MEDIA & MARKETING:THAT FIRESIDE chat between Seán Quinn and RTÉ reporter Tommie Gorman last January appears to have made a good impression on the tycoon.
Though he complains of unfair coverage in the media, particularly in the Sunday Tribune, Quinn has no misgivings about the national broadcaster, as evidenced by his decision to sponsor the Late Late Showfor the next two years.
RTÉ’s flagship show had no sponsor last season as advertisers baulked at the asking price. With Ryan Tubridy now at the helm, Gerry McGuinness, RTÉ Television’s sponsorship manager, invited sealed bids in excess of €1.2 million to sponsor the show for the forthcoming season from September to May 2010.
All the usual suspects ran the rule over the opportunity. These included Aviva, Aer Lingus, Bank of Ireland, O2, Tesco, Vodafone and VHI. However, it is believed that none of these brands entered the bidding process.
McGuinness declined to reveal how many bids were tendered, nor how much Quinn is paying for its two-year deal. He said: "The Late Lateis the biggest show on RTÉ. When choosing a sponsor, we have to be concerned about the fit of the brand with the show. Money is not the only consideration in isolation and we are very happy with the benefit which Quinn brings to RTÉ ."
Though Seán Quinn's empire is styled as Quinn Group, the announcement relating to the Late Latedeal spoke of "Quinn" taking up the sponsorship baton.
The group has 13 divisions, but the sponsorship stings will not be used to extol the virtues of Quinn Chemicals or Quinn Glass. The emphasis will be on branding the two main consumer-facing units, insurance and healthcare, as well as the group’s hotels.
The Quinn insurance business is an important source of cashflow for the group and Seán Quinn has conceded that his disastrous punt on Anglo Irish Bank generated negative publicity for the group.
Wrapping the Quinn brand around bubbly Tubridy should help in improving perceptions. An average audience of 663,000 watched the series last season.
A Quinn spokesperson explained the rationale for hooking up with the Late Late: "Because Quinn is an Irish company supporting and partnering another iconic Irish name, the Late Late Show, made perfect sense. Ryan Tubridy has generated a buzz around the show's launch in September and he will also extend the demographics of the Late Late Showviewership.
"The Late Late Showhas established values of family and Irishness and now will have even further appeal to younger viewers. These values provide Quinn with a broad target for its multiple brands."
Even before he moves into Pat Kenny’s chair on September 4th, the Quinn deal is a feather in the cap for Tubridy, given that the Quinn cash will be more than sufficient to cover what he’s costing RTÉ over the next two years. But station bosses will hope negative newsflow surrounding the highly-leveraged Quinn Group doesn’t flare up again.
Racing website may be backing a winner
How to get cash for content is the big question being mulled by newspaper owners. One title that has taken the plunge is the Racing Post, the horseracing and sports betting daily which was bought by Dublin-based private equity firm FL Partners two years ago for £170 million (€198 million).
The Post'swebsite has long been a fantastic free resource for punters. Since July, some of the online information is only available to site users who pay a monthly membership subscription of £7.50. Further monthly payments of £9.50 are required to access racing tips and £7.50 to watch live racing on the internet. The annual charge for access to all the online resources is £200, though buying the newspaper every day for a full year would cost you around £900.
According to Alan Byrne, chief executive and editor-in-chief: “I describe the approach we have taken as ‘freemium’. More than 90 per cent of the website is still free to everybody. But we can’t expect people to pay £2.50 to read content in the newspaper that is given away for free online.”
The Racing Postwebsite attracts 750,000 unique users a month and Byrne said that hasn't changed since they started charging for the meaty stuff. The aim is to have 10,000 paid-up site members by the end of the year and Byrne said the Post is half- way towards achieving that target.
