Osmena: No bidding for dengue ad to get widest audience
By Marian Z. Codilla
Cebu Daily News
First Posted 12:16:00 09/23/2008
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmena on Monday defended his decision not to have the city government's anti-dengue television ad undergo public bidding.
Osmena said he chose ABS-CBN because it had the widest reach among the television stations in the country, maximizing the dissemination of information about dengue.
He said that if the ad were to be bidded out to find the lowest airtime price, it would end up with a television station with a smaller audience.
He said ABS-CBN has an audience share of 65 percent, while he remaining 35 percent is shared by other channels.
It would have been “silly” not to choose ABS-CBN, the mayor said.
Osmena also admitted that his working experience with the television company helped his decision to choose ABS-CBN. The company was always ready to lend the mayor its helicopter when the mayor needed to take a trip.
There was also the time factor, as the mayor wanted the ad aired as soon as possible. Having the ads bidded out would extend the time it would take before the ad airs, Osmena said.
He said the recent death of a 20-year-old student from Barangay (village) Labangon due to her failure to identify dengue symptoms highlighted the urgency to intensify information about dengue.
“I jumpstarted the situation. Although Labangon was already identified as a dengue prone area, the girl didn't have herself checked in the hospital. So, why are we going to delay the airing?” Osmena asked.
The mayor said that if the City Council would object to his decision to directly deal with ABS-CBN, he would free the city of financial liability for airing the ad and tap private individuals or groups for funding.
“I will no longer ask the city to spend for it... if it is my own council that is complaining,” Osmena said.
During the council's session on September 17, Councilor Rodrigo Abellanosa asked if a bidding was held before the city entered into a deal with ABS-CBN.
ABS-CBN earlier offered the city an ad slot during non-primetime hours free of charge, but mayor declined it, saying he would rather pay for a primetime slot to reach a wide audience.
ABS-CBN charged the city P10,000 for every 30-second slot. The ad started airing on September 3, appearing once per day. For the remaining 28 days of September, City Hall will have to pay P280,000 or P313,600 inclusive of tax.
The contract with ABS-CBN indicates that the ads will run until October 27.
ABS-CBN gave the city seven non-primetime slots, free of charge.
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