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TYPES OF MEDIA BUYS

To appreciate the true value of a particular media buy, we have grouped TV

stations into three categories and analyzed their rates based on their

comparative coverage. The three categories are:

NATIONAL. These TV stations are either cable networks or national super-

stations. (To illustrate, we'll use Nickelodeon at 1:30 a.m. on weekdays

which costs $12,500.)

PRIMARY. These are local broadcast TV stations in major cities with at least

one million TV homes. ( We'll use WPGH, the FOX affiliate in Pittsburgh, at

1:30 a.m. on weekdays which costs $900.)

SECONDARY. These are local broadcast TV stations in smaller or secondary

cities, with usually less than 500,000 TV homes. (We'll use WWAT, and

independent in Columbus, Ohio at 1:30 a. m. on weekdays which costs $150.)

Charting comparative rates and effective reach of each station yields the

following:

TV GROUP RATE TV HOMES CPM*

Nationals $12,500 63 million 0.20

Primary $900 1.2 million 0.75

Secondary $150 350,000 0.43

*The acronym CPM stands for Cost Per Thousand ( M stnads for Mil, Latin for

thousand). Based on the preceding table, if all the potential viewers being

reached by each respective station were watching that station at that time,

it would cost you 20 cents to reach every 1,000 viewers watching a widely

subscribed to cable network, 75 cents for a primary station, and 43 cents

per 1000 viewers in a secondary market.

Although it seems obvious that you may want to split your media buys between

the national and secondary markets, often this is not possible. Here are some

of the reasons:

> Airtime on national stations is hard to come by. Fewer than 20 cable

networks and superstations fall into this category, and most available info-

mercial time has already been purchased or is controlled by major media

brokers and infomercial production houses.

> In the test market stage, it is unwise to invest a lot ofmoney in national

media buys. It is better to spread your budget over a string of secondary

markets to get a better feel for viewer feedback.

> Finding good secondary markets involves a fair amount of research. It is

best to deal with media brokers who specialize in this category.

28. TESTING

Always test media on an OTO (one-time-only) basis. Even Fortune 500 companies

with multimillion-dollar budgets always test their products and the media where

they are placed. No one can accurately predict the outcome of an untested

campaign. Lay out a sensible test campaign and evaluate the results accord-

ingly.

For do-it-yourselfers, secondary markets with airtime rates between $150 and

$400 offer ideal, low-risk vehicles for test marketing your infomercial.

Although TV stations in secondary markets do not generally offer the best

CPM (compare to nationwide cable channels), they charge the lowest entry fees

required to get a fair "let-the-market-decide" type of evaluation for an

infomercial.

29. APPROVAL

As soon as the first draft of your infomercial is completed, make several

copies and send one to each station you are considering.

But before you send any tape for approval, contact the station to confirm

that they have available airtime. The approval process can take anywhere

from a day to a month, depending on who you know and the overall attitude

at that station.

30. MEDIA BROKERS

Media brokers are independent companies that sell airtime for stations

nationwide. Stations pay these brokers a commission based on the cost of

airtime purchases.

Brokers come in all shapes and sizes, depending on the type of TV stations

they represent and their volume of business. In some cases, brokers who

buy a lot of media time have better pricing leverage. Therefore two brokers

may have different rates for the same time slot at the same station.

BROKERS WORK LIKE A ONE-STOP SHOP FOR TV AIRTIME ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

If you want to buy airtime outside your state, a broker will come in handy,

giving you vital information about TV stations in different markets. Brokers

are particularly helpful when you're buying airtime on a network affiliate

(ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX), a cable network (ESPN, A&E, CNN), or a superstation

(WGN or WOR). Brokers give you access to as many stations in as many regions

as you want, but you only have to deal with one person, saving you the hassle

of negotiating with each station individually.

However, if you are buyingairtime from stations in your city or in a

geographic area that you're familiar with, using a broker may hurt rather

than help. For example, if the station you wantto use does not recognize

your broker, that broker may try to convince you to advertise on a station

that will pay his commission.

Likewise, a media broker may cost you more if you are buying large quantities

of airtime. By placing your order as a direct account, you can negotiate

a rebate on the portion of the fee that the station would otherwise pay a

broker.

31. TARGETING BY ZIP CODE

If your media buy is sensitive to demographics, one method of buying will

deliver precision, especially if you buy from cable service companies on a

local basis.

From Beverly Hills to the Bronx, expanding your geopgraphic exposure is as

easy as qualifying the socio-economic profiles of you audience. Marketers

now use ZIP codes to identify the geographic distribution of their

potential viewers. As markets become more segmented, a new method of

categorizing American neighborhoods is gaining ground.

THE CLUSTERING OF AMERICA. This is a book by Michael J. Weiss which dissects

different lifesytles in contemporary America based on the U.S. Postal

Service's Zone Improvement Plan - better known as ZIP codes.

THE 5 DIGITS OF YOUR ZIP CODE CAN TELL A MARKETER WHAT YOU ATE FOR BREAKFAST

Weiss explains that your ZIP code, which actually regpresents the community

where your live, reveals a lot about the people who live within its boundaries.

The 5 digits of your ZIP code are not being usedto tell marketers the kinds of

magazines you read, what you eat for breakfast, and the brand of toothpaste

you are likely to use. Marketers re even using ZIP codes to decide what kind

of celebrity to use in their advertising. (From The Clustering of America, by

Michael J. Weiss; Perennial Library, Harper & Row, New York; ISBN

0-06-091599-4; $10.95.)