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Internet ad confusion?

W

wadio

For weeks now I've been hearing an ad on the WPHT stream for Helix Wireless. The ad is tagged: "Helix Wireless is a proud partner of WFAN." I believe both are Audacy stations. Helix Wireless is headquartered in Princeton, NJ which is in WPHT's broadcast area. I'm in the NY tri-state area.

Question: is this intentional or is it a mistake? If the latter, then Helix probably purchased ads intended to be targeted to WFAN's listening area and demos. Maybe time for a ton of make-goods?
 
The ads you hear on streams are usually targeted to the user's ISP. So since you're in NY, you hear ads for NY, even though the station is in Philadelphia.

Google ads will often target products to things they see in the search history from your browser.
 
TheBigA said:
The ads you hear on streams are usually targeted to the user's ISP. So since you're in NY, you hear ads for NY, even though the station is in Philadelphia.

Google ads will often target products to things they see in the search history from your browser.
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But I never listen to WFAN and Helix Wireless is looking to attract Internet startups which is definitely not me. There's a waste of ad money happening here.

Also referring to WFAN on WPHT sounds just plain stupid. I find it hard to believe that this is intentional.
 
wadio said:
I never listen to WFAN
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But your ISP says you're in that market. I travel a lot and I have some sports subscriptions that get blacked out in certain markets because the ISP says where I am. They say I can only use those subscriptions in my home market.

wadio said:
Also referring to WFAN on WPHT sounds just plain stupid. I find it hard to believe that this is intentional.
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It's because you're listening to the station out of market. WPHT's advertisers have no reason to reach you. But WFAN's do.

If the advertiser knew the spot was going to be used this way, they might record a generic version without any call letters.
 
TheBigA said:
But your ISP says you're in that market. I travel a lot and I have some sports subscriptions that get blacked out in certain markets because the ISP says where I am. They say I can only use those subscriptions in my home market.


It's because you're listening to the station out of market. WPHT's advertisers have no reason to reach you. But WFAN's do.
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Good excuses, but IMO they're just that -- excuses.
TheBigA said:
If the advertiser knew the spot was going to be used this way, they might record a generic version without any call letters.
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Exactly.
 
wadio said:
Good excuses, but IMO they're just that -- excuses.

Exactly.
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its not excuses, its how the system works.. its probably branded with the audacy ny station as kind of like a tie in/brand promotion thing

It doesnt matter what you do or dont listen to.. it matters what youre listening to at the moment and where you are when listening.

If I use my viasat internet connection, id get served ads from San Francisco or Portland depending on where the system placed me at the time abnd what i was watcvhing/listening to.

With Starlink, i might get an alaska based ad, but most likely, a seattle based ad.
 
SomeRadioGuy said:
its not excuses, its how the system works.. its probably branded with the audacy ny station as kind of like a tie in/brand promotion thing

It doesnt matter what you do or dont listen to.. it matters what youre listening to at the moment and where you are when listening.

If I use my viasat internet connection, id get served ads from San Francisco or Portland depending on where the system placed me at the time abnd what i was watcvhing/listening to.

With Starlink, i might get an alaska based ad, but most likely, a seattle based ad.
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I'm not saying I shouldn't hear the ad (although the advertiser should know from the data collected from me that I'm neither a prospect nor a sports fan) but promoting one station on another is either lazy or just plain dumb.

Streaming, IMO, may be the future of talk radio (until something better comes along) so c'mon, get it right!
 
SomeRadioGuy said:
not lazy and not dumb.. you know how many people go between NYC and vice versa?
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I used to commute regularly between the two. For a time, I took the train, and it was filled with a lot of regular commuters. If you take the express, it's only a little over an hour. I got to talking to some of the people on the train, and a lot of them went to college in Philadelphia, got jobs in NY, and wanted to stay near their friends.
 
Unless you are located near the approximate boundary of two different radio markets it would be uncommon if you live in the center of a Media market. However if you are in certain parts of New Jersey then it's normal to have both Philadelphia and New York ads.
 

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SomeRadioGuy said:
not lazy and not dumb.. you know how many people go between NYC and vice versa?

