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I read this morning that CBS, ABC, and Fox affiliates are “seeking some regulatory conditions as a condition of approval of the deal between Comcast and NBC Universal so that they are not put in a competitive disadvantage.” (CableSpots 4/1/10)
They are worried that the new Comcast/NBC Universal conglomerate will have an unfair competitive advantage when it comes to negotiating retransmission rates and that the Comcast branch might favor the NBCU networks with lower fees.
Comcast is the largest cable provider in the country and consumer groups are concerned that the deal will result in less competition and higher fees for service.
These are valid fears. Competition from satellite and overbuilding cable companies, I think, will continue to keep rates as low as possible. This is also the reason why each January networks have threatened to pull their content from cable providers like Time Warner.
While this is national news and may not seem to relate to TV advertising in Kansas City, it is important. The broadcast networks continue to struggle against their cable competition that has more content to offer and is more efficient because of the ability to geo-target commercials so that a business can get more commercials in the areas where they are most likely to draw customers. I wrote before that the network audience is aging too. This isn’t helping local affiliates gain any share in local revenues. NBC Universal’s Chairman Jeff Gaspin said previously, “‘You can’t dismiss the fact that cable is just much more profitable than broadcast television. I don’t see that changing. Cable is a much superior business model.’”
The advertising trends are leaning toward the fact that cable TV has the audience because of quality programming and niche channels. If you are an old school marketer who isn’t taking advantage of the efficiency of cable advertising, then you should seriously reconsider and pay attention to the migration of viewers that is happening. That head in the sand media buyer or agent is often the same person who is still using the newspaper and doesn’t see the value of the “series of tubes” known as the Internet.
Speaking of online advertising…cable media sales departments all over the country are selling that too and have a geo-targeted product that’s better than any radio or TV station because it’s viewers are going to www.roadrunner.com for example, to log in to their e-mail accounts. If you would like to know more about it or other online marketing tools, get in touch with me.
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This is a guest post by former Time Warner Media Local Sales Manager, Phil Brouillette, published in their monthly newsletter in October 2009.
A recent study by Magna Global finds the big three broadcasters are graying, experiencing the oldest prime time audiences the nets have seen in their history!
At the same time broadcasters are aging, cable’s major networks are seeing a decrease in audience ages, says former Magna Global EVP Steve Sternberg. He has been producing median age reports for more than 15 years, and these recent findings were reported in a Variety interview in September ‘09. Highlights of the study:
- The median age of the five broadcast nets’ audience for live (not DVR) viewing is 51. DVR skews younger.
- That’s a big jump from 10 years ago when their median age was 43.
- For the last season, CBS was the oldest network by audience age hitting 55 (DVR median age is 54). This is the first time it has traveled out of the A25-54 range for live viewing.
- ABC was next at 51 (DVR was 50).
- NBC followed with 49 (47 with DVR). The addition of Jay Leno in prime time should put them over 50.
- Fox median age was 46 (44 with DVR) and CW was 34 (or 33 DVR).
- In contrast, TBS sports a median age of 35, down from 38 two years ago.
- TNT’s median age has slipped from 46 to 44.
- USA’s median age has held steady for years at 46; FX held steady at 37.
The reason for broadcasts’ age increase, says Sternberg, is that they began to age themselves a decade ago as they mostly got out of the kids and teens business. Procedural-type dramas such as CSI and Law & Order tend to attract older viewers, and comedy has somewhat collapsed at the same time. The addition of older skewing reality shows (Dancing With the Stars) and game shows like (Deal or No Deal) haven’t helped to attract younger viewers. Not good news when media’s coveted demographic is A18-49!
Phil Brouillette is currently the founder of PB Marketing Strategies & Tactics and can be reached via e-mail at pbmarketingstrategies@gmail.com.
