• by David Kaplan , November 10, 2004

The presidential election and the Summer Olympics helped make the networks the real winners in the third quarter, as combined ad revenues for the ABC, CBS, and NBC TV networks were up by 32.61 percent for the third quarter of 2004.

That percentage rise represents a gain of nearly $694 million compared to quarter three revenues for 2003, according to the Broadcast Cable Financial Management Association's (BCFM) report on figures compiled by Ernst & Young. Total net revenues for the first nine months of 2004 were up by 15.78 percent when compared with 2003.

Not surprisingly, sports and news showed tremendous gains in particular, the BCFM study found. Sports ad dollars totaled nearly $1.03 billion for the quarter, a 214 percent gain over the same period in 2003.

The news category was up by 21.2 percent in the third quarter, and by more than five percent year-to-date when compared to quarterly and year-to-date results for the 2003 non-election year.

"As expected, the combination of Summer Olympics and a Presidential election year are playing a significant role in this year's advertising revenues," said Mary M. Collins, president and CEO of BCFM. "Moreover, results for quarter three, which represents the lion's share of the summer period, are up for the third consecutive year."

The morning daypart also showed significant rewards for the networks, with the morning posting a gain of more than 10 percent for the quarter, while the daytime and children's categories reflected modest declines of 3.24 percent and 2.12 percent respectively. Also on the down side, prime-time advertising declined by 3.65 percent during the quarter.