• by David Goetzl , December 7, 2007

The TVB's fledgling e-biz platform, TVB ePort, now has 605 stations ready to accept orders electronically from spot buyers. TVB said the stations, in 178 markets, cover more than 96% of the U.S.

Broadcasters believe allowing for electronic orders and other transactions will upgrade their competitive position, as they compete with the Internet for key ad dollars.

Buyers have maintained that the traditional manual system is outdated and brings excess work--which was one of the reasons the TVB wanted to build the system in the first place.

"TVB ePort's momentum is continuing to swell--we passed the 500-station mark just under a month ago," said TVB president Chris Rohrs. "We are still hearing from additional TV stations every day, and we expect ePort will be everywhere."

EPort was announced in February and is now in beta mode.

The National Association of Broadcasters provided funding for development, with sell-side entities, such as station groups and rep firms, also contributing. Station groups on board range from the large O&O groups to those with only a collection of channels.

While ePort currently is only set up to allow spot buyers to send orders, TVB says by mid-2008, the end-to-end sales process will be possible.