Typical Remotes...How Much Do They Cost Advertiser?

[landtuna]

I know this is a somewhat open-ended question and probably depends on geography, station rates and type of talent but I was prompted by the 'Bill Heard' thread on the Atlanta Board.

Here in Phoenix we seem to have primarily car dealer remotes but they also seem to be popular with store openings (of all kinds). Just wondering what the typical 2-3 hour remote is worth to a leading station?

 

[PTBoardOp94]

Charged at the card rate for 90 second ads * the number of breaks purchased. I'll decline an exact figure.

 

[redneckriviera]

Sort of like asking how much a typical car costs ($200 to $100,000).

The previous poster's answer isn't a bad place to start, though. Except, of course, very few radio stations have a 90-second rate (mostly 60's & 30's). But if one were to take a 60-second rate in the appropriate daypart, double it, and multiply that by the number of breaks an hour... and then the number of hours, you might have a ballpark range to work with.

So let's say you're talking about a Saturday two-hour remote during mid-day (10A-3P) with a station that normally charges $50 for a 60-second spot, and the station gives you three breaks an hour. Double the $50 (to $100) and multiply by 3 (that's $300 an hour) and multiply by two hours = $600. If the station only offers remotes as part of a package that provides additional spots leading up to the remote--both typical and appropriate--they'll have the cost of those spots figured in as well. Plus and talent fee for the jock doing the remote.

So let's say the package includes 25 spots at $50 each ($1000) + the remote spots ($600) + a talent fee ($100 an hour... that's $200 for the jock)... you're looking at $1800.

Reality is that every radio company and station prices remotes differently, with MAJOR differences from market to market.

But the above gives you a starting point.

 

[landtuna]

I knew the answer wasn't going to be simple.

Thanks RNR.....

 

[XRQKFM]

You're looking at $1800

Is the rate most stations charge in our area for a remote package as described above. It's great if the station actually draws a crowd, and generates some business for the client. Not all broadcasters should do remotes; One station group does remotes on weekends and bar hops on Fridays, with only one little problem; No one shows up! Or worse! Three hours on a Saturday afternoon and not a sole, and then there is the rock jock who shows up to do a remote at the local watering hole; Clearing the bar out, because he is so nasty to everyone, thinking he is Gods gift to radio.

It also looks bad when the Part 15 AM station draws a bigger crowd and puts on a better show for a third of the cost of the FM Rocker in town.

Make sure you have listeners, before doing remotes, and leave Mr. Ego Trip at the studio! And the female staff should be easy on the eyes, and pleasant to be with. Leave the Barbara Streisand types with Mr. Ego!

Steve
www.radiooutlaw.com

 

[pocket-radio]

Buy an effective ad schedule first, with heavy spots in primes 6a-7p some 7p-10p.
Don’t be conned into buying ros. Pay for talent and get the remote and promos free!

Bet on the event, strong selling points, copy and ad schedule. If you think a remote alone will drive traffic, you won’t be happy!

The remote can add to your event. Stations will bring free stuff, food and music. Though many stations no longer broadcast live anymore. The live breaks are prerecorded, it sounds live, but it’s not.

Bet on the above first! Why do you need a remote anyway? Buy more than one station plan a media mix.
with a stong event and selling message.

 

[redneckriviera]

Buy an effective ad schedule first, with heavy spots in primes 6a-7p some 7p-10p.
Don’t be conned into buying ros. Pay for talent and get the remote and promos free!

Bet on the event, strong selling points, copy and ad schedule. If you think a remote alone will drive traffic, you won’t be happy!

The remote can add to your event. Stations will bring free stuff, food and music. Though many stations no longer broadcast live anymore. The live breaks are prerecorded, it sounds live, but it’s not.

Bet on the above first! Why do you need a remote anyway? Buy more than one station plan a media mix.
with a stong event and selling message.

Couple of quick thoughts.

Although radio advertising is usually pretty negotiable, it does depend on the relative strength of the station involved. Radio stations that are in strong positions in their markets and with high demand for their commercial time are much less likely to give "the remote and promos for free" than weaker stations with less demand for their time. And generally it is the stronger station one would want to be on.

Remotes are not a magic bullet. Too many (novice) advertisers buy remote broadcasts expecting the remote to attract people, when in fact it is the event that has to attract people. If a retailer has Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus in the parking lot, then a remote will help draw attention to the circus and bring people in. But even that may not bring those people through the door to spend money. In the best of all worlds, the advertiser has something happening that is truly SPECIAL going on: $15,000 rebates from Toyota and Honda on Corollas and Civics!!!

Beyond that, though, remote broadcasts do have something extra that makes them valuable. They are something out of the ordinary--and therefore may grab a listener's attention more effectively than a conventional 60-second spot. What a remote broadcast CANNOT do is stop a prospective consumer from doing whatever he/she is doing at the moment and drop everything and rush in to throw money on the counter. If they have to mow the lawn, they'll mow the lawn. If they have to go to the kid's ballgame, they'll go to the game. However, if the remote has grabbed their attention and effectively delivered the message--and the listener is in the market for whatever it is you're selling--then maybe they'll come in a few days from now.

