WHILE NBC SOARS, CBS SLUMPS

While last season’s fourth-rated network, NBC, is off to a rousing start as the No. 1 network among the highly prized 18-49-year-old age group, CBS, last season’s champ, has seen its ratings slump further than any other network. They’re down about 20 percent in the young demo, a circumstance that could cause the network to issue “make goods” to advertisers should it fail to deliver the ratings it has guaranteed them. Nevertheless, today’s (Friday) Los Angeles Times observed that “not all Wall Street analysts are ready to hit the panic button yet.” It cited a report to clients from ABC Capital Markets analyst David Banks, who estimated that just 1 percent of CBS’s total revenue is at risk from a “high single-digit ratings decline.” A J.P. Morgan memo noted that CBS could satisfy advertisers with make-goods using inventory that it has set aside to promote its shows — or it could use spots during next year’s Super Bowl pregame programs for make-goods.