Denver: TV's pricy
and getting more so
Spending is up 15 percent, driven by automotive and financial
By Diego Vasquez
Dec 19, 2011
Denver saw advertising decline during the recession, but it was not hit nearly as hard as other markets, which helped it recover quickly.
Now the market is very healthy on both TV and radio heading into what should be an even stronger 2012.
TV spending is up 15 percent this year in Denver when excluding 2010 political spending, and unit pricing is up by as much as 20 percent in high-demand dayparts.
Categories including auto, insurance and financial are driving demand in those dayparts, most notably early morning, evening and late news.
Buyers in the market say Denver's NBC affiliate, KUSA, is much like its national network counterpart in that it leads in news ratings.
"You go in any news daypart and KUSA is always No. 1," says Jennifer Long, broadcast supervisor Haworth Marketing + Media. "When KUSA fills up, it's kind of a trickle down [to other stations]."
And the station has been able to hold its position as the top news outlet in the market despite the fact that NBC's primetime has struggled. It is down 7 percent in adults 18-49 this season.
"Their prime is suffering like NBC prime all over the country, but their news numbers are still very solid," says Lesley White, senior media buyer at Starcom. "They're kind of the heritage news station in the market."
With the news already in demand, buyers are bracing for even tighter conditions in 2012 once political spending enters the market, because political buys usually target news dayparts.
Colorado has relatively few local races in the upcoming 2012 election, but a recent poll by USA Today and Gallup identified it as one of 12 key swing states for the presidential election, meaning Denver will see heavy campaign spending closer to the end of the election cycle rather than during the primaries.
"They will also get a ton of issue money from a lot of special interest groups," White says.
The healthy conditions on Denver TV were evident early this year, according to the numbers. Spot TV spending during the second quarter of the year, the latest period available, was up 2.5 percent to $51.1 million, according to Kantar Media.
Radio was up a similar percentage during that period, 2.1 percent, with total spending at $38.3 million. The medium is not quite as in demand as TV, buyers say, but spending and pricing are both up mid to high single digits driven by categories including auto, retail, casinos and ski resorts.
And similar to TV, the top radio station in the market is a heritage station, Clear Channel's news-talk KOA-AM.
In November KOA led Denver with a 5.8 average quarter- hour rating among total listeners, according to Arbitron.
Another strong station in the market, particularly among younger listeners, is the top 40 station Alice 105.9 KALC-FM. Its afternoon drive show, "Slacker & Steve," draws advertiser interest, but it is not be the best fit for more conservative brands.
"It depends on who you are targeting," White says. "It's a little more edgy, so it may not be for some clients."
This article is reprinted from the Media Economy Newsletter. You can subscribe by following this
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