Atlanta: TV’s Up and Radio’s Booming

MediaLife Magazine Markets are now reporting their state of the union and first up is Atlanta, GA. By Diego Vasquez June 11, 2013 Television spending is up 2 percent, led by auto and telecom Atlanta is a diverse media market that has seen steady growth on TV and near sell-out conditions on radio this year, with healthy spending from a range of ad categories. TV spending is up 2 percent year-to-year during the first six months of 2013, with the strongest gains coming from domestic auto, education and telecom. “Comcast and AT&T are both spending a lot in the cable category,” says Barbara Meyer, supervisor for local broadcast and direct response at RJ Palmer. Atlanta also has recently seen an influx of issue spending surrounding a hot-button topic: gun control. The special-interest group Mayors Against Illegal Guns has spent $650,000 on TV in Atlanta so far during second quarter. The coalition, backed by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, is not targeting any specific ballot initiatives right now. Rather it’s putting together a major push in cities across the country for anti-gun legislation, and Atlanta is one of several big markets being targeted. The one major category that hasn’t seen growth is retail, which is flat to down slightly versus a year ago. Meanwhile, radio has seen very strong growth this year, with many stations hitting near-sell-out conditions in second quarter. Categories including cable TV, telecom, automotive, health/wellness and banking/finance have all boosted spending significantly, while others such as retail, tourism and fast food are flat. Yet despite the healthy conditions, there is still room for growth in a market, which still hasn’t fully rebounded from the recession that began in 2008. “The market is still not seeing spending at pre-recession levels, but it’s showing steady growth,” Meyer says. Atlanta has a good number of competitive radio stations, with 14 averaging at least a 3.7 portable people meter rating in April, according to Arbitron. The most dominant format is clearly urban. Four of the top seven stations in Atlanta in April had an urban format, including the top three. Leading the way was CBS Radio’s urban adult contemporary station WVEE-FM, which posted an 8.3 PPM rating in April. Cox Radio’s urban AC station WALR-FM was No. 2 with a 6.9, followed by Radio One’s urban AC station WAMJ-FM with a 6.7. Another Radio One urban station, WHTA-FM, finished No. 7 with a 4.9 PPM rating. We at LeNoble's Media Sales Insights would like to hear about your market. Send it along so we may report the health of your marketplace. Thanks. Philip Jay LeNoble, Ph.D. Publisher.