Goldstrom said local stations mostly have been willing to reduce the audiences they guarantee to advertisers -- along with corresponding commercial rates. According to the SQAD Data research firm, the cost of local prime-time advertising aimed at audiences ages 25-54 dropped more than 6 percent since the last quarter of 2006 -- from $507 for every 11,000 viewing households to $470.
"Usually, there's like a 5- to-6-percent increase," Goldstrom says.
Figures from The Hungerford Report, an audited report of broadcast advertising revenue, show total broadcast revenue in the Baltimore market, excluding political advertising, down 5.7 percent for the first nine months of 2007, compared with the same period in 2006.
Still, local TV executives insist they are not pushing any panic buttons. The downturn in revenue is cyclical, mostly due to the overall economic slump, they say. And while their new-year line-ups might be filled with less-than-spectacular fare, including shows past their prime (NBC's ER) or ones that were marginal successes to begin with (CBS' Jericho), they're projecting confidence that new programming of any kind will be enough to see them through to the end of the strike ... provided the strike doesn't extend much beyond the first quarter.
NBC, for example, has brought that oldest of network war-horses, Law & Order, back for an 18th season; also new -- at least to NBC viewers -- will be episodes of Law & Order: Criminal Intent that have been airing since October on the USA cable network. The Peacock Network's slate of reality programs includes a new season of The Biggest Loser and another round of Donald Trump browbeating potential new employees -- such as Kiss' Gene Simmons -- on The Celebrity Apprentice.
That may seem a long way from "must-see TV," but the network affiliates at least sound happy.
"I am very pleased with what their plan is right now," WBAL President and General Manager Jordan Wertlieb says of his network's offerings. "I have to defer to their judgment, and they are basically telling me they are in a very good position through the first quarter."
Among the bigger guns CBS will be counting on are new runs of the reality shows Big Brother (Feb. 12) and Survivor (Feb. 7). Also returning: the Drew Carey-hosted game show Power of 10 and a third season of the ratings-challenged Julia Louis-Dreyfus sitcom, The New Adventures of Old Christine (Feb. 4).
