TV ads boost media revenue

August 6, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Americans may be fond of the Web, but they are still in love with their TV sets — and so are the advertisers who want to reach them.

Big media companies are riding a rebound in TV-ad spending. This week, Viacom Inc. and Time Warner Inc. both reported that their cable-TV channels saw improvements in advertising revenue. CBS Corp. saw a similar rebound at its local television stations. News Corp. saw growth on both sides.

The companies’ results this week offer one encouraging data point for economic prognosticators. It means businesses have the money to spend on commercial time again. And they are more confident that consumers will have the money to respond to their ads at shopping malls and car dealerships.

Media executives say the rebound can keep rolling into 2011.

That’s in part because prices for a large chunk of commercial time this year already had been locked in more than a year ago during the so-called “upfront” period, when advertisers bid on commercial time for the upcoming television season. Rates were down sharply then because of the recession.

After September, higher rates from this year’s upfronts should kick in and be reflected in company results.

“We completed a much stronger upfront than we experienced a year ago,” Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman said Thursday. “This establishes a stronger base for our next fiscal year.SDRq