The Price of Pictures

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September 23, 2011
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September 30, 2011

The Price of Pictures

Old TVs stacked on sidewalk

A feature story in last week’s Wall Street Journal centers on the shrinking size of the national TV audience at a time when TV advertising rates are rising well beyond the rate of inflation.

What’s wrong with this picture?

The number of U.S. households with TV sets fell by 1.2 million for the current TV season.  And let’s not forget that the U.S. population is increasing, making this downturn far more dramatic.

The average cost of a TV spot rose 17% during the last TV season compared to the previous season.  TV advertising is stealing share from other media and will likely comprise 34.4% of the U.S. ad market in 2011.

Meanwhile, TV audiences have scattered, spreading their viewing across such delivery platforms as Netflix, YouTube and other sources of visual entertainment.  But you’d never know it by the demand in the marketplace that spurred this 17% rate increase.

As you might expect, being president of The Radio Agency, I will now spin this data to pitch the media of Sound Advertising.  TV advertisers would do well to listen.

For the price of a single week of prime time TV placements, your brand could support and sustain a full year of national advertising on radio.  Yes, radio, where 92% of Americans still tune in to their favorite AM and FM stations every week –  an estimated 34 Million spend time listening to their personally-created radio stations on Pandora – and another 20+ Million enjoy the 100+ channels of SiriusXM Radio.  Impressive numbers to say the least.

Are TV’s pictures worth this exorbitant, incremental price tag?  You be the judge.  The astronomical costs of shooting a great TV spot are staggering next to the simple, bare bones budgets needed to “paint with sound” to create a great ad on radio.  And having the listener paint their own pictures – rather than mindlessly watch and (hopefully) accept what you show on TV – makes them an active part of the sales process.  Would you rather have a radio listener “see” the perfect sunset in their mind, than look at one on TV and decide that’s not “their” perfect sunset?  The right ad copy can create bigger, bolder visual than TV, because listeners are engaged to create the exact images they want to see.

If you haven’t fully investigated – and leveraged – the many, new, digital, multi-platform, accountable, trackable and profitable platforms of radio in 2011, call us for a quick tour of the new media landscape.  Turns out that sound paints a pretty picture for marketers.

Mark Lipsky is the President and CEO of The Radio Agency. Please follow The Radio Agency’s Blog “Sounding Board” by subscribing to the email or RSS links above. Visit our website TheRadioAgency.com