ADVERTISERS NOW SPENDING AS MUCH ON CABLE AS ON BROADCAST

Although advertisers have increased their upfront spending for broadcast television by about 10 percent, they have increased them even more — by about 15 percent — for cable networks, the Wall Street Journal reported today (Monday). The result: advertisers for the the first time are spending as much on cable networks as on broadcast networks. In an interview with the newspaper, Anthony DiClemente, a media analyst at Barclays Capital, said, “There are two drivers that have helped bring cable to parity with broadcast. … One is the shift of viewers from broadcast to cable, which boosts cable ratings and inventory available for sale, and then also the narrowing of the pricing gap between broadcast and cable inventory.” It also helps that some big broadcast TV stars, like Oprah Winfrey and Conan O’Brien, have jumped ship from broadcast and have made their way to cable. That result: broadcast viewership has fallen 4 percent, while cable network is up 4 percent.