While driving from lunch, I did some radio channel surfing and, all at the same time, the following stations were running commercials... WAKS, WGAR, WQAL, WMJI, WTAM and WHK. I didn't check every station. Businesses are still interested in radio, and see it as a worthwhile investment.
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Loaded with commercials
- Thread starter johnbasalla
- Start date
Despite claims of sales being way off during the pandemic, spots loads sounded the same. I’m not sure if it was bonuses spots or what, but it didn’t sound as bad as claimed.
Cheaper rates were offered to keep clients from cancelling altogether. The "average major station" was off by around 35% to 40% last year.
"Sure, your revenue is down a bit this year because reasons, but trust me...if you just spend a little extra money to get your ads near the front of the phone book, things will pick up after we drop the new ones off at every doorstep. People will page through it, and your ads will make an impact!"
Keep in mind that listening to a radio station is not the same thing as paging through a book.
It's not the same thing as programming your own personal playlist either. These are all different processes.
That's because surveys say that most TAM listeners have ED.
Whatever the reason, inventory didn’t suddenly open up.
It must be hell to return to already depressed rates.
It must be hell to return to already depressed rates.
A CFO I know at a top 25 market cluster told me early last year, their flagship FM...an AC that’s been #1 in women 25-54 for 30 YEARS....billed in 2019 at just above 50% of what they did in 2018. This is pre-pandemic. High growth market. I was told: national was a fraction of what it always had been and huge losses in “car business” to TV and the internet. “Our sales staff is older...used to getting tons of easy agency buys, has gotten away from local direct selling, and does not know how to sell digital”. No joke, guys.
Besides competing for ad dollars with the monster internet, the radio industry is desperate to find enough quality, experienced sales reps who know how to sell to local direct advertisers. And this too has been a worsening concern for a decade.
Besides competing for ad dollars with the monster internet, the radio industry is desperate to find enough quality, experienced sales reps who know how to sell to local direct advertisers. And this too has been a worsening concern for a decade.
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Tim is right on. I have said for years that stations have relied on agency business way too much. The first station I worked for had 4 fulltime salesmen and I can not remember a single agency buy back then other than on the network feeds we carried. Fast forward 25 years and I was slipped a copy of that same station's agency buys for one month, January and I couldn't believe that a good 40% of their business was just flying in the door from agency buys. Of course that stopped with Covid and by then they had five stations in four towns and were trying to sell time on all three with a local sales staff of two who now had to travel 25 miles instead of back in the day when they were 4 miles away from all clients.
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