Advertisers worried by drop in RTE viewing figures

Agency media planners are reeling from the latest figures on the cost of advertising on RTE television. Advertisers evaluate their media outlay in terms of "cost per thousand" (viewers reached), and in June that cost per thousand rose by 60 per cent compared with the same month last year. With viewing figures falling and the price of advertising slots continuing to rise, this means advertisers are getting a much lower return for their money.

"June's costs frightened us," says Paul Mulligan, marketing and planning manager at RTE, "Demand for ad space on the station was huge by comparison with June last year."

But high demand is only one side of the story. Poor ratings are the flip side of the rocketing inflation figures, with the station experiencing an estimated 24 per cent drop in total viewer-ship compared with the previous year.

So concerned was Mulligan at the trend he saw emerging at the start of the month that he met the programme schedulers and requested a more attractive programme line-up. So Crimeline is now going to run through the summer and Streetwise is being brought back, as are two drama series, Falling for a Dancer and the award-winning Amongst Women.

"But poor performance in the schedule is only part of the problem," says Aidan Burns, chief executive of the Advertisers Association of Ireland, which is concerned about the inflationary trend and has met RTE to try to halt spiralling costs.

"What we need is a more structured approach to the market," says Mr Burns. "The pre-empt system, by its nature, encourages inflation."

Under the pre-empt system, space always goes to the highest bidder.

Advertisers are very unhappy, he says, "and in this increasingly fragmented market, they simply have more options and are ultimately going to start voting with their feet unless this can be brought under control".

The 60 per cent inflation figure is unusually large because June 1998 was a curious month media-wise. Then the World Cup dominated the schedule, attracting a huge audience despite the feeling that the absence of an Irish team would hurt viewing figures.

Most advertisers were caught on the hop and stayed away, giving the remaining few excellent value.

But while the June 1999 figures are unusual, the trend is definitely upwards. Spread over the past three years, it is estimated that the overall inflation figure for RTE television is 20 per cent.

This is causing significant difficulty for both agencies and advertisers, according to Dave Nea of Cawley Nea. "Looking at the June figures, what we now have to figure out is how to respond to the situation," he says. "We can either grin and bear it or we can simply divert money, either into other TV stations or into other media." E was so high during June. The buoyant economy fuelling fuelled demand across all media and is likely to go on doing so. Savvy media buyers are focusing on the those RTE programmes which are maintaining high viewer-ship levels, including the GAA championships and the Grand Prix, but as Paul Moran from Mediaworks says: "The only way for RTE to boost audience levels is obviously to improve their current summer schedule, which I believe is very weak."