PBS Local Underwriting
Category Study
Marlene Schneider, Market Enginuity
PMDMC 2016
Goals of the Study
•
Which business categories are the strongest for local PBS corporate
support?
•
Where are there synergies and/or differences across markets?
•
What is driving underwriting revenue: broadcast, digital, event or
multiplatform commitments?
•
How do those business categories investing in public media compare
with those advertising on commercial?
•
Where should local underwriting professionals spend their time for the
greatest impact?
•
What are the benchmarks for number of accounts and account size
across top categories?
Methodology
• Gathered account and revenue data from 20 stations
• Assigned category designation to each account
• Determined % of total revenue realized by each category for all
stations combined
• Broke data down further to analyze by station asset or type of
buy, as well as by genre and programming type
• Compared to Nielsen commercial category and ad spending data
provided by TRAC Media for participating markets
Accounts and Revenue Results
Type of buy
% of total
accounts
% of total
revenue
Broadcast only
67%
60%
Multiplatform
17%
33%
Events + other platforms
17%
16%
Events only
12%
5%
Digital only
0.6%
0.4%
Programming type
% of total
accounts
% of total
revenue
Primetime
53%
34%
News
15%
11%
PBS KIDS
18%
9%
• Revenue and accounts
from broadcast only
underwriters far
outpace all other types
of buys
• Primetime leads in
programming type
Accounts Across Markets
20th Century Fox
AARP
AT&T
Bank of America
Blue Cross Blue Shield
Challenger Schools
Entertainment Industry
Foundation (EIF)
• Goodwill Industries
• Kumon Afterschool Program
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Live Nation
Mills Entertainment
Monkey Joes Play Center
Nonesuch Records
PNC
PPI-MANA (Latina women’s
association)
• Publix Super Markets
• Sony Pictures
• Walt Disney Company
•
•
•
•
•
•
Category Results: All Accounts Combined
Category
% total
revenue
% of
accounts
Avg #
accounts per
station
Healthcare
13%
9%
Nonprofit/Fou
ndation
10%
12%
Financial
Services
8%
6%
Retail
8%
9%
Education
6%
8%
Highest
7
Lowest
Median
Average
$251,715
$150
$7,140
$15,361
$110,000
$150
$4,000
$9,671
$161,000
$100
$6,000
$14,416
7
$101,100
$215
$3,967
$9,679
6
$150,000
$100
$3,000
$7,909
9
5
Category Results: Broadcast Only
Category
% total
revenue
% of
accounts
Highest
Lowest
Median
Average
Healthcare
14%
10%
$251,715
$150
$7,015
$13,863
Nonprofit/
Foundation
12%
12%
$110,000
$250
$4,320
$9,894
Retail
9%
10%
$84,600
$215
$3,682
$9,096
Financial
Services
9%
5%
$161,000
$600
$7,780
$15,856
Performing Arts
5%
7%
$36,000
$128
$4,220
$6,771
Category Results: Events
Events Only
1.
Financial Services
2.
Nonprofit/Foundation
3.
Manufacturing
4.
Business/Consulting Services
5.
Food/Beverage
Events + Other Platforms
1.
Financial Services
2.
Insurance
3.
Healthcare
4.
Manufacturing
5.
Nonprofit/Foundation
•
Limited number of Events Only
accounts, but more substantive #
accounts and revenue in Events +
Other. This suggests Events drive
multiplatform agreements.
•
PBS KIDS big driver in Healthcare
•
DOWNTON ABBEY a driver in
Financial Services, as were
specials like LAST DAYS IN
VIETNAM.
Category Results: Multiplatform Accounts
•
•
•
Education most likely ranks high here in
part due to PBS KIDS, and in part due to
joint licensees, as Education is a top
category for public radio stations.
In Healthcare category, DOWNTON, THE
ROOSEVELTS, NOVA, MASTERPIECE and
PBS KIDS served as “hook” for
multiplatform packages, driving up
contract size.
Multiplatform components across
categories include some combo of digital,
print, broadcast, event, local production.
1.
Healthcare
2. Education
3. Telecom
4. Insurance
5. Performing Arts
Category Results: Digital Only
• There is an extremely limited
number of Digital Only accounts,
making this information
unreliable.
1.
• There is limited revenue that can
truly be considered Digital Only.
• Most digital revenue reported is
part of a multiplatform on-air buy,
and even then, usually driven by
joint licensees and on-air radio, as
opposed to TV.
Nonprofit/Foundation
2.
Financial Services
3.
Retail
4.
Government
5.
Travel
Category Results: Primetime
Healthcare: 52% of accounts bought Ken
Burns’s CANCER special. Following that,
Drama was the next biggest driver (28%
of accounts)
1.
•
Nonprofit/Foundation: AARP appears in
multiple markets
5. Travel
•
Retail: antiques/auction accounts
translate to roughly 50% of the revenue.
