The proposed online auction for TV ad time could lower and eventually eat into network profits. That's according to a top Wall Street analyst, who believes media stock investors don't have much to
worry about--for now. Merrill Lynch's Jessica Reif Cohen writes that the eBay-enabled system is unlikely to make much headway, since both networks and a slew of major advertisers oppose it. Executives
at both broadcast and cable networks have expressed fervent opposition to the e-Media Exchange on the grounds that it would commoditize their product. Nine advertisers--including Wal-Mart, Microsoft
and Toyota--reportedly are prepared to pool together $50 million to test the system next January. But Cohen believes that its prospects are dimmed by the fact that "not a single one of the 10 largest
television advertisers is participating in the process."
--David Goetzl