Keen media watchers will have noticed that there was no advertising for any Guinness product on RTE television since January 1st. Last year, Guinness spent in the region of £3.5 million (€4.4 million) with the station and it is now looking for a new deal. Negotiations between RTE and the new space buyers for Guinness, Initiative Media, are - according to Guinness - ongoing but there is no immediate sign of a resolution.
RTE's pre-empt system, which means that space is sold to the highest bidder on the day, has long been a source of frustration for some advertisers that would prefer a planned deal-based system, but this is the first time that there has been such a stand off between the station and an advertiser.
If Guinness wins, RTE can expect other big brands to come looking for a similar deal.
There would also be serious disquiet among Irish media buyers, which will see their power diluted. If air time can be bought in planned bulk, they fear it is possible it could be bought directly from Britain. The stand-off comes at an important time for Guinness, which is trying to introduce a £300,000 campaign for its Breo brand. The new campaign will see advertisements appearing on television screens this week but only on UTV, Channel 4, TV3 and TG4.
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