THE GOVERNMENT seems to want your ear really, really bad that in 2009 alone, its agencies, along with various public utilities, placed tri-media ads totalling P6.34 billion in ad value.
This amount, as recorded by Nielsen Media, was composed of 771.03 hours of TV ads worth P3.84 billion in ad value, over 2,604 hours of radio ads worth P2.08 million, and 7,674 print ads worth P426.19 million.
Nielsen data, of course, are based on published rate cards. Actual amounts paid by advertisers could be lower or be given up to 40- to 50-percent discount by networks. Too, government ad placements on state-run networks such as the National Broadcasting Network (NBN) 4, Radio Philippines Network (RPN) 9, Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) 13 and the Radyo ng Bayan are free of charge.
Then again, spots taken by government ads in the state channels can only mean less revenue for those networks. It’s also not as if producing these commercials did not require funds from state coffers to cover a myriad of expenses.
For sure, the sheer total running time of the ads is staggering. The TV ads of the Office of the President (OP), for instance, reached a total of 170.73 hours, with an ad value of P735.87 million. The same office’s radio advertising, meanwhile, had a total running time of 43.83 hours and worth P72.18 million. It also had 226 print ad spots that had a total ad value of P37.29 million.
Joining the ad blitz in Nielsen’s “government agencies and public utilities” ad tally were various national government agencies, government-owned and -controlled corporations, and local government units (LGUs), which played the ad placement version of “follow the leader.”
The estimated tri-media expenditure of national government agencies (NGAs) in 2009 amounted to a total of P3.46 billion in ad value or 54 percent of the total worth of ads placed by government agencies and public utilities.
After top ad spender OP, the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) came second with P828.16 million, followed by the Department of Health (DOH) with P233.74 million, Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) with P155.88 million, and the Department of Tourism (DOT) with P153.79 million.
The rest of those on the NGA top 10 ad spender list were the Department of Education (DepEd) with P129.55 million worth of ads, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) with P112.51 million, Commission on Elections (Comelec) with P90.84 million, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) with P90.65 million, and the Presidential Task Force (under the Presidential Commission) with P89.50 million.
Not to be outdone were government-owned and -controlled corporations or GOCCs, that made up about 30 percent or P1.89 billion of the total ad value registered by government agencies and public utilities.
The top 10 GOCCs in terms of ad spending were the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) with P777.82 million worth of ads; Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) with P640.41 million; Social Security System (SSS) with P232.84 million; Pag-IBIG Fund with P220.29 million; Pagcor and PCSO tandem with P8.9 million; Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) with P4.47 million; Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) with P2.05 million; Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) with P1.88 million; Maynilad Water and MWSS tandem with P1.59 million; and Manila Water Company and MWSS tandem with P1.3 million.
Then there were the LGUs, which took an estimated five percent or P311.18 million of the total ad value of government agencies and public utilities.
Makati City emerged No. 1 with a hefty P135.50 million in total ad value, followed by Dapitan with P67.43 million, Ilocos Sur with P14.71 million, Puerto Princesa with P12.79 million; and Pasig City with P8.79 million.
Making the rest of the LGU top nine ad spenders were Quezon City (P7.82 million), Camarines Sur (P6.85 million), Caloocan City (P6.21 million), and Negros Occidental (P4.50 million). At 10th spot was the DILG, with its ads placed for “Provincial Government” that reached a total ad value of P4.33 million.
Of the remaining 10 percent of the total ad value attributed to placements by “government agencies and public utilities” as recorded by Nielsen, private power supplier Meralco was responsible for P331.08 million.
Islands Philippines, which Nielsen logged as a “product” of the DOT, had P109.07 million worth of TV ads.
Nielsen monitoring also recorded the print advertisements of at least six lawmakers – four senators and two representatives: Senators Panfilo Lacson (P1.25 million), Manuel ‘Mar’ Roxas II (P249,795), Antonio Trillanes IV (P218,895), and Aquilino Pimentel Jr. (P9,594), and Representatives Prospero Nograles of Davao City (P824,400) and Edcel Lagman of Albay (P9,540).
Overall, the top 10 government agencies and public utilities with the highest tri-media expenditure last year were OP, GSIS, PAGCOR, PCSO, Meralco, DOH, SSS, Pag-ibig Fund, HUDCC, and the DOT.