TV Revenue / Impacts

RTÉ revenue for June is estimated to be down 7%. Impacts were also down for certain key trading audiences on RTÉ: MC Adults were down 3%, MC A15-34 down 26%, MC A25-44 down 16% & MC Housewives + Children down 4%. However, TV3 are growing impacts for these same audiences : MC A up 46%, MC A15-34 up 23%, MC A25-44 up 33% & MC HW+CH up 58%. This was mainly due to the extra minutage on TV3 and also new programming with Come Dine with Me Ireland and Celebrity Salon, both of which kicked off in June. Satellite stations continued to vary across the main audiences, with E4 down 5% on both MC A and MC A15-24. Sky was up 2% on MC A and 16% on MC HW+CH. This was driven by good ratings on Sky Sports 1 & 2 and Sky Sports News, which aired The US Open (won by Rory McIlroy), Wimbledon, and also the international Italy vs. Republic of Ireland soccer match.

Programming is a main factor in TV3 growing impacts for MC A15-34, MC A25-34, and MCHW+CH.

Share of Viewing: January-June 2011 vs 2010

Channel 5 opt out

C5 have announced they will opt out on Ulster from the 1st October. They are planning to have a strong autumn schedule, including Big Brother (from August on), The Bachelor (new dating show featuring Gavin Henson), along with US Dramas (CSI, Desperate Housewives, Glee), and Factual and Daytime programming (Home & Away, Neighbours).

BARB to measure web TV viewing

BARB, the research body which provides UK television audience measurement figures, is to start measuring TV viewing on PCs, laptops and tablet computers this year, following the introduction of a web TV-viewing meter to UK households.

The meter will initially be distributed to 100 Barb panel homes over the second half of 2011 to gauge its impact and enable the industry body to make improvements. Barb will then extend its use across up to 1,100 homes during 2012. An estimated 2,500 people will ultimately take part in the measurement process. Barb said the rollout would be done in a “staged approach to ensure that the standards and quality of the core Barb service are not jeopardised”.

Sony Ireland and TV3 announce partnership

Irish broadcaster TV3 has joined forces with consumer electronics giant Sony to ingrain catch-up TV and other interactive features on Sony’s latest connected TVs and Blu-Ray media players.  As part of collaboration with Sony and DV4, TV3’s catch-up TV and web content will appear as an icon on the video bar on Sony’s latest generation of TV and media playing devices, all of which have Wi-Fi connectivity.

The move follows the successful rollout of TV3 catch-up TV apps on the iPhone, iPad and Android platforms for smartphones and tablets. TV3’s head of online Peter Clerkin told Siliconrepublic.com that viewers, from their living rooms, can now go directly to their TVs to access previously shown shows like Xpose, X Factor, Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Ireland AM without needing to use a computer.

“Sony is a key player in the market for internet-enabled TVs and if you have a Sony internet-connected device you can now access TV3 shows at any time on the cross media bar.”From our perspective, we’re excited about extending our reach into the living room from a digital perspective. Our strategy is to appear on all devices that are internet-enabled and not just your standard everyday PC,” Clerkin said.

Carat Viewpoint: News of the World

Without a doubt the biggest story within the print industry this month is the phone hacking scandal at the News of the World/News International. In light of hugely damaging revelations of phone hacking by NOTW journalists in the UK, on the afternoon of Thursday 7th July, News International took the unprecedented step of closing the newspaper after 168 years.

The immediate effect on the Irish News of the World is the loss of jobs across editorial, production and sales (exact number still to be confirmed)”. Prior to the closure, the Irish News of the World was the third highest circulating newspaper in the Sunday market.  The title was making good progress commercially in recent years, with the addition of Fabulous Magazine and the appointment of Paul Williams (ex Sunday World) as senior crime reporter.

So what is the effect on the Sunday newspaper market?  Already we have seen concerted efforts by core rival titles, such as the Sunday World, Irish Mail on Sunday and Sunday Mirror to capitalise on the gap in the market left by the Irish News of the World.  All three titles have increased their print runs over the past two weeks and all are reporting increases in circulation.  The coming weeks and months are sure to see an escalation in promotions and marketing from all titles in an effort to secure as much of the former paper’s market share as possible.

And the future for News International?  The publisher now has just two titles left in the Irish market (Irish Sun and Sunday Times). News International have confirmed that they are going to continue the publication of Fabulous Magazine but now with the Irish Sun on Saturdays going forward.  However, there are question marks over the fit between Fabulous and the Irish Sun’s readership profile.  The Sunday Times has maintained its strong performance amongst ABC1s but the issue for News International now is selling two titles with markedly different target audiences.

There is also the rumour of a return to the Sunday market with a new publication, “Sun on Sunday”. However, there is no confirmation as yet of a potential launch date.

