• by April 9, 2004

FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS - Now that Madison Avenue is nudging the networks in the direction of a Wall Street-like upfront market structure, some people are wondering where the new rules and conditions will end, or even if they might ultimately begin to approximate the kind of SEC-regulated trading practices that govern the financial industry's equities and commodities markets. That would indeed seem to be the direction things are moving in, based on the early talk coming from NUDG (Network Upfront Discussion Group), which among other things plans to propose a "closing bell" to daily upfront ad sales negotiations. "What are they going to do, arrest advertisers who continue to do business after the bell," one former network sales honcho quipped to the Riff, adding, "That's what they'd do on Wall Street. They'd bring them before the Securities & Exchange Commission, or they'd bring them before (New York Attorney General) Eliot Spitzer." The reality, says the exec, is that even Wall Street continues to trade after its closing bell these days via various after hours exchanges.

The real issue, he says, is not the "cold pizza syndrome" of bleary-eyed media buyers haggling into the wee hours of the night. The problem with the 24/7 nature of upfront sales negotiations is the sense of panic that the rapid disposal of so much prime inventory can create. And punching clocks isn't about to fix that problem. In fact, it could exacerbate it. Imagine a buyer getting close to wrapping up a deal when the bell rings and he or she has to pack up for the day. How much sleep do you think they'll get that night worrying whether the package will still be there in the morning, and how anxious do you think they'll be the following morning when the opening bell goes off? If it's a buyer's market, maybe not so much. But if it's anywhere near the kind of seller's market it's been in most recent years, we're talking about a lot of angst. The truth is that the prime-time broadcast network upfront marketplace is still a relatively finite supply and it's growing infinitely more finite by the moment. Just wait until Nielsen improves its representation of Hispanic viewers and until it begins factoring DVR ratings into the mix. So, as long as buyers and planners and their clients continue to look at prime-time network rating points as being a unique supply of something that they can't get anywhere else, demand will continue to outstrip that supply, markets will move fast, prices will soar, and everyone will complain. Now if they ever get the idea that network inventory can somehow be interchanged with other stuff - say cable inventory, or maybe even print - well, then that may cause some bells to ring in a few heads on broadcast row.

HERE'S A LITTLE DIDDY ABOUT JACK AND DIANE - Actually, it's about John and Jon. That's John Mellencamp and Jon Mandel. Mellencamp, the rocker, will perform at a Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation "Man of the Year" dinner in New York April 29 honoring Mandel, the media buyer, and one of the foundation's biggest supporters. Hopefully, many of the media industry luminaries who will be in attendance won't feel compelled to break out into a bout of "network-battle-of-the-bands." Among those planning to attend are Mandel's partner Dene Callas, Carat's Charlie Rutman, PHD's Steve Grubbs, Infinity Broadcasting's John Sykes, CBS' JoAnn Ross, WB's Bill Morningstar, Discovery's Joe Abruzzese and Nielsen's Susan Whiting and anyone else who wants to snag one of the tickets that are still available can email Kyler Henwood at khale@jdrf.org.