Radio Added To TV Ads Is a Winning NFL Mix.

INSIDERADIO

September 17, 2015

For National Football League advertisers, it could be time for a momentum-shifting substitution. Specifically, subbing in radio buys for some TV ad time can increase consumer exposure and deliver hard-to-reach consumers. Westwood One, the Cumulus Media-owned national radio syndicator for NFL games, says its NFL games deliver both huge overall audiences and more frequency than TV—from casual listeners to die-hard fans. That seemingly makes radio a perfect complement to existing TV advertising, which performs well with the heaviest consumers, but misses out on less avid fans. According to new data from Westwood One and Nielsen, the NFL on Westwood One reaches more than 21 million listeners each season, and 7.3 million men 25-54, or one in five adult men, in the 48 PPM-measured markets. And, perhaps most importantly for the radio industry pitch, listeners are more consistent across levels of fan engagement than TV viewers. For instance, time spent listening for NFL broadcasts on Westwood One was evenly distributed across five types of users (about 20% each for light, medium-light, medium, medium-heavy and heavy), compared to TV broadcasts, where the heaviest viewers represented 54% of all football TV viewing. Among the more casual audiences, radio outperforms TV, with "light" fans accounting for 15% of radio’s audience, compared to just 1% for TV, and "medium-light" fans representing 19% of radio’s listenership, compared to 5% of the TV audience. By advertising on radio, marketers have a better chance at reaching casual NFL consumers, who are still a highly marketable audience. "Time spent among Westwood One’s NFL radio audience is very consistent among the five listening groups of Americans," Westwood One’s Brandon Berman, senior VP for Sports sales and marketing, wrote in a blog post. "For NFL radio advertisers, this means an even distribution of reach and frequency."

 

WideOrbit Makes Programmatic Automatic. Ad management provider WideOrbit is launching

a programmatic marketplace for radio stations that use its ad trafficking software. Branded as WO

Programmatic Radio, the cloud-based platform will match advertiser demand with inventory from

the company’s WO Traffic clients to enable buyers and sellers to make automated ad transactions.

Entravision Communications is the exchange’s first radio client. Programmatic or automated ad buying is expected to account for $14.88 billion of the roughly $58.6 billion digital advertising market this year, according to eMarketer. It’s slowly making its way to traditional media including radio and TV, where buyers see it as an easier way to place media buys across a large number of

stations, reduce operational costs and use data to more carefully target their campaigns. WideOrbit says integrating the automated exchange with its ad trafficking software will make it simple for stations to review, accept and air programmatically transacted ads. Participating stations aren’t required to “carve out” inventory to participate, the company says, and can review offers alongside existing business, listen to the ad copy and decide if and when to accept offers. In a press release, Entravision COO Jeff Liberman said the exchange will allow its general managers to “compare programmatic offers with their other sold business” and will “help us guarantee that our programmatic sales channel is driving new revenue to our stations.”

 

In Stagnant Ad Market, Radio Makes Big Waves. Ad spending for local radio climbed 10.6% in Q2 2015, making radio one of only seven types of media—and the only traditional one—to grow ad revenue last quarter out of 22 total, according to new data from Kantar Media. The figures are based on radio stations in 36 markets tracked by Kantar Media, which represent about half of the U.S. population, and thus aren’t comparable to Radio Advertising Bureau numbers, which are culled from a larger Miller Kaplan Arase sample. Overall, total U.S. ad spending declined 3.9% in Q2 to $38 billion and by the same percent in the first half.

The sluggish results seem to be the new normal. For the fifth consecutive year, U.S. ad spend is lagging nominal GDP growth. In a statement, Jon Swallen, chief research officer at Kantar Media North America, called it "a streak that might have once seemed unimaginable but now would seem to be par for the course." But according to Kantar, radio isn’t suffering like other media platforms. Local Hispanic radio also posted growth last quarter, with ad spending climbing 4.2% for Q2 2015 and up 5.2% for the first half of the year. National spot radio inched up 1.2% in Q2, compared to a year ago, while network radio dropped 8.4%. In contrast, ad spending on TV platforms dropped 4.5% in Q2, with cable down 5.1% and network TV up slightly at 1%. To help offset the sluggish ad market, Kantar notes, both radio stations and TV networks are increasing commercial loads. Radio stations added 2% more ad time, while broadcast TV networks carried 2.8% more paid ad time and cable aired 4.6% more minutes. And two-thirds of the TV networks tracked by Kantar have increased their commercial loads compared to last year, with five up to 20 minutes per hour in primetime (including network promos).