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Radio has reduced spot time more than 25% in the past 2 years...now it needs to improve its pricing rates
The voice is a powerful influencer. The right voice can sell anything. When an audio ad is broadcast on the radio, it can reach millions instantly on the right stations. No other medium compares.
However, the competitive challenge from new media threats and post-consolidation bloat has caused the radio industry a major case of the "blahs."
As ZenithMedia reported last week, Online advertising is poised to grow 7 times (28%) the rate of overall ad market (4%).
However, last month, radio got an early Christmas gift report to help offset the ZenithMedia predictions. Now radio needs to convert the news into positive industry results through stronger ad rates.
Mediaweek reported that commercial time on radio stations is now averaging less than 10 minutes per hour, lower than the average number of commercial minutes per hour (12 to 14) on television (according to a study by Empower MediaMarketing, which analyzed Nielsen Monitor-Plus data in 15 of the nation's top markets).
This is good news for radio...just 2 years ago radio averaged more than 12 minutes of commercials per hour and more than 14 minutes per hour in the top 10 markets.
Radio now needs to improve its spot pricing model...fewer commercials means more marketing impact due to reduced clutter, especially when compared to other big cume reach media platforms like TV (or newspapers). And Internet advertising media cume reach is so much smaller than what radio delivers every week (226 million in the U.S.).
Radio is undervaluing the value of its commercial time. It's time to get confident again and show radio's worth.
Brandweek/Empower reports:Overall, radio now airs 9.42 minutes of commercials per hour, with Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles airing the most at 10.25 and 10.15, respectively. The three markets with the lowest number of average commercial minutes were Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla., (8.43), Atlanta (8.83) and Philadelphia (8.84).
Clear Channel -- which launched its "Less is More" initiative to cut total commercial time last year -- averaged 7.99 minutes, 15% below the 15-market average.
The amount of commercial time varied by format. News/Talk and Sports formats devoted the most time to commercials at 11.91 minutes and 11.47 minutes, respectively. Country formats averaged 9.72 minutes per hour of commercials. Most other formats averaged just under 9 minutes per hour of commercial time with Classical and Religious having the lowest commercial spot loads at 6.81 and 7.78 respectively.
posted by Unknown @ Monday, December 11, 2006,
