Agreement marks significant advancement in reducing the labor and discrepancies associated with current radio buying processe
Katz Media Group ( KMG ) and Marketron Broadcast Solutions today announced a significant expansion in delivering electronic orders for radio advertising schedules from national advertising agencies . In January, 2009 , KMG and Marketron will enable the processing of electronic sales orders for KMG ’s nationally represented business for distribution to all participating Marketron Traffic, Visual Traffic, and DeltaFlex radio clients. Station managers will then be able to accept or reject orders, confirm them electronically and move them directly into the radio station’s business system, leading to a more efficient operation while eliminating the manual re-entry and discrepancies associated with current processes. In addition to electronic order delivery, KMG and Marketron also plan to provide timely proof-of-performance reports for all radio spot campaigns placed by KMG .
“One of the industry’s most important objectives is to make radio easier to buy,” said Pete D’Acosta, Marketron CEO . “To achieve this we need to work toward an industry-wide electronic system that facilitates the electronic exchange of orders and invoices. Our partnership with Katz represents a cornerstone of this project and a giant step forward for radio. Buyers and sellers now have a new, efficient process that will eliminate discrepancies, reduce operational costs and open the door to buyers of all traditional and emerging non-traditional radio inventory.”
“The relationship we built with Marketron is a clear sign of our shared commitment to the radio industry, our advertiser/agency customers and our client stations,” said Stu Olds, CEO of Katz Media Group. “By continuing to build electronic links between the different agency and station business systems, we can improve radio’s ease of execution, make radio even more attractive and increase its value, all while providing the accountability that buyers demand. By adding all Marketron stations to our e-business initiative, we have changed the dynamics of the radio industry and present an undeniable advantage to our marketplace.”
For the past several years, Katz Media Group has been providing electronic connectivity between major agency radio buying systems and station business systems used by many of its station clients to receive and run national orders. During the same period, Marketron has been advancing the capabilities of its radio systems to receive and interact with orders received electronically. Today’s joint announcement reflects recent cooperative development by both Katz and Marketron to speed the process of connecting all major agency systems to all Marketron client stations to provide an industry-wide solution.
