Halifax’s media landscape remains healthy and relatively tranquil heading into the winter buying season.
It’s a small market served by a handful of media outlets that are only just starting to feel some of the heat from fires raging in regions further west where TV and, to a lesser extent, radio, are hotter than ever.
Media activity in the east is generally flat, says Meg Vis, media and planning director at St. John’s, Nfld.-based Bristol Communications. ‘For Atlantic Canada as a whole everything is generally status quo.’
Radio
Halifax’s radio landscape – comprised of seven stations owned by radio groups Newcap, CHUM and Maritime Broadcasting System – looks like it’s in for a shakeup.
Sources say there are as many as 11 applications before the CRTC for additional licences, although the government agency isn’t ready to confirm the number yet.
The hearing date has been set for March 1, 2004, and a decision will likely be handed down next spring, says Catherine Maloney-Hofer, media supervisor at Halifax-based Mediaedge:cia.
‘The gut feeling for everyone is that it will probably be two mainstream stations and one aboriginal station approved,’ she adds.
The present market is dominated by a fairly unadventurous, but popular menu of classic rock and oldies, served up by leading stations C100 (CHUM) and Q104 (Newcap). But regardless of format, Maloney-Hofer isn’t optimistic that a new station can overcome market limitations.
‘Everybody talks about wanting a younger format, an edgier sound, but I don’t think there’s an advertising base to support that,’ she says.
And while competition is somewhat limited, because the CHUM and Newcap stations are jointly marketed under the Metro Radio Group umbrella, most buyers don’t feel they’re being gouged on costs.
‘That was our concern at first,’ concedes Shannon Ritchie, media buyer for Bristol. But ‘all the [buying] agencies here in Halifax keep a strong watch on that.’
Newspapers
Newspaper is one of the most competitive mediums in Halifax, with Transcontinental’s The Daily News squaring off against independently owned broadsheet The Chronicle Herald.
Transcontinental launched the first salvo this past spring when it revamped the Daily News with a new format and look, and at the same time introduced a new entertainment section called HFX, which is targeted at younger readers (many of whom currently read independent, free weekly The Coast).
Vis says HFX has the potential to attract new readers and more dollars if it keeps focused on Halifax. But she also expects the Herald to ‘push a little harder head-to-head’ in response.
So far, there has yet to be any noticeable increase in advertiser interest. The true test will come after the Herald completes a January-February revamp with its new presses.
Television
In TV, CTV affiliate ATV dominates the market with CJCH. Global’s CIHF takes second with properties like Survivor keeping it competitive.
Recently, the Halifax TV market has started to heat up a little, as have other markets such as Calgary and Toronto, where TV costs have skyrocketed and avails have shrunk.
‘It’s unusual for this marketplace to be really tight, and I’d say within the last two years it seems inventory is getting chewed up a lot quicker than it ever used to be,’ says Maloney-Hofer, adding that some inventory is nonetheless always available.
Outdoor
The outdoor market remains quite competitive, mainly because of the preponderance of small independents which face off against the region’s dominant players, Pattison and Viacom.
Maloney-Hofer says clients are usually able to get good deals as a result of the situation, but that elasticity may be in some danger due to possible rising public dissatisfaction with the increased number of billboards.
Being a buyer, Vis doesn’t see a problem, though she’s willing to consider the consumer’s perspective. ‘The problem in Atlantic Canada is there’s not enough fragmentation,’ she says.
