Is a radio station in financial trouble when it airs lots and lots of PSA's?

[Sum~Guy]

I listen to WJR (AM 760) quite a bit (well, my kitchen radio usually has it on) and it seems to go through periods where I hear nothing but PSA's and very little in the way of commercial advertising. A recent period started maybe just before christmas and it might be over now but for a solid 2 weeks I heard a couple of PSA's constantly. They were "Know your constitution. It's who you are, it's who we are" and a PSA for doctors without borders.

Now I don't know if these are "Ad Council" PSA's or not, but I am curious as to what sort of revenue stream this sort of material is for the station, and can I infer anything about the station's financial health when I hear a lot of these spots being aired.

 

[TheBigA]

When do they air? In morning and afternoon drive on weekdays? Or overnights and weekends?

During local shows or during syndication? Give us some context.

It makes a big difference.

 

[Sum~Guy]

Ok, so I just went to listen. Mark Levin is on. At 8:30 they broke for commercials. First on- an ad for a local realtor.

The next ad - was for "the inside outside guys". These are a couple of guys that have a 2-hour spot on the station on saturday mornings, like 8 - 10am. I'm guessing that they buy the air time and make it look like it's a WJR show but it's really a big ad for whom ever they interview, talk about, or run ads for. I heard a ton, an absolute ton of - I don't know if you want to call it a pro-mo or an ad for their saturday show, but this was also very common over the past couple of weeks.

The next ad was for - yup. Know your constitution. Some guy reads part of the constitution, talks about why you should know it. At the end they say it was sponsored by americandream.org.

The next ad was for the american psycological association, talking about how mentally screwed up people got over covid isolation, so get in touch with them if you need help.

The last ad was for some sort of gas card or app that gives you cash back.

And then it was back to Levin.

Another PSA I've heard at nauseum over the past few years (not necessarily the past month) was for Story Corp Connect. Interview and old person you know, and upload it to them, they'll put it in the Library of Congress. I guess a way to help old people cope with covid isolation.

I dont think it matters what day, what time of day, or who's show is airing. Any given commercial break on WJR will run a PSA or three.

I would really like to know the financial angle for PSA's, doesn't matter the radio station. Do they provide revenue for the station? Do they run them as a last resort or a first choice?

 

[TheBigA]

I dont think it matters what day, what time of day, or who's show is airing. Any given commercial break on WJR will run a PSA or three.

There is very little demand for advertising after 7PM, which is what this is. Also Levin is a syndicated show, so the breaks are split between network spots and local spots. The local positions are filled with PSAs, and the station is supposed to cover them with their local ads. So it sounds like they're just running the network feed.

Prime time for advertising is morning drive. That's where all the money is made. Not nights. But first quarter is also typically very light for advertising. My sense is that a lot of the former ABC AMs are losing money. Hopefully the other stations in the cluster are making up for the losses.

I would really like to know the financial angle for PSA's, doesn't matter the radio station. Do they provide revenue for the station? Do they run them as a last resort or a first choice?

The simple answer is there is no revenue for PSAs. They are space fillers.

 

[Mikey Radio]

Even back in the late 1990s when I worked for a smaller AM/FM combo, the AM (1kW non-directional daytimer) had a local morning host M-F and it was was satellite-fed the rest of the time save for some local interest and ethnic programs on weekends and some live high school, college and pro sports contests here and there. There were plenty of spots through the week during the daytime hours and the weekend ethnic shows usually sold well (though it wasn't a term they used, they were pretty much brokered as the hosts sold the time during those shows themselves). Aside from that, evenings and weekends when they weren't carrying live sporting events and games were mostly PSAs. They still made plenty of money. In my experience there shouldn't be a good excuse for having too much repetition on PSAs. That station used to get loads of them from the Ad Council and elsewhere. Every 6 months or so they'd pull the current ones and upload new ones into the system that had trickled in from various agencies.

 

[davideduardo]

Another PSA I've heard at nauseum over the past few years (not necessarily the past month) was for Story Corp Connect. Interview and old person you know, and upload it to them, they'll put it in the Library of Congress. I guess a way to help old people cope with covid isolation.

Unless... perhaps, there is a charge for this and they make a profit.

