Public service announcements generally are not relegated to the wee-morning hours of broadcasters’ programming schedules, despite its overnight stigma, according to a new report from WestGlen Communications.
An analysis of 140 TV and radio PSAs that the consultancy and production company tracked showed the majority were aired more than 1 million times during normal waking hours.
During 2007, WestGlen tracked 72 television PSAs achieving 266,754 television airings. WestGlen divided the usage of these airings by television day parts as defined by A.C. Nielsen. Day parts are time segments into which a day is divided for the purpose of selling advertising time.
Early Morning (5 a.m. – 9 a.m.) 19%
Daytime (9 a.m. – 4 p.m.) 24%
Early Fringe (4 p.m. – 8 p.m.) 9%
Primetime (8 p.m. – 10 p.m.) 3%
Late Evening (10 p.m. – 1 a.m.). 12%
Late Night (1 a.m. – 5 a.m.) 33%
The results prove that only one-third of the airings occurred late night (overnight hours) and that the majority—two-thirds—are in all other “waking” day parts.
WestGlen also tracked 68 radio PSAs and reported over 750,000 airings (789,730) to clients. Since the exact time of each airing is difficult to determine because so few radio stations in the U.S. are monitored for usage, WestGlen analyzed only a portion— about 25,000 airings—that were reported to them by an independent radio monitoring company. WestGlen used standard radio day part definitions, which differ from the television day parts used above.
Morning Drive (6 a.m. – 10 a.m.) 22%
Mid Day (10 a.m. – 3 p.m.) 21%
Evening Drive (3 p.m. – 7 p.m.) 11%
Late Night (7 p.m. – 12 a.m.). 12%
Overnight hours (12 a.m – 6 a.m.) 34%
According to WestGlen, the results not only prove that just one-third of the airings occurred in the overnight hours, but 22% of the airings are during the Morning Drive, a coveted time with high listenership.
“Our analysis proves that PSAs play in all day parts and are not just relegated to the graveyard of ad space,” said Annette I. Minkalis, WestGlen’s senior vice president, PSA services. “Also, the fact that WestGlen reported over a million PSA airings last year demonstrates that the media is donating a significant amount of broadcast time and nonprofits should take advantage of it to communicate their message.”
