Media & Marketing Emmet OliverAlthough the arrival of RTÉ 1, RTÉ 2 and TG4 into Northern Ireland via the Sky platform has been widely acclaimed, the question now arises whether Southern broadcasters will disclose the number of viewers they get North of the Border.
Previously, stations from the Republic were only available to Northern viewers living near the Border. Consequently, the three stations could only manage a market share of about 4 per cent in Northern Ireland.
While advertisers in the Republic will welcome the opportunity to get their advertisements aired in Northern Ireland, will they be able to find out how many people are watching the adverts?
According to RTÉ sources, its arrival into Northern Ireland will generate extra viewers, but it may prove difficult to obtain reliable viewership data for advertisers in the Republic.
Several advertising agencies have raised the question of data from the North in recent weeks. The agencies are wondering whether RTÉ will manage to win a large slice of the 1.5 million strong market.
Steve Baker, broadcast director of Initiative, the Dublin advertising agency, said this week:
"We've had positive inspill [signals] coming from Channel 4 and UTV in the North into the Republic for years. It's about time the trend went both ways.
"However, until commercial data is made available, the extra viewers are of little use to advertisers and so of little use to RTÉ commercially.
"We have no idea when or if commercial data will be released, which means the extra viewers will not be accounted for and we will not be able to place a value on the Northern Irish viewer," she said.
It is quite possible some of RTÉ's hit programmes like The Late, Late Show and Proof could manage large audiences in the North, but if there is no measurement available it means no extra revenue for RTÉ.
Stations originating in Northern Ireland such as UTV have taken a reasonable share of the Republic's TV market in recent years, so it will be interesting to see if the traffic moves in the other direction.
Bullish ad market
The Irish advertising market is performing so strongly this year that several sectors have been completely booked out in recent weeks, agencies have reported.
In line with this heavy demand, the cost of advertising is increasing strongly too, the agencies report. TV advertising costs are up on average by about 23 per cent compared to the same time last year.
The cost of reaching those between 15 and 34 years of age is believed to be a crucial reason for this. This week, Saor Communications reports that most outdoor advertising formats are booked out for the period ahead following increased demand from car companies and fast-moving consumer goods.
"The radio medium is normally booked out for the fortnight following a bank holiday, and this year seems to be no exception; but airtime seems to be freeing up towards the middle of the month.
"Availability at newspapers and magazines seems to be as flexible as buyer negotiations allow, and cinema is reporting a healthy May and was booked last month," reports Saor Communications.
Digital challenge
While sales of Sky's personal video recorder device, Sky+, remain relatively modest, a leading advertising agency boss has warned that RTÉ needs to develop its own digital strategy quickly or suffer accordingly.
Richard Law, chief executive of Starcom Mediavest, one of the largest buyers of airtime in the Irish market, said Sky was using the Sky+ product to convert people to digital television generally and increasingly viewers were associating Sky with digital TV and digital TV with Sky.
Sky+ allows viewers to record programmes and even pause live action. Theoretically, it could also allow viewers to screen out advertisements. But at a conference today Mr Law will warn that RTÉ needs to develop its own digital strategy in order to compete with the likes of Sky.
Mr Law's company has represented powerful global companies like Proctor and Gamble in the past during negotiations with RTÉ.
He will also warn that achieving high TV ratings will not be enough to guarantee advertising revenue in future for TV companies like RTÉ, TV3 and Sky.
The level of "engagement" with a TV programme and the station showing it will be all important, according to a paper he will be presenting this afternoon to the Media Dialogues conference in Dublin. He will strongly emphasise that just delivering ratings will not be enough.
"Broadcasters will continue to control the supply of programming but things like Sky+ puts the control of viewing in the hands of viewers, not broadcasters. I ask what is RTÉ's digital strategy, because Sky are taking the lead and claiming the future of TV is Sky and that they have been effective at converting Sky homes to digital and then aiming to move people on to Sky+," he says.
"We need to understand this and understand better what motivates and engages viewers, rather than just how many of them are watching at any one time".
Emmet Oliver can be contacted at eoliver@irish-times.ie
