Ad Pullback Doesn't Spare National TV

Economic anxiety may be seeping into some of the more insulated parts of the media world, including national advertising on US cable- and broadcast-television networks. In a bad sign for the media sector's third-quarter earnings, both Viacom Inc. and CBS Corp. cut their 2008 profit forecasts Friday, citing weakness in ad sales and the slowing economy. The disclosures come as ad executives are seeing more cuts in already-soft ad spending, as a result of the upheaval in global financial markets. As the economy has sputtered, local-television advertising has taken a big hit, falling 4.4% in the first half of 2008, according to TNS Media Intelligence. But few media companies have publicly disclosed much impact on national advertising for broadcast or cable TV.