• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, June 28, 2007

During her opening keynote at OMMA Video this morning, Janet Kestin became the second big Madison Avenue exec to bash the rising costs of traditional TV advertising, and to suggest that there is a going backlash that might â¬" in part â¬" be fueling some of the rising spending in online media, particularly online video.

â¬oeIâ¬"m finding television, â¬~I donâ¬"t get it,â¬"⬠Kestin said utilizing parenthetical creative parlance to suggest TV is actually become a paradox. â¬oeItâ¬"s just costing people more and more and itâ¬"s driving people away.â¬

Kestin, in fact, echoed a key point made by Universal McCann ad forecaster Bob Coen during his midyear update for the advertising industry earlier this week.

â¬oeThe real surprise is an apparent boycott of the major television networks,⬠Coen said, referring to the downward trending in TV ad spending, especially for the Big 4 broadcast networks. â¬oeTheir prices have been escalating â¬" going up about four times the rate of regular inflation,⬠said Coen, adding, â¬oeItâ¬"s not too surprising that the second-, third-, and fourth-quarter have been so dismal for them.⬠And of course theyâ¬"re down this year when compared with the first quarter of 2006, which included NBCâ¬"s coverage of the Winter Olympic Games.â¬

Kind of makes you wonder about the robust CPM and volume games the broadcast networks have been crowing about during this yearâ¬"s upfront, and the coverage the trade press has been affording them, doesnâ¬"t it?