Clear Channel Finds Takers for ‘Adlets’

Clear Channel Radio has found some takers for its five-second ad spots, but has not had any luck lining up advertisers for its one-second spots, or blinks.

NBC is running five-second spots for its series Heroes, writes The Wall Street Journal. A man’s voice says, “I think I can fly,” followed by a voiceover which says, “Heroes on NBC.” Fox has also used the ad unit for its current slate of shows.

The ads, called adlets, are priced at between 18 and 21 percent of a 60-second ad on Clear Channel, media buyers say. Two-second ads cost about 10 percent of a 60-second ad. NBC is combining the adlets with 60-second spots and 15-second spots. Other advertisers are simply running adlets throughout the day, according to Clear Channel.

The shortie ads are part of Clear Channel’s Less Is More initiative which was implemented to tempt both advertisers and listeners. The initiative planned to cut back on the number of commercials by up to 20 percent, which the broadcaster hoped would stop listeners from making the leap to satellite radio (most music channels on satellite are commercial free).

It would also appeal to advertisers, whose ads would run in less clutter. Less Is More also encouraged advertisers to buy 15- and 30-second ads, rather than the more common 60-second ads.

In 2004, radio stations averaged 14.9 minutes of ads an hour. Some stations were running as many as 22 minutes, according to Wall Street firm J.P. Morgan Chase.

CBS Radio is also offering five-second ads, according to the article.

While some advertisers are biting, others in the industry say radio must do more. The radio industry “needs something that says commercials in radio are not an opportunity to change the channel,” Kevin Gallagher, a media director at Starcom USA, is quoted as saying.