Prajjal Saha
Media

AdEx India launches Radio AdEx

The service will monitor data and analyse advertising expenditures on radio across four metros and cover 14 radio stations

AdEx India, a division of TAM Media Media Research in technical collaboration with AirCheck, has launched Radio AdEx, which will monitor data and analyse advertising expenditures on radio across four metros and cover 14 radio stations.

AdEx India already monitors advertising expenditures on print and television. Radio will be the latest addition to its kitty.

The radio stations covered by Radio AdEx are Radio City (Mumbai and Delhi), Radio Mirchi (Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata), RED FM (Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi), Go 92.5 FM (Mumbai), Aamar Kolkata (Kolkata), Power (Kolkata) and Suryan FM (Chennai).

Siddhartha Mukherjee, head, corporate communications, TAM Media Research, says, "We want to be a one-stop shop for analysis and ad monitoring in the country. Do remember that we already have 35 years of experience in this field."

The radio ad analysis will talk about different trends in advertising spends on radio as it is done in the case of television and print.

Mukherjee says, "Radio as a media has already started growing and waiting for a one big boom." As per industry estimates, the overall radio advertising industry size for 2004 is Rs 220 crore which is growing at around 22 per cent annually and private FM stations contribute around 45 per cent towards this pie.

"With retail advertising getting more classified, the Radio AdEx study will certainly be of a great help for media planners and advertisers," Mukherjee adds.

Between July and September 2004, the share of local/retail advertising on radio was 81 per cent in Chennai, the highest among the four metros. The figures for Kolkata and Mumbai is tied at 66 per cent, while Delhi has a score of 70 per cent.

Talking about the new product, Atul Phadnis, vice-president, TAM Media Research, says, "There has been a demand for a scientific and timely radio monitoring service. AdEx India has been working on it for quite sometime now. However, before we delivered it, we wanted to do a thorough check of the market realities and evaluate the technologies that can best support these services."

AdEx has already figured out some interesting trends on radio advertising spends. As per AdEx analysis, across the three platforms - television, radio and print - radio is closer to print in terms of product categories advertised.

For instance, in television among the top 10 spenders, it's mainly the FMCG products such as shampoos, toilet soaps, washing powders, toothpastes and fairness creams. As opposed to this, in radio and print, the top 10 product categories is quite similar. The list comprises independent retailers, television channel promotions, cars/jeeps, properties and real estates, and cellular phone services.

The analysis also reveals that across the four metros during morning prime time (8-10 am), there's a nine minute advertising spot in every hour of programming. Commonly referred to as SPT or super prime time slot, this is the highest during the day. The clutter is much less during the afternoons, but it again peaks to about 8 minutes per hour during the second SPT slot (6-8 pm).

The Radio AdEx analysis also reveals that the advertising pattern also differs across the four metros. While Delhi and Mumbai have two distinct peaks during the morning and early evening slots, Chennai peaks the highest as compared to other cities during the morning but there isn't any peak during the evening at all. Kolkata radio attracts the lowest advertising duration and the clutter levels are quite stable across the day.

As per the technical deal with AirCheck , the company will be providing the necessary software for analysis and monitoring. AirCheck is a wholly owned subsidiary of RCS Incorporation, USA which is the world's leading provider of radio ad monitoring technologies and services. The software is used by more than 8,000 radio stations across the globe for the last 25 years.

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