In a move that probably didn't raise eyebrows in the Ad-world or Wall Street, Clear Channel Communications announced profits were down by 21% for the third quarter of 2005, according to Mark Mays, Clear Channel's president and chief executive.
But why are profits down and what does this have to do with organizing?
Clear Channel has been on a impressive quest to cut down on the "commercial" clutter on it's airwaves, shortening commercial lengths to 15-and-30 second increments instead of the usual 30. They're now called "spots" and no longer "ads." Have you been listening to Clear Channel-owned KFI AM 640 in Los Angeles? They've got a cool "MORE" campaign at the moment, which happily includes additional programming. Nice, eh? But don't worry, they will be raising the ad-costs shortly-- as the ratings improve.
Here's a quote from the Billing's (Montana) Gazette-- you can read the entire article written here (no author listed):
"Mays highlighted the company's strategy of cutting commercial clutter on the radio under its "Less is More" campaign of offering 15-second and 30-second spots rather than one-minute radio ads. As a result of the ad cuts, radio revenue fell 4 percent to $919.2 million compared with the same quarter in 2004.
But the company has seen an increase in the number of people listening to its stations, Mays said. For 30 markets reporting so far, Clear Channel has seen a 6 percent increase among 18- to 34-year-old listeners and is up 4 percent with ages 25 to 54.
Clear Channel's clutter-reduction strategy will not pay off until there is enough demand to support higher prices for a smaller number of ad minutes, said David Miller, an analyst at Sanders Morris Harris in Los Angeles."
