Loss of Advertisers on Spanish Sports Radio as a Result of the Coronavirus: the Case of Carrusel Deportivo

Abstract

The coronavirus pandemic created a new context in the Spanish media, not only from the point of view of content and professional routines, but also in terms of its sources of funding. This research analyzes the presence of advertisers in sports venues and specifically in the leading program of Spanish radio, Carrusel Deportivo, from Cadena SER, before and during the health crisis. At that time in the context of the state of alarm the Spanish Government regulated the presence of the announcements of the bookmakers on the radio, until then the most common in sports broadcasts. The study combines quantitative and qualitative content analysis and reveals that the presence of advertisers was reduced substantially in this context and that, in addition, the brands that decided to continue advertising did so from a very different perspective than the one used before the outbreak of the health crisis. The ads were, during the pandemic, shorter, less diverse and less creative, and prompted changes in the sports program itself. This situation opens up a scenario of uncertainty regarding the financing mechanisms of sports radio in the short and medium term.