• New York Post, Monday, June 15, 2009 9:30 AM

Booze ads are making serious inroads on TV, thanks to the recession. This year, with ad revenue for broadcast TV off 4.2%, local broadcast affiliates that didn't used to take liquor ads are actively courting the $451 million distilled-spirits business.

"More and more people are accepting liquor advertising," says Matt Carroll, CMO at Patron, maker of tequila and rum. His tequila brand gained access to NBC-owned stations and has been running ads on "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" since Conan took over for Jay Leno on June 1. An ad for Absolut Vodka during the Feb. 9 broadcast of the Grammy Awards, marked the first time a liquor spot appeared on any CBS-owned local broadcast station.

None of the broadcast networks currently air national ads for alcohol beyond wine and beer, for fear of alienating viewers. The practice is also common on cable and on independently-owned stations around the country. But the spirits industry believes it is only a matter of time before the broadcast networks revisit the idea. "We're optimistic that the barrier will fall of its own anachronism," says Frank Coleman, of the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S.

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