They buy primarily ANTIQUES
ROADSHOW and MASTERPIECE (not
exclusively DOWNTON)
•
Healthcare
2. Nonprofit/Foundation
3. Retail
4. Performing Arts
Category Results: News
• Nonprofit/Foundation: 67% of
revenue driven by local news &
public affairs programming
• Financial Services: 66% of
revenue driven by nationallydistributed news programming
(PBS NEWSHOUR, NBR)
• Healthcare: 66% of revenue
driven by nationally-distributed
news programming (PBS
NEWSHOUR)
1. Nonprofit/Foundation
2. Financial Services
3. Healthcare
4. Energy
5. Telecom
Category Results: PBS KIDS
•
•
•
Education: 57% of accounts are K-12
or K-8 private schools. Vast majority
of revenue (96%) is ROS.
Healthcare: majority of accounts
(53%) are hospitals, with pediatric
dentistry representing 35% of
accounts. Revenue is still mostly ROS
(72%) but there are some
program/initiative-specific buys
Nonprofit/Foundation: 30% of
accounts have social service mission,
23% early education, 17% literacy,
13% family rec (i.e. the zoo)
1. Education
2. Healthcare
3. Nonprofit/Foundation
4. Museum/Art Gallery
5. Food/Beverage
Comparison to Commercial
Category
% total revenue
AUTOS
8%
RESTAURANT-QUICK SVC
5%
AUTO DEALERSHIP
5%
TRUCKS
4%
AUTOS-DLR ASSN
4%
CABLE TV SVCS
3%
STORE-FURNITURE
3%
LEGAL SVCS
3%
INTERNET SVC PROVIDER
3%
POLITICAL CAMPAIGN
3%
•
Differences in business models
make it hard to do an apples to
apples comparison
•
These top categories for
commercial reveal some of the
differences—there is little
overlap with top public media
categories
•
Can we capture any of the
revenue from top commercial
categories? Historically, it has
been hard to capitalize
Comparison to Commercial:
Overlapping Categories
• Auto – various brands and
•
dealers
•
• Children’s hospitals
•
• Furniture stores (although for
public TV this means antiques vs
modern furniture)
• Legal services
• Museums, Zoos & Aquariums
• Performing arts & festivals
• Sewing stores
• Tourism organizations
Universities & Schools
Utilities
Government agencies (such as
state parks, education
department, waste management,
veteran’s organizations, fire
departments, airports,
department of agriculture,
department of economic
development, public schools,
libraries )
Topline Findings
•
Broadcast still drives the majority (60%) of revenue.
•
Multiplatform accounts, while a smaller percentage (33%) of the revenue, have larger
average contract value.
•
Digital only revenue is virtually non-existent.
•
Priority categories for all stations are Healthcare and Finance as they are strong
categories with large average contract values.
•
Education is added as a priority category for Joint Licensees due to its strength in
Multiplatform commitments that included radio.
•
Education is also a good fit for PBS KIDS, along with Healthcare.
•
Retail is program-specific: the match between underwriter and program has to
be the right fit, for example, sewing stores on sewing programs.
Topline Findings Cont.
•
Finance is a good fit for News, especially in regards nationally-distributed News
programming. Nonprofit/Foundations also make sense for News, but mostly in
regards local News programming
•
Insurance and Utilities look like growth categories given average account sizes
and success in these categories at some, but not all, stations.
•
For Events, Insurance and Finance accounts make strong prospects.
•
CANCER: THE EMPEROR OF ALL MALADIES and DOWNTON ABBEY were revenue
drivers.
•
While there is little overlap between top categories in commercial TV and public
TV, there are companies that advertise on commercial TV that also underwrite on
public TV. Prospects here include those from the Automotive, Legal, Retail,
Healthcare and Education categories, and a few others.
Applying The Learning: Opportunities
•
Multiplatform: higher contract values, more likely to renew
•
Digital: offer meaningful content to grow your digital audience (and revenue).
•
Priority categories: prioritize the categories you approach in systematic, thoughtful
way with a meaningful value proposition.
•
High-Profile Specials: don’t miss out on opps like CANCER, ROOSEVELTS, DISNEY,
VIETNAM.
•
Account Sizes: understand which categories typically have bigger budgets and think
about where you should spend your time.
•
Complement to Commercial: understand where there is overlap with commercial
categories and opps to position PTV as a complement to the commercial mix.
Continuing the Conversation
Your questions
PBS category materials
THANK YOU
PBS Development Services Contacts:
Toanya Kessé | [email protected] | 703.739.5322
Lauren Cummings | [email protected] | 703.739.5291
Beth Drake | [email protected] | 703.739.5162
TRAC Media Services Contact:
Keith York | [email protected] | 520.545.0909
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