• Mediaweek, Wednesday, March 21, 2007 2:13 PM

The broadcast networks should either stop charging advertisers integration fees to put their ads on the air or take the cash and use it to convert to a new second-by-second ratings system, according to Andy Jung, senior director, advertising media services, Kellogg Co.

The fees were put in place when someone had to manually place a commercial into sequence, a process that is now computerized. Jungs call them a "legacy charge from years ago" that has "no cost justification today and need to be phased out. It's time for this issue to be put on the table and addressed."

Association of National Advertisers president Bob Liodice, agrees, describing the fees as similar to ATM charges. "Let's get rid of them," he says. But Mike Shaw, ABC sales president, asked if he would forgo the fees or use the money for research, says: "It's a cost of doing business with the networks."

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