February's JNLR radio listenership figures appear to have galvanised the commercial stations to increase their marketing and promotional activity, particularly in Dublin.
This week FM 104 has put ?1 million in prize money on the line in an attempt to re-gain some of the ground it lost because of 98 FM's highly visible Fugitive campaign.
Meanwhile, Today FM has landed a lucrative sponsorship deal for its flagship drive-time programme, The Last Word, believed to be worth more than ?300,000.
Esat BT has signed up following negotiations over the past few months with station chief executive Mr Willie O'Reilly and director of sales Mr Eamon Fitzpatrick.
It is the first radio sponsorship deal done by Esat BT and the sponsorship hits the air from April 14th. Today FM said Esat BT was the only sponsor it approached.
For their money, the telecoms company gets a mention (known as a "sweeper") before each ad break. It also gets mentioned in all promotional material relating to the programme. Aer Lingus was the previous sponsor.
Former Sunday Tribune editor Mr Matt Cooper presents The Last Word and while some of the station's critics believe the show's audience will shrink because of Mr Eamon Dunphy's departure, Mr O'Reilly and his team deny this.
"Matt has had a good war and his journalistic skills have been evident in the way he has handled the whole thing in an impartial way," said Mr O'Reilly. Last year, he said, the World Cup and the election made it a unique year in news terms and that contributed to last years figures.
In relation to the sponsorship, he said The Last Word was renowned for its high ABC1 listenership and access to opinion leaders. "It's the perfect partnership," he said.
Battle for Dublin
The battle to attract and retain young Dublin listeners is certainly intensifying.
Mr Denis O'Brien's 98 FM was top in the last JNLRs and FM 104 is anxious to regain the number- one slot it held for several years.
FM 104 is spending ?300,000 on advertising its ?1 million "joker card" promotion, which it will roll out over the next two weeks. The station describes the promotion as a form of radio treasure hunt.
FM 104 chief executive Mr Dermot Hanrahan said that other radio promotions were "hyped" in Dublin this year. They "were big on promise but light on winners. We promise to create three cash winners every day," he said.
The promotion is not unlike 98 FM's Fugitive campaign. Clues are given out each day as to the location of the FM 104 joker card, and the amount available to be won is announced - anything from ?5,000 to ?50,000. Listeners then try to guess its whereabouts and make their way to that place. The joker card will be attached to someone or that person will have placed it close by. If a listener finds it, they win the designated amount.
No war bonanza
US media outlets lost $77 million (?71.9 million) in advertising revenue during the first week of the Iraq war, according to a new survey.
The data from Taylor Nelson Sofres said, along with plunging revenues, costs associated with covering the war in Iraq continued to soar. Advertisers are nervous about booking spots during news coverage from Iraq.
The analysis of ad revenue among TV companies found cable news channels experienced the biggest drops in revenue during the week of March 19th to 25th, down 71 per cent from the week before, while Spanish-language TV was down 18 per cent and networks dropped 14 per cent.
However in Britain, the tabloid market appears to have bucked the trend. News Group Newspapers, part of Mr Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, claims to have recorded the highest advertising revenue figures in its history last week.
The group claims advertisers have not vanished and are particularly happy to take space with the "red tops", such as the News of the World and the Sun.
Mr Ian Clark, News Group director of advertising, who is responsible for the Sun, said last week the company managed to double its revenue compared with the same week in 2002.
Among those who went with national newspapers, possibly at the expense of TV and outdoor advertising, were retailers Marks & Spencer and Tesco. However, there were no signs of bumper returns for broadsheets.
Mr John Trickett, ad director at the Times and the Sunday Times, said the papers had experienced a sharp decline in ad revenue since the war began. Mr Jonathan Wilson, deputy ad director at the Telegraph stable, said travel advertising had been hardest hit, with bookings down by a quarter in the first weekend of the war, compared with the previous weekend.
In the Republic, things appear more buoyant. Mr Paul Moran of Mediaworks said the war was "tangential" to most big advertisers, with the exception of some large multinationals.
RTE has reported strong advertising revenue during the period and, unlike some of the rolling news services, such as Sky News, it has not significantly curbed its advertising minutes, nor has TV3.
