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May be hurting inThe scatter market continues to soar, with prices on the rise and upfront holds coming through, with advertisers so far committing to spending all of the money they put on hold with the networks during the upfront.
Prices for 30-second spots on the broadcast and many cable networks are between 30 and 50 percent higher than they were in May, writes MediaPost.
The high prices are due to several factors. Because upfront holds are coming through, less inventory is coming available. The networks are also holding back additional inventory until they can see the impact that commercial ratings will have on guarantees to advertisers. Too, ABC, CBS and NBC have decided to sell portions of their remaining ad inventory that they should have given to advertisers as makegoods. Now those makegoods will come due in the new season, further tightening inventory levels in the fourth quarter.
Categories showing the most scatter buying have been movies, domestic automotive, retail, fast food and wireless/telecom.
Some advertisers who sat out the upfront, like Johnson & Johnson, may be in trouble, according to one media buyer who wished to remain anonymous. Last season, J&J was able to do sizable post-upfront deals with ABC, CBS and NBC, though not Fox. This year, particularly the fourth quarter, will be a real challenge for the company.
If several of the season’s new shows that are currently not projected to do well end by becoming hits, that would inject more available ratings points into the marketplace and could close the gap between the upfront and scatter pricing.
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