Geoff Elliott and Lara Sinclair | October 05, 2009Article from:...

Geoff Elliott and Lara Sinclair | October 05, 2009
Article from: The Australian

TELEVISION networks are reporting a rapid rebound in advertising spending, with Nine boss David Gyngell declaring it's the fastest ad pick-up he's ever seen.

In an interview with Media, Mr Gyngell said media buys for October had been strong but November was exceeding last year's numbers and media companies could now look forward to a strong Christmas push.

"I'm sure that Seven and Ten are in the same situation," he said. "For November we will beat last year's numbers and that really means that the market has gone from being down about 13 per cent in metropolitan television to probably being down three or four per cent at most or perhaps even better than that. On a year-on-year basis it is incredible and it has happened in a very fast period of time -- just the last four weeks. I'm hearing it from other media too. Newspapers and magazines have been strong."

Seven's national sales director James Warburton also acknowledged the turnaround.

"The last quarter looks particularly strong, and a good Christmas for retail will aid in dragging forward demand for 2010," he said in an emailed statement.

Ten declined to comment but pointed to recent comments from chief executive Nick Falloon.

On Friday he said in a statement that Ten was "soundly positioned not only to weather the current economic conditions but also to benefit from opportunities arising in the sector".

Last month Mr Falloon told The Australian there was evidence that the worst was over.

"Certainly that is what has been evident over the last month or so, and hopefully that continues," he said.

One sign of the strengthening TV advertising market has been an increase in the number of low-paying advertisers that Seven, Nine and Ten are punting from their schedule in favour of higher-priced commercials.

Big-budget advertisers that have used their buying power to stitch up low-priced advertising deals are finding that their ads are being pulled in favour of smaller advertisers who are paying more for the airtime.

While the networks undertake to rebook the ads into other spots on their schedule, some advertisers are finding themselves unable to secure space in high-demand programming.

Strong demand for video advertising has flowed through to the online space, where online video placements are among the strongest growth sectors.



http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,26165029-7582,00.html