraordinary growth and has aggressively expanded its content library to offer more than 225,000 movies, TV shows and episodes with the addition of 15,000 hours of premium content that is currently available on every major streaming platform, including Rogers Ignite TV and Ignite SmartStream, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple, LG, Samsung, Vizio, Xbox, iOS and Android.   Read more from Rapid TV News here.

Clutch.co’s has listed Bob Gold & Associates among the Top 3 PR Agencies in Los Angeles, ranking  it #1 in Crisis Communications for the area. As more companies ramp up their operations in a challenging economy and social setting, many of them are looking to elevate their brand stories. We are the Gold standard for data-driven Public Relations and Brand Management. The BG&A team of experts provides uniquely tailored strategies for today’s digital-first world. Our goal is to tell a great story about you, share your expertise and insights, demonstrate your unique value and connect with target audiences across the globe.   To see our PR and marketing results, read our case studies for Cisco (Telecommunications), Viamedia (AdTech), and Plume (Consumer Electronics) as well as our collection of case studies on crisis management.   “Their work ethic and results were impressive. They also have good media relationships and industry contacts.”   Mark Goodburn, Director of Product Marketing, Plume   For more amazing reviews of the BG&A team, please visit our Clutch.co profile here.