• Variety, Monday, March 16, 2009 9:30 AM

Although the TV business is being upended by YouTube, Hulu and the like, the major broadcast and cable networks are suffering less than other sectors, thanks to the continued demand for national television advertising. Since the meltdown began in earnest last fall, panicky advertisers are plowing the lion's share of their marketing resources into the old-media outlets that they know can move the goods.

The largest national TV players have been weathering the storm much better than local TV and radio, newspapers and magazines, digital and outdoor advertising. The larger cable nets also have the built-in bulwark against the downturn via subscriber fees from cable and satellite-TV operators.

Jack Myers, publisher of the JackMyers.com advertising forecast service, says the state of network TV advertising, "is not a disaster." Observers say the exodus of ad dollars has not hit at the national network level partly because the nets have given advertisers more time to decide when to trigger commercial buys.

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