CBS wins ad war, but NBC scores Paris Hilton interview

Posted Jun 22nd 2007 9:55AM by Tom Barlow
Filed under: Deals, Good news, Industry, Competitive Strategy, General Electric (GE), Walt Disney (DIS), CBS Corp 'B' (CBS), News Corp'B' (NWS)

According to Advertising Age, the wake for broadcast television networks will be delayed a bit. Last week the big four finished pre-sale of advertising for the next season, and their estimated haul of $9.2 billion is up about 5% over the 2006-7 season.

Leading the pack was CBS Corp (NYSE: CBS) at $2.45 billion, followed closely by ABC (Walt Disney, NYSE: DIS). NBC (General Electric's NBC (NYSE: GE) lagging badly in ratings all season, brought home only $1.8 billion, finishing behind Fox (News Corp, NYSE: NWS) at $1.9 billion.

I'd guess it was these results that caused NBC to break the piggy bank open yesterday to win the Paris Hilton stakes. According to the New York Times, ABC's bid of $100,000 for the fleshpot's first post-jail interview was trounced by NBC. According to the Times, Barbara Walters said NBC offered in excess of $750,000 for the interview, to be conducted by the Today Show's Meredith Vieira.

If Ms. Hilton is not, as she claims, as dumb as she appears, she might realize $750 grand will cover the cost of one hell of a good chauffeur. And a few pair of BVDs.

Tags: abc, advertising, Barbara Walters, Barbara), cbs, dis, Fox, General Electric, GeneralElectric, Hilton, nbc, Newscorp, nws, Paris Hilton, Paris Hilton interview, Paris interview, television advertising, Upfront, Walt Disney, WaltDisney