FAQ: How do I go about getting airtime for my advertising?
There are many different stations in both radio and TV in any given market. Most stations
are owned by a broadcasting group, either a local group or a region / national group. Obviously,
the larger the group, the more buying power you get and the more diverse of demographics
you will have access to.
Standard media ranking is done by what is refered to as "market share". This is a way of tracking
how many potential customers you can reach during specific times of the day and night. Most
Account Executives will refer to this as "book"...because of the fact that ratings are published
in a report put out by a company called "Arbitron" an independant broadcasting polling organization.
During the year, radio and TV stations go through what is called "sweeps"...times when the polling is
being conducted. They will spend a lot of time and money making sure that they are the most
prominant station in the minds of the market they service.
You will want to look for the following things when you decide to choose a station(s) to work with:
1) How customer oriented your sales person or Account Executive is.
2) What kind of "book" or market share they have overall, and what is their market share during
certain times of the day (ie, drive time, office play, special syndicated shows, sports shows, etc.)
3) What add-ons are they willing to give you as part of your package? Live remotes, segment sponsorship,
on-air personality mentions, endorsments, co-ops (sharing an ad with another related advertiser).
Use the following links for information about stations and media groups in your area:
Search for TV, Radio, Publishing Kind of a funky little site, but has it all!
Arbitron site Ratings, listing for radio, plus a great article about 92% of radio listenners stay put during commercials!
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