Weekly Spots

POSTED: June 25, 2012

(White Plains, NY) June 25, 2012 – According to Arbitron, Oklahoma City, OK is the 50th largest radio market with a population of 1,153,700.

• Oklahoma City, settled on April 22, 1889, was an area known as the "unassigned lands" and was opened during the infamous "The Oklahoma Land Run". Some 10,000 homesteaders settled what is now downtown Oklahoma City and created a tent city in a single day. Those who got there “sooner” not only got the best land, but also created a good nickname for the settlers.

• Higher education includes Oklahoma City University in the Uptown area as well as The University of Oklahoma, which has centers in the city and metropolitan area, with the OU Medical Center. The OU Medical Center is the nation's largest independent medical center, employing more than 12,000 people. Oklahoma State University - Oklahoma City is located in the "Furniture District" on the west side. Oklahoma City Community College in south OKC is the second-largest community college in the state.

• On July 3, 2008 the city of Seattle settled with the owners of the NBA Seattle SuperSonics franchise, allowing them to move the team to Oklahoma City for the 2008–2009 season. And in just four years, the Oklahoma City Thunder got to face off against the Miami Heat for the Championship. Unfortuneatly, the Heat proved too much for the Thunder; Miami took the series in five games. The city’s other major professional sports team is the AFL Oklahoma Wranglers.

• Oklahoma City is home to Sonic Drive In, their national headquarters, while some of the largest employers include: Tinker Air Force Base, Dell, AT&T, Boeing, Xerox, United Parcel Service, Cox, and the state of Oklahoma.

• Famous people from Oklahoma City: from baseball, Johnny Bench, Bobby Murcer and Joe Carter;, from football: Brian Bosworth, Wes Welker, Sam Bradford and Mark Clayton; Jazz great Don Cherry and the queen of rockabilly, Wanda Jackson came from Oklahoma City.

OKLAHOMA CITY SPOT TEN

The #1 radio advertiser was DAVID STANLEY CHRYSLER JEEP DODGE with 1,042 spots. Coming in #2 was THE HOME DEPOT with 890 ads, while BIG RED SPORTS & IMPORTS took #3 airing 665 announcements. FORD DEALER ASSOCIATION moved from #14 up to #4 running 491 commercials and CHEVROLET DEALER ASSOCIATION propelled from #55 to #5 with 369 spots. THE KEY was #6 with 363 spots, while DISH NETWORK was solid at #7 with 358 ads. SAFELITE AUTOGLASS moved from #29 up to #8 airing 355 spots and WESTPOINTE CHRYSLER JEEP DODGE secured #9 with 313 spots. Taking #10 was WELLS FARGO HOME MORTGAGE with 310 spots.

AMUSEMENT PARK SPOT TEN

NATIONAL STATISTICS -

This is a perfect time of the year to talk about Amusement Parks. The top park on the radio was SIX FLAGS THEME PAKRS with 10,217 spots. #2 was UNIVERSAL STUDIOS THEME PARKS with 4,292 ads, while DISNEY PARKS & RESORTS was solid at #3 airing 1,690 commercials. KINGS ISLAND grew from #42 to #4 with 991 spots and KENNYWOOD was #5 with 937 spots. BUSCH GARDENS was #5 running 666 spots, while WET ‘N WILD EMERALD POINTE landed in #7 with 662 spots. SCHLITTERBAHN WATERPARKS parked at #8 with their 637 spots and DARIEN LAKE THEME PARK RESORT was #9 with 612 ads. Coming in #10 was MARINELAND with 604 spots.

NATIONAL SPOT TEN

NATIONAL STATISTICS -

It was another stellar week for THE HOME DEPOT airing 66,277 spots and taking the top spot nationally. GEICO remains #2 with 35,272 spots, while SAFELITE AUTOGLASS moves up from #6 to #3 with 34,307 commercials. MCDONALD’S was #4 with 28,562 spots, while FRITO-LAY-PEPSI breaks into the top five with 20,815 ads.

Posted: June 25, 2012

Subaru is the automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI). Fuji Heavy Industries is currently in a partial partnership with Toyota Motor Corporation, which owns 16.5% of FHI.

Subaru is internationally known for their use of the boxer engine popularized in cars by the Volkswagen Beetle and Porsche 911, in most of their vehicles above 1500cc. They also domestically pioneered the use of the all-wheel drive (AWD) drivetrain, first introduced in 1972, that became standard equipment for mid-size and smaller cars in most international markets. They also offer many turbocharged versions of their passenger cars, such as the Impreza WRX.

Subaru is the Japanese name for the Pleiades star cluster, which in turn inspires the Subaru logo and alludes to the six companies that merged to create FHI.

FHI started out as The Aircraft Research Laboratory in 1917 headed by Chikuhei Nakajima. In 1932, the company was reorganized as Nakajima Aircraft Company, Ltd and became the primary manufacturer of aircraft for Japan during World War II. At the end of the Second World War Nakajima Aircraft was again reorganized, this time as Fuji Sangyo Co, Ltd.

Kenji Kita, the CEO of Fuji Heavy Industries at the 1950s, wanted the new company to be involved in car manufacturing and soon began plans for building a car with the development code-name P-1. Mr. Kita canvassed the company for suggestions about naming the P1, but none of the proposals were appealing enough. In the end, he gave the car a Japanese name that he had "been cherishing in his heart": Subaru.

