Reach Is No Longer Reward - Howard Stern Leads the Recalibration Effect.
On the front page of Advertising Age (Sept 25), Abbey Klaassen reported that Howard Stern is now only garnering a fraction of the ad rates on Sirius satellite radio that he had earned on terrestrial radio.
Stern is now taking in $5000 - $6000 per spot versus $30,000 that he used to take in. Lets all take a moment of silence for The King of All Media shall we. (Please let it be known that I like Stern, but would not go out of my way to listen. His base-level humor grew very tired on me very quickly. If I were 14 again I may be singing a different tune.)
The Ad Age article says, "it seems even the all-powerful Mr.Stern isn't above the accountability required to play in today's media world". "Of course, there's been speculation about if and how Mr.Stern's sphere of influence has diminished as he talks to a smaller subscription based audience".
I'd argue his influence has not changed one bit. The smaller audience are still hard-core fans. They pay to subscribe and are a target advertisers should drool over.
Sirius does not provide any audience data and this seems to be a problem in raising the rates. That I understand. However, while subscription numbers should be made know to potential advertisers, we should not forget that the rules of the "reach" game have changed.
Everyone knows the quote "Half of the money I spend on advertising is wasted, the trouble is I don’t know which half". (quote is attributed to John Wanamaker, the father of the department store.)
This not about numbers or casting the widest possible net anymore. This is about spear-fishing and getting to those evangelists that just might listen with some attention to the advertisers and sponsors who show up on the shows they adore.
Marketers need to see this "recalibration" of the audience gauge as a step for the better - for our budgets and for our ability to spend it wisely. Worshiping the false idol of eyeballs and ears is yesterday. Reach is no longer the reward when half the people you reach don't care. Howard still has an audience that cares, a lot.
No matter what you say about Howard, be you a fan or not, he is a leader. This time his leadership seems be doing a different job of bringing things back to zero.
