Radio Advertising with WOWO or Local TV

Are all advertising options equal?

Of course not.

Is a burger off the dollar menu at your favorite fast food joint equal to the $20 burger you can order for lunch at your local restaurant?

Of course not.

Today, I am going to do a comparison of advertising on WOWO radio in Fort Wayne with advertising on a local TV station.

Along with the insider details I have because I work for WOWO radio, I also have information that I saw from a local TV station and data from a research study comparing TV and radio audiences.

Here’s a spoiler alert.  Advertising on WOWO Radio, with my guidance will generate superior results compared to what the TV people are trying to sell you.

First, some of the figures from the research study:

When you advertise on television, about 20 percent of the viewers are heavy users of TV.  The other 80 percent of people who watch TV each week, consume way less TV per person. Given the way we watch TV in 2019, this makes a lot of sense because we have some many viewing options that are not local broadcast TV, television viewership of any particular show has been declining for years.

We will look at these heavy users of TV, the ones that your advertising messages are reaching.

First  we’ll look at the age demographic using a scale of 100 being average.  That means anything below 100 is below average and above 100 is that many percentage points above average.

A25-34: 21
A35-44: 40
A45-54: 95
A55-64: 165
A65+: 226

What this means is that the average TV viewer is above the age of 55.  The person seeing your TV commercial is twice as likely to be over the age of 65.  Trying to reach a 30 year old, 40 year old, or even 50 year old with your TV commercial? It’s not very likely.

Using that same 100 point scale, here’s the numbers for household income of heavy users or viewers of TV:

Under $25K: 158
$25K-$35K: 152
$35K-$50K: 118
$50K-$75K: 113
$75K-$100K: 74
$100K+: 70

The less money they earn, the more time they are watching TV.  Families with an income of $35,000 or less are more than 50% more likely to see your TV commercial.

One more statistic from this study deals with education:

Less than 12th grade: 169
High School: 132
Some College: 108
College+: 64

The heaviest TV viewer is 69% more likely to have less than a high school education than the average.

In summary, the people most likely to see your television commercial are the least educated, have the least available income to buy what you are selling and are definitely not the 25 to 54 year olds that TV advertising salespeople try and convince you that you will reach when you advertise on their TV station.

I know what the TV salespeople are doing because I have known a few and have seen some of the information they use to try and persuade my WOWO Radio clients to drop their ads and switch to TV instead.  It just doesn’t add up.

Now in case you are unfamiliar with the specifics of WOWO Radio, here’s a brief rundown…

WOWO has been a news and talk station for 20 years and altogether has been on the air over 90 years.  WOWO has consistently been one of the only stations in Fort Wayne to average over 100,000 listeners every week for years.  As a talk radio station, our listeners are upper income, better educated adults who place a lot of trust in the WOWO radio local and national talk show hosts and newscasters, as evidenced by the antidotal information we get from both listeners and advertisers.

WOWO News/Talk Listeners scored:

194 for advanced college degree (nearly twice as likely than the average) compared to the 64 for the TV audience.

140 in income over $100,000 compared to 70 for the TV audience.  In other words, WOWO Radio listeners are twice as likely to have money to spend to buy your stuff versus the person sitting at home watching TV.

There’s more I could share with you but that’s enough for the moment.  Want to know more?  Let’s connect.