Sources: Variety, 8/28/2009; Cable FYI Kansas City Oct. 2009
Stop taking my word for it that the summer isn’t a bad time to be on TV when you are advertising on cable networks. Check out this article by Bill Carter of the New York Times, “Dismal Ratings for TV Networks in a Coveted Age Group”.
The gist of the story is that the broadcasters are having their worst summer of ratings ever! ABC’s is as bad as last year when they were trying to compete against the Summer Olympics only this year, they don’t have the competition just bad programming that fewer people want to watch. Network news is dying a slow death. The only thing hanging on right now is Conan O’Brien in his new time slot with The Tonight Show on NBC.
It’s not that the viewers are just busy vacationing, they are staying inside to beat the heat and are watching cable TV which just happens to air some of their best programs in the summer. Mentioned in the article are popular original dramas such as “Royal Pains” and “Burn Notice” on USA as well as “The Closer” on TNT. And as much as I can’t stand reality TV I should probably mention that this past Monday was a record breaking evening for TLC with the announcement of the divorce on “Jon & Kate +8″.
In the traditional sense of old school media buying, it’s true that TV has always been more of an afterthought in the summer or a time when you place a cheap buy to take advantage of the excess of inventory. That paradigm is shifting to great programming on cable just like the viewers are migrating away from the broadcast networks.
What are your favorite shows to watch in the summer?
The New York Times has reported that ad revenue declined 16.6% last year and will be announcing their quarterly performance this week. People close to many newspapers are saying that the first quarter could be down 20-30%. One silver lining is that March may not have been as bad as is showing up because last year, Easter fell in the first quarter and that drives many spring promotions for the retail sector. While Internet advertising was once thought to be an answer to declining traditional revenue, sales are declining there as well leading many to begin considering charging a subscription fee for web content. (CableSpots 4/16/09)
Time Warner Cable has pooled it’s production talent from across the country to launch a new interactive web page with commercial templates available for local customization. This is ideal for small businesses who don’t have the resources for an expensive production shoot. These commercials are high quality ads that can be tweaked for many different types of campaigns at a fraction of the cost. The site can be found at www.cablemediasales.com/easycom and currently has the following categories available.
- Restaurant
- Automotive Aftermarket
- Medical/Dental
- Pharmacy
- Attorneys
- Home Maintenance
- Spas and Salons
- Plastic Surgery
- Insurance
- Builders/Developers
- Financial
- Retail
- Education
Using stock footage and television commercial templates has been a long time best kept secret in advertising agencies and production houses when making good quality local commercials, but this is the first example of Time Warner pulling from the creativity of many producers from around the country to offer low cost commercials for local companies to use.
Take a look at the site and give me some feedback!
The House & Senate approved the postponement of the Digital TV transition date from February 17th to June 12th. Nielsen will continue to measure the winter sweeps in March of this year instead of February as that was the initial game plan with the tentative February date. Since May is typically the spring sweeps metering, they are not expecting any alterations to that schedule.
Craig Allison, the general manager for KSHB-TV and KMCI-TV was quoted on their local website saying originally they would go ahead and cut their analog signal on Feb. 17, but they and most of the other broadcast stations in Kansas City have decided to go ahead and wait even though the cost of running the analog signals is extreme and was not part of their business plan for the year.
Will there be enough digital boxes by June? We don’t know. Retailers are said to be running out and production has been increased to meet the demand. The government coupon program had run out of funding for the $40 discount, but more funds are being added. You can go to https://www.dtv2009.gov/ to apply for coupons. I went to the site and found this disclaimer, “IMPORTANT: The TV Converter Box Coupon Program has reached its funding ceiling. However, coupon requests from eligible households will be filled as funds from expiring coupons become available. If you would like to apply for a coupon today and are eligible, you will be placed on a waiting list and will receive coupons on a first-come-first-served basis as funds from expiring coupons become available. Coupons will expire within 90 days of the date they are mailed.”
