2014 Trends in Public Service Announcements (PSAs)

Williams Whittle is focused on attaining superior results for nonprofits through creative

integrated marketing. We create relationships with new audiences for nonprofits through

national awareness campaigns., whether the goal is to raise volunteerism, funds or action.

With more than 10 years of experience in creating, producing, distributing, tracking and

promoting PSAs, we consider ourselves experts in this specialized media. Want to know

how they can work for your nonprofit? Contact us, we’re always happy to chat.

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WilliamsWhittle.com 2

President & CEO

703-836-9222 x124

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KEY FINDINGS

• We are continuing to see major steps in digital distribution with only 1 out of 5

stations preferring a tape. But, while 90% of PSA Directors said that a digital-only

campaign would not decrease the likelihood of a PSA getting on air, our digital-

only clients’ results are not as strong as our hard-copy clients’ resultsonly clients results are not as strong as our hard copy clients results.

• The number of PSAs being sent to stations has stayed steady over the past several

years. PSA Directors are still indicating that they (on average) receive 20 or fewer

PSAs per week, with radio on the higher side and TV on the lower end of that

amountamount.

• Stations are very open to promotional messages, such as holiday-specific PSAs.

But, keep in mind 57% of stations said they would like to receive the materials a

month before they should air. Planning is key if you want your timing-specific

message to make it on the airwavesmessage to make it on the airwaves.

• Stations are indicating, for the fourth year in a row, that PSA inventory is highest in

January, February, July and December.

• The two most important factors that affect whether a PSA will make it on air are:

1) the PSA having a local angle and 2) if a particular station has unsold airtime1) the PSA having a local angle and 2) if a particular station has unsold airtime.

• For the first time, we asked stations whether they would air accompanying PSA

materials and they overwhelmingly said “yes.” Check out page 13 for a list.

A note about our methodology: This annual PSA preferences survey was distributed to approximately

1,425 TV and radio stations nationwide in February 2014.


TV PREFERENCES

Only 20% of TV stations prefer tapes as the main method of PSA

delivery. A whopping 60% prefer digital downloads (up from 50%

last year and 35% in 2013) with more than 20% noting they’d like

TAPE PREFERENCE ON A DOWNWARD TREND

to preview the PSA first and then request materials.

51% 29% 20%

Stations that indicated “I prefer to receive a PSA on a tape (BetaSP or other)…”

2012 2013 2014

Most importantly, 9 out of 10 PSA Directors at TV stations said

that sending a PSA only by digital delivery would not decrease

the likelihood of a PSA getting on air.


TV PREFERENCES, CONT’D

More than 60% of the TV stations that participated in the survey

say that they receive 50% or more of their PSAs via digital

downloads (up from 50% last year) with 13% of stations receiving

all of their PSAs via digital. Not surprisingly, 85% of TV stations

prefer HD formats.

Th l TV SPOT LENGTH PREFERENCE The most popular spot

lengths are the :30,

:15, and :10, with the

longer spots at :60

:90 12%

TV SPOT LENGTH PREFERENCE

longer spots at :60

and :90 ranked 4th

and 7th, respectively.:20

:30

:60 48%

88%

40%

And while we’ve had

great success receiving

airings when we’ve :05

:10

:15 71%

50%

26%

distributed spots with :05 26%

a direct ask for donations, 69% of stations said they would not run them.


RADIO PREFERENCES

About 3 out of 4 PSA Directors at radio stations said that they

prefer digital downloads and sending by digital-only will not

decrease the likelihood of the PSA getting onto their airwaves.

:60 56%

RADIO SPOT LENGTH PREFERENCE The most popular spot

lengths are the :30

and :60. Short spots

:15

:20

:30 87%

11%

24%

like the :05 ad-let and

long spots like a :90

are not popular on

:10 8%radio, with 5% of

stations preferring them.

PSAs RECEIVED PER WEEK: TV VS. RADIOTV Radio TV Radio TV Radio

PSAs RECEIVED PER WEEK: TV VS. RADIO

While most TV stations run 10 or fewer PSAs a week (52%), 46%

Fewer than 10 PSAs per week

10-30 PSAs perweek

31-40+ PSAs perweek


( ),

of radio stations run 20 or more PSAs per week.

CAMPAIGN ACTIVITY

For yet another year, the number of PSA campaigns that stations

say they are receiving has stayed at the same level. Nine out of

10 stations say they receive 20 or fewer PSAs a week, with half

HOW MANY PSAS DO YOU RECEIVE PER WEEK?

saying they receive 10 or fewer a week.

