Now four months into the 2020-21 TV season, major TV networks are still dealing with worse-than-normal audience under-delivery advertising promises this season. That makes it harder to have makegood viewership rating guarantees made in the upfront period.
The bad news for U.S. network TV ad spending is that it will likely see fourth-quarter 2020 results come in with the worst ad-spending erosion since the second quarter of the year — a significantly negative bellwether for the first quarter of the 2020-21 broadcast season. The good news is that the balance of the season should see upward momentum, thanks to easy comparisons with 2020.
CBS hopes to get a bigger bang out of the very last episode of The Big Bang Theory. The network is seeking between $1.2 million and $1.5 million for a 30-second ad in the finale of the veteran series, according to two people familiar with negotiations between CBS and its advertisers.
Third-quarter national TV advertising was hit with double-digit declines, according to one industry report — with an estimate of a slight increase in the current fourth quarter. MoffettNathanson Research estimates third-quarter TV network advertising to be off 10% —with Nielsen C3 18-49 primetime viewership sinking 14%.
Dave Campanelli, Horizon Media’s national TV ad director says his clients are are “fed up” with “paying huge year-over-year pricing increases, whether ratings are up or down.”
TV advertising took a sharp hit in September. Standard Media Index says ad revenues sank nearly 5.8% in the month versus a year ago. Broadcast TV network spending was down 13.2%, with prime-time revenue down 16%. All cable networks were virtually flat — up 0.7% for September.
Exclusives
As advertisers and agencies wrap up their 2016-17 upfront negotiations, they might want to consider an analysis released this morning by an influential Wall Street analyst reviewing changes in the U.S. audience reach of Nielsen-rated TV networks. While ratings continue to serve as the currency that are the basis of most TV advertising deals, big TV advertisers still use media plans that seek to optimize the reach of viewers in the TV universe.
Poltrack: Nets To Post 9.5% Ad Gain In ’16
In sharp contrast to other weak TV ad estimates for next year, CBS senior executive David Poltrack says broadcast TV network advertising business will soar to near double-digit percentage gains in 2016. Speaking at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference, Poltrack, chief research officer of CBS Corp., says broadcast networks will climb a big 9.5% in advertising next year.
Signals Weak For Television Ad Market
Broadcast television ratings have dropped sharply this season. And that, combined with the weak economy and competition from other media, augurs badly for the spring ad sales market, ad buyers and analysts say. Some of them are predicting that the broadcast networks’ take will be steady to slightly lower in the so-called upfront, the annual bazaar in which TV executives pitch their new shows for the coming season.
Television’s $9.2 Billion Pageant Begins
Starting today, the Big Five broadcast networks will wine and dine and hopefully wow Madison Avenue and their clients, America’s biggest corporations, into committing ad dollars to their fall schedules. What’s new this year is there’ll be three rookies on stage: NBC’s Bob Greenblatt, ABC’s Paul Lee and The CW’s Mark Pedowitz. The networks will vie for firm commitments from ad agencies on roughly $9.2 billion in commercial time being offered over the next two weeks, which would be up nicely from last year’s nearly $8.4 billion in sales.
TV Nets Expect Jump In Ad Spending
As network executives start to share with advertisers and agencies their schedules for 2011-12, ad revenue could grow by as much as $1 billion.
Trojan’s vibrating massager ads suggest the topic is no longer so taboo — but It has sparked debate at TV networks
