According to the annual Advertiser Opinions on Media survey by Media Audits, advertisers believe that mergers of ITV contractors actually work against their interests. The majority (85%) of advertisers surveyed feel that ITV mergers are not in the advertisers’ interest. 70% believe that the television airtime sales market should be referred to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission. Advertisers are also not happy about the value they get from television; only 28% believe that station average price is a reliable source of measurement.
The proportion of advertisers paying their agency’s commission at least partly on results has more than doubled over the past two years; the Media Audits survey published in 1992 found that 11% of advertisers paid their agency in this way. This has grown to 27% in 1994. The trend looks set to continue, as just over half of advertisers (53%) currently not paying by performance would like to. Of the 29 advertisers questioned who had centralised their media, 25 believe this has improved their performance and four think performance has stayed the same. Over half the advertisers questioned agree that the best television deals can now be obtained through the ten largest London buying points.
When questioned about programme standards on UK television, advertisers responded that the quality of all ITV programmes has declined, with the exception of soap operas. The quality of comedy shows has declined the most, (87% of respondents expressing an opinion) followed by sports, (73%), news, (70%), children’s (67%), documentaries (63%) and drama (52%). Soap operas are seen as having improved by 71% of advertisers.
However, Channel 4 programmes are widely applauded, with documentaries and news programmes especially seen as improved (96% and 89% respectively). BBC fared better than ITV in documentaries, childrens and news programmes, all improving according to more than 70% of respondents. However BBC standards have dropped in sport (62%), soaps (59%) comedy (57%) and drama (58%). When asked if they would like to advertise on the BBC, 63% of advertisers agreed, choosing the Nine O’Clock News and Eastenders as the most popular programmes to buy space around.
Michael Cluff, UK Managing Director of Media Audits, commented, “Despite the high hopes advertisers had for de-regulation of the television market, the recent mergers and concentration of sales points have clearly tipped the scales back in favour of the ITV companies who still account for 75% of airtime sales.”
The Media Audits survey was compiled from 80 responses from the top 300 advertisers in the UK. Media Audits – Michael Cluff 071 734 4080
