CW merger leaves $300 million in ads up for grabs at the upfronts. But will that money go online?
By Tom Tapp
With the WB and UPN merging, Variety does the simple math and discovers, with one less net competing, there should be an additional $300 million up for grabs at the coming upfronts.
Variety:
The disappearance of one network reduces programming and ad inventory by 10 hours. Marketers looking for the young demos displaced by the demise of the WB and UPN could make bets on where the aud goes, or just use the opportunity to move money to MySpace.com and other online venues.
The broadcast nets could be on the prowl for some of that money -- but with Fox's median age inching up toward 40 and NBC's climbing toward 50, there may be fewer options on broadcast for marketers looking for the 18-34 demo.
That could help cable nets like MTV, BET, or even Univision. The extra dollars could also help make up for shortfalls throughout the industry. Or will it?
One hint of what advertisers might be thinking came last week when Ad Age reported that media agency Starcom's CEO John Muszynski, who controls $8.5 billion in advertising budgets, told a gathering:
"While TV is not extinct, the upfront as we knew it has come to an end, yielding the birth, this year, of a true video upfront, which will adapt and transform because consumers say so."
Mr. Muszynski, who was the first to encourage clients to think of investing in cross-platform video opportunities across TV, video on demand, wireless and PCs back in 2004, suggested that advertisers would hold money out of the market for the myriad offers that come along outside the traditional fall start of the TV season.
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