Top 3 Radio Ad Spender Shoots For #1 In 2009…

Wednesday, December, 24, 2008 by Mel Phillips.

Whether or not you think HD Digital Radio will be relevant in 2009 won’t stop their Radio Alliance from spending to prove that they are.  The HD Alliance promises an aggressive marketing campaign in Q1 of 2009.  The campaign will show how HD Radio has “evolved” with new bells and whistles like iTunes Tagging, lower price points and multicast stations.  They will also drive home this - there are no subscription fees, “perfect in a recession” and less advertising clutter.  But there is an expense involved which they won’t point out and that’s the cost of buying an HD Digital radio and how much of a selling point is less advertising clutter?  Less than terrestrial radio?  Yes, but that doesn’t wash up against satellite radio, which is just about spot-free…

Media Monitors just released their latest radio top 10 ad spending list (December 12 - 15) and the HD Digital Radio Alliance is number 3, preceded only by Wal-Mart and Verizon.  HDRA is already spending more than Geico (4), Jared the Galleria of Jewelry (5), McDonald’s (6), JCPenney (7), AT&T (8), Home Depot (9) and Radio Heard Here (NAB/RAB/HDRA) (10).  The Alliance will shoot for numero uno in 2009…

HDRA won’t win the battle for non-terrestrial ears just by spending money.  It will come down to quality, accessibility, cost and most of all the biggest intangible - likability.  Will their product have enough of a personality to win the hearts of those who will continue to listen to local radio for free?  They’ll have to prove that by giving their potential audience enough of a reason to switch.  That, not ad money, will be the true test… 

10 Timeline Memories:

1. 1812] War is over: The War of 1812 between the U.S. and Britain ends with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent in Belgium…
2. 1818] Shhhhhh: “Silent Night”, written by Josef Mohr with music by Franz Gruber of Germany is composed.  This clip contains the song in German, the way it was written…
3. 1865] It should have stayed private: Several veterans of the Confederate Army form a private social club in Pulaski (TN) called the Ku Klux Klan…
4. 1906] The first disc jockey: No, it wasn’t Bruce Morrow. It was Canadian physicist Reginald A. Fessenden who becomes the 1st person to broadcast a music program over the radio from Brant Rock (MA)…
5. 1920] Curtains: The great Enrico Caruso gives his final public performance at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. He would continue to offer himself for weddings and bar mitzvahs however.  Here’s Caruso in 1904…
6. 1948] Debuted on this date: A Midnight Mass is broadcast on TV for the first time from St. Patrick’s Cathedral…1953] NBC-TVs “Dragnet” becomes the first network show to be sponsored (by Fatima cigarettes).  Here’s Lee Marvin puffing away on one…
7. 1954] “Happy Trails“: R&B singer Johnny Ace shoots himself fatally while playing Russian Roulette backstage at a concert in Houston. Ace of “Pledging My Love“ fame was just 25…
8. 1968] “Twas the night before Christmas“: The Apollo 8 astronauts orbiting the moon read passages from the Old Testament Book of Genesis during a Christmas Eve TV broadcast…
9. 1981] Wedding Bells: Guardian Angel mahof Curtis Sliwa and Lisa Evers walk down the aisle in their red berets. They would break up in 1993. Curtis is on the radio, Lisa on TV now…1990] Nicole Kidman succumbs to the many “charms” of Tom Cruise as they tie the knot. The marriage made in Scientology heaven ends in 2001.  Here they are in happier times…
10. 1997] Guilty as Charged: Ilich Ramirez Sanchez a.k.a. Carlos the Jackal is sentenced to life for the 1975 murders of 2 French investigators and a Lebanese national. He’s now serving a lifetime sentence…

Music Memories:

• 1955] Debuted on this date: Aunt Irene kvells as the Lennon Sisters debut on “The Lawrence Welk Show”.  Here it is…
• 1966] Recorded on this date: “I Think We’re Alone Now” - Tommy James & Shondells…

“Happy Birthday…happy birthday“:

Ryan Seacrest (34), Ricky Martin (37), Mike Curb (64) and Dave Bartholomew (88)…

Timeline Countdown: Happy Hanukah, One day until Christmas, 7 nights until New Year’s Eve and 10 days until the NFL Wildcard Playoffs begin…

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