UK TV Advertising.
by: Guest
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Word Count: 639
THE UK TV ADVERTISING MARKETPLACE. The uk tv marketplace has changed dramatically over the past few years from three tv stations to over 200 ,with the introduction of satellite and cable /digital tv(and growing daily).The first real change was the introduction of Ch4 in November 1982.This enabled advertisers and agencies another route onto uk tv.As up until then ITV had a virtual monopoly in terms of advertising space ,which drove prices up.In the early days it could become quite impossible to obtain tv advertising slots due to the lack of channels and high demand .Tv contractors would allocate airtime to Ad agencies eight weeks in advance of transmission ,which would leave some advertisers without there favourite slots ie "Coronation Street",as agencies would themselves have to to allocate the airtime between their individual clients .Generally the rule of thumb was the bigger the clients spend the higher proportion of quality airtime would be allocated to them.This as you can imagine caused a lot of friction in the early days. It was at this stage ,inorder to cater for the demand ITV decided to introduce the pre-empt rate card.Basically airtime was still allocated to ad agencies,however with a 13-tier rate card ,which varied across up to five different time bands,being peak,off-peak etc.The thinking behind this was basically to let the market dictate the price and cater for demand.Well I can tell you having been a very keen tv buyer in those days,we went from one crisis to the next.Can you imagine you have put a tv campaign together for your major client,only to find the slot you bought that evening at 19.45 in 'Coronation street' had just been lost because your competitor had just come in and bought your slot at a higher price .Not only that,if this was the launch of a new campaign,in those days many advertisers would invite their staff and sales force to drinks and view their new tv commercial,only to find it was not there.No wonder in those days the saying was 'It's a license to print money',because it was true. The clever buyers (and I like to think I was one) would try and gauge the market and get in early and pitch their buying rates at the right level,making it too costly for your competitor to pay the price above you.Thats the way it should of worked and manytimes for me it did.Though there would be days when I had 4/8 spots due for transmission,only to find they all had been pre-empted and I would need to re-slot them asap.Luckily I didn't pull my hair out,as I would of been bald at a very young age. The introduction of satellite/cable and digital tv has had a major impact on the uk tv marketplace .Firstly it has given a greater range of programes and choice for Uk tv viewers.It has also enabled many more advertisers the opportunity to advertise on tv in the uk.This is due to the much lower entry cost to advertise on uk tv.In the early years you could easily be looking at one million pounds plus for a national tv campaign ,incomparison today you would not have to budget anything like it.You would probally be looking at £100-150k,and even down to as little as £5-10k. Though the entry cost to uk tv advertising has come down,many clients still have issues with production costs,though this can still be made more cost effective.At the end of the day the Uk tv marketplace is more accessible and affordable. I am always available to assist and help any clients who would like to use tv advertising in the uk, but don't know how to go about it. I can be contacted at harrymedia@aol.com,my website is http://www.gbontheweb.co.uk and if you would like to view uk tv ads please feel free to visit this website: http://www.tellyads.com/
About the Author
Harry has worked in Uk Advertising for just over 30 years,and has been working on building websites and online advertising opportunities for the past 18 months.
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