Cable Sports Ad Market On The Upswing After Tough '08-09 Season
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Levy Says Turner Sports Ahead Of
Where They Thought They Would Be |
Cable's sports properties have "achieved solid if unspectacular ad sales figures this year after enduring a very difficult '08-'09 stretch" that saw auto manufacturers and financial firms cut spending, according to CABLEFAX DAILY. Both data and anecdotal evidence "point to this fact: any cable nets that report ad shortcomings during the current earnings season won't be able to blame the sports genre." Turner Sports President of Sales, Distribution & Sports David Levy: "There's a very healthy scatter market right now. We are selling (playoff) baseball extremely well. ... It's way ahead of where we thought we would be." Levy noted that TBS' regular-season baseball inventory "sold out," and TNT's NBA Playoffs coverage "delivered handsomely this spring." He indicated that '09 ad revenue across Turner Sports' portfolio is "flat to slightly ahead of '08 numbers." With analysts predicting "gains in 3Q cable ad spending and the sports industry amid a generous fall/winter full of NFL, NHL, and NBA action -- plus the healthier economic outlook now versus in July -- it's safe to assume that sports ad spending has improved over the last 2 months." ESPN/ABC Sports Customer Marketing & Sales President Ed Erhardt: "In this kind of marketplace, people want security, (and) sports has that." Versus VP/Marketing Solutions & Sports Sales Steve Margosian said that the net's college football slate "will meet its financial goals for advertising, as did its Tour de France coverage." Margosian: "There's a clear amount of energy building against the NHL by advertisers and marketers ... a lot of interest." TBS considers A-B, BlackBerry and Chase Card Services "among its lead MLB playoffs sponsors," while ESPN is seeing "growth in men's grooming, insurance, non-Detroit autos and telecom." Versus also is "enjoying success through autos, distilled spirits, movie studios and insurance companies" (CABLEFAX DAILY, 10/9).
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