BBM’s S1 2006 radio survey: Erin Davis and Mike Cooper boost CHFI in Toronto
Satellite what? Terrestrial radio ratings are still healthy, according to the new radio survey released by BBM yesterday. The report is based on the results of BBM’s S1 2006 survey which was conducted January 9-March 5, 2006.
Corus to create immersive online worlds for fall kids shows
Toronto-based Corus Entertainment is producing a bevy of new series-driven online destinations for younger viewers. Slated for fall release on Teletoon is animated fantasy-adventure Di-Gata Defenders, a half-hour show about four young heroes fighting the forces of evil, targeting boys 6-12. A Di-Gata immersive site and game for the web and mobile are also on tap. ‘We’re creating an immersive online world [for the series],’ says Scott MacMillan, senior manager, licensing at Nelvana, the animation studio creating the series. ‘We’re giving kids a chance to get involved with the characters and simulate a journey so they can be Di-Gata Defenders themselves.’ MacMillan says producers are going this route because ‘kids want to experience entertainment in multiple ways.’ He adds that brands are open to sponsor elements of the Di-Gata online world and sees opportunities for quick service restaurant brands and consumer packaged goods tie-ins. The site will launch in the fall.
YTV is also getting immersive for Erky Perky, a half-hour animation series aimed at the 6-11 set, which has brand extension plans that include an offer for fans to script, direct and edit an ep on ytv.com. The show is about bugs that are forced to survive in the scary land of Kitchen. For plugged-in pre-schoolers, This is Emily Yeung will offer customized games and activities – such as avatar and environment creation — in addition to its fall airing on Treehouse. A spokesperson from Corus says that there are no plans in place to pursue product placement online or on-air for these titles, however YTV is open to exploring advergaming opportunities and sponsor streamed video on YTV.com. YTV has just revamped its website, adding 12 new online games, with new game titles every month. Brands currently working with the net include Weston, Parmalat and Great Wolf Lodge.
Fashion 18 releases digi-mag; searches for sponsors for special editions
Fashion 18 is sporting a new look for spring with the launch of a revamped website at fashion18.com and a new digital magazine housed there. The spring edition of the digi-mag, which features Degrassi:The Next Generation stars, launched April 3 and went out to 10,000 F18 e-newsletter subscribers, as well as to the more than 500,000 degrassi.tv subscribers. As a result, page views on fashion18.com were up 11% to 613,000, with a 9% increase in uniques.
‘Digital is new for us this year and we’re doing this to increase our offerings for our clients and readers,’ says publisher Sarah Bull. She says the impetus was that teens in F18’s demo (girls 12-17) spend seven hours a week online (according to PMB research). Bull says the digi-mag will be published four times a year with two spin-off editions that brands can sponsor. In the works is a Back to School Beauty edition and later, a Fall Entertainment edition. Bull says that the mag will also have a mobile offering in the future, ‘maybe in the last quarter.’
Retail and entertainment vie for top spot – Eloda analysis for March 31-April 6, 2006
The retail and entertainment categories are at a dead heat last week in the race for category with the largest variety of TV ads for the week of March 31 to April 6. Retail pulled in 16% of the pie, while entertainment followed closely behind at 15%. Check out others topping the charts, and which brands had the most new spots. This info was gathered through Montreal-based ELODA’s online TV ad tracking, auditing and viewing services. All data supplied is based on the ELODA recording grid.
http://www.eloda.com
The Bay tops the charts: Top radio ads – Media Monitors for April 3-9, 2006
Retailer The Bay begins its spring push, topping the charts as the brand with the most spots on rotation in the Toronto market for the week of April 3-9. Leaping up the charts is The National Home Show, jumping from number 146 to number two. The bronze medal goes to the new Lord of the Rings musical, moving up from the number 48 spot. Check out others topping the radio charts by category and brand in the Toronto market for the week of April 3-9, 2006.
http://www.mediamonitors.com
Blogs and online reviews: Canadians do it daily, says Yahoo! Canada poll
Seems Canucks really want to be heard – from recommending favourite restaurants to sharing photos. Especially online. In prepping for its March launch of Yahoo! Canada 360, a social networking site with blogs, photo sharing and avatars, Yahoo! commissioned Leger Marketing to conduct a national poll. Key findings include:
* 97% of Canadians use the Internet to communicate with friends; 78% do it several times a week, and 48% do it daily.
