Triple Dipping at 680 News - WTF?

The fall radio survey came out this week – now known as “S4�.  Outside of Halifax and what looks like the “JACK� format sliding in its most successful markets (Calgary & Vancouver), there isn’t a whole lot to impact advertisers for the next few months.  Except for 680 News who in typical “book, schmook� attitude are increasing their rates for 2007
 
How long do you have to be nice?  When something stupid keeps going on don’t you have to eventually ask WTF?

 
WTF #1 – One of the key benefits of TV and radio over non-broadcast media is that you pay for what you get.  If audience levels change, stations and networks adjust their rates accordingly – except 680 News.  With next to no regard for performance since before 9/11, 680 has stuck to basic spot rates.  The only time they change rates is when they crank them even higher after a few contracts have been signed.  So even though 680’s ratings have dropped by 12% since the spring in the new survey, they’re still going to insist on spot costs that are 16% higher than where they’ve been for most of 2006
 
WTF #2 – Can you say “premium�?  It’s one thing to fix rates if they’re in the right ballpark, but 680 isn’t even in the same game.  If you try to buy them on a standard target audience, 680 won’t come in efficiently.  They actually come in about 75% higher than the going Toronto market costs
 
But 680 News is the biggest station in Toronto – nope, not even close.  On a broad target like adults 18+, an average spot delivers 0.6 GRPs compared to CHUMFM that does 1.2 GRPs per average spot.  This is typically what buyers are going to look at for general station performance and their basis for cost efficiency
 
But 680 News fits better in buys targeting upscale listeners – wrong, even worse.  Based on average ratings, 680’s performance against listeners with a HHI of $100k+ indexes at 87 versus the adults 18+.  That’s bad
 
So 680 has a broad audience but won’t come in efficiently on it.  And they do worse on the types of target segments they push.  WTF?
 
WTF #3 – This is where an advertiser takes one more hit from 680 News.  What 680 does have going for it and how they claim to be the biggest station is based on their “cumed� audience.  The numbers we’ve been talking about so far are based on a single spot.  The cumed number takes into account all the different people who tune into the station over a period of time and adds them up.  680 News has the biggest cumed audience in Toronto radio because a lot of listeners tune in to get the twenty minute update and then leave
 
But stick with me for a second here:  You can’t reach everyone that tunes into any station in just one spot – it takes a schedule of multiple spots.  Because 680’s average audience is relatively small for every spot, it takes a lot more spots in a schedule to take advantage of all the listeners they have on a cumed basis – more spots than other stations.  In other words, if you buy the same number of spots on 680 that you would buy on another station, you’ll miss out on the station’s reach
 
Add them all up and what do you get?  A big schedule of underperforming overpriced spots
 
To all Toronto radio reps – if a buyer tells you they have 680 on their buy, ask them “WTF?  Did you take it from my share?