Advertisers paying rate card for spots get to dictate their scheduling for the most part, but why is it that remnant companies are requesting, and receiving the same demands? Paying “something” for every spot seems to be the trick these days, but watch out; they might be creatively pulling the wool over your eyes. Remnant companies have to be making money with their current system, but how much are they making? Nobody knows…except them! An advertiser that pays rate card for a spot expects a certain level of effectiveness; otherwise they will take their advertising dollar to another station. With remnant, the media becomes the one needing to expect a certain level of return, but they never receive that information. They have no knowledge as to how much money they could be leaving on the table. While the station is left clueless, the remnant buyer is left with all the knowledge and the capability to buy numerous spots at the prices and dayparts they want. Does this seem reasonable? Over the last few months, these are the same companies that are trying to convince radio stations that Per-Inquiry advertising is deceptive. Why would you play a spot for potentially no return? The answer is easy. If your station wants to maintain its rates and use more of your salespeople to do what they’re paid for, to sell, you should always have a certain percentage of inventory left unsold. If not, your rates are too low, meaning you are undervaluing your inventory. With the remaining inventory, you can run a PI spot and know that the full value is coming your way. It is unrealistic to think that every spot utilized on a station garners some return in revenue for the client. It is also unrealistic to think that some don’t bring on a much greater return than what was invested for the spot. With PI advertising, you are in control. You get to schedule the spots where there are holes and dictate what advertisers you run. PI companies depend on station response to make money, so they will always look out for the media. Remnant companies don’t take on any risk, thus preying on vulnerable stations, just looking to make a buck anyway they can. Media interested in regaining control of their inventory, scheduling and rates must cease working in the dark for any offer that gets thrown their way.

Adam Zolmierski

Media Sales Representative