- BLOG BEAG –

RTE and TV3 say that audiences for their lunchtime and afternoon shows grew by more than 20% in the past year. RTE are quoted as saying that it was “a fair assumption that changes in the number of people at work had influenced the nation’s television habits”.

Recently (February 09) Seoige and The Afternoon Show on RTE recorded their highest daily viewing figures, with an average audience of 186,000 watching both shows. The average number of viewers for The Afternoon Show, a magazine programme on RTE, jumped by 24,000 to 114,000 for the period from October to December 2008 compared with the previous year.

More people are also watching TV3. Some 70,000 people are now watching Midday every day, 14% more than watched the station at the same time last year. Xposé on TV3 is also attracting a record audience of about 50,000 people.

Regional papers on the market : Leinster Leader, Kilkenny People, Nationalist and Munster Advertiser, Limerick Leader, Tipperary Star, Tallaght Echo for sale

It has been reported in a number of newspapers over the weekend (7/8 Feb 09) that Johnston Press is putting its 14 Irish newspapers up for sale

To quote Laura Noonan  in The Irish Independent, “The titles for sale include the ‘Leinster Leader’, the ‘Kilkenny People’, the ‘Nationalist and Munster Advertiser’, the ‘Limerick Leader’, the ‘Tipperary Star’ and the ‘Tallaght Echo’. The group’s printing presses in Limerick and Kilkenny are also understood to be covered by the sale, which is being carried out by Dublin-based Raglan Capital. The total package is expected to fetch upwards of €70m, leaving Johnston Press with a hefty writedown on the estimated €250m it spent compiling its Irish portfolio…..Johnston acquired the bulk of its Irish interests in 2005, when it bought the Leinster Leader Group for about €140m. With 18 daily newspapers in the UK, including the ‘Scotsman’ and 300 weekly newspapers as well as several specialist publications, Johnston has grown rapidly in recent years to become the UK’s second largest newspaper group. As it expanded, Johnston incurred massive debts prompting a fundraising exercise last May which saw the group raise €212m by selling a 20pc stake of the business.”

Journalist John Murray Brown in the Financial Times on February 6 2009, “Johnston Press is putting its Irish newspaper titles up for sale, in a deal expected to raise €80m-€90m (£70m) for the debt-burdened UK regional newspaper group. A formal prospectus will be issued in the next few days, according to those familiar with the deal. The titles are expected to be sold for a fraction of the original investment. Johnston Press was one of a number of UK media companies to target Ireland, paying around €120m for the newspaper assets of Scottish Radio Holdings in June 2005. That September it expanded its operations paying €137m for the Leinster Leader titles, making it the largest regional newspaper publisher in Ireland. It also owns the Local Press titles in Northern Ireland which it bought from 3i in 2005 for £65m.

The group’s Irish operation had revenues last year of about €38m according to industry sources. Total circulation was just under 136,000 copies. However with increased competition, little growth in circulation, advertising markets depressed and many of the mainstream media groups such as Independent News & Media all short of cash and struggling with large debt burdens, industry experts expect the main buyer interest will be from some of the original Irish owners of the titles. The sale is being handled for Johnston Press by Raglan Capital, a Dublin corporate finance specialist in asset disposals. Raglan previously handled the sale by Emap of its three Irish radio stations to Denis O’Brien’s Communicorp company. Raglan also ran the auction of Loot’s, the Irish version of Buy and Sell which was sold by Daily Mail & General Trust.”

The Taoiseach’s statement in the Dáil today 3 February 09 made reference to specific savings in advertising. The background to these savings is the urgent requirement to make

“an immediate adjustment of the order of €2bn [to the nations finances]. This must be followed with adjustments of €4bn in 2010 and again in 2011, €3.5bn in 2012 and €3bn in 2013.”

Brian Cowen’s speech went on

“Today we are announcing the first steps towards achieving those targets…..€140m through general administrative efficiencies and savings, including those arising from the non-payment of the scheduled 1 September pay increase arising under the Towards 2016 Agreement, through further savings in Advertising, PR and Consultancies; and through savings on Defence equipment; €300m through an across-the-board reduction in the 2009 Budget Exchequer capital allocations.”

END

The Institute of Advertising Practitioners in Ireland have published their Business Media Study – January 2009.

See end for Summary Slides.

The objective of the IAPI Business Media Study is to measure newspaper, magazine and periodical readership, along with measurement of television viewing, radio listening and internet access of the business community in Ireland.

The Institute of Advertising Practitioners in Ireland has represented the interests of advertising agencies here for the past 43 years. It was founded in 1964, replacing the Irish Association of Advertising Agencies which dated back to 1928. IAPI member companies currently account for 95% of all advertising agency expenditure in Ireland.

There was perceived to be a knowledge gap regarding the business community and their media consumption behaviour. In this light, IAPI commissioned the first Business Readership Survey in 1985.

Due to the success of this research piece, a formalised Business Readership survey was launched in 1987 and was conducted approximately every two years until 2002 by Millward Brown IMS, formerly Irish Marketing Surveys. It is currently the only research delving into business readership available in Ireland.

Contents include

• Background
• Objectives
• Methodology
• Sample profile

The main findings cover the following:

• Newspaper Readership
• Magazine Readership
• Television Viewing
• Radio Listenership
• Internet Content Consumption
• Attitudes to Business and Lifestyles
• Attitudes to Advertising
• Summary of Key Findings

The purpose of this research has been to measure newspaper, magazine and periodical readership, along with television viewing and radio listenership, more recently internet access and general attitudes to business, amongst a sample of the senior Irish business community.

The overall objectives of the research are to measure newspaper, magazine and periodical readership, along with measurement of television viewing, radio listening and internet access of the business community in Ireland.

More specifically, the objectives of this research include:

• To provide estimates of readership for newspapers, magazines and periodicals.
• To gauge the business community perceived importance of reading these publications.
• To establish the incidence and regularity of watching/listening to pertinent television and radio programming.
• To identify the incidence and frequency of internet usage, specifically looking at internet behaviour such as purchasing and advertising.
• To assess current attitudes to topical business and current affairs issues.
• To provide a fresh approach to this research piece.

The methodology chosen involved the use of an online survey. A questionnaire was designed by both Amárach Research and IAPI, Amárach Research went on to script their questionnaire for an online sample to complete.

The total sample size is 480.

The questionnaire included the following sections:

• Newspaper/Magazine Readership
• Television Viewing
• Radio Listenership
• Internet Consumption
• Advertising consumption
• Attitudes to Business and Lifestyle
• Demographics

SUMMARY SLIDES:

2008-iapi-business-media-studies-111

2008-iapi-business-media-studies-112

2008-iapi-business-media-studies-116

2008-iapi-business-media-studies-117

2008-iapi-business-media-studies-118

2008-iapi-business-media-studies-119

2008-iapi-business-media-studies-120

For further information please contact executives@easonadvert.ie ref: “BLOG BEAG – IAPI Business Media Study.”