54%

HOW MANY PSAS DO YOU RECEIVE PER WEEK?

14%

10 or fewer 10-20 21-40+

32%

Stations generally run fewer than 30 campaigns a week, with

25% running fewer than 10 per week and 31% running 10-20 per g p g p

week. Once a PSA is in rotation, 22% of stations say they will run

it indefinitely. But, half will run it from 1-6 months (compared to

51% last year and 59% in 2012.)


PSA LIFESPAN

Exactly half of the stations have no preference (50%) whether a

PSA has a long live period or a short one, but 40% prefer an

evergreen message. Only 10% prefer a timing specific message –

almost all of which are radio stations.

Those stations that will accept a PSA with specific airing

instructions, the majority (57%) would like to receive the materials

a month before they should air.

13% 57% 19%

DELIVERY OF TIME-SENSITIVE PSAsStations would prefer PSAs that have a specific time for airing this far in advance…

11%13% 57% 19%

A f

11%

It A week before

A month before

A few months before

It doesn’t matter


PROMOTIONAL MESSAGES

Stations are open to specific promotional PSAs, such as holiday-

specific messaging. Most of the stations were neutral (62.5%),

saying that holiday themed messaging doesn’t make a difference

to them (“A PSA is a PSA.”) and 28% of stations said “Yes, I prefer

a specific holiday message.”

HOLIDAY PSAs The majority of

28% 9%

HOLIDAY PSAs“I prefer PSAs that incorporate a holiday message…”

63%

The majority of

stations (85%, up

from 80% last year)

said they would

Yes No Doesn’t Matter

purposely place a

PSA on air based

on its relevancy in

flu-epidemic, a hurricane or other natural disaster. If your

organization can pre-produce these types of messages, you will

h ll d d b

the news, like a

get maximum airtime with a well-timed distribution.


INVENTORY AVAILABILITY

When we asked stations “in which months do you have the most

PSA inventory?” the majority answered: January, February, July

and December. Compared to last year’s responses, not much has

changed.

MONTHS WITH MOST PSA INVENTORY

APR JUNMAYFEB MARJAN OCT DECNOVAUG SEPJUL

2013

2014

APR JUNMAYFEB MARJAN OCT DECNOVAUG SEPJUL

Among TV stations – January, July and December have the most

inventory and among radio stations – January, February and

March have the most inventory. These trends have not changed

since last year.


DETERMING FACTORS

Each station has their own unique set of qualifying factors that

affect whether a PSA will make it on air. The spot having a local

angle has been the top factor for three years now.

70% 62%

It appeals to our local audience

Availability ofairtime

52%42%

Creative qualityof the spot

Alignment with station policies/partners

35%

Well executed packaging

34%

Variety of lengths of


Well executed packaging and messaging

Variety of lengths of PSAs available

SUBJECT MATTER

Almost 70% of PSA directors say they have no favorite PSA

subject matter, but 30% had opinions (in order of popularity):

• Education#1• Education

• Children-focused

• Environmental

#1

#2

#3 Environmental

• Military

• Diseases/Health

3

#4

#5 seases ea h

• Poverty/Hunger

• Animals

5

#6

#7

Other categories that got preference, but less than 10%, are the

arts, disaster relief, elderly, financial, sports and diversity. But, it’s

l i t t t t PSA Di t k d l f “ b t also important to note many PSA Directors asked only for upbeat

messages.” Find a way to keep it positive!


NEW QUESTIONS

This year, we asked PSA directors two new questions.

Does the use of a celebrity in the PSA have an impact on your

decision to air?

Almost 80% says it doesn’t matter, while 11% say they prefer

messages without celebrities (17% of TV stations and 6% of radio

stations.) TV stations often have conflicts of interest running

celebrities that are stars in other networks’ shows, so it is not

surprising that radio stations are much more open to celebrity

messages.

Do you run other accompanying PSA materials?

A t d t ti t h l i fit i As expected, stations are open to helping a nonprofit message in

other ways, which reveals tremendous opportunities beyond PSAs:

Talk about Issues on air

Web banners on their news site

#1

#2 Web banners on their news site

Incorporate the message into news stories

Promote the message internally to their employees

2

#3

#4


2014 Trends in Public Service Announcements (PSAs)

Marketing

Transcript of 2014 Trends in Public Service Announcements (PSAs)