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CABLE WORLD STAFF
Even a recession won't halt cable's double-digit ad growth.
Joe Ostrow, president of the Cabletelevision Ad Bureau (CAB), points to several factors, and, "When you put all those things together in a package, even in an economically troubled time, they seem to bode well for cable."
CAB is preparing to release its 2001 Factbook, including a finding that total cable ad revenues jumped 18% to $13.77 billion in 2000 and will rise another 16% to nearly $16 billion this year.
Network cable should hit $11.9 billion, according to the CAB forecast, with local hitting $3.6 billion and regional cable sports at $419 million.
At a time when other media are battening down the hatches in expectation of a downturn, CAB doesn't see its own forecast as particularly optimistic.
"Optimism is a relative term," Ostrow says. "We expect it to grow, perhaps not as much as it grew in 2000."
He says it's only logical cable will grab a bigger share of advertiser budgets.
"The reality is that when you still have your audience getting a bigger share than your advertising dollars are getting, you have the opportunity to increase significantly as people recognize that differential," he says. "We're getting 40% plus of the audience, and we're only getting a little over 30% of the dollars. As a consequence, there is a gap there that, at a minimum, should close more and more as time goes on."
WE WATCHERS WIN Tennis bracelets, anyone? As part of the network's "14 Karat Comedy" programming stunt leading up to Valentine's Day, WE: Women's Entertainment (nee Romance Classics) will serve up a 14-karat gold diamond tennis bracelet, courtesy of Zales Jewelers, via a watch and win event. One winner will be picked at random from callers dialing an on-screen, toll-free number during the night's film, which starts at 9 p.m.
50 PEOPLE PICKED Arbitron says it placed its Portable People Meters with the first 50 consumers taking part in the Philadelphia market test of its new radio, broadcast, cable audience measurement system. Within eight weeks, Arbitron plans to install meters with 300 consumers. More than 50 media outlets are coding their programming so it can be registered by the meters during the trial.
ADVISION ADDED ACTV acquired the assets of VisionTel from nCube, in order to expand its SpotOn interactive advertising system. VisionTel's main product is the AdVision software suite for advertising sales management in cable, broadband, broadcast, satellite and Internet services. Clients include AT&T, Time Warner, Cox Communications, Texas Cable News Channel and Captivate Network.
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