Bad PSA Placement

[MarcB]

I was listening to the online stream of Town Square Media's KICKS 105.5 FM (Danbury, CT) last night. They aired a commercial for an event they're sponsoring called "The Bacon & Brew Fest" (bacon, beer, and more) and that was immediately followed by a PSA for the alcohol addiction help group Ala-Non.

I don't know if Town Square stations run separate ads on their stream from what they run over the air. If they do, it's done very well. It seemed like everything flowed together smoothly. (Obvious I've heard on some streams bad segues between program content and the separate stream ads).

 

[wadio]

From what I can tell stations care zero about what commercials, PSAs and other fillers air on their streams.

For example, on the WABC stream ... a station that skews quite old ... they're running ads for ProActive acne medication voiced by a very annoying giggly young lady. Nobody could be paying attention to where these spots are placed.

They also run seasonally outdated commercials, and there's a "Tech Trends" feature currently running that proclaims, "With April Fools Day coming up this is not a joke!"

The level of oversight especially for streaming but even on air content these days is a joke.

 

[JeffM]

On at least one of the Townsquare stations here, you sometimes hear a full-length commercial for one local car dealer "tagged" with a five-second quickie for a different dealer, playing over the intro to the next song. I can't imagine either advertiser can be happy with that! We also get loads of commercials for chain businesses that don't have a location within at least 150 miles of here (Toys-R-Us, Lowe's, Blimpie's, etc.) Assume that is due to Townsquare selling their stations in groups, as the stations involved do not carry network news or similar features.

 

[wadio]

Advertisers used to request proof of performance reports to show what aired and what didn't. Does that still happen?

I suppose one reason for the lack of attention to what airs on the streams is that the spots are cheap, probably sold in bulk, and the advertisers figure if a few are misplaced it's not too big a deal.

This sloppiness isn't new but it's gotten much worse in recent years. I remember when Pancake House announced it was closing, and finally closed, its only location in our area, the local station kept running an ad for months that began, "There's never been a better time to visit Pancake House!" Really?

 

[TheBigA]

Advertisers used to request proof of performance reports to show what aired and what didn't. Does that still happen?

Proof of performance is delivered on all on air spots. It's not requested, it's part of the package. But if you're talking about the stream, it's probably just filler, not included in an actual buy. These streams are loss leaders for the radio stations. They cost more than they make.

Regarding the placement of a PSA for alcoholism next to a promo for a beer fest, that's probably to cover their legal requirement. Any commercial for alcohol has to be tagged "drink responsibly," just as any spot for a casino has to warn about compulsive gambling.

 

[Ravens]

PSAs are usually on rotating carts (which aren't even carts, of course). It was just that PSAs time to come up. I wouldn't think to much into it.

 

[brettbutlerisok]

I used to do that on purpose, at the first station I worked at. It was an AM that simulcasted the FM with the same calls for part of the day. Often they would tell me to practice on the board during that time. So play ad for booze then play anti-booze PSA.

Funny. I was practicing to be a computer without a sense of irony.

 

[sdskees]

We also get loads of commercials for chain businesses that don't have a location within at least 150 miles of here (Toys-R-Us, Lowe's, Blimpie's, etc.) Assume that is due to Townsquare selling their stations in groups, as the stations involved do not carry network news or similar features.

There is a similar example to this with the iHeartMedia stations in Louisville. Many of the traffic reports are (or at least were a few months ago) sponsored by ExxonMobil. We have hundreds upon hundreds of gas stations in Louisville, but you'll have to go at least an hour and a half outside of the city (to small towns that are considered in the Indianapolis or Cincinnati markets) to find the closest Exxon or Mobil.

 

[vchimpanzee]

My favorite station, which is a community station, airs ads for the community college telling people they can improve their lives. Now it's possible people in the age group that needs to be reached are listening. Actually, a number of people in their 50s and 60s go back to school.

The most extreme example I can remember is loud commercials for the military on the same type station. No, I think the people listening to this music have already proudly served and are veterans of actual wars.

 

[Scott2013]

Reminds me of a time several years ago when I was listening to 94.9 WQMX in Akron and the DJ (I forget which one) had just given a public service announcement against driving drunk and then right afterward played "Beer in Mexico" by Kenny Chesney. That had to have been awkward.