The first Subaru car was named the Subaru 1500. Only twenty P1s were manufactured due to multiple supply issues. From 1954 to 2008, the company designed and manufactured dozens of vehicles including the 1500 (1954), the tiny air-cooled 360 (1958), the Sambar (1961), the 1000 (which saw the introduction of the Subaru boxer engine in 1965), R-2 (1969), Rex and Leone (1971), BRAT (1978), Alcyone (1985), Legacy (1989), Impreza (1993), Forester (1997), Tribeca (2005), and the latest Exiga (2008).

On October 5, 2005 Toyota Motor Corporation purchased 8.7% of FHI shares from General Motors who had owned 20.1% of FHI since 1999. GM later divested its remaining 11.4% stake. After the purchase, Toyota announced a contract with Subaru on March 13, 2006 to use the underutilized Subaru manufacturing facility in Lafayette, Indiana, hire up to 1,000 workers and use the factory to make the Camry beginning in 2007.

Subaru of America was established in 1968 in Philadelphia by Malcolm Bricklin and associates. It relocated to Pennsauken, New Jersey shortly thereafter and moved to its current headquarters in Cherry Hill, New Jersey in 1986 then Fuji Heavy Industries acquired full ownership.

In 2011 Subaru sold 278,959 cars in the US, while their total sales for the year came in 656,964 autos.

Most overall spots ran on Local Cable – 72.3% In the last 12 months, Subaru ran 324,999 spots, with the biggest month being March 2012 when they ran 31,533 ads.

On Radio, Subaru ran 52,008 spots in the last 12 months, with the big push being in December with 11,489 spots aired.

On Broadcast TV, Subaru has been pacing up with more spots in the last six months than the previous. Total spots run in the last 12 months were 68,614 ads with the biggest month March 2012 running 15,799 spots.

POSTED: June 25, 2012

Applebee’s International, Inc. sells franchises, and operates the Applebee's Neighborhood Grill and Bar restaurant chain. They have more than 1,965 restaurants in 49 states, 17 countries, and one U.S. territory. The company's headquarters are in Lenexa, KS.

The Applebee's concept focuses on casual dining with mainstream dishes such as salads, shrimp, chicken, pasta, and "riblets" (which is considered Applebee's signature item). All Applebee's restaurants feature a bar area and serve alcoholic beverages (except where prohibited by law).

The Applebee's chain was started by Bill and T.J. Palmer who opened their first restaurant, T.J. Applebee’s Rx for Edibles & Elixirs, in Decatur, Georgia on January 1, 1980.

After opening their second restaurant the pair sold their company to W. R. Grace and Company in 1983. As part of the transaction, Bill Palmer was named president of the Applebee's Division an indirect subsidiary of W. R. Grace and Company.

In November 2007, IHOP completed a $1.9 billion purchase of the Applebee's chain and later changed their corporate name to Dine Equity.

In their 2011 annual report they claim 430 franchise outlets with 10,900 employees. They produce revenues of $1 billion with net income of $75 million.

T.G.I. Friday's (often shortened to "Friday's" in most countries, and stylized "FRiDAY'S", or "T.G.I.s" in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland) is an international restaurant chain focusing on casual dining.

The company is a unit of the Carlson Companies. Its name is taken from the expression TGIF. The company asserts that it stands for "Thank Goodness It's Friday," although as of 2010 some television commercials for the chain have also made use of the alternative phrase, "Thank God It's Friday's.” The chain is known for its appearance, with red-striped canopies, brass railings, Tiffany lamps and frequent use of antiques as decor.

Friday's was founded by Alan Stillman in 1965. The bachelor perfume salesman lived in a neighborhood with many airline stewardesses, fashion models, secretaries, and other single people on the East Side of Manhattan near the Queensboro Bridge, and hoped that opening a bar would help him meet women.

With $5,000 of his own money and $5,000 borrowed from his mother, Stillman purchased a bar he often visited, The Good Tavern at the corner of 63rd Street and First Avenue, and renamed it T.G.I. Friday's after the expression "Thank God! It's Friday!" from his years at Bucknell University.The new restaurant, which opened on March 15, 1965, served standard American cuisine, bar food, and alcoholic beverages

As new locations opened in the suburbs parents brought their children, and the chain changed its focus to casual dining for families. Stillman sold the restaurant chain in the 1970s to the Carlson Companies—although he kept the original location and, now married, founded Smith & Wollensky in 1977 with his college buddy Ben Benson.

Friday's has also been used as a restaurant for hotels run by Country Inns & Suites by Carlson brand. The largest Friday's franchisee is The Briad Group with about 70 locations in the United States.

The parent group Carlson Hotels Worldwide owns and operates approximately 1,075 hotels in more than 70 countries under brands such as Radisson, Country Inns & Suites By Carlson, and Park Plaza. They have more than 170,000 employees.

On Local Cable, Applebee’s is certainly out front with 193,525 spots in the last 12 months, as compared to TGI Friday’s 92,427 spots. Applebee’s ran the most in the month of July with 28,556 spots, while Friday’s ran hottest in March 2012 with 24,370 ads.

On the Radio, Applebee’s is running 80% more spots than Friday’s. Applebee’s ran 131,547 ads in the last 12 months compared to TGI Friday’s 22,612 spots.

On Broadcast TV, TGI Friday’s ran 55,466 spots in the last 12 months, while Applebee’s cleared 103,534 spots. Applebee’s biggest month was July 2011 with 17,221 and Friday’s ran hottest in October with 9,351 spots.

Posted: June 25, 2012

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