Residual value. That's how radio always works. And sometimes a remote can be different enough to make it work a little better than always.

 

[landtuna]

Good points all. Thanks for your experience and perspective.

 

[Duncan Park]

Here remotes are a premium generally lasting two hours. Those two hours are devoid of any other inventory giving the client exclusivity. The remote is then priced above what the inventory would bring were the hour sold out. There's no set number of breaks in the hour, play a couple of songs then a 90 second cut-in. No jock at the station for the remote. All of the mic work is done on location with a board-op back at the studio manning the controls. Whomever is supposed to be on the air at that time is "On location" for the remote. We slap a lot of banners and sandwich boards in the parking lot as a magnet to traffic and a "locator" for those hearing the broadcast and looking for the business.

Sometimes a box promotion coincides with a remote with a decent prize to be won. The registration box is put out a week in advance of the remote with a schedule and "Lives" directing the audience to the location with the winning name drawn near the end of the broadcast.

At this point we have done all we realistically can to bring customers to the door. It is now up to the retailer to make the sale.

 

[KFodor]

And with remotes one key to getting turnout is always the incentive for the listener involved with it.

"Come on in, mention this station and get an additional $100 off the price of the car." (YAHN...you can negotiate that in most cases.)

"Come on in and get your free WXXX key chain" (GAD!)

"Spin our prize wheel and win (name your favorite cheap gift) from WXXX!"

Here's my point: Many years ago, I did a remote on a used car lot on a steaming hot 90 plus degree Saturday afternoon. The asphault in the parking lot was literally melting under my feet. Needless to say, no one...but no one was showing up.

The owner of the car lot came up to me and asked what was wrong. I was pretty apologetic to the guy, feeling like I hadn't done my job right. He replied, "You want to sell a car for me today? Hang on, I'll be right back."

He returned with a set of keys and took me over to what was, obviously, a beater. But, he assured me that it had been checked out, ran well, would be a good "point A to point B" car for, say, a student going off to college. Then he asked me my station's frequency. I replied, "95.3".

The car dealer said, "On your next break, describe the car just the way I did to you, then tell your audience that the first person who comes in here with 95 dollars cash on him...buys the car." I asked him, "Are you kidding?" He said, "Nope...go do it."

I did. Seconds later, cars were doing u-turns in the middle of the street trying to get into the lot to buy the car for 95 dollars.

As the mayhem in the parking lot began, the dealer turned to me and said, "And I thought you were telling me nobody was listening!" He sold that car for 95 bucks...and I learned a valuable lesson about remotes.

Lastly, I also wonder why stations looking for a unique way to get attention at remotes don't take advantage of the "mystique" of radio, by doing remotes the way some stations used to do it. With an RV decked out by enginneering as a "mobile studio" and the DJ doing, not just breaks, but a "show" for 3 hours or even 4. It's now possible to control a studio computer remotely via wi-fi or a dedicated internet line. (Yes, I understand the need for studio computer security here...it takes work, but still it can be done.)
Even if the DJ on air was in the "mobile studio" pushing buttons on a "console" that was hooked up to nothing (except a microphone into an Access unit), the "mystique" will still draw a crowd. (Why do a lot of big stations still get requests to take tour groups through the building?)

People not in radio have a curiosity, yes even still in 2008, about how radio works. And that curiosity is something that could, not at every remote but in the right circumstances be capitalized on and exploited. And I would think this type of dog and pony act would be far more effective than the "card table and station tent with the prize wheel giving away crap few people want" type of remote. A good salesperson could probably garner a premium rate for this type of remote.

Yeah, I know. It's expensive to set up an do. But, if you want a station to "stand out" over competitors, maybe the work to get it done (and the expense involved) just might be worth it.

It's been a long time since stations have tried something like this. Perhaps it's time for that circle to come back around. Just a thought...

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

Jason Roberts itemized some of the glamour that we remember from remotes from a bygone era. I am not currently in the business, not currently up-to-date on what is in the conversation between the salesman and the client. I am cautious about being outspoken on this topic.

Not only did we take flashing lights and push-button laden consoles and other "eye candy" on remotes, it was an overall part of the business... it took place back at the studio! I have heard of stations in the past that would put a rack of useless by flashy hardware out in the lobby.

Before computers, before GameBoys, before iPods, before talking maps in the dash of our cars, radio was one of the few "technology wows" to show up in the neighborhood. Today the cash register at McDonalds has more "technology wow" the any broadcast remote I've seen in the last five years.

Over in the "PRODUCTION" discussion group a few months back Jeff Laurence wrote about visiting a radio station in a small market. He looked around. He listened. He reached into his pocked and pulled out a $100 bill and handed it to the announcer. Invited him to offer it to the first member of the audience who called in responding to the give away. No one called. How would you like to buy a remote on that station!

If a station is not "inter-acting" with audience other days of the week, why do we think they would react at the time of a remote. Think of Pavlov and his dog.