Cable, Radio Ad Time Revenues On Rise

More radio stations taking part in a reverse auction to sell advertising time and the launch of a new auction for cable television ads has helped increase revenues at Bid4Spots, an online auction firm. While exact revenue figures were not disclosed by the Encino-based company, it has seen a 100 percent year-to-date increase in total ad revenue from its online marketplace for last-minute radio and local cable television ads. The average amount of advertising dollars in the Bid4Spots weekly auctions has increased five times since the beginning of the year. That Bid4Spots is doing well shows that great value shines through in a bad economy, said founder and CEO Dave Newmark. “Many advertisers who are familiar with online buying processes are unfamiliar with the process of negotiating with traditional media sellers,” Newmark said. “For them, Bid4Spots represents a fast, easy way to buy traditional media and get maximum value. For the stations that win dollars from those advertisers through our system, Bid4Spots represents not just short-term revenue but also access to advertisers who wouldn’t otherwise buy radio or local cable airtime from them.” Bid4Spots started in 2005 to sell last minute radio ad time through an online reverse auction. The company expanded into the cable television ad time in 2009. Mark R. Madler