(By Charlie Sislen) In advertising, like many other areas, size does matter. Size, in this case, is how many potential consumers a certain advertising outlet will reach. An advertising message cannot be acted upon unless it is heard. The bigger the reach, the more likely the message will reach potential buyers.
For years, television has used its massive numbers to convince advertisers that all they need to reach potential consumers is their platform. That might have been true in the 1970s, but not in the new millennium. I previously documented in my blog post “Reality Is Catching up to Television” that streaming services and other video outlets have resulted in fewer people watching broadcast television.
However, the size argument can be even more powerful when you compare your radio cluster to the local television stations. In many cases, a single cluster will have a much larger reach. But how do you prove this?
If your station subscribes to Scarborough, you can easily compare your cluster’s reach to the reach of each of the local television stations. An easy way to do this is to access Scarborough in Tapscan’s Multi-Media Ranker. That’s relatively straightforward. Which daypart(s) should you be using to obtain this information?
- Total Week
- Radio Mon-Sun 6a-12m
- Television Mon-Sun 4a-2a
- Primes
- Radio Mon-Fri 6a-7p
- Television Mon-Sat 8p-11p/Sun 7p-11p
Start with Adults 18+. Does your cluster win there? If so great, if not, do not fret. While there is value with Adults 18+, radio will shine as you refine your focus on which demos most advertisers wish to target.
I will save that for my next post.
Need more information? Visit The Ratings Experts at Research Director, Inc. here.
Charlie Sislen is a partner at Research Director, Inc. He can be reached at 410-956-0363 or by e-mail at [email protected]. This essay is part of a series titled “Growing the Radio Pie.” To view past articles visit The Ratings Experts at Research Director, Inc. online here.
