• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, June 15, 2011

Unemployment may remain high and consumer confidence middling, but top media-buying executives suggested Wednesday that clients have no plans to rein in spending, though there is a level of concern.

"No signs of a pullback yet," said Tim Spengler, who heads Initiative's North American operations, on a panel at the national cable convention.

One sign of business-as-usual for now is Initiative's decision to put down a significant amount of money in the coming October-December quarter as part of the upfront process, Spengler said.

However, Horizon Media chief Bill Koenigsberg, who has blasted the upfront process in the past, said he doesn't think the healthy upfront is a reliable "barometer" or "forecast for the future."

Like Spengler, he said "clients right now are cautious" and not "ready to throw any parades" about recessionary conditions in the rear-view mirror.

But Spengler and Koenisgberg ticked off a slew of categories that are spending heavily -- from autos to retail to pharma to consumer package-goods. "As long as those categories stay strong, the marketplace will stay strong," Koenigsberg said.

The only bumpy category mentioned is the quick-service restaurant business cited by Horizon's Koenigsberg. When the topic turned to measurement, MediaVest's Bill Tucker said "getting collective and comparative measurement across screens is really the big frontier in a converged world. We're not there yet."

Spengler downplayed the traditional interest in demo targeting and said his agency is looking for data indicating whether media consumption leads to purchasing or visiting a Web site or some other activity.

The agency is investing heavily in so-called single-source research. "We're paying money to get closer to an action," he said.

Koenigsberg added that in a multi-screen world there is a need for a common currency for "what are we trading on." He cited potential in the initiative from the IAB, 4As and ANA, which is looking for some common metric in the digital sphere and in cross-platform measurement.

The trade groups have commissioned Bain & Co. and MediaLink to lead the process.