UndErstAndIng rAdIO Ads.

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2002 5:22 pm

I am about to graduate from an audio engineering school in Vancouver. I have been making radio ads for some very small, local am radio stations for free. (for my portfolio) I want to create a business doing this however, I have a few questions.
It has not been too difficult finding stations that are willing to let me work for free. (go figure)
I don't know if larger stations (that pay), go through advertising agencies or have "in house" people do their work. What kinds of formats do these stations now prefer to recieve their product in? What kind of time frames do they expect say, a commercial in, once ordered? Are audio geeks expected to write the diaglogue material ever? Does there tend to be a format for comercial length? Can it differ, and why? Does anyone think that I could set up a network building commercials using an FTP service to deliver the product world wide? If advertising agencies make commercials for larger stations, do they hire free lancers to do it, or do they then have the in house people? Where could I find out more information pertaining to compressing my product for radio broadcast? Are there any publishings regarding any of the above that I might buy to learn more?
Finally (and most important.....) What do people charge for this type of service?
Regards,
Michael

Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2002 11:12 pm

Those of our customers who produce radio commercials tell us that their margins are getting squeezed to the point where they are only just covering their out-of-pocket expenses. Seems to be a very competitive sector where you need a very wide customer contact network to get the throughput required to make a profit. Our customers in other sectors are not being squeezed to the same extent, even in the Corporate video markets. Is everyone finding the same? :confused:

Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2002 4:42 am

Yeh, budgets are going down.
But, don't blame the radiostations.
Low prices are the weapons in todays war between studio's.
There used to be a time when quality was the thing.

Always remember:
When you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.

Fredo

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