• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, September 30, 2008

A General Electric representative said Tuesday that CFO Keith Sherin's comments last week about weak auto-category advertising at NBC Universal were in reference to NBCU's local stations. GE's Sherin said on Sept. 25 that "as some sectors of the economy have pressure, that hurts some of the national advertising like in the auto segment."

In an article titled "GE: NBC Broadcast Ailing, Cable Strong" on Sept. 26, MediaPost indicated that Sherin was referring to advertising at the NBC network.

The GE representative wrote in an e-mail that Sherin was referencing the national spot market, where spending drops by automakers have hurt the stations. Sherin was not referring to any issues with advertising on the NBC network.

The representative wrote: "We have not seen pressure at the national level yet, but we are keeping a close eye on it."

NBC CEO Jeff Zucker also made similar comments last week.