 

[Groove1670]

Radio gives the farm away with barter spots, and yes online affidavits are still required for so called proof of performance. I hear many ad council spots on streams and network feeds with long unfilled local breaks.

Many of these spots you hear, (if there isn't a location in the market) are barter spots for programming that the station runs.

 

[b-turner]

Several posts back someone mentioned hear spots for places that were 150 or miles away. There are several reasons this can happen. Many radio stations use some form of syndication. This can be the format itself. In such cases, the national spots air regardless. The agreement is to run them, so they are run. In one market I carried ABC News 4 hours each weekday morning, opting for the 1 minute cast. I had to clear 2 thirty second spots every hour 24/7, whatever came down on the feed.

On the PSA placement, I doubt anyone but you might have noticed. Like you, I would have noticed as well.

For the tags on car dealer spots being wrong, that's not good but there must be some reason they are attached. I know in my part of the country, an owner may own several dealerships all under different names. Perhaps they were co-owned. It is very possible the streamed spots were bonused. Just like their customers like to haggle for a lower price, car dealerships have a tendency to do the same when buying airtime.

Early in my career we got a custom jingle package from Tanner and traded it almost entirely with spots. The spots were for national products found in stores. One was for Bactine.

 

[MikefromDelaware]

When I was working weekends at WILM newsradio, Wilmington Delaware, about 8 years ago, we aired a pre-recorded featurette, called Pet of the Week. This program featured the head of the Delaware Humane Society telling listeners of a dog and a cat that was available for adoption. I'm finishing up the last news story and, then have to read this ad live [thankfully I hadn't pre-read this so I read it cold not knowing what it said]: Pet of the Week is sponsored by Richard Donald Furs. Wearing a fur makes quite a statement and you too can make quite a statement. You can get your fur from the folks who've been selling Delaware the best furs, etc, etc. When I finished I hit the play button for Pet of the Week, and shut off my mic quickly so I could let out the laugh I had to hold in to get through reading that spot. I could hear the guys in the newsroom rolling with laughter. That wasn't a PSA, but a Spot, but a very poorly placed spot.

 

[JeeperOne]

Proof of performance is delivered on all on air spots. It's not requested, it's part of the package. But if you're talking about the stream, it's probably just filler, not included in an actual buy. These streams are loss leaders for the radio stations. They cost more than they make.

Which is why most TV stations that have live (Or in the case of NewsOn & Livestream - Continuously looping newscasts & other local content) don't bother with commercials because they learned those lessons from streaming radio stations

Heck, those same TV stations don't even run PSAs. They just put up a still image saying something like "We'll Be Right Back" (Even when NOT live)

Cheers & 73

 

[oldiesgirl]

I had a similar experience to Vchimpanzee. I used to listen to an online stream of a station carrying the Music of Your Life network which I can't remember the call letters for the life of me. I listened to them specifically because I like the music but also because I'm a nerd who likes analyzing PSA's and they played a lot of them. They would air the Ad Council spots warning teenagers what could happen if they posted dirty pictures of themselves online. I know that as a teenager I would have probably listened to that channel, but I'm not sure how many others would, and the ones who would be creative enough to listen to music that is outside their *air quotes* "demographic" don't seem like they'd be the type to go and post naked pics of themselves. I know that sounds bad like I'm judging teenagers, but I'm really not. It just seems like if a teen was listening to Music of Your Life, which is definitely not the stereotypical music teens are known for listening to, it doesn't seem like they would be likely to be as influenced by peer pressure and having to do everything other teens do to fit in. Actually I remember our oldies station we used to have would do the same thing in the late 90s and early 2000s, and that was on actual radio, not online stream. Those ads would be more effective on top 40 radio, but whenever I have been forced to listen to that I've never heard any PSA's, or very few.

 

[ChocoMingo]

I get commercials for Norfolk Southern in Tampa Bay, even though there are no NS trains in Tampa Bay, because we have Amtrak and CSX! They dont even have trackage rights and still air ads on TVs in the area. This is most likely on WFTS and WTVT, which are the 2 biggest stations in Tampa Bay, with WTVT beating everyone in the ratings.