New car channel could have hard time attracting advertisers

By Aleksander Nowacki

Moto Polsat, a new theme TV channel focused on cars, is to begin broadcasting October 9, but industry professionals are skeptical of its potential to succeed with advertisers and viewers. They point to the failure of the previous attempt to start a car channel in the country and to advertisers' reluctance to commit themselves to a new and unknown product.

"None of our clients has so far expressed interest in advertising on the new channel," said Marcin Dec, sales and marketing director at OMD Brand & Media, a company that works with many car companies. "I don't want to commit myself to an opinion until I see the product, but I don't expect advertisers to rush in as of day one."

Polsat spokeswoman Katarzyna Wyszomirska was adamant that there is a lot of interest in the product.

"We have been selling our idea, more in the way of marketing than 'hard sales,' and I can safely say that we see a lot of excitement about the project even at this early stage," she said.

Dec does not see the situation this way. He said that, as a rule, advertisers tend to be cautious of a new channel in the initial period after its introduction, opting to wait and see if the new broadcaster manages to develop a solid viewer base. He pointed out that the failure of AB Moteurs, which went off the air following the merger of the Cyfra + and Wizja TV digital platforms in 2001, would also serve to discourage advertisers.

"No one will jump headlong without testing the waters first," Dec said. His comments are reflected in the attitude of car company representatives themselves.

"I know absolutely nothing about it," said Witold Nowicki, director of sales and marketing at Toyota Motors Poland. "I would have to see (Moto Polsat's) viewer ratings before I could comment in any way on whether we are interested."

Marcin Dec of OMD Brand & Media does not rule out the possibility that a car company could start advertising on the new channel as of the first day of broadcasting in an attempt to monopolize it, but he sees that as a risky strategy advertisers would be unlikely to take.

Polsat's Wyszomirska refused to say after what period it would be possible to evaluate the success or failure of Moto Polsat. She said that the case of Polsat Sport, the broadcaster's first and only theme channel to date, showed that it would take some time before such an evaluation was possible but did not want to say how long exactly that period would be. She is, however, confident that it can succeed, pointing to the differences between Moto Polsat and the failed AB Moteurs project.

"We have a completely original idea for a program directed at the Polish car owner," she said. In contrast, the Cyfra + channel was wholly translated from French. According to Wyszomirska, the advisory services offered to those looking to purchase a vehicle, and "sell-buy" ads offered through teletext, will ensure a relatively large audience for the new channel. Moto Polsat will offer four hours of original programming a day, while the rest will be retransmitted from foreign channels.

She was also keen to point out the expertise and name recognition value of the leading figures on Moto Polsat and that of Włodzimierz Zientarski, the head of programming.

The channel has received more favorable reviews from other media specialized in the motoring industry.

"They have a professional team with a lot of experience," said Stanisław Sewastianowicz, editor of Auto Świat magazine. "There have been car programs on Polsat for years and they have excellent contacts abroad, for example with BBC Top Gear. I expect it to be a success." Sewastianowicz said he did not anticipate Moto Polsat to attract advertising away from the print media, as it would likely generate extra budgets.

Dec disagrees. "Budgets are a relatively stable thing; I don't see scope for significant increase," he said. "But we are not talking about shocking amounts of money. I expect (Moto Polsat) to attract no more than 2 percent-3 percent of TV advertising budgets." He went on to say that the new player can be accommodated by a relocation of funds within the budget spent on a single station.

As the prospects of advertising hardly seem very bright, the terms Polsat manages to negotiate with cable operators may well prove crucial to the success of the new channel.

According to Dorota Zawadzka, public relations director at UPC, the country's largest cable TV operator, the project is "an interesting one" and it will be closely monitored. She confirmed that initial talks over its inclusion in UPC's offer have been held, but no decision has yet been made.

However, her comment that the price of programming accounts for a higher proportion of cable vendors' costs in this country than it does abroad does not bode well for Moto Polsat.

"The current trend is for the price of programming to come down," she said.