They got it right.. as weve explained to you here..... ads served up online often match the listeners location not the station and it was a brand tie in with a NY station.

Tell me you don't understand how streaming, radio and advertising works and continue to not understand despite being told.. without saying it.
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If a supermarket had a display of Coke with a sign saying "Proudly presented by Pepsi," would that make sense? Stop making excuses for this nonsense!
 
wadio said:
If a supermarket had a display of Coke with a sign saying "Proudly presented by Pepsi," would that make sense? Stop making excuses for this nonsense!
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Two seperate companies

WFAN and WPHT arent owned by different companies

Youre not even making a correct comparison.

@TheBigA we must be getting punked at this point
 
wadio said:
For weeks now I've been hearing an ad on the WPHT stream for Helix Wireless. The ad is tagged: "Helix Wireless is a proud partner of WFAN." I believe both are Audacy stations. Helix Wireless is headquartered in Princeton, NJ which is in WPHT's broadcast area. I'm in the NY tri-state area.

Question: is this intentional or is it a mistake? If the latter, then Helix probably purchased ads intended to be targeted to WFAN's listening area and demos. Maybe time for a ton of make-goods?
Click to expand...

It is 100% by design. A lot of streaming audio advertising is sold similarly to have banner ads are sold. You stated that you're in the New York market. Ads from other areas would be irrelevant for you. Are you going to drive to King of Prussia for a sale or stay local?

The original buy was likely for WFAN with the Audacy app given as a bonus or add-on, so the copy was written with WFAN in mind. The issue isn't that you were served a relevant ad, but rather that the salesperson didn't consider the streaming audience or didn't care.

Y2kTheNewOldies said:
Unless you are located near the approximate boundary of two different radio markets it would be uncommon if you live in the center of a Media market. However if you are in certain parts of New Jersey then it's normal to have both Philadelphia and New York ads.
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Not how it works...
 
lanceventa said:
It is 100% by design. A lot of streaming audio advertising is sold similarly to have banner ads are sold. You stated that you're in the New York market. Ads from other areas would be irrelevant for you. Are you going to drive to King of Prussia for a sale or stay local?

The original buy was likely for WFAN with the Audacy app given as a bonus or add-on, so the copy was written with WFAN in mind. The issue isn't that you were served a relevant ad, but rather that the salesperson didn't consider the streaming audience or didn't care.


Not how it works...
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Yes you're right on this one.
 
SomeRadioGuy said:
that.... is not how this works at all and your example has no bearing or isnt even close to whats going on here.

This is more common than you think, isnt a mistake or sillyness.. its by design.


Do you think its silly that i see/hear ads for Seattle, Portland or San Francisco depending on what service im using, @wadio ?
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No it's not silly to hear I get Sacramento and San Francisco ads mainly because my ip address location happens to be at the approximate border of two TV DMA's. Sometimes I get Los Angeles, Fresno, San Diego and Bakerfield ads mainly because the sponsor of the ad wanted to go statewide in the advertising platform they are using.


We had a similar complaint mentioned on the TV side.
 

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Y2kTheNewOldies said:
No it's not silly to hear I get Sacramento and San Francisco ads mainly because my ip address location happens to be at the approximate border of two TV DMA's.
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Advertisers can be hyperlocal with ad placements too. A couple weeks ago I was at a restaurant in Middletown, Delaware that was streaming a station from Miami off of the Audacy app. They were getting ads for businesses in Middletown, DE. That's why you may be getting crossover. They both want to target your area,

Sometimes I get Los Angeles, Fresno, San Diego and Bakerfield ads mainly because the sponsor of the ad wanted to go statewide in the advertising platform they are using.
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This is a whole separate thing. If they want to be in multiple markets, those are separate market ad placements. Not getting one market's ads in place of the originating station like the original poster said.
 
Meanwhile, there's view that I read here all the time that listeners tune out when the commercials begin. At least that's what some people tell me. But we have one listener who is paying so much attention to this spot that it's set off a 20 post thread. So I guess someone is actually listening to the spots after all.
 
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