This might be a bit off topic but I think it applies to the small market/large market portion of the thread. I've worked in major market and small town radio. I can tell you small towns are not easily stereotyped. I was in one market, 43,000 in the market, where I worked an AM/FM combo. We were dominant and long-time top stations. We had no trouble selling 50% more than the combined total of our two competitors at triple the spot rate of their rates combined. In today's dollars that was around $76,000 a month on average. Retail sales was around $600,000,000. In another market where there is no local competitor, a market of 42,000 with a bit more than $850,000,000 in retail sales, the station easily eclipsed 1 in 3 listening within the county. Let's call this a heritage station, dominant for decades. It bills about $25,000 a month at a spot rate about 1/4th of the station I previously described.
You can say both stations are in very similar markets. I've been perplexed by this. I've tried to find a reason. It's not national chains. If anything, there was a bit more competition for ad dollars in the market that had the highest monthly billing. It's nothing I can pinpoint as to why one market can triple bill another. All I can say is that the difference between the two markets seems to be this: what people will pay for radio advertising and how much they will budget.
I've noticed the same from my print friends. X has a newspaper in a town getting $6 a column inch and runs about a 10-12 page weekly that is easily 50-60% advertising in a town of comparable population size and trade area, comparable retail sales and number of businesses. The comparison is a paper that does about 6 pages weekly, about 40-50% advertising content at $2.50 a column inch. Even as far as number of subscribers, both papers have almost the same number (actually one is about 5% less and that's the one charging $6). Both papers on paper look pretty much equal but for some reason one area is willing to spend more and pay higher rates than the other. I cannot explain why.
So when we look at the Ozarks small market, it can be vastly different from a comparable community elsewhere. I'm sure the same can be said of rated markets. The number of advertising dollars can vary greatly regardless of how your rank in the ratings or in small towns, how many listeners you have. Why a guy with a high on the dial AM and a 3kw. FM in a town of 6,500 serving a county of about 35,000 can eclipse $1.2 million a year in billing as the stations locals choose but a twin of this market and stations a few hundred miles away struggles to do 25 cents on the dollar is a mystery.
You can say both stations are in very similar markets. I've been perplexed by this. I've tried to find a reason. It's not national chains. If anything, there was a bit more competition for ad dollars in the market that had the highest monthly billing. It's nothing I can pinpoint as to why one market can triple bill another. All I can say is that the difference between the two markets seems to be this: what people will pay for radio advertising and how much they will budget.
I've noticed the same from my print friends. X has a newspaper in a town getting $6 a column inch and runs about a 10-12 page weekly that is easily 50-60% advertising in a town of comparable population size and trade area, comparable retail sales and number of businesses. The comparison is a paper that does about 6 pages weekly, about 40-50% advertising content at $2.50 a column inch. Even as far as number of subscribers, both papers have almost the same number (actually one is about 5% less and that's the one charging $6). Both papers on paper look pretty much equal but for some reason one area is willing to spend more and pay higher rates than the other. I cannot explain why.
So when we look at the Ozarks small market, it can be vastly different from a comparable community elsewhere. I'm sure the same can be said of rated markets. The number of advertising dollars can vary greatly regardless of how your rank in the ratings or in small towns, how many listeners you have. Why a guy with a high on the dial AM and a 3kw. FM in a town of 6,500 serving a county of about 35,000 can eclipse $1.2 million a year in billing as the stations locals choose but a twin of this market and stations a few hundred miles away struggles to do 25 cents on the dollar is a mystery.
