Spot Runner culls unsold TV spots

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not exactly accurate...

"The problem that the Los Angeles-based start-up is addressing is that cable networks don't sell all their ad spots."

Then, too bad this new service doesn't address that issue.

I work for a cable TV network and before that I worked for two local TV stations. Looking at the site, it seems this service is selling LOCAL advertising time that is given to local cable companies in exchange for carrying cable network programming.

It does nothing to address the spots actually sold on and carried by national networks like CNN, Bravo, TNT, etc.

With ths service you are buying time on in a certain locality through a cable company like Comcast or Charter; that cable company is then inserting the commercial into the network feed of whatever channels you designate.

For instance a network like CNN might have 8 minutes of commercial time per half hour -- they give about 2 minutes of that to local cable companies to use as they please. If the local cable companies don't air commercials in that time slot you would see network promotional spots (promos) or public service announcements (PSAs). SOMETHING is airing there, but the cable companies are given the right to "cover" those non-commercial spots with local commercials. If the cable companies do the insertion well, you may not even notice the difference between a "national" commercial and a "local" spot being generated by your cable provider. However, sometimes you see a split second of national content if the cable company doesn't do a good job of "covering" the national spot with the local commercial.

The point is, the national cable networks are NOT responsible for selling the cable companies' LOCAL time. The local cable providers can do what they want with that time. Yes, maybe CNN, Bravo, and TNT don't sell all their own time -- but the service mentioned in this article does not buy time from the national cable networks -- it only buys local cable company time. Yet it impled the national cable networks are involved somehow. The networks couldn't care less if that time goes unsold or not; it's no skin off their nose.

With this service, you are not buying time through CNN, Bravo, TNT. You are NOT getting national coverage in prime time. You are only buying local coverage in a particular market. Buying local time from a local cable company may be exactly what a local business wants. But, this article is misleading.

Posted by: ChazzMatt   Posted on: 03/14/06 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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