Weekly Spots

POSTED: December 13, 2010

(White Plains, NY) December 13, 2010 – According to Arbitron, Cincinnati, OH is the 28th largest radio market with a population of 1,802,400.

• Cincinnati is considered to have been the first American boomtown in the heart of the country in the early nineteenth century to rival the larger coastal cities in size and wealth. Cincinnati is also known for having one of the larger collections of nineteenth-century German architecture in the U.S., primarily concentrated just north of Downtown and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

• Cincinnati is home to the University of Cincinnati and Xavier University, among other colleges and universities. The University of Cincinnati often referred to informally as "UC," is one of the United States' major graduate research institutions.

• Cincinnati has eight sports teams: two major league teams; the Cincinnati Reds baseball team and the Cincinnati Bengals football team, plus six minor league teams, and five college institutions with their own sports teams. The Reds were named for America's first professional baseball team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, which was the only professional baseball team to have an undefeated season in 1869.

• Some famous Cincinnatians include: Doris Day, actress and singer; Stephen Spielberg, film writer and producer; Hal Sparks, actor and comedian; Nick and Drew Lachey, singers and actors and Andrew Brackman major league baseball player and of course, Jerry Springer.

CINCINNATI SPOT TEN

In the headquarters city of Kroger it isn’t surprising to see a grocery store war. Last week, the #1 radio advertiser was Grand Rapids based MEIJER with 756 commercials. Coming in #2 was KROGER with 530 spots, while THE HOME DEPOT was #3, up from #16, with 523 ads. GEICO was #4 with 467 spots and TIRE DISCOUNTERS came in #5 airing 461 announcements. CHRYSLER – JEEP – DODGE was #6 with 381 spots, while THE OHIO TUITION TRUST AUTHORITY was #7 with 357 spots. MCDONALD’S was #8 running 342 spots and the OHIO LOTTERY popped into #9 with 335 ads. Coming in #10 was FRED MEYER JEWELERS with 333 spots.

FAST FOOD SPOT TEN

NATIONAL STATISTICS -

The #1 fast food company on the radio last week was MCDONALD’S with 25,355 spots. Coming in #2 was SUBWAY with 15,020 ads, while WENDY’S was #3 running 6,880 spots. TACO BELL was #4 with 4,207 commercials and BURGER KING came in #5 with 3,118 spots. SONIC hit #6 with 2,539 ads, while DENNY’S was #7 airing 2,487 spots. DUNKIN’ DONUTS stayed at #8 with 2,140 spots and CARL’S JR. took #9 with 1,971 spots. And taking #10 was LITTLE CAESARS with 1,703 spots.

NATIONAL SPOT TEN

NATIONAL STATISTICS -

On the top of the National Radio spot list was THE HOME DEPOT, up from #3 with 42,035 spots. Coming in #2 was GEICO with 36,606 ads, while MCDONALD’S was #3 with 25,349 spots. VERIZON was #4 with 19,969 spots and for the first time in the top five, TRUE VALUE with 18,894 spots.

Posted: December 13, 2010

BP has transformed from a local oil company into a global energy group.

Their history begins more than 100 years ago with the adventurer William Knox D'Arcy, who, in 1908, discovered oil in Persia (now Iran). This was the first oil discovery in the Middle East. In April 1909, the Anglo-Persian Oil Company was incorporated. This company was the predecessor of BP.

In 1935, after Persia became Iran, the company renamed itself Anglo-Iranian Oil. After World War II, the company became the focus of discontent among Iranians, who charged that the dividends they received from oil production were too small. In 1951, under the leadership of Mohammed Mossadeq, Iran nationalized its oil industry.

This led to a 1953 coup that resulted in Mossadeq's overthrow. The British government and the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency were implicated in the coup, which some critics charged was undertaken in part to protect Anglo-Iranian Oil's profits in the region.

By 1954, Anglo-Iranian Oil was renamed British Petroleum and resumed oil production in Iran. BP continued its Iranian operations until 1979, when the regime of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini confiscated the company's assets in Iran.

The situation in Iran demonstrated to BP leadership the hazards of depending on one country for its oil. During the early 1950s, BP expanded into other parts of the Middle East, as well as Canada, Africa, and Europe. BP became a key player in Alaska after the discovery of oil at Prudhoe Bay. It further expanded its activities in the United States when it acquired marketing and refining capacity from Atlantic Richfield (Arco).

For years, the British government had owned a stake in BP. This changed in the 1980s under the privatization policy of then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. By 1987, the British government had sold its holdings in BP.

Under the leadership of Lord Browne as its chief executive, BP became larger due to a series of major acquisitions. In 1998, BP merged with Amoco, creating a new company, BPAmoco. This new name was short-lived, however, and the company was renamed BP in 2000. That year, BP acquired two other companies: Arco and Burmah Castrol.

