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Cinema Ads Could Take Cut Of Prime time Ads

  • Ad Age, Monday, January 28, 2008 11:30 AM

MediaVest is apparently in talks with two cinema-advertising networks to shift about $100 million in prime-time broadcast TV ads to the big screen. And that kind of move by a shop that handles clients like Wal-Mart, Wendy's and Procter & Gamble could be bad news for TV nets already reeling from a dearth of new programming and ever-increasing audience fragmentation. "The bottom line is that the ratings erosion hasn't stopped," says Donna Speciale, president-investment and activation for MediaVest. "We are really looking to take a proactive approach and we can't keep our money in TV."

While broadcast can still reach millions of people in one fell swoop, viewers continue to migrate to emerging media, current ad inventory is tight and DVR use continues to grow. MediaVest's talks with two cinema-ad networks are far from complete and key to their success is convincing potential advertisers the movie screen is a worthwhile ad venue. But Speciale notes, "as the weeks go on and the strike keeps lingering ... [cinema] is becoming a much more viable option."

Movie theater advertising has grown in recent years and hit $456 million in 2006, a 15% gain, according to the Cinema Advertising Council, up from $394.8 million in 2005.

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