• Mediaweek, Tuesday, November 25, 2008 9:30 AM

As the local cable marketplace continues to tank, spot cable firm NCC has quietly landed $1 billion in sales for the first time in its history. NCC allows clients to buy local cable and insert ads anywhere in 209 individual markets and thousands of targeted geographic zones. The company's reach puts it in front of 99% of all wired cable homes.

NCC executives acknowledge that political ad spending made the key difference in an otherwise rocky year. Political spend came in at around $2.16 billion, with local cable accounting for 15%, or about $32 million, of the overall take, per Borrell. NCC also saw growth in ads for movies, videogames and casual-service restaurants like Olive Garden and Outback Steakhouse.

Next month, NCC will tap into another revenue stream as it begins integrating DirecTV's regional sports network feeds into cable interconnects in nine markets. An initial launch is planned for Dec. 1 in Chicago.

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