• by Wayne Friedman , August 9, 2007

Electronic TV advertising operations between buyer and seller are finally coming to local TV stations.

The Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB) said 21 broadcast groups and two rep firms have signed up for TVB's new "ePort" eBusiness platform, which will let advertisers, agencies, broadcasters and station reps electronically send media proposals for stations' airtime, Web sites, local digital channels and other digital platforms.

A spokesman for the TVB hopes to get all its members, as well as all major TV sales rep firms, signed up for ePort by the time it launches in the fall.

The TV trade group said Chicago-based Spot Buy Spot LLC will operate the business; the initial launch will be in November for buyers whose media deals begin running in the first quarter of 2008. Other parts of ePort will be available by March 2008.

The broadcast groups signed include Belo Corp., CBS Television Stations (and its in-house rep firm), Citadel Communications, the Dispatch Broadcast Group, Duhamel Broadcasting Enterprises, E.W. Scripps Co., Emmis Communications, Fisher Broadcasting Inc., Gannett Broadcasting, Hearst-Argyle Television, LIN Television Corp., Media General Broadcast Group, Meredith Broadcasting, NBC Universal Television Stations (and its in-house rep firm), Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Pappas Telecasting Companies, Post-Newsweek Stations, Quincy Newspapers, Raycom Media, Sagamore Hill Broadcasting and the Tribune Co.

Back in February, TVB announced that its industry members were committing $5 million for the ePort system. The National Association of Broadcasters was also committing money to the project.

Local media agency buyers say one of the growing problems with spot TV is the voluminous amount of invoices, coupled with the constant discrepancies and makegoods, as it is relates to media buying of the spot TV business.

For over a decade and a half, media buyers and sellers have considered an electronic data exchange system. But different computer system software among sellers and buyers always stood in the way.

TVB executives say ePort will function with any system, referring to it as an "open-standards connectivity." The system is free to media buyers.