Market Meter – Out-of-Home
4.5 out of 5
O-O-H inventory has been fast moving and in most cases this fall has sold out much earlier than in previous years, particularly for bigger format posters and superboards. Some inventory may loosen up at the end of October but pre-Christmas avails are also moving quickly so expect sold-out positions again as the fourth quarter is historically the strongest for out-of-home. Packaged goods, automotive, and telecom categories have been the heaviest users this fall.
Vancouver is a perennially tight market and buyers say that now Viacom has landed the Vancouver core transit business, it’s a two-supplier buy to cover the extended market area – Viacom for the centre and Pattison for the outskirts.
Market Meter is compiled from a survey of media buying experts across the country.
Jane Magazine launches techno promo to grab higher ad readership
In an attempt to hook in a higher ad viewership, Jane Magazine launched a promo ‘Jane Talks Back’ that had win-win situation written all over it. It involved readers using their camera phones to snap photos of ads in the magazine and then send them off to Jane in order to win swag.
This Jane promo not only dials in to the cellphone/text message teen rage, but the mag will also be able to give details to advertisers on reader involvement (based on the number of photos taken.) Advertisers participating include Kmart (which gives users $5 gift cards), Calvin Klein jeans (which will give away 25 jean jackets) and Guess (which will give 10 % discounts for snapping their ad).
Finding men in a schedule without HNIC
While targeting male demographics has become increasingly difficult for media planners and buyers over the years, Canadian advertisers have always had one sure bet – Hockey Night in Canada. That could all change this year with a potential NHL player strike on the horizon.
Summer hot for CTV sked
Over the last four years, broadcasters across North America have been abandoning the traditional September-to-May TV season in favor of premiering new programs throughout the year, even during the summer season, long thought to be a ratings wasteland. For some, the new approach has quickly paid dividends, but other broadcasters continue to struggle.
Radio connects with consumers
The Radio Marketing Bureau (RMB) of Toronto has added more ammunition to its fight to prove the effectiveness of radio advertising, this time showing that radio is a more personal way of communicating with consumers than TV or newspapers.
Webcast nets new platform for Net radio measurement
Net Radio Sales, of Providence, R.I., and Denver, Colo.-based Ando Media have launched Webcast Metrics, a new way to measure Internet radio listenership. The system determines a station’s audience size then converts it to standard radio metrics, like average quarter hour and total time spent listening. Net Radio Sales says its goal is to determine the size of Internet radio audiences and provide reliable data to advertisers. The technology also makes real-time reports possible.
Webcast Metrics generates reports from actual user data, not samples. The platform succeeds Arbitron’s MeasureCast tool that was pulled in April due to unprofitability.
http://www.netradiosales.com/
Torstar extends ShopTV territory
Torstar Media Group Television and Cogeco Cable have inked a deal to expand the coverage area for ShopTV from the greater Toronto area to include Oakville, Ont. and Burlington, Ont. ShopTV will be part of Cogeco’s basic service, bringing the number of homes in southern Ontario receiving the 24-hour infomercial channel to 1.5 million. Rogers Cable and Aurora Cable also count ShopTV as part of their basic cable lineups. Recent advertisers include Canada Savings Bonds and Hakim Optical.
On a global scale, the direct response television industry is expected to grow to $2 trillion by the end of this year.
Vision to institute new minority drama initiatives
VisionTV, the Toronto-based multi-faith specialty channel, has been awarded a two-cent increase in its monthly wholesale rate. The caster will use the resulting $1.8 million per year to support new diversity drama programming initiatives, specifically one-hour dramas devoted to the experiences of visible minorities. The programming will air in prime during the 2004/05 season.
The rate increase comes as part of a seven-year license renewal just handed down by the CRTC.
Gaming characters pose nude for Playboy
Here’s a hooter: Some of those sexy butt-kicking babes from video games will be taking it all off for a pictorial in the October issue of Playboy. Pix of familiar characters from such popular games as ‘Bloodrayne,’ ‘Mortal Kombat’ and the ‘Tekken’ series will accompany an article about the changing face of gaming. With the average gamer a 29-year-old guy and the average Playboy reader a 33-year-old guy, it seems like an au natural match. The magazine spread reflects the growing presence of nudity and sexuality in gaming. ‘Singles: Flirt Up Your Life,’ for instance, features full-frontal and encourages players to make the characters have sex. However, some publishers choose not to have their characters appear nude, often because they think it will offend female gamers, a segment the industry is actively trying to court.
The Playboy pictorial is just more evidence that video games have come out of the geeks’ closet into the media limelight. We’ve seen them spawn movies like Lara Croft Tomb Raider, and if characters like these are top-of-mind with a mass audience, it just may be time for planners to take this new medium more seriously.
Rob Magazine gets a facelift
ROB mag’s September issue will feature a new design and some new monthly features, including ‘Corporate Governess,’ an advice column for troubling business problems; and ‘The Good Life,’ a monthly look at the best in travel, wine and golf, among other things.
ExpressVu offers golf fans an interactive experience
ExpressVu satellite TV subscribers will be interacting with exclusive content during the Bell Canadian Open golf tournament next week. Unlike ExpressVu’s Hockey Night in Canada Plus service, there will be no extra charge to subscribers with iTV-capable satellite boxes.
In addition to viewing the main broadcast feed of the game in a standard full-screen mode, multi-cam golf viewers will be able to access and select five features beyond the regular telecast: replay (a 45-second delay that offers a constant ‘instant replay’ of the telecast); highlights (a continuously updated two- to three-minute looping highlight reel); player-cam (follows a specific star player for his entire round); best hole (dedicated camera angle of the best hole as all players play through); stats (users can access a constantly updated leaderboard as well as short bios and stats of the players); and the course (a continuous video loop showing flyovers of all 18 holes).
A voting feature is also expected where viewers can vote on whether a player will make the cut or win the round.
ExpressVu will also be interacting with Bell Making the Cut, a 13-week ‘hockeymentary’ which debuts on CBC later this month. Details about the content will be released closer to the broadcast.
MOJO Vancouver launches new lineup
Vancouver’s MOJO Sports Radio AM 730 has added three live, local shows to its lineup. On Aug. 30 Arthur Griffith, the founder and former owner of the now-defunct Vancouver Grizzlies basketball team, began anchoring his own show Timeout with Arthur Griffith, will be giving an insider’s view on the ongoing NHL owner/player negotiations. TSN’s Blake Price is also heading his own program, The Blake Price Show, which started airing yesterday.
Rounding out the new MOJO lineup is The Nooner featuring brother station ROCK 101’s morning DJ Brother Jake Edwards and candid sportscaster Neil Macrae in a weekly roundtable covering the sports of the day.
CBC Radio unveils new fall schedule
Mother Corp.’s Radio One and Two have unleashed a slew of new programs coupled with the return of many of the listeners’ favourites. Making a debut on Radio One is The Omnivore, a show about culture, history, science and social relations of food and drink. Summer debut program, Wire Tap and Bill Richardson’s popular Bunny Watson both move to Saturday evenings.
On Radio Two, Eric Friesen’s new show, Studio Sparks, debuts from the new Ottawa digs, which will allow listeners a chance to join Friesen in the studio for music and discussion. And sliding in on weekdays at 9 a.m. is Here’s to You – the newly formatted edition of the hugely popular request portion of Take Five.
Special programming features for the fall include Faint Hope, a docudrama that explores the story of an Ontario prison inmate who died under controversial circumstances in 1988.
Virtual first-down line added to CFL on TSN telecasts
It started years ago with the hockey puck being highlighted in the U.S. and now a similar technology has migrated to Canadian football on TSN. Beginning Friday on TSN’s Friday Night Football featuring Montreal at Ottawa the ‘virtual’ first-down marker will make its debut.
The graphic, which is a broadcast enhancement that lays a yellow line on the football field at the location of the first-down marker, allows viewers to see how far the offence needs to move the ball to achieve the first-down.
CTV’s Corner Gas earns second season
This summer, even in repeats, Corner Gas, drew more than one million viewers per episode. Now viewers get a whole new season of the comedy when it returns with 18 all-new episodes airing Tuesdays at 8 p.m, beginning Oct. 5 on CTV.
- Is GroupM being dismantled? Reports point to rebrand and restructuring
- Some GroupM Canada senior executives have left the agency
- Havas Media Canada makes three senior leadership appointments
- Media leaders concerned ad spend not going to Canadian media
- Upfronts 2025: Fox announces significant investment in sports
