Since I began writing for TV Board this past January, I've always pegged the U.S. TV ad spend at approximately $60 billion and online ad revenue at nearly $17 billion - with 44+% heading in the
direction of search, and somewhere around a $775 million (2007) from broadband video. I have been out proselytizing -- without picking up any acolytes, to my knowledge - to have our industry
categorize all video viewing as television - just the way Webster translated it eons ago: "the transmission of video images" - so that revenue would be more equitably spread among the new emerging
televisual platforms.
In our current state of video reception, an episode of ABC's "Lost" or Fox's "House" viewed on a flat screen at home, an iPod on the move, a high-speed connected
computer at work or even a DVD from the first TV season is still a televisual experience, in my opinion. I figured if this generic term becomes acceptable without causing too much consternation among
the ossified agency, silos then the consumer would be the beneficiary of more marketing muscle, thought and dollars targeted at their viewing experience. which would probably provide more relevance
and the plethora of "c" words - such as control, choice, convenience - circulating in the digital realm. And ultimately, the advertisers would glean more cents for their coffers - more "cs."
Recently. though, I've read and heard that $60 billion in TV spend was a low number and that the traditional TV industry is poised to spill over the $70 billion hump this year. Did a little
research and found that I had inadvertently diminished it spend stature in the community. According to SNL Kagan Media and others, the numbers read like this:
(Category and 2006
Billings follow)
Broadcast Networks $19,659,000,000
Barter $ 2,902,000,000
National Spot $10,631,000,000
Local Spot $12,944,000,000
Total Broadcast
$46,136,000,000
Broadcast + Cable $69,017,000,000
Broadband Video $775,000,000
I wanted to take this opportunity to apologize to all of the media planning and buying
traditionalists out there who are continually bombarded with the deafening taunts of "the death of TV" and yet haven't fled the industry. Having just discovered my $10 billion mistake, I wanted you to
know that it wasn't my intention to demean a powerful medium's stature in our community.
On the other hand, given that I am an old person, I'm happy to know that "The Internet's for old
people." I've always thought of TV as a medium for people of all ages and that it would comfort me in older ages. Now that the Internet has been deemed an old people's medium by Mark Cuban, I look
forward to getting to know one another in my twilight years - that's if it isn't all over by then.
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