TV Ads: Not Dead

Mark Twain once famously said that rumors of his death were greatly exaggerated. In 2007, the 30-second television ad is, according to some pundits, about to become irrelevant, done in by TiVo, the Internet, too many channels, and other stuff.

Well, early signals from ABC and Fox are that advertising revenue is up, and that even programs that draw something other than the favored young male demographic were enjouing brisk ad sales. The "Up-fronts" allow big advertisers to lock in big ad buys at discounted prices, but the catch is they have to do this in the spring, well before the fall season begins.

According to this Los Angeles Times story, Fox has been selling ads at rates about 9 percent higher than last year and ABC at about 10 percent more. The advertisers are going to get one big concession, though: they will pay ad rates based on the number of viewers who watch the commercials, not the number who watch the show.

Gabcast! Club MediaNote #56