• by John Gaffney , July 1, 2003

The Big Ticket: There are so many mid-year, quarterly, biennial, perennial and down right up-to-the-minute advertising forecasts that I have changed my way of looking at them. They all have valid data. I don't doubt that. But now I look for little nuances (don't you hate that word?) that give me pause to think. So please excuse me all you researchers at Zenith Optimedia, but I focused on one brilliant sentence in your mid-year report. And it had nothing to do with numbers. It had to do with the recent TV upfront. The Zenith report was starting to detail its reasons that the $9 billion upfront may have been overhyped when it opined: "A hot upfront is a symptom of the growing scarcity of big audiences particular to the USA." Bingo. Not only is that statement true, I think everything else happening in the ad world comes from that in some way. Because brands and agencies are also starting to figure out that because there's only one big audience left, there must be some opportunity left in the subsets of the big audiences. That's why magazines are outperforming expectations. That's why newspapers are avoiding revenue collapse. It's why radio is flat instead of down. And it's the reason why non-traditional methods like product placement and guerilla marketing are finding traction. Great report, guys. Some good numbers in there too.

The Uber-Channel: Love or hate Clear Channel, and many in this business seem to choose the latter, they are excellent cross-platform marketers. Their new Music Guide Live!, a magazine designed to hype the local music scene in more than 30 markets, is the latest and best example of this. It is efficient for CC's outdoor venues and radio stations and gives advertisers another tool in the "away from home" tool kit.

At The Buzzer: Little mea culpa here. I was too glib a couple of weeks ago in saying that NBC Sports needed to get the Olympics bid signed and sealed or there would be no NBC Sports. I meant to say that it was crucial to its sports brand. But I have to admit that Notre Dame Football, NASCAR, the Triple Crown, pro tennis and a good golf lineup including the US Open is pretty respectable.