November 2021 Trends

[Buddy Shula]

What got lost in the discussion of WBUF is the question of what Townsquare is really asking of the station. Are they really expecting it to be competitive locally? Are they willing to put in the resources to make that happen? Or, do they want to use it as a flanker, trying to nick a couple of shares from a market leader in order to enhance the positioning of their top stations in the market. Meanwhile, they clear commercials for several nationally syndicated shows, extending the reach of those shows for people who buy based on national syndication. National music brands like XXLmag.com, TasteofCountry.com, UltimateClassicRock.com and Loudwire.com get to claim greater access to a national audience.

Yeah, I get it. WBUF has a big signal. Using it as a flanker seems like a horrible waste of RF. To Townsquare, who has wholeheartedly embraced digital as the future of the medium, that big signal just looks like a big electric bill every month, not to mention the other costs for engineering, equipment, licensing, etc. At last count, OTA radio still brought in over 85% of the revenue. According to Statisctica, estimated radio station revenue for 2021 is $21.59-billion. Estimated revenue for local radio digital advertising is $1.3-billion. It seems like a few more dollars should go toward promoting and maintaining the bigger chunk of the pie. In reality, a lot of the revenue growth for digital is financed by costs assigned to OTA radio.

Townsquare expanded their reach beyond radio with "Taste of Country," Townsquare IGNITE, a proprietary digital programmatic advertising technology, and essentially replacing small-town local media with their website content as small newspapers and other local media outlets have folded by the thousands. Their digital footprint is quite different that the players in much larger markets who still have competition from other entertainment sources. They've been a very top-down company who has tried to impose the demands required of small-market stations on their handful of medium-to-large market stations. It doesn't work so well when you're not the only game in the market. We'll see if the new guy at WYRK, a very successful regional programmer, has a free hand to try to stop the bleeding there.

"Visionaries" will tell you that OTA radio is gathering momentum on the slippery slope to dinosaurhood. Smart speakers and apps are replacing it as a medium. Other "visionaries" will tell you that it ain't the delivery system that matters, it's the connection with the audience that brings in the money. Local advertising far outweighs the national buys in a market like Buffalo.

This is not true. Local radio buys do not far outweigh national buys in Buffalo. They do at some stations, but not all

 

[Rusty Bridges]

Local radio buys do not far outweigh national buys in Buffalo. They do at some stations, but not all

If this is the case, does a station that's tied for 5th Men 25-54 get on the OTA buy? I'm thinkin' not so much.

 

[TheBigA]

If this is the case, does a station that's tied for 5th Men 25-54 get on the OTA buy? I'm thinkin' not so much.

You're asking about a station that has a syndicated morning and evening show. That means not as much inventory to sell.

 

[tbolt909]

You're asking about a station that has a syndicated morning and evening show. That means not as much inventory to sell.

So if they ever somehow got into the Top 3 in their demo, they still couldn't cash in on agency buys? WBUF will never get there anyway with a Death Warmed Over format like this...

 

[TheBigA]

So if they ever somehow got into the Top 3 in their demo, they still couldn't cash in on agency buys?

Did I say that? No.

 

[davideduardo]

So if they ever somehow got into the Top 3 in their demo, they still couldn't cash in on agency buys? WBUF will never get there anyway with a Death Warmed Over format like this...

Buys are not generic and all for 25-54. Nearly all general market buys fall in the 25-54 range, and most ethnic buys fall in the 18-49 limits.

But they can be as specific as 25-44 Hispanic Females who are English dominant. Or "suburban Black males" or whatever the target sales group of a product or service is.

What is important is to be able to price a station competitively in a lot of buys.

And you are ignoring the fact that groups that have a cluster combine multiple stations to create a package for each buy that gives excellent reach, a good CPP and a variety of formats.

This practice goes back decades outside the US; in the 60's I had rates that combined buys of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 of my stations to give discounts for buying more than one. That way I got money away from single stations that could not offer a package that meant one buy, a trustworthy operator and a single set of invoices and statements. So keep in mind cluster synergy.

 

[davideduardo]

Did I say that? No.

Mr Bolt looks for anything he can grab. (It does make for fun threads, though!)

In Spanish we have an expression that is, more or less, "he looks for the fifth paw on a cat". It fits.

 

[Buddy Shula]

If this is the case, does a station that's tied for 5th Men 25-54 get on the OTA buy? I'm thinkin' not so much.

If it’s an effective rate, for its audience, and it meets the clients CPP and CPM goals, sure, it would get in the buy. An agency could buy the number 3 4 and 5 stations and own them, instead of buying the 1 and 2 station with non efficient rates.