* 38% visiting a blog site at least once a week.
* Nearly half (at 46%) personalize the Internet or participate in an online community (44%).
* 41% of Canadian Internet users contribute a comment or write an online review at least once a week, and 18% do it several times per week, with 10% who do it daily.
* 71% of Canadian Internet users share views and information with others at least once a week; 38% do it several times per week and 19% do it daily.
The survey polled more than 1000 households with Internet access across Canada.
Notes from the media landscape: ABC outwits the PVR with free online VOD content -and ads you can’t skip
Mega net ABC will offer full episodes of Lost, Desperate Housewives and Commander In Chief online for free beginning in May. The net is experimenting with a new digital on-demand model that will allow viewers to watch an episode a day after it runs on conventional TV. Viewers will also be able to pause, rewind and fast forward through the eps – but will not be able to skip through the ads. And the ads streaming online during the ep aren’t necessarily going to be the same ones that ran the night before during the show’s scheduled run. This new model is expected to help stimulate viewership of the traditional broadcast, with the Web offering additional eyeballs. Content from some of the cable’s channels including the Disney Channel, ABC Family and Soapnet will also be carried on the service.
CTV to air new drama mid-April
CTV’s new, ensemble drama What About Brian, is set to debut on Sunday, April 16 at 10 p.m. before moving into its regular timeslot on Mondays at 8 p.m. The hour-long series follows Brian, the last (single) man standing among a group of pals.
Dose sponsors Whistler’s Telus Ski and Snowboard fest
Dose has signed on as the media sponsor for the 11th Annual Telus World Ski & Snowboard Festival in Whistler, B.C. The 10-day fest nets an average of 260,000 visitors and this year runs April 14-23. As part of its sponsorship, the youth rag has built an online destination at dose.ca/whistler, which will air daily video highlights from the fest. A branded Dose Zone on-site will feature a themed living room where riders and artist participants will sign autographs, and visitors can surf the Web and hang out with Dose writers. An eight-page Festival guide is also slated for the April 13 issue of the magazine. Seems the sponsorship is working. According to Dan Sorotschynski, director of marketing, a March-released Flyaway contest (in partnership with MTV) has already garnered 60,000 entries. The contest gives away a chance to attend the Festival, plus related swag and spending money. In addition, the Dose-built microsite has already had 150,000 page views in the last month.
‘Seventy-five percent of the people that go to this event are in our demo,’ says Sorotschynski. ‘This is just another way for us to connect with our readers and get the magazine into their hands. We want to increase their exposure to our brand online, in print and more.’
Time celebrates Canuck launch of Style & Design mag; searches for event sponsors
Time magazine’s ultra-luxe Style& Design mag has come to Canada. The spring edition launched quietly in late March as a smaller, 28-pager bundled with the magazine, says Kris Menon, director of marketing. The fall issue, however, will herald the title’s true debut. ‘It will launch in September as a standalone going to our top subscribers only. Our hope is that it will launch in the middle of the Toronto International Film Festival.’
Two editions are planned for its first year in Canada and Style & Design‘s spring and fall editions both carry a circulation of 90,000 and is geo-targeted to go to folks with a personal annual income greater than 75k. Additional copies will be distributed via select Chanel stores, at Audi dealerships and at the magazine’s sponsored events throughout the year. Menon adds that fall launch event plans for Style & Design are ‘quite big. We’re looking for key sponsor and advertiser support from luxury brands in the categories that make sense such as apparel, jewelry and cosmetics. Our goal is six key brands to partner with.’ He says the magazine is moving toward an overall integrated platform, extending the Time brand beyond print to live, exclusive events. ‘We’ll have celebrities [during film festival events] wearing jewelry [from our partners], or Audi as the official chauffeur for all our events. We want to build multiple touchpoints for our brand and partners.’ Time’s Style & Design carries a full-page ad rate of $15,960.
