18 Billion Reasons Why Spending on Cable Exceeds Broadcast Spending…Finally - Steve Yanovsky

I saw that ZenithOptimedia estimates that broadcast network ad spending will be flat this year while cable networks total spend will be up about 10 percent to 18 billion It39s about time this happenedBroadcast networks have been feeding us a steady diet of reality shows spinoffs and clones for many years How many versions of quotLaw and Orderquot do we need How many versions of quotCSIquot do we need How often can we watch amateurs dancingamp8230or singing before they become redundant And of course we are getting more and more game shows to watch in primeYes the broadcast networks still have the blockbuster programs that attract huge audiences We still watch the Super Bowl and the World Series on broadcast networks for now But even compelling sports programming like the Olympics and the NCAA men39s basketball championships big ratings producers are being spread out across a variety of cable networks in addition to the coverage on the host broadcast networks This is a great awareness and trial opportunity for secondary cable networks which carry the events We watch the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards on broadcast networks which deliver a strong audience spike but does it provide a halo to their standard primetime fareThe strongest most compelling programming in prime has all been on cable Not launched by an ad supported network but the first time Tony Soprano showed up on our televisions this was seismic This multiEmmy award winning program was like nothing we had seen before This was appointment viewing that owned Sunday night the 1 night HBO also brought us Sex and the City a polar opposite to The Sopranos in terms of content but no less riveting to its audience It showed this demo how to dress where to eat what to drink etc That39s pretty powerful for a television show Nothing on the broadcast networks is doing that Glee is selling a lot of music but is having less of an overall effect on a generation of womenThe list of breakout shows on cable continues to get longer Mad Men presents a period piece that we cannot get enough of We wait through delays in production and welcome it on to our various screens whenever a new season begins This multiEmmy award winning show has catapulted AMC into our evoked set of networks AMC Networks is now the name of Cablevision39s publicly owned programming spinoff This may not have happened with the success of Mad Men We are also seeing audiences built around The Closer and Burn Notice and many more prime time showsIt looks like all the broadcast networks are willing to bring us is safe franchise extending shows or clones of ones that have been successful on one of their rivals The creative risk taking entries are being left to cableWhen competing in a 500 channel universe you cannot be content to let your niche competitors introduce new brands while you rely on safer more expected entries So it39s no surprise that the ad spending has finally tipped in the favor of cable This dynamic will probably continue indefinitely given the current creative environmentSteve Yanovsky is a Partner at Customer Focused Solutions and can be reached at syanovskyoptonlinenetRead all Steveamp8217s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at Media MediationsCheck us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscomFollow our Twitter updates MediaBizBloggerThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaBizBloggerscom management or associated bloggers MediaBizBloggers is an open thought leadership platform and readers may share their comments and opinions in response to all commentaries

Become a Thought Leader.
Share your thought leadership article with industry professionals & have them archived in Thought Leadership

18 Billion Reasons Why Spending on Cable Exceeds Broadcast Spending…Finally - Steve Yanovsky

Author

Publish date

Channel

Archived in

Steve Yanovsky

Hispanic Leadership Roundtable: Inclusion, Mentorship, and Building the Next Generation (Video) - By Juan Ayala

More Videos:

Become a Thought Leader. Share your thought leadership article with industry professionals & have them archived in Thought Leadership

18 Billion Reasons Why Spending on Cable Exceeds Broadcast Spending…Finally - Steve Yanovsky

Enjoying This Commentary? There's More to Love

Steve Yanovsky

Hispanic Leadership Roundtable: Inclusion, Mentorship, and Building the Next Generation (Video) - By Juan Ayala

The payment was successful

Cookies

Become a Thought Leader.
Share your thought leadership article with industry professionals & have them archived in Thought Leadership