Radio Advertising Space: Understanding Day parts
To the uninformed buyer, purchasing radio advertising space can be intimidating. Radio advertising space representatives speak in terms the general public doesn’t necessarily understand and aren’t familiar with using, making it difficult sometimes to understand how to buy advertising space on the radio. Drive time, dayparts, cost per point, ratings -- all of these can be confusing to the advertising buyer yet are key components to understanding the radio ad buy.
So how does the process work? Radio space is sold in dayparts, which are specific time segments within a twenty-four hour day. ROS time refers to Run of Station, meaning the ads can be placed at any time the station broadcasts without running in the same specific time slots. This is a less expensive way to buy advertising than Drive time space, and can represent a savings of 60% or more over Drive time. During slow times of the year, advertising bought as ROS time can be featured during Drive time giving the advertiser a bigger bang for their buck.
Drive time is generally priced at the most expensive space per spot and sells for a premium rate. Morning drive time usually begins around 6 a.m. and ends around 10 a.m., while afternoon drive time usually starts around 3 p.m. and ends around 7 p.m. Drive time may differ depending on the community or area you live in, but refers to the times during the morning and afternoon when the majority of daytime workers are commuting to or from work. Many advertising clients want to buy radio space during these times because they’ve got a captive audience with little to do (other than driving) but listen to the radio. Morning and afternoon radio broadcasts usually include traffic delays and weather, both of which are of interest to the listener on the road.
Dayparts also include daytime (usually between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.), evening (usually 7 p.m. till midnight) and late night/early morning (midnight till 6 a.m.). The late night/early morning spots, for obvious reasons, are usually the least expensive spots available at a radio station.
Radio advertising space sold by daypart, and ratings determined by the ratings of each daypart. Ratings are often presented to the buyer in “gross rating points”, which stands for rating points of a given timeslot. Each rating point represents a one percentage of the market listening to the radio at a given time. For example, a morning drive time radio spot may reach 3% of the available listening audience (the market as a whole is 100%); therefore, it has a rating of 3 points (per advertising spot). If an advertiser buys radio ad space using 30-second spots during morning drive time, they’re reaching potentially 3% of the total available listening audience for each spot.
In advertising, there are formulas to determine what makes for a successful ad campaign. To buy radio space effectively, the general rule is to purchase advertising using at least 300 Gross Rating Points (GRPs). These rating points are determined by Arbitron, who give listeners special equipment or diaries to track when they listen to radio. Based on Arbitron reports, which are produced four times yearly, each daypart of each station receives a rating. If the daypart reaches 3% of the market, you’ve got 3 GRPs per spot. In order to have an effective campaign, and see a return on investment, you’ll need to purchase 100 spots at 3 GRPs.
If it sounds confusing and cumbersome, don’t worry, you’re not alone. Get some help. Most people don’t have the time or knowledge to research how to buy radio ad space. A qualified advertising professional can help you purchase radio space, and they’ll do the math for you to ensure the effectiveness of the ads.
