• by Ken Liebeskind , February 4, 2002

The college market has always been a challenge for advertisers. It’s extremely attractive, but very difficult to reach. One company, however, seems to have found the answer – a college TV network.

The College Television Network, owned by six-year-old CTN Media Group, sends 24 hour a day broadcasts to 1,800 college and universities under contract.

The network beams programming by satellite to TVs it installs in college dining halls, fitness centers and common areas. Sixty-five percent of the programs are music videos. The rest is news and sports reports at the top and bottom of the hour and features produced by CNN and Glamour, with other alliances to be announced soon.

Advertisers buy Monday to Sunday schedules, running six to twelve 30-second spots a day, according to CTN president Thomas Rocco. The company recently announced it has booked $6.1 million in advertising for 2002, a 61% increase over $3.8 million last year.

The company also announced a 19.2 increase in viewership, according to a Nielsen study last October at select campus locations. Based on a projection of the Nielsen research team, CTN estimates nearly 8.2 million college students view CTN every week.

Among the major advertisers using it are The Wrigley Co., Levi's, Wendy's, Universal Studios, Best Buy and Nintendo. "CTN allows us to do some precise targeting, eliminating any waste," says Lisa Donohue, senior vice president group media director for Starcom, which bought time on CTN for Nintendo. She says the company uses CTN to advertise different Nintendo games and runs one to two spots per hour in a continuous loop for the five to six week launch period for each game.

Tom Siqvelan, media planning and research director at Best Buy, says the company runs about 50 spots a week on CTN. He says the network helps the company reach college students, an important sub target for the chain's high tech products. "College students are a very important part of the young audience," he says.

Special sponsorships are also available, such as a Heisman watch, with profiles on Heisman Trophy candidates, which Wendy's sponsored on Mondays and Fridays.

Besides offering commercial time, CTN offers grass roots sponsorship opportunities at events it runs on college campuses. The Binge Tour, held at 10 colleges last year, was sponsored by Best Buy, which will sponsor another tour this year featuring the Smashing Pumpkins. A Best Buy truck appears at the events with the latest products inside for students to see. The company calls it a "fun zone," Siqvelan says.

Starcom also used a music tour for Nintendo last year, setting up tents and kiosks with Nintendo games. "In today's fragmented world we need to work harder to have our advertising connect,” Donohue says. “Music is a passion for college kids, so when I'm associated with a passion of theirs, it's a positive connection. There's more interaction, not just passive TV."

Rocco attributes the advertising sales success to a strong upfront. "We did 90 presentations to agencies and clients from April to June," he says. "We put together a big presentation with video and Powerpoint, which was very well received."

It was the company's first upfront and "the majority had never heard of us before," he admits. He’s more confident now, saying, “Advertisers can't get exposure to this demographic anywhere else. We're in their faces."