Fox and CBS say TV advertising holding up
Advertisers are moving forward with deals they signed last spring for billions of dollars in television commercial time, and remain willing to pay top dollar for additional spots, two top media executives said on Wednesday. They were speaking at a closely watched media conference, which comes amid fears that a sharp downturn in local advertising due to cutbacks by auto and financial sectors could quickly spread to the national TV market. Those fears have only been heightened by this week's financial upheaval. CBS president and CEO Leslie Moonves said political spending was heating up at the CBS-owned stations and stressed that it's historically a fourth-quarter event, not a third-quarter one. He predicted a $150 million political windfall at the stations -- particularly those in Pennsylvania, Florida and California, which is not a swing state but has a number of hot-button issues on the ballot. InterActiveCorp. chairman and CEO Barry Diller believes the social networking craze has gone too far, but the Web is only in the early stages of fulfilling its true potential as an advertising medium. Despite a recent deceleration in online display advertising growth momentum, he told an investor conference here Wednesday morning that he expects ad models based on traditional TV to play an increasing role online.
Fox and CBS say TV advertising holding up Moonves: 150 Million Reasons to Love the Election (Broadcasting&Cable) Diller: TV Ad Models Increasingly Applied to the Web (MediaWeek)