Television ad sales may trump tough times

Despite the troubled economy, most advertisers are not drastically cutting their national TV ad budgets for next season, which might bode well for the broadcast networks -- if they don't take hard-line positions regarding rate increases. Although many analysts project "upfront" sales for the bulk of advertising slots next season could slide by 20 percent or more compared with last year, most media buyers said the slippage might fall in the 5 percent-8 percent range. Even if the money is not allocated in the upfront negotiations currently underway, they added, it will get spent in the "scatter" market, i.e. closer to a show's airdate. Last year's upfront take floated around $9 billion, and most buyers said this year's total will range between $8.2 billion and $8.5 billion.