Los Angeles Ratings ... NOT the 6+ numbers

[K.M. Richards]

But if you listen to KFI specifically, you will note that a huge percentage of their business is local direct. They have a list of advertisers who seem to want the foreground format which is viewed as making ads more noticeable.

You got me there, David. I never listen to 640 so I was completely unaware of that. Still, I wonder if that takes very much effort on the part of iHeart's sales staff to sell and service that list of clients.

 

[davideduardo]

You got me there, David. I never listen to 640 so I was completely unaware of that. Still, I wonder if that takes very much effort on the part of iHeart's sales staff to sell and service that list of clients.

My awakening to this came when , years and years ago, I heard the John & Ken Show doing a series of remotes from Ayers hotels in the LA area. I realized that this had to be either local direct or through a smaller local agency- I then started analyzing the accounts and would ask our local sales manager "direct or agency?"

I realized they were doing what many talk stations do: they have more commercial minutes, lower rates and mostly local accounts.

Even before that, I found that KTNQ during the good years when I was PD and doing talk was mostly generating either local direct or package buys with KLVE or with KLVE and KSCA. The local direct had a lot of accident and immigration attorneys, car dealers with in-house financing, Mexican supermarket chains and the like.

But that was almost 3 decades ago and they have changed the marquee of the radio theater since then.

 

[BLA]

But if you listen to KFI specifically, you will note that a huge percentage of their business is local direct. They have a list of advertisers who seem to want the foreground format which is viewed as making ads more noticeable. The agencies shy away from talk formats as many national and regional accounts don't want to be associated with "people like Rush Limbaugh" or Fox News.

The national agency buys that do use talk are mostly "talk specific" campaigns that are for clients who want the demo and mindset of the talk format.... think the equivalent of My Pillow but on radio.

The news station has broader agency appeal, but they still do a huge amount of local because of their age spread which does not appeal to most agency accounts.

Sports is not a demographic buy... it is a "guys" buy. AM, FM, Shortwave. Sports is often even a special "sports marketing" budget that the rest of radio never even has a chance at.

Honorable mention to the ads for end-of-world survival kits and political 501's for the talk format.
I love Larry Miller, I can't stand the McDowell time share guy from Tenn. I am wearing out my volume (down) nob because of him. KNX & XM and those advertisers that follow McDowell, should please take note. Also, enough of the smelly body parts ads. Very off-putting.

Yes, the "Sports Demo" are guys.

And boys will be boys and girls will be demographics. Well?

 

[davideduardo]

Honorable mention to the ads for end-of-world survival kits and political 501's for the talk format.
I love Larry Miller, I can't stand the McDowell time share guy from Tenn. I

Ah, yes, the "get out of your time share" ads. Forgot those (on purpose, I think).

 

[K.M. Richards]

Ah, yes, the "get out of your time share" ads. Forgot those (on purpose, I think).

That brings up a possible additional factor in the discussion. Those "timeshare exit hotline" type ads are probably pre-inquiry/direct response. I know because I ran them at one point about a year or so ago, working with a Direct Marketing agency, on The Eighties Channel™ (although right now we are focusing on four travel-oriented campaigns -- a low cost airline ticket service, a travel agency specializing in cruises, a small domestic resort chain, and a low cost hotel reservation service -- augmented by individual campaigns for cheap home Internet, wireless plans with free smartphone, lifetime annuities, non-ADA health insurance, and "do you owe the IRS $10,000 or more" services) for unsold ad slots that have to be filled.

DM spots (if that's what "McDowell" is) run without any upfront or billed payment and the station gets a "commission" for each response attributed to their coverage area. If those "timeshare exit" ads are running at any significant frequency on any station, it generally means that they are drawing responses. So I doubt you're going to see those disappear any time soon.

I don't think I want to know what the "smelly body parts" ads are. I don't remember anything like that on the lists I get of available DM spots, so those must be actual buys ...

 

[CTListener]

Ah, yes, the "get out of your time share" ads. Forgot those (on purpose, I think).

One of our uptempo "hot country" stations in my area (VT/NH border) runs those time share ads regularly. I wonder what kind of response they get on a station that, presumably, is skewing young and female.

 

[K.M. Richards]

One of our uptempo "hot country" stations in my area (VT/NH border) runs those time share ads regularly. I wonder what kind of response they get on a station that, presumably, is skewing young and female.

Based on my experience, as noted above, it's a crapshoot. In general, any DM ad will only be successful (as in someone calling the direct response #) when all of the following three things happen simultaneously at the time of the ad running:

1. The listener is in a demographic which the ad targets; this is not necessarily age-based, as a case can be made for a demographic called "timeshare owners", for example.
2. The listener has a need for the product being advertised. (Duh, right?)
3. The listener hasn't already been in the market for the product and feels there are adequate local (as in "why should I call in and talk to someone in a call center somewhere when I saw a billboard for a local attorney yesterday offering the same services?") sources for whatever the ad is hawking.

Given all that, it probably doesn't surprise anyone that I am not getting rich running DM ads, but they fill holes and if one has holes to fill, one may as well fill them with something that has even a slight chance of providing revenue.

 

[CTListener]

Based on my experience, as noted above, it's a crapshoot. In general, any DM ad will only be successful (as in someone calling the direct response #) when all of the following three things happen simultaneously at the time of the ad running:

1. The listener is in a demographic which the ad targets; this is not necessarily age-based, as a case can be made for a demographic called "timeshare owners", for example.
2. The listener has a need for the product being advertised. (Duh, right?)
3. The listener hasn't already been in the market for the product and feels there are adequate local (as in "why should I call in and talk to someone in a call center somewhere when I saw a billboard for a local attorney yesterday offering the same services?") sources for whatever the ad is hawking.

Given all that, it probably doesn't surprise anyone that I am not getting rich running DM ads, but they fill holes and if one has holes to fill, one may as well fill them with something that has even a slight chance of providing revenue.

Come to think of it, this is an area that I'd imagine has quite a few time shares, being fairly close to ski areas. Two straight winters with unusually mild weather and rain instead of snow might be doing a number on demand for those time shares.

 

[K.M. Richards]

Come to think of it, this is an area that I'd imagine has quite a few time shares, being fairly close to ski areas. Two straight winters with unusually mild weather and rain instead of snow might be doing a number on demand for those time shares.

Reason #2!!!!