If there’s one key takeway from the latest Media Monitors Spot Ten Radio report, which gauges the play count of all advertisements on stations tracked by the iHeartMedia-owned service, it is this: for the week ending August 30, paid advertisements were lacking, suggesting a new wrinkle for radio broadcasting companies’ third quarter ad dollar recovery forecasts.
As shown below, iHeartRadio promotional ads — including those heard on WKGR-FM 98.7 “The Gater” in West Palm Beach on Sunday for its iHeartRadio app — outnumber them all, with some 63,093 spots airing on iHeart’s radio stations.
Is this in place of unsold airtime? Or, is it additive, extending stopsets by another minute before returning to music?
It could be the former, as The Home Depot, Progressive, GEICO, Indeed and Babbel are the lone brands appearing in the latest Spot Ten report.
Last week’s leader, the U.S. government funded effort for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, now ranks No. 3.
The remainder of the Spot Ten report reflects to iHeart podcasts, and promotional ads for the iHeartRadio Music Festival.
Looking at play count trends, The Home Depot is very much on the rise, and was not in the Spot Ten of two weeks ago. Progressive is generally steady, as is GEICO.
