Sharp declines in advertising revenue amid the recession have forced layoffs and program cutbacks at TV stations across the nation.
Yet one local television station has turned down a series of advertisements in a stand to help the region’s business community.
L.A. ABC affiliate KABC-TV (7) rejected a series of ads from a business development group in Las Vegas seeking to lure local companies to Southern Nevada. The station said it does not want to support efforts aimed at undercutting the L.A. business community.
“We would never change our principles for the sake of a few dollars. We live, work and play in Los Angeles,” said Arnold J. Kleiner, president and general manager of KABC. “Why would we as a business, doing business in Los Angeles, doing business with people doing business in Los Angeles, try to encourage anyone who watches this television station to take their business and move anywhere else?”
This is the second time the station has declined ads from the Nevada Development Authority, a non-profit group that serves to attract businesses to the Las Vegas area.
Media outlets have long held standards as to the types of ads they will run, often excluding those with offensive language or risqu & #233; subject matter.
But the station’s decision to reject the ads because they might hurt the local economy has surprised some observers, particularly as the media industry faces substantial pressure to raise revenue.
Among the stations that have reportedly cut staff in the past two years are local Fox affiliate KTTV-TV (11) and CBS affiliate KCBS-TV (2). Kleiner declined to discuss whether KABC had laid off employees, saying the station did not discuss personnel matters.
“It’s surprising to me,” said Larry Gross, director of the USC Annenberg School for Communication, of KABC’s decision not to run the ads. “It’s certainly an interesting sign of local commitment to the area.”
Gross said it is all the more unusual that the station would take the stance in a metropolitan area as large as Los Angeles, where the impact of a company leaving is not felt as acutely as in a smaller city.
Economic development groups from other cities and states frequently target L.A. companies in the hopes of luring them away. Groups from states such as Colorado, Texas and even North Dakota have blanketed local companies with brochures, phone calls and e-mails espousing the benefits of their respective states.
“We are viewed as vulnerable,” said Jack Kyser, chief economist with the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., though he doubts the effectiveness of ad campaigns. “They’re expensive and they don’t always get you the results you want.”
Still, Kyser said he was surprised that KABC would decline the ad in this economy.
“It’s a very, very tough advertising environment and every ad dollar is golden,” he said. “But hats off to Channel 7 because they do have principles and I appreciate that very much.”
Seizing upon California’s recent budgetary strife, the Nevada Development Authority launched its Kiss Your Assets Goodbye campaign Friday. Through television, radio and print advertisements, the group hopes to persuade Southern California companies to relocate across the border by highlighting Nevada’s tax advantages and lower workers’ compensation rates.
Campaign unveiled
“With the campaign, we want to get the point across that for businesses in California that simply cannot afford to be there anymore, there’s an alternative, and that’s over in Las Vegas,” said Somer Hollingsworth, chief executive of the business group.
The group, funded primarily by business contributions, offers relocation assistance, site tours and other incentives to help companies move to Las Vegas.
Though it is difficult to determine the real impact of the advertising campaigns, Hollingsworth said they have seen a noticeable increase in companies relocating from Southern California to the Las Vegas area during previous campaigns.
“We’ll see a spike in growth,” he said.
In early July, Creel Printing in Irvine announced it was moving to Las Vegas to reduce its cost structure, according to the LAEDC.
The development authority plans to roll out new ads about every 90 days for the next year. In conjunction with the campaign, it will launch a viral initiative incorporating YouTube videos, Facebook pages and other social media.
The $1 million campaign, put together by Las Vegas advertising firm Shonkwiler Partners, will be run throughout the L.A. area, including about 30 television stations and a variety of newspapers. (The Business Journal, which has sold advertising space to the Nevada Development Authority previously, plans to publish the ads.)
Terry Shonkwiler, president of the advertising firm, said KABC was the only outlet to decline the ads.
“I really was taken aback that they would turn us down,” he said. “I was surprised because we were getting offers all the time from other media outlets.”
