• New York Post, Tuesday, April 10, 2007 11:01 AM

You could argue that it's a buyer's market out there in the greater ad world now that consumers have taken greater control of their media consumption. Content can be consumed on computer screens, iPods, mobile phones, video game devices, as well as TV, which means that this year, during the annual TV upfront ad sales season, advertisers are starting to realize that they, and not the networks, have the upper hand when it comes to negotiating the sale of commercial time.

Thanks to the proliferation of social networking, online video and other eyeball-averting Web phenomena, advertisers are heading into the 2007 upfront season with a firm grasp of the 30-second spot's dwindling influence. As consumers zip past commercials with their DVRs, or turn to their computers when they can't, the networks are responding by tacking on more product placements and other marketing tie-ins, which can included online advertising.

"There are enough opportunities that no one vendor will dictate that you take it or leave it," said Rob O'Keefe, group account director at R&R Partners, which buys at the upfront for the Las Vegas Conventions & Visitors Authority. "Once you've played the game and realize you have the upper hand, it's the other party that blinks first," said media consultant and author Joseph Jaffe.

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