Nova launches major summer marketing campaign

Nova’s new ‘Bringing Music Alive’ campaign incorporates Outdoor, TV, cinema, print and online. Bloom, the creative agency behind the campaign, also produced the creative for the station’s 2010 launch. Four tracks support the creative: T-Rex’s ‘Get It On’, Kaiser Chiefs’ ‘I Predict a Riot’, AC/DC’s ‘You Shook Me (All Night Long)’ and Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’. Station chief executive Kevin Branigan hopes the campaign can strike a chord with its prospective listeners.

The RadioGauge system has been operating successfully in Britain for four years and is credited by the British Radio Advertising Bureau with helping to achieve radio's first increase in advertising share in five years in 2010. To date, 400 radio campaigns have been evaluated in the UK. The same privacy practice, whereby the results of the ad evaluation are presented only to the advertiser and agency with suggestions on how the campaign could be improved, will be implemented in Ireland.

 Budweiser Ice Cold wins at Cannes Lions

Mobile marketing is set to become an increasing focus for Diageo’s marketing team, after an innovative Budweiser Ice Cold mobile ad campaign scored a rare win for Ireland at the 2011 Cannes Lions advertising festival, picking up a bronze for Best Integrated Campaign Led by Promotion and Activation.

The Budweiser Ice Cold Index, which was launched six weeks ago, offers users discounted pints of Budweiser Ice Cold on warmer days and a free beer when temperatures exceed 20 degrees. The concept  behind the campaign was to establish the lager as the most refreshing option in the pub. The campaign represented a world first because it delivered vouchers wholly via mobile phones, with no need for any additional hardware to be installed in participating pubs. It was the work of Diageo Ireland in collaboration with London ad agency DDB UK, WHPR and digital agency Marvellous, and was supported by TV spots, print and outdoor.

Diageo’s head of marketing communications, Garbhan O’Bric, said the campaign reflected the enormous shift that has taken place in marketing and media. Brands cannot emphasise only what they wanted to say to customers; they had to start to stress what they could do for them, he said. ‘‘The brands that get it are the ones that manage to play some sort of role in people’s lives . . . A few years ago, this idea would have turned into a 60-second TV ad. Now we’re still using TV, but we’re using it in an entirely new way," he said. ‘‘It’s all geo-location now. Marketing’s not about who and what, it’s about when and where."

Google discouraging brand involvement with Google+ for the time being

Google is actively discouraging businesses from using regular profiles to connect with users of its new Google+ social media product.  According to a blog post by Christian Oestlien,  Group Product Manager at Google, the product as it stands is not optimally suited to the needs of brands.

“How users communicate with each other is different to how they communicate with brands and we want to create an optimal experience for both,” he wrote. “We have a great team of engineers actively building an amazing Google+ experience for businesses and we will have something to show the world later this year.”

Google will, over the coming months, be running an experiment with a few marketing partners to gauge the effect of including brands in Google+. The pilot will begin with a small number of named partners. According to Oestlien, non-user entities – businesses, organisations, places, teams, and so on – can apply to be considered for the programme.

Facebook update

Latest figures show Irish users have now topped the two million mark, that’s 43% of the entire Irish population. Facebook and Skype have joined forces to bring video chat to the social network - the application has been built into Facebook Chat, allowing users click on a friend to call.  And finally, references to a product called “Vibes” have been found in Facebook’s code this week and it could be related to the company’s rumoured music service rivaling iTunes.

Majority of over-45s consider Facebook exit, according to new survey

Almost half of Facebook members are considering leaving the social network, according to a survey commissioned by Marketing. While 46% of the 1300 adult respondents surveyed by  OnePoll said they had thought about leaving Facebook, or had already left, that number increased to more than 50% when focusing on the over-45s. For the younger age groups, more than a third said they had considered ending their membership recently. Men also showed more negative sentiments, with more than 50% thinking about leaving the service, compared with 39% of women.

The survey comes as Inside Facebook, a company that tracks Facebook developments, claimed last week that almost 6m fewer people in the US used Facebook between May and June, while user numbers in the UK dropped by 100,000.

Google revenues hit all-time high of $9bn

Google has notched up record quarterly revenues of $9bn including record UK revenues of $976m, after growing nearly a third in a year. On the company’s earnings call this month, Chief Executive, Larry Page revealed that its new social network, Google+, which was launched with invitation only access at the end of June, has now surpassed 10 million users

Clear Channel unveils next generation of digital outdoor screens

Out-of-home company Clear Channel has launched its next generation of interactive screens at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The new screens include multi-touch capabilities and are capable of motion sensing, gesture perception, face detection, colour recognition and augmented reality and have been developed by Clear Channel’s Create + Collaborate unit. The screens incorporate 12-point multi-touch, HD cameras, movement sensors, infrared technology, 3G comms and eye-tracking software and will allow advertisers to book campaigns that allow people to, not only view live content, but also control the content and star in the ads.

Derek Manns, head of Create + Collaboration at Clear Channel UK, said: "What we have created is the most advanced interactive six-sheet which uses technology to deliver memorable experiences for consumers while they are out and about. "Out-of-home provides advertisers with a vital link between the on and offline worlds and we are dedicated to delivering innovative products that push the boundaries of our medium."