• New York Post, Sunday, November 15, 2009 7:51 PM

While advertisers traditionally have been willing to shell out more for CNN's venerable brand, broad audience reach and less-opinionated programming, the network's recent ratings slide is likely to bring down its ad prices.

Media buyers say CNN has the benefit of 30 years in the business and a trusted name that still resonates with advertisers. "All in all, CNN has tried to be a force for objective journalism," says Steve Lanzano, executive VP of MPG. "I think that's the reason why advertisers aren't shying away." But that could change.

CNN lost the overall ratings race several years ago, but the problem has gotten worse this year. While viewers flock to CNN during major events like election nights, it struggles to stem viewer defection in slower news cycles. CNN downplays the ratings issue and says it takes a "cross-platform" approach to ad sales to bolster its TV business. A majority of its ad buys are package deals that incorporate advertising on another CNN property, such as CNN.com or sister network, HLN.

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