On first view of the latest rate card from Primedia Broadcasting I was reminded of an old Spanish tale which involves a milkmaid who starts to ring up in her head all the cash she’s made from the “leche” she’s extracted from her cow that morning – only to spill it all over the road on the way to market – what a disappointment – after all, she had milked it for all it was worth!
Monday to Friday rates July 2013 – June 2014 are on average up on the previous period:
Highveld : +17.39%
KFM : +18.94%
702: +26.98%
CapeTalk: +25.45%
Saturday/Sunday rates on all four stations are down slightly but, rates for the two days have now been separated out, whereas there was previously only one rate per time channel for either day – it is not possible to make an exact comparison.
With this in mind it obviously beggars the question: Did listenership increase accordingly? Unfortunately not!
Some of the older Gauteng listeners seem to be enjoying the Golden Oldies on 702 on Saturdays and Sundays.
So if we look at the table above a small increase on 702 might be justified, increases on the other stations don’t seem to be.
Primedia might argue that it is a matter of supply and demand and they are sold out most of the time – unfortunately I cannot verify this.
What I do know is that client’s budgets won’t be able to sustain increases of these proportions.
Other unfortunate changes that will also affect the cost-efficiency of the Primedia Stations:
- Forward buying has been discontinued – so no discount without a commitment.
- Extended Morning and Evening Drive Times effectively take away any opportunity to pick up on the pre/post drive time cheaper audiences (Afternoon Drive has always been over-priced on radio in my opinion).
- A ‘high season’ rate card has been introduced for the last two weeks of September, October and November.
- A 30” ad will cost the same as a 25” ad.
Radio has become almost as expensive as TV but it needs higher frequency as it lacks the impact of TV – at these levels of inflation this is becoming near to impossible. Media Strategists and Planners may have to start looking at other regional media (possibly print?) to fill the gap.
I’m sure Primedia will have their substantiations for these changes and increases – but in keeping with our folktale theme – are they killing the goose that laid the golden egg?
IMAGE: CapeTalk’s breakfast show host, Kieno Kammies
Angela Harcombe is senior media strategist at the Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG)