I dont think it matters what day, what time of day, or who's show is airing. Any given commercial break on WJR will run a PSA or three.

It's January. In stations I have managed, we often see about a 50% reduction in paid inventory sold in January and almost as bad in February. And the paid stuff all knows this and asks for prime time placement.

I would really like to know the financial angle for PSA's, doesn't matter the radio station. Do they provide revenue for the station? Do they run them as a last resort or a first choice?

They use them to fill in syndicated shows that have no flexible stopsets. And some of the things you mentioned are not PSAs... they are organizations that buy time.

PSA are part of the licensee's promise to the Commission at license renewal time.

 

[davideduardo]

I listen to WJR (AM 760) quite a bit (well, my kitchen radio usually has it on) and it seems to go through periods where I hear nothing but PSA's and very little in the way of commercial advertising. A recent period started maybe just before christmas and it might be over now but for a solid 2 weeks I heard a couple of PSA's constantly. They were "Know your constitution. It's who you are, it's who we are" and a PSA for doctors without borders.

The "Know Your Constitution" ads are paid. They are like a PAC, they buy time to promote their agenda.

There are many non-profits that buy ads because they get fund raising results. The prime example is "Kars for Kids".

Now I don't know if these are "Ad Council" PSA's or not, but I am curious as to what sort of revenue stream this sort of material is for the station, and can I infer anything about the station's financial health when I hear a lot of these spots being aired.

 

[Gregg.]

Some spots that sound like PSAs are actually paid commercials. There are several charities that we hear and see frequent spots for: Kars for Kids, St. Jude's Children's Hospital, Shriner's Hospitals. Those are charities, sure. But only a fraction of the contributions reach the charity. The advertising agency is able to bring in enough revenue to pay itself handsomely by producing and placing frequent spots.

Some charities use a special 800 number for each station it broadcasts on. If you make a contribution after dialing the number, the radio station gets a cut. But I assume the spot is free. So this gives the station a slight incentive to run the spots.

If you hear a PSA only occasionally, then likely it really is a PSA. The station makes no profit and simply plugs in the PSA within a syndicated show with local avails. Most radio stations get plenty of recorded PSAs unsolicited. But if you hear one frequently, there's probably a reason. Is a station official on the board of that charity? Or does a family member benefit from it? Perhaps.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

Some spots that sound like PSAs are actually paid commercials. There are several charities that we hear and see frequent spots for: Kars for Kids, St. Jude's Children's Hospital, Shriner's Hospitals. Those are charities, sure.

Even when these ads are paid, they tend to be bottom-feeders. Meaning they buy unsold inventory at a discount.

One of my employers used "programmatic" buying for unsold inventory -- essentially a reverse auction where the price decreases the closer to the date of airing. The average rate for a :60 ad was between $2 and $3, a discount of around 90% from the rate card for middays.
The most popular categories to take advantage of those rates were male enhancement pills and satellite TV dealers (it has been a number of years).

 

[crainbebo]

I still hear radio stations airing the old "fish with no water" asthma PSAs. Those are at LEAST 20 years old now!
I'm noticing a lot more PSAs on music stations during the evening hours (7-midnight) which didn't use to happen. I'm assuming some of these PSAs are fed through the syndicated program they air.

Syndicated formats that don't break for local ads also have lots of telephone direct-response (and some online/text-only direct-response) commercials - I assume the company, like Select Quote, or Omaha Steaks, pays a small fee to be inserted into the rotation. Nugenix asks listeners to text to a six-digit number for their testosterone products, no 800 number to call. Sign of the times, I guess.

 

[b-turner]

It is likely Select Quote, Nugenix and Omaha Steaks are doing Per Inquiry Ads where you get paid a small amount when someone in your coverage area buys. It works like those you see on TV.

 

[FreddyE1977]

Some spots that sound like PSAs are actually paid commercials. There are several charities that we hear and see frequent spots for: Kars for Kids, St. Jude's Children's Hospital, Shriner's Hospitals. Those are charities, sure. But only a fraction of the contributions reach the charity. The advertising agency is able to bring in enough revenue to pay itself handsomely by producing and placing frequent spots.

Some charities use a special 800 number for each station it broadcasts on. If you make a contribution after dialing the number, the radio station gets a cut. But I assume the spot is free. So this gives the station a slight incentive to run the spots.