If you have cable or satellite service, you don’t need any type of converter box unless you have TV’s in your home that aren’t connected. In that case, you will need a converter box and will continue to require an antenna that plugs into that digital box.
As a testimony to the boxes, my brother purchased two for his apartment several months ago with the coupons he was sent in the mail. He only ended up spending about $10 for each with the discount. Some of the broadcast channels come in great, but not all of them. He does have a few more channels than he had before and he has a pop-up guide which is cool. It’s a better reception on the channels he gets, but he still has trouble with one or two of his favorite broadcast networks which is disappointing. The promotion of the digital conversion tended to over promise that anyone switching to digital would magically have a great picture and that still depends on the location of the set and the antenna that is being used.
I’d love to hear more about your DTV experiences? Have you switched any of your TV’s over? Did you go out and buy a new HD flat screen that had a digital tuner built in? What are you planning to do with your old TV’s?
I have been promoting the benefits of cable television as a way to make an ad campaign more efficient, effective, and affordable for quite some time. I also often suggest that businesses put together short videos for their websites or video on demand platforms that cable service providers offer. I thought that the best way to accomplish both might be to make my own video to serve as a consistent way to show clients an example of how other companies successfully use cable TV and to serve as a sample of what a VOD might look like.
This video is based on a presentation I have given to marketing classes and agencies in the KC area. I was able to pair it down to about 5 minutes which is an average attention span of a VOD viewer. Whether you’ve never considered using cable TV to tell your story, or have been using it for years, I think you’ll learn something by watching this.
Click Here for Highest Resolution (Recommended)
You may also watch a low resolution version in the player below.
Does your company have a consistant sales piece for potential clients or customers to see? Do you have any experience with video on demand? I’d love to hear some of your stories!
Original post January 13, 2009
Original post January 9, 2009
With only a few weeks away, Congress is considering a delay on the transition to DTV that was slated for February 17, 2009. The major broadcasters support postponing the switch which was under funded according to John Podesta of Obama’s transition team. It is in the best interest of the broadcasters and much of the general public to hold off on shutting down the analog signal because the less affluent and elderly will be the most affected by the change. Those people using rabbit ears would lose their signal, but anyone with a cable TV or a digital converter box would continue to be able to watch their favorite programs. Apparently, the government coupon program that discounted the converter boxes ran out in the past month and with the economy the way it is currently, asking people to go out and subscribe to cable or buy a new TV may not be the best move.
This brings me to a question, “Is television merely an entertainment platform, or should it be considered an important form of communication that is a right for Americans to have?” Let me know your thoughts.
MTV Networks have declared an all out war on Time Warner Cable placing print ads in major markets showing Sponge Bob crying that say, “Why is Sponge Bob Crying?” “Time Warner is taking him off the air tonight along with 19 of your favorite channels.” (Ad Age 12/30/08) The real story is that Viacom, the negotiating partner for the MTV Networks, is pulling them off of Time Warner because they have not been able to reach an agreement on the carriage fee for their channels which consist of only 6 that affect basic cable subscribers: MTV, Comedy Central, Spike, TV Land, Nickelodeon, and VH1. At midnight tonight, those networks will go dark on all Time Warner systems across the country until a deal is agreed upon by both parties.
Why is this only affecting Time Warner right now? Other distributors have contracts that expire at different times. Right now, Time Warner is the only provider that is in negotiations. MTV wants Time Warner to pay millions more (triple the previous amount) for their content which in a tumultuous economy is a difficult demand that would result in customers paying more on their monthly cable bills and could potentially cause a loss in subscribers. Time Warner is also frustrated with the fact that much of the content provided by these networks is available online for free and the networks do not share any of that revenue with them. I believe that MTV is also posturing on the future growth of cable customers because of the Digital TV Transition on February 17th, 2009 when all traditional analog broadcast signals will no longer be viewable without a digital TV or digital converter box. Cable providers are expected to benefit from this transition as any analog television will still work with a cable subscription.
