It looks like Jay Leno’s prime-time debut was quite a hit. As reported by Bloomberg:
NBC said "The Jay Leno Show" was the most-watched U.S. broadcast program last night in the variety show's prime-time debut.
The show drew a total of 18.4 million viewers, according to updated ratings released by Nielsen Co. The program was also first in the 18-49 age group that advertisers target, New York- based NBC said today, citing Nielsen.
Radio deserves some of the credit for Leno’s strong debut, but you probably didn’t hear much about radio’s role. We’re constantly told that to survive, radio has to embrace social networking and the Internet. Over the air radio is dead, we’re told. We have to reinvent ourselves in the likeness of New Media. That’s why it is so refreshing when someone demonstrates the power of good old fashion terrestrial radio, and finds a way to leverage radio’s strengths without a single tweet or text message.
Katz Marketing Solutions came up with a unique radio campaign that received virtually no coverage or even acknowledgment in the radio trades and blogs. In the past, our trades would have headlined this kind of story, but not now. Covering effective radio campaigns issoooo passe’. Radio's Chicken Littles just want to pontificate about what's wrong with radio. Fortunately MediaPost reported on the unique campaign. Here’s how MediaPost described it:
Comedy and traffic jams? It hopes to be a funny way to promote NBC's new "Jay Leno Show."
To tout NBC's revolutionary move in putting a Monday-to-Friday talk show in prime time from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m., Katz Marketing Solutions and Horizon Media, NBC's media agency, have developed two campaigns using radio's traffic reports.
Starting today, Sept. 8, Leno's comedy bits -- intended to cheer up listeners' commuting drives -- will run with traffic reports in NBC's top 12 markets nationwide.
"The first [part of the campaign] was finding mundane moments in everyday life that could use a laugh from Leno, such as sitting in gridlock while listening to a local traffic report," said Ken Grayson, senior director of media planning for NBC, in a release.
A second campaign starting Sept. 14 -- the day of Leno's debut on NBC -- will feature additional comedy spots introduced by local DJs. It runs in a fixed position at 10 minutes after the hour to promote Jay's new 10 p.m. time slot. The campaign will air in NBC's top 25 markets.
"The second [part of the campaign] was closely aligning Leno and the comedy with the number 10 to highlight his time slot, hence the comedy from Jay at 10 after the hour," said Grayson.
These segments will air separate from the show's content -- away from the clutter of other advertising. Instead. the comedy bits will air before and after a station programming -- music and/or talk.
There’s a certain beauty in one traditional medium (TV) using another traditional medium (radio) in a very unique and apparently effective way. We hope that it serves as an example of the kind of innovation that can jump start radio sales.
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