• by John Gaffney , June 4, 2003

Taking Stock: Seems to me that we're at one of those times in business where we're at a break in the action. Time to take stock of where we are and where we're going. The FCC discussions are entering a new phase and time will tell how the new rulings affect the media ownership landscape. The upfront is pretty much over and will need some more analysis to figure out why so much money rushed so fast to TV. It is clear to me that the advertising business will and should turn its attention now to the issue of measurement. P&G now says it wants closer audits of its dollars spent. Starcom has teamed up with TiVo in a new data analysis deal. A new magazine study from Northwestern University is expected to shake things up in the fall. Arbitron and Nielsen both are experimenting with new technologies to closer measure all kinds of media. And new companies are bound to sprout up with new solutions as the year plays out. This will mean a turn toward challenging the fundamentals of the ad business. My hope is that a spirit of cooperation and open mindedness prevails in any debate. That will be as important as the measurement debate itself.

Serious Momentum: The Internet has more momentum right now that anytime since - dare I say it - 1999. Successful content and business models have settled in. Just look at the newspaper sites for that evidence. Advertisers can't afford to turn away. Look at the last IAB report for that evidence. And email marketing with its inherent spam problem, has actually been put into perspective. Maybe the planets are aligning again. I'm not ready for any IPOs personally, but business is rock solid.

At The Buzzer: Don't tell anyone, but I think the Jayson Blair/New York Times deconstruction may be ebbing.