BP's growth over the years has not been without its problems. In 2005, an explosion at a BP refinery near Houston, Texas, killed 15 workers and injured dozens more. BP has since admitted that mismanagement on its part played a role in the disaster.

In 2006, a pipeline leak, resulting from line corrosion, spilled thousands of gallons of oil in Alaska. As a result, BP replaced miles of pipeline and closed leaking wells in the Prudhoe Bay area.

On April 20, 2010, the semi-submersible exploratory offshore drilling rig Deepwater Horizon exploded after a blowout; it sank two days later, killing 11 people. Experts estimate the gusher to be flowing at 35,000 to 60,000 barrels per but is a matter of ongoing debate.

During the disaster, BP CEO Tony Hayward became the target of much of the frustration of those who make their money from the fishing and tourist industries. 146 days after the accident, the relief well permanently killed the exploratory well.

On July 27, 2010, BP confirmed that Bob Dudley would replace Tony Hayward as the company's CEO.

BP employs over 80,000 people and had a net income of $16.5 billion in 2009.

On Cable, BP ran 63,928 spots in the last 12 months. After the disaster explosion and then oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, BP ran most of their spots in response to the public outcry. In June they ran 7,391, then 10,959 in July, then the largest number in August 20,849, then back down to 12,169 in September. After the well was capped, they dropped to 1,025 in October and only 24 spots in November.

Radio was one of the media BP relied on to get the word out in the markets most affected by the oil spill. Many costal and Florida markets were purchased, along with Washington, DC as a P.R. push to lawmakers. In July BP ran 24,359 spots, in August they ran 25,487 ads, in September they aired 23,578 messages, October they dropped to 19,117, but interestingly, they jumped back up in November with 27,567 ads.

TV followed the same pattern, with August being the biggest month with 12,116 spots and both October (1,677) and November (1,643) of this year not breaking the 2,000 mark.

POSTED: December 13, 2010

Volkswagen (abbreviated VW) is one of the world's largest automobile manufacturers. Volkswagen is the original brand of the Volkswagen Group, which includes Audi, Bentley Motors, Bugatti Automobiles, Automobili Lamborghini, SEAT, Škoda Auto and heavy duty vehicle Scania.

Volkswagen means "people's car" in German. Its current tagline or slogan is Das Auto (in English “The Car”). Among its largest owners are the Porsche family, the Emirate of Qatar and the state of Lower Saxony.

Volkswagen was originally founded in 1937 by the Nazi trade union, the German Labor Front (Deutsche Arbeitsfront).

During the Second World War, the VW factories were charged with producing armaments and vehicles for the Third Reich.

After the war, the US market was open to buying the Volkswagen Beetle, also known as the Volkswagen Type 1, an economy car produced by Volkswagen from 1938 until 2003. With over 21 million manufactured in an air-cooled, rear-engine, rear wheel drive configuration, the Beetle became the worldwide longest-running and most-manufactured automobile of a single design platform.

The Volkswagen New Beetle is a small family car, introduced by Volkswagen in 1998, drawing heavy inspiration from the exterior design of the original Beetle. Unlike the original Beetle, the New Beetle has its engine in the front driving the front wheels and luggage storage in the rear.

In May 2010, Volkswagen announced that production of the current body of the New Beetle will cease in 2011, but will be followed up by a redesigned model that will replace it.

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) is a German automobile and motorcycle manufacturing company. Founded in 1916, it is known for its performance and luxury vehicles. It owns and produces the MINI brand, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.

After World War I, BMW was forced to cease aircraft engine production by the terms of the Versailles Armistice Treaty. The company consequently shifted to motorcycle production in 1923 once the restrictions of the treaty started to be lifted followed by automobiles in 1928.

The circular blue and white BMW logo or roundel is often alleged to portray the movement of an airplane propeller, to signify the white blades cutting through the blue sky - an interpretation that BMW adopted for convenience in 1929.

BMW bought the British Rover Group in 1994 (consisting of the Rover, Land Rover and MG brands as well as the rights to defunct brands including Austin and Morris), and owned it for six years. By 2000, Rover was making huge losses and BMW decided to sell the combine. The MG and Rover brands were sold to the Phoenix Consortium to form MG Rover, while Land Rover was taken over by Ford. BMW, meanwhile, retained the rights to build the new MINI, which was launched in 2001.

On Cable, BMW aired about 79.5% as many spots as VW. BMW ran 210,707 spots in the last 12 months in the cable markets we monitor, whereas VW ran 265,123 spots.

On the Radio, BMW takes the cake with 280,049 spots against VW’s 148,283 spots, which was only 52.9% as many spots as BMW in the last 12 months.

On TV, VW ran 131,990 spots against BMW’s 79,892 ads. Between TV, Cable and Radio, VW ran 95.5% as many spots as BMW.

Posted: December 13, 2010

For The Current Spots: