In
the last weeks analysis we attempted to understand all about Break
Inventories on Channels and Broadcasting Networks. We also looked
at the Min & Max for Break Inventories and on how seasonality
affected them.
In
this concluding piece we will look at how some of the largest
channels manage the Advertising component of their Break Inventories.
If we look at Total TV Ad Inventory in the chart below and understand
the seasonality involved with TV advertising, we find that 2002
has produced the sharpest skew in the last three years of Festive
Quarters.
But
the interesting part is when we look at channels individually.
For instance, we find that for the last year 2002, Sony Entertainment
had the largest amount of Ad-Inventory as shown in chart below.
In fact, what is curious is that, Star Plus closed lower in the
last quarter of 2002 than Q2. That's surprising because Q4 is
supposed to be highest among all the quarters due to the amount
of advertising that Festive brings in.
So what could
explain the dip in advertising time on Star Plus in Q4? That's
not very easy to figure out. It could be by design, a conscious
effort… or it could be due to some top Star Plus advertisers cutting
down their ad spend. The Advertising component within the overall
break inventory for Star Plus could have dipped also due to the
kind of On-Air promotions efforts that we saw the channel indulge
in during that same time. For instance, in the first 4 weeks of
promo activity, Kashmeer clocked more than 1500 GRPs with
an Avg. OTS of 20.0!
If we look at
Sony Entertainment's Ad inventory, they started lower in Q1 and
Q2 than in the past 2 years only to overtake the past in Q3 &
Q4.
Conclusions
- Following Break Inventory trends
There are several
inferences that one can derive for ones own benefit from studying
Break Inventories irrespective of ones profession. For instance,
as a channel one can study the various formats that other channels
have employed and evaluate them for implementation. A study of
program promos to ad ratios can yield valuable info for channels
in lean versus good periods.
There are several
inferences that one can derive for ones own benefit from studying
Break Inventories irrespective of ones profession. For instance,
as a channel one can study the various formats that other channels
have employed and evaluate them for implementation. A study of
program promos to ad ratios can yield valuable info for channels
in lean versus good periods.
This has been
a TAM Educate Study of ADEX data. (TAM Educate is a division of
TAM Media Research that attempts to raise the industry bar by
'attacking the slope of our learning curves'! The TAM-Mate program
started last year, the TAM-MICA workshop at World Trade Centre,
regular Newsletters are just some of the efforts that TAM Educate
has spearheaded within the industry.)
