http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/tv/la-fi-ct-upfront7-2009aug07,0,7061980.story
Excerpts: "Buckling under the pressure of a weak advertising market, the broadcast networks have cut prices for commercial time, a rare setback for companies used to commanding ever-higher prices. It shows how the 1 1/2 -year-long recession is finally catching up with the networks, which rely on a rise in ad revenue to cover the escalating costs of prime-time, news and sports programming. The retrenchment marks the first time in years that ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox have failed to leverage their large audiences to boost ad prices during the industry's annual bazaar for TV commercials. In previous years, advertisers grudgingly paid the higher rates despite years of declining ratings because the networks still delivered larger audiences than any other media outlet." "In May, when they unveiled their fall prime-time schedules, network chiefs insisted they wouldn't lower ad rates. But as negotiations over ad sales dragged on into summer, advertisers refused to make deals unless the networks slashed their prices. At that point the networks realized that they were not immune to the economic downturn. About three weeks ago, after two months of stalled negotiations and with the fall TV season quickly approaching, network sales teams quietly agreed to lower ad rates to break the impasse. One media buyer, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the negotiations, said advertisers held the upper hand in this year's negotiations." "NBC had the added challenge of selling five hours of "The Jay Leno Show" at 10 p.m. Advertisers initially refused to pay prime-time rates for the comedian's new show, although one person close to the situation said buyers eventually agreed to pay rates closer to those for a lower-cost prime-time news program such as "Dateline."" --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
