About Us

CLUB MATTER

March 2004

Do you ever wish your club had more exposure in your community? Well now you can get your club's name out via the television using a new tool offered by U.S. Figure Skating.

The association is pleased to offer our clubs and programs the opportunity to buy a personalized commercial spot to use for local television promotion. It is a 30-second spot featuring top skating stars such as Michelle Kwan and Todd Eldredge as well as the voices of Peggy Fleming and Dick Button.

The spot is a general promotion for U.S. Figure Skating that can be customized with your club's name and phone number on the last five-second frame. To see a sample of the spot visit the clubs area of U.S. Figure Skating Online (www.usfigureskating.org).

How to use the commercial

There are two ways to use the spot on television to promote your club. It can be used as a paid commercial or as a public service announcement (PSA).

If you are a rink promoting your Basic Skills program, the spot should be a paid commercial (most stations only allow nonprofits to run PSAs). The cost to run the spot will vary, based on the time of day you want it run and the estimated viewership at that time.

Clubs or nonprofit groups may be able to use the spot as a PSA to get TV exposure at little or no cost.

The guidelines for airing PSAs vary greatly by city and station, so contact your local stations. The station can provide information and guidelines to help you get the spot on air.

Be sure to tell them you have a 30-second spot and ask them what time slots are available for PSAs. Most stations will rotate PSAs through a variety of time slots.

Clubs ordering the commerical will receive a VHS tape and a version in the Beta SP format. This format should be acceptable at all television stations.

The cost of the commercial tapes is $55 total including shipping and handling. You will get a VHS copy and a BetaCamSP broadcast copy. The turnaround time will be approximately two weeks.

To order the commercial tapes, or if you have any questions, please call Susi Wehrli, at 719.635.5200 ext. 447 or e-mail swehrli@usfigureskating.org

Why purchase a customized spot?

This is a dynamic way to promote your club and its affilitaioin with U.S. Figure Skating. The spot features great footage form ABC of the top U.S. skaters and you pay only for putting your name on the spot.

Is there a guarantee the spot will be on TV?

If you use the spot for paid advertising you should have no trouble getting the spot on the air during a specific time period. If you use the spot as a PSA there is no guarantee as to when or if it will run. Your spot will compete against many other nonprofit groups for the same free air time.

Why is television the most utilized medium?

The following statistics were provided by KRDO-TV, Colorado Springs, Colo.

• People spend more time watching TV than any other medium - four hours per day!
• 78 percent of people surveyed said TV is the "most influential" form of communication
• TV gets nearly half the votes for "most authoritative" communication medium and 74 percent for "most exciting"
• TV is the most dominant news source

What can television do for you?

• Reach decision-making consumers
• Build your image
• Provide maximum exposure for the club
• Enhance name recognition
• Give the most cost-efficient advertising
• Create product visibility
• Reach 98 percent of households
• Offer sight, sound, motion and emotion like no other medium