discop link • #11

late-night programmingLATE NIGHT'SWAKE UP CALLBy Bob JenkinsResearch by Piotr Socha & Andrej MatijasevicLong regarded as the schedule's wasteland, late night is starting to be moreproperly valued by advertisers. DISCOP.Link discovers why.Robert Blagman, managing partner,Media Ops Inc, says, "all overthe planet, people are living in a 24/7society." This, believes Blagman, is themain reason why late night television,long seen as an advertising wasteland,is beginning to develop realvalue. Although this is by no meansthe only reason he holds this view."Late night is suddenly becomingmuch more important," explains Blagman,"not just because people arestaying up later, but because they aremoving all over the schedule, and it isbecoming much harder, if not to sayimpossible, to get a critical mass ofany one demographic in any one slot.The time," continues Blagman, "whenyou could rely on getting a good femaleaudience in the afternoon, or hoardsof 18 - 25 year old males for the newsare gone. Audiences are all over theplace, and so advertisers have to beas well, including late night, and thatinevitably makes it more valuable."Blagman also believes that latenight is enjoying something of an advertisingrenaissance because, "whileit is an area of the schedule that hasPOKER AFTERDARK Logoalways offered cheap advertising, ithas traditionally not offered efficientadvertising, and has, therefore largelybeen overlooked by both advertisersand broadcasters." However, Blagmanbelieves that is about to change."It is no longer the case," he insists,"that it is necessarily now inefficient. Ifhandled properly, late night can bevery much more efficient than hadpreviously been the case, while stillremaining a cheap advertising option."Croatian journalist, and mediacommentator, Andrej Matijasevic,agrees with Blagman that, "late nightprogramming is becoming much moreinteresting to advertisers the worldover, and its value is definitely closingthe gap on other day parts." However,Matijasevic does not believe that Croatianbroadcasters are properly exploitingthe opportunity this part of theschedule offers."When schedules went 24/7,and the country was still Yugoslavia,"he explains, "everyone was delighted.Then it offered the opportunity, for thevery first time, to watch foreigndrama, comedy, sports and entertainmentcontent. In a word, everythingthat was chronically lacking in thedaily, primarily political, schedule." Norwere foreign programmes the onlynew delight offered by broadcasters inthe hours of darkness. "This part ofthe schedule," recalls Matijasevic,“became known as Programme Plus,and, in addition to the foreign programming,it also offered, again forthe first time, low budget, soft porncontent, which, refreshingly, was presentedas it was, and not under a spuriouscloak of artistic intent."Such content is also a key elementof the Austrian late night programming,although Ina Bauer, assistant tothe CMO of Austria's ATV, is at painsto stress that, "it is important to makeclear here that ATV is not responsiblefor the content or the advertising inthis part of the schedule." Bauer goeson to explain that, "from midnight untilbetween 2 am and 2.30 am we playregular programming, often repeatsof primetime series, as well as movies,sitcoms and dramas. However,the hours from the end of this timeslot through to 5.30 am are of no realinterest to mainstream Austrian advertisersand so we effectively 'sub let'this part of the schedule to a thirdparty who is then responsible for organisingall of the content and advertising.The content that does run hereis mainly erotic movies and short clipsacting as interstials."In Croatia, however, Matijasevicbelieves that this area of the schedulehas either stagnated or actually deteriorated.Although he does acknowl-34 DISCOP LINK • #11 • NOVEMBER 07