The FINANCIAL — The total profit of Georgian TV companies increased by USD 36, 538, 111, or 21%, during the first seven months of 2016 compared with the same period of last year. TV company Rustavi 2 attracts the largest share of advertisers, according to TV MR GE, Nielsen Television Audience Measurement’s official licensee. With USD 8, 7 million Procter & Gamble leads the list of the top ten companies with the largest ad expenditures in 2016.
TV’s profit amounted to USD 177,363,841 in January-July 2016, up from USD 140,825,730 in the same period of 2015. The figures are counted according to official price lists and do not take into consideration any discounts between TV companies and advertisers.
With USD 8,760,488, Procter & Gamble leads the list of the top ten companies with the largest ad expenditures on TV companies during the first seven months of 2016. The amounts of the top ten expenditures exceeded USD 3 million.
Procter & Gamble is followed by Bank of Georgia, which spent USD 6, 937, 381; Mondelez (Barni, Alpen Gold, Jacobs and other products) – USD 6, 490, 335; Coca-Cola – USD 6, 379, 413; Georgian Beer Company – Zedazeni – USD 5, 313, 975; TBC Bank – USD 4, 369, 895; Ludsakharshi Natakhtari – USD 4, 011, 245; Mobitel (Beeline) – USD 3, 472, 111; Nestle – USD 3, 281, 523; and PSP – USD 3, 258, 496.
Out of top ten advertisers during 2016 and 2015, there were four companies – Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, Ludsakharshi Natakhtari and PSP, that increased their budget in 2016, in comparison with 2015. Two of them, Mondelez and Mobitel (Beeline) have shown budget reduction. Procter & Gamble spent USD 4, 066, 611 in January – July 2016; Coca-Cola – USD 5, 142, 981; Natakhtari – USD 3, 200,095 and PSP – USD 2, 149, 476.
The expenditure of the last year’s leader, Mondelez, has been decreased from USD 12, 739, 501 to USD 6, 490, 335 from January-July 2015. Mobitel, operating under brand name Beeline, spent USD 3, 472, 111 during the first seven months of 2016, down from USD 4, 982, 031 from the previous year.
In terms of the revenues of broadcasters from TV ads, two TV stations currently account the major share of all revenues in the broadcasting sector. During January-July 2016, Rustavi 2 reported revenues of USD 79, 333, 136, up from USD 51, 211, 336 from January-July 2015. Imedi TV reported income of USD 39, 492, 008, up from USD 38, 413, 443. GDS gained USD 15, 734, 785 this year, up from USD 10, 457, 630. It is followed by New Channel / Comedy which gained USD 15, 170, 897, up from USD 13, 886, 490. Maestro gained USD 13, 745, 928 up from USD 11, 353, 761. The profit of TV Pirveli has amounted to USD 4, 393, 935. The income of Marao stood at USD 3, 400, 262, down from USD 4, 286, 412. The reduction has been shown at Tabula TV. This year the Company attracted ad sales worth USD 2, 853, 758, down from USD 3, 836, 640 from January- July 2015. Chanel One gained USD 1, 986, 525 up from USD 585, 675. Kavkasia – USD 692, 023, up from USD 358, 206. Music Box – USD 282, 867, down from USD 459, 436. Channel 2 – USD 277, 717 up from USD 22, 575.
The whole 2015 has been characterized with dramatic drop of TV ad sales. New regulations over TV advertisements and overall economic reduction have been contributing to it.
In 2015, the Georgian Parliament has approved a bill of amendments to the law on advertisement. The bill had been proposed by the Georgian National Communications Commission (GNCC). The main issue that caused most of the controversy – 20% limit per hour and date of its enforcement.
Previously television stations could allocate 20% of total broadcasting time per day to advertisement; as no hourly limit existed, broadcasters put more ad spots in primetime to maximize revenues, resulting in lengthy, well over 12-minute ad spots in primetime.
The Georgian National Communications Commission, which drafted the bill, and the Georgian Dream parliamentary majority, cite the need to put these regulations in line with the European standards as the reason behind the proposal.
Under the Association Agreement with the EU, Georgia undertook commitment to introduce 20% hourly limit within five years.
Rustavi 2 TV, which generates largest ad revenues among Georgian television stations, has been in the forefront of opposition to the proposal, calling on the authorities to delay its enforcement and not to move to a new system immediately, which, the broadcaster said, would hit its ad revenues.
Meanwhile, considering the overall economic conditions in the country it does not seemed that the new bill was the only contributor to this reduction. Representatives of outdoor advertising also complained about the drop of sales in 2015. Albeit, upcoming parliamentary elections in Georgia in October of the current year, already started bringing some relief to various advertising sources.
TV MR GE, Nielsen Television Audience Measurement’s official licensee, average TV viewing time per day in Georgia is 4.45 hours. The data was almost equal over five years ago.
According to the latest data of statista.com, USA citizens spent 282 minutes watching TV. The US was followed by Japan – 264 minutes; Italy- 262 minutes; Poland – 260 minutes; Russia, the Netherlands and Spain – 239 minutes; Brazil – 224 minutes; France and Germany – 221 minutes; the UK – 220 minutes; Australia – 204 minutes; South Korea – 196 minutes; China – 157 minutes and Sweden – 153 minutes.
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