BBM Commercial Tracking for Montreal – March 2005 to 2006
Please open the attached link to view BBM’s Commercial Television GRP Trending by week and broadcast month for Montreal Franco covering the broadcast months of March 2005 to March 2006 inclusive.
Rich folk in Canada worried about ‘affluenza,’ says Sensus Research study
You may think wealthy folks have nothing to worry about, but you’re dead wrong. A survey entitled The True Wealth Report conducted by Vancouver-based Sensus Research found that 48% of thick-wallet types were either neutral or in disagreement with the statement, ‘As I’ve gotten wealthier, I’ve gotten happier.’ Seems they worry about their children turning into spoiled Paris Hilton types. Thirty-eight percent worry about maintaining a strong work ethic and a sense of values in their offspring and yet another 24% toss and turn over ‘affluenza,’ a disease spread among the superwealthy where succeeding generations have less motivation due to family wealth. Other findings include:
* 34% say their top concern is maintaining their lifestyle
* 53% own at least one Mercedes; 43% own at least one BMW and 33% have a Porsche in the garage
* Travel is tops with this group and 34% say London is where it’s at, with 33% saying it’s New York and 27% preferring Paris
* They like beautiful things; 90% collect art, 72% stock up on antiques and 69% keep their wine cellars well-stocked
* 69% donate more than $100,000 to charity – though three out of five say it’s for tax purposes
The study polled 165 Canucks with a net worth of $10 million or more. Data was collected over seven weeks at the end of 2005.
http://sensus.cv-market.com/images/truewealth/2006_TWR_low.pdf
OOH company touts moving ad messages
OOH company GO Mobile Media is poised to send its ad-toting trucks out in May, as part of a tourist targeted program entitled GO T.O. The company has four vehicles that boast the ability to scroll billboards, project video on three screens, and a glass ‘fishbowl’ showroom on its flatbed. CEO William Kozma says that his company’s trucks are WI-FI ready. ‘As soon as Wi-FI is ready [in the GTA], we can have internet access to the vehicle. Consumers can get a wireless mouse and surf the net on the spot.’
Toronto-based GO Mobile Media first unleashed its bright green trucks in the U.S. as a testing ground in areas such as Seattle, San Diego and Phoenix and has done a national campaign for Ikea south of the border. Rates for campaigns range from $5000 up to $25,000, with production costs extra.
http://www.gomobilemedia.com
BBM Media Snapshot: How many Canadians can skate?
* 8.8 million Canadians (32%) ice skate sometimes or regularly.
* 13% are regular skaters.
* 26% of ice skaters are over 44 years old. Canadians 12 to 17 years old are 1.6 times more likely to ice skate.
* Ice skating is equally popular across Canada except in BC which has below average incidence.
* Those who ice skate also inline skate and play hockey (almost 2 times the national average).
* 9% of ice skaters purchased ski/snowboard equipment within the past 2 years (1.5 times the national average).
* Compared to the national averages ice skaters are 1.6 times more likely to go shopping at ‘Play it Again Sports’ and 1.5 times more likely to shop at Sports Experts.
* By yesterday exposure, TV (87%), radio (85%) and Internet (68%) are the best media to communicate with ice skaters.
* Based on weekly reach, news talk (17%), adult contemporary (13%) and mainstream Top40/CHR (13%, 1.4 times the national average), are their favoured radio formats.
Source: BBM RTS Canada Fall ’04 / Spring ’05, individuals 12+
The preceding information is from BBM RTS, a syndicated consumer-media survey of over 60,000 Canadians, conducted twice a year by BBM Canada. For more information contact Craig Dorning of BBM Canada: cdorning@bbm.ca.
