Philly: Lots of television and radio deals

Philadelphia is a healthy, stable media market that's flat to last year, despite the fact the political ad spending has come in much lower than originally expected.
 
It is the nation's No. 4 TV market and No. 7 radio market, but buyers say there are better deals here than in other large markets.
 
"Cost-per-points and rates do not always mirror our place as a top-five or top-10 market. Some markets ranked lower than Philadelphia in size are priced higher," says Joyclyn Faust, senior buying director at Philadelphia agency Harmelin Media.

With the election a month away, TV is starting to tighten in news dayparts with a small bump in political advertising, mainly for a U.S. Senate race between Republican Tom Smith and incumbent Democrat Bob Casey.
 
But presidential spending has been virtually non-existent recently. President Barack Obama has been polling ahead of Republican challenger Mitt Romney in the state for months, leading Romney to pull his ads and focus on states where he thinks he has a chance.

Without a challenge from Romney, Obama has no reason to spend.
 
"TV stations are probably going to wind up with about half the political dollars they were expecting, and radio will be lucky to see any political money," says Andrea Ferrino, also a senior buying director at Harmelin.
 
It's a stark contrast from the 2008 presidential race, when Pennsylvania was a key battleground state. The result has been more available inventory than stations had anticipated.
 
"All the stations expected a repeat of the last presidential campaign, in which the dollars spent in the market was exorbitant," Faust says.

"All stations had priced the inventory on the anticipated political dollars, but political spending in the market has been moderate and suddenly inventory is readily available."
 
But Philadelphia TV remains healthy even with the lack of political dollars, with other categories such as auto, financial and travel driving the market.
 
Healthcare is another category that has increased spending in Philadelphia.

"It seems to be more active than ever, especially in Philly, where there is an overabundance of health systems," says Harmelin media manager Lucia Franco. "They keep getting more and more competitive with one another."
 
Radio in Philadelphia started slow in 2012, before having strong months in April in May. Things slowed a bit again in the summer, and overall spending and unit pricing are flat to down slightly versus a year ago.
 
There are some areas that have performed well in the market, including play-by-play broadcasts for Phillies baseball and Eagles football games.

Buyers say advertisers wanted to be on Phillies games even during the perennial playoff squad’s subpar season, and a strong start to the football season by the Eagles has led to new advertisers and increased revenue.
 
That enthusiasm hasn't carried over to basketball, however, with little demand for Philadelphia 76er games as the season approaches.
 
Also, buyers note that with the holidays approaching some stations will move to all-Christmas music formats, and that will prompt some advertisers to jump to other stations to reach their target listeners.
 
With the election nearing, CBS Radio news/talk station KYW-AM has been No. 1 in Philadelphia the past couple months, including a 6.5 portable people meter rating in September, according to Arbitron.

Tags: ad spending, advertisers, buyers, deals, KYW, local ad spending, local advertising, market profile, philadelphia, philadelphia ad spending, philadephia tv spending, political, political dollars, political spending, radio, television, tv, WPVI