While national TV advertising is usually out of anentrepreneur’s price range, advertising on local stations and oncable television can be surprisingly affordable. And really, it’snot so hard to buy TV schedules. Why? Because no matter whatdemographic your audience falls into, you can find appropriateprogramming on any one of the networks. Every station reaches everyaudience daily, with schedules that include cartoons, celebrity,talk, sports, soaps, news, movies, reality and prime time programs.Just take your pick!
Like all forms of advertising, there are different price rangeswithin the TV medium. Locally, you can pick up a 30-secondcommercial slot in a show like Oprah for an average of $90 to $300(but check your local affiliate because prices fluctuate), or getinto a noon to 4 p.m. soaps rotation with the same commercial for$150 to $300, again depending on your location and also the time ofthe year. You’ll pay anywhere from $200 to $1,500 per 30-secondcommercial for local news at noon, 5 to 6 p.m., 6 to 7 p.m.,sometimes 10 p.m., and 11 p.m.; the most expensive time is usually6 to 7 p.m. The best thing to do is check with your sales reps fora list of programs that fit your needs at the time you want toadvertise. Nationally, you can expect to pay double the local rate.If you’re in a situation to be able to buy nationally, find a mediabuying service or an ad agency that will do your buying for you ona commission basis.
Prime-time commercials are going to be pricey even locally, butaudiences can be huge for popular shows. And here’s an insider’stip: When rerun time rolls around, refuse to pay the full price foryour commercials in any time slot. Many reps won’t volunteer thelower rate–you have to let them know you won’t pay the same amountfor reruns and then stick to your guns. Programming like GoodMorning America, Today Show, local and national news, and soapsnever have reruns and are always a good bet because the audiencestays true all year long.
This is the one form of advertising that can include actualbidding when push comes to shove. When someone wants the time slotyou’ve already purchased, they’ll offer more–and bump you out. Youalways have the opportunity to up the price you’re willing to pay,of course, but many businesses can’t afford to get into that kindof bidding war. When is that most likely to happen? The fourthquarter of the year is when lots of inventory is snatched up byholiday ads. And anytime a hot political race–either local ornational–is going on, you can be sure the competition for timeslots will increase. Unfortunately, these are also the times whensmall and midsized businesses really need coverage but get shutout.
While some large businesses are starting to use more 60-secondcommercials to try and cut through the clutter, the length ofchoice for most commercials is still 30 seconds. In most markets,you have the ability to run a combination of ads–that is, you canmix 10-second or 15-second ads in with your 30-second spots, whichallows you to increase the number of times your ad is seen withoutthe higher cost of paying for all 30-second ads. The reason it’simportant to increase your frequency this way is because the numberof times your current and potential customers see your ad isdirectly related to whether they react to it. But don’t think youcan really increase your frequency if you run all your commercialsin the shorter lengths, because they’re only meant to bereminders-they’re not long enough to provide the criticalinformation a 30-second ad can hold. Their best use is to bolsteryour regular commercials and increase retention of your longermessage.
One good way to capture a lot of people watching at a particulartime is to run an ad during the 6 to 7 p.m. or 11 p.m. news on allyour local news stations on the same day. That delivers yourmessage to just about everyone watching the news at that time.
What’s the best time to buy TV time? The first and secondquarters of the year, with the first quarter being the best fornegotiating discounts. Sales reps are scrambling to make theirbudgets when advertisers are trying to recover from their holidayexpenditures. Deals will be made! Don’t hesitate to compare pricesfrom station to station or among comparable programs. As long asyou’re choosing programming that suits your audience, it doesn’tmatter if your commercials are scattered over different networks.Negotiate your little heart out, and if you know you have thebudget, go ahead and settle into an annual contract. This can meanrunning a certain amount of commercials every week or just agreeingto run a certain number of commercials during a 12-month periodwithout having to know exactly when you’ll run them at the time yousign the contract.
Under normal circumstances, you’ll receive a 5 percent discountfor signing a 6-month contract and a 10 percent discount forsigning an annual contract, so don’t accept these as “big deals”when negotiating during the first quarter. You’ll get thatconsideration anytime.
