• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, April 10, 2012

For all the talk about the growth of online video advertising, only a tiny portion of TV networks’ advertising sales is actually digital, according to a couple of TV ad sales chiefs.

“It’s smaller than you think it is,” Discovery’s Joe Abruzzese said during the Outfront conference in New York. “It’s probably a couple of percent of our business.”

“Honestly, the advertisers are not following it. Some advertisers are, but not all of them. It’s not 25% of our business,” he added.

Turner’s Donna Speciale concurred, noting, “It’s a very small percentage, but I think it’s going to change.”

Initiative’s Chris Magel said he’s been pushing his clients to consider online video more, but they still haven’t budged. In fact, he says that despite all his pitching, when Initiative organizes its digital upfront strategy, it only gets about three of its 25 active clients to participate in it.