• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, March 31, 2004

Moving with a momentum not always associated with trade association initiatives, the influential TV Advertising committee of the Association of National Advertisers has approved the framework and the mandate for a special subcommittee aimed at resolving long-standing issues surrounding the network upfront advertising marketplace. Barely two weeks after the initiative was proposed by Carat CEO David Verklin and embraced by the ANA's leadership during the association's March 10 TV Advertising Forum, the initiative has been endorsed by the ANA's legal counsel and the group plans to hold one - possibly two - meetings to tackle at least one vexing issue prior to the start of 2004-05 negotiations: a so-called "stop-the-clock" measure that would set a daily close for upfront orders, ensuring that once the upfront sales action reaches a frenetic pace, network sales executives cannot pressure media buyers into the wee hours of the night.

"That's something we think is doable," Bob Liodice, president-CEO of the ANA told MediaDailyNews Tuesday during a freewheeling interview that touched on a number of crucial media issues facing national advertisers.

"The legal fit seems to work," said Liodice, emphasizing that the committee plans to have representatives from all sides of the table - advertisers, agencies, networks and the leading TV advertising trade bureaus - and that the focus would be on working together to improved the "productivity" of the upfront sales process to the benefit of all concerned.

"It's unlikely we would issue any bylaws," explained Liodice. He said any measures adopted via the committee would come as voluntary trade practices. The only restrictions, he said, would be that the group cannot "directly or indirectly" discuss anything that would impact upfront market pricing. Instead, Liodice said the focus would be on rules of conduct and issues of timing, such as the "stop-the-clock measure."

Another measure Liodice is advocating, but which has not yet been taken up by the group, would be his proposal to create a bifurcated upfront that would be comprised of two semi-seasonal marketplaces: one taking place during the upfront's traditional late spring timing that would focus on purchasing inventory that runs during the first half of the TV season; the other would take place in the late fall and would be used to purchase advertising time on programming airing during the second half of the season.

The network upfront marketplace typically breaks in June following a series of presentations by the major television networks on their schedules and new shows for the upcoming season.

Liodice said the bifurcated approach would address two key concerns of his members. The first is that the rampant nature if prime-time schedule changes often means the programs advertisers buy in May result in a completely different mix by the time the "second season" starts in January. By moving to a second phase upfront in October or November, Liodice said advertisers and media buyers would have a more realistic sense of the programs that would actually be airing during the second half of the season. The other reason for a bifurcated marketplace, he said, was that many marketers don't know what their TV advertising budgets will be for the following year, when they conduct negotiations during the traditional upfront timing of late spring.