Viacom eyes children's TV ad take

Competition for the €6 million of children's advertising revenue increases today when US giant Viacom enters the Irish market for the first time with its Nickelodeon channel.

Viacom believes it can take a large segment of the revenue from RTÉ, which mainly airs children's advertising on Network 2. Viacom will air the Irish advertising via an "opt out" facility that allows Irish material to be inserted between ordinary programmes. It also hopes to take some market share from TV3.

In Britain and the Republic, Nickelodeon is owned by Viacom and Sky, although throughout the rest of the world the brand is owned by Viacom, which is quoted on the New York Stock Exchange.

Mr Andy Farwell of Viacom Brand Solutions, which is leading the Irish initiative, said various firms such as Danone, Disney on Ice, MCD, Dolmio, Kelloggs and Burger King, had decided to take out advertising for the Irish market.

Unlike Network 2, Nickelodeon carries four breaks each hour giving it nine minutes of advertising an hour.

RTÉ is only permitted six minutes of advertising per hour for children. With Nickelodeon available on NTL, Chorus and Sky Digital platforms, the channel is available to 860,000 people.

Ms Martina Stenson, of media buying agency Universal McCann said of the development: "Nickelodeon will certainly take revenue from the market as there are currently only two stations delivering the kids audience cost effectively - Network 2 and Sky - and further choice will inevitably mean improved prices.

"In addition the station will increase supply into the market when the terrestrial stations have traditionally struggled to deliver ratings in the busy September-December period. Nevertheless Nickelodeon has nine minutes of advertising an hour to fill and may struggle with increased sensitivities in the marketplace in relation to advertising to kids."

Viacom, which already offers an outdoor advertising service, has set up a small sales office in the Republic. Mr Farwell said the response from Irish advertisers was very strong. He said, if successful, other stations such as VH1 and Paramount Comedy might become available to Irish advertisers.