If you hear a PSA only occasionally, then likely it really is a PSA. The station makes no profit and simply plugs in the PSA within a syndicated show with local avails. Most radio stations get plenty of recorded PSAs unsolicited. But if you hear one frequently, there's probably a reason. Is a station official on the board of that charity? Or does a family member benefit from it? Perhaps.

Very true. During COVID you heard lots of spots which sounded like PSAs (get your shot, wear a mask, etc.) that actually carried the disclaimer "Paid for with Pennsylvania taxpayer dollars." Whether that's an appropriate use for taxpayer dollars is a whole separate issue. One could argue that it undermines the journalistic integrity of those broadcasters to be taking money from the government.

 

[radiofan2023]

Very true. During COVID you heard lots of spots which sounded like PSAs (get your shot, wear a mask, etc.) that actually carried the disclaimer "Paid for with Pennsylvania taxpayer dollars." Whether that's an appropriate use for taxpayer dollars is a whole separate issue. One could argue that it undermines the journalistic integrity of those broadcasters to be taking money from the government.

Those spots ran on more than just news stations.

 

[Mikey Radio]

During COVID you heard lots of spots which sounded like PSAs (get your shot, wear a mask, etc.) that actually carried the disclaimer "Paid for with Pennsylvania taxpayer dollars." Whether that's an appropriate use for taxpayer dollars is a whole separate issue. One could argue that it undermines the journalistic integrity of those broadcasters to be taking money from the government.

I'd argue it doesn't undermine their journalistic integrity any more than when they play ads for political candidates during election season. Just because a station airs an advertisement or a PSA, that doesn't mean they agree with or endorse it. That's the reason the disclaimer is there.

Regarding whether or not airing ads featuring scientifically-backed and medically supported health advice during a worldwide pandemic like Covid was an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars...It's really no different than campaigns like "Buckle Up" or "Click it or Ticket" to remind drivers to wear seatbelts. Both are statistically proven to help save lives.

 

[radiofan2023]

Plus PSAs are free...

 

[vchimpanzee]

WHVN in Charlotte NC came back on the air after being off for several months, and it took several more months to sell the station. I couldn't pick it up at home but I wished I could have. No commercials. Just PSAs. Someone on this site said they weren't helping and, in fact, I was told if you could hear PSA's on any station during a time people were likely listening, it wasn't doing well.

 

[radiofan2023]

Yes, often PSAs are used to fill holes where the station hasn't sold ads (mainly at night). The only time I've ever liked PSAs was when I heard Adam Carolla goofing on them on Loveline:

 

[Mark Roberts]

Very true. During COVID you heard lots of spots which sounded like PSAs (get your shot, wear a mask, etc.) that actually carried the disclaimer "Paid for with Pennsylvania taxpayer dollars." Whether that's an appropriate use for taxpayer dollars is a whole separate issue. One could argue that it undermines the journalistic integrity of those broadcasters to be taking money from the government.

As long as the disclaimer is there, I don't see a problem.

What far and away does more to undermine broadcaster journalistic integrity than anything else are the hours and hours of slanted right-wing rabble-rousing talk shows and their hosts that promote outright lies.

 

[b-turner]

Pretty much if you're hearing a PSA or one of those spots like Direct Quote, you have a station covering break that does not have all of it's commercial time sold. Per inquiry ads generally pay very little...in my case pennies per airing. You might catch more PSAs at night when breaks must be covered by the local station. I'd say a station filling breaks from 6am to 7pm especially on weekdays is hurting financially. In fact, the fewer commercials 6a to 7p weekdays, the worse off the station is.

 

[davideduardo]

Those penny spots are fewer in radio today. In the 80's and into the 2000's, satellite and web delivered radio formats had fixed stopset lengths, and the local stations had to fill them. Often, PSAs or "cheap spots" or bonus spots were use.

Now, syndicated formats are based on workparts that are downloaded to each station and assembled on the station's computer, with unsold commercial time being used to play a bit more music each hour. Those formats today work just as well with zero ads as with a full 15 to 18 minutes.

In TV, it is harder. Syndicated content has a specific amount of commercial time allocation per hour or half hour. If a station does not have enough sold time, they run those PI spots or promos or other fill.