EMAP/Metro link to win TV advertisers

The EMAP and Metro Radio Groups have launched a joint sales venture across their 11 radio stations targeting advertisers on the Channel 4 Northern macro region.

The joint sell, across the North-West, Yorkshire and the North-East, has heightened speculation about EMAP’s intentions for Metro.

The company has been considering acquiring stakes in Metro presently held by Capital Radio and Chrysalis (MW June 9).

“We are targeting regional advertisers who use television in the North,” says Mike Lynch, Metro Group’s regional sales director.

“We don’t want to take all of a client’s business, but say to them: ‘Don’t plough all your money into TV, put some into radio and achieve better coverage’. TV builds coverage quickly but then starts to plateau,” he claims.

He said radio then has an opportunity to come in and increase the number of times an ad is heard more cost effectively.

National radio sales house Media Sales & Marketing packaged its radio stations to match the ITV map region-by-region a year ago, but Lynch insists this is the first deal to match a Channel 4 macro.

Advertisers will not pay a premium over ordinary individual station rates for the joint airtime.

The two radio groups will be co-operating on audience demographic research and advertiser presentations to target sectors specific to the Channel 4 macro.