From PepsiCo to GM, Big Advertisers Set to Cancel Commitments to TV Networks

The Wall Street Journal ^ | May 12, 2020 | Suzanne Vranica

[abb]

Big advertisers from General Motors Co. to PepsiCo Inc. to General Mills Inc. are seeking to walk back spending commitments they made to broadcast and cable networks, a dynamic that is testing the industry’s five-decade-old way of doing business.

TV ad spending fell in the initial weeks of the coronavirus pandemic, but was insulated from an even bigger drop. That is because the majority of the roughly $42 billion spent on national TV ads in the U.S. is bound by contractual commitments that are made well in advance of a new TV season, which starts each September.

Under those “upfront” deals, the first real opportunity since the pandemic struck for advertisers to cut back future spending commitments began May 1. Companies now have the option to cancel up to 50% of their third-quarter ad spending.

Many companies are seeking to take advantage of that option to varying degrees, including General Motors, PepsiCo, Cracker Barrel Old Country Stores Inc., General Mills, Domino’s Pizza Inc. and pharmaceutical giant Sanofi SA, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Ad buyers estimate that roughly $1 billion to $1.5 billion in commitments for third-quarter ad spending could be canceled. “The cuts are going to be pretty deep,” said Dave Campanelli, chief investment officer at media buyer Horizon Media.

[Leaning Right]

> For all I care, 90% of TV networks can shut down. <

And the other 10% are so polluted with long commercial breaks that even they are not worth watching. I’ve got DVDs of all the old shows I like. So if the TV networks shut down I might not even notice it for a couple of days.

Up tonight: Bud and Lou confront Mike the cop.

[Grampa Dave]

A good beginning.

Why would any sane corporate board member waste valuable $’s in ads that pay for fake news and po’s at least 40% of their potential customers.

[IrishBrigade]

“We are all Covidians now”

that says it all...

I was in a supermarket yesterday, and in the dairy section a guy was looking at the milk, and I came up, about five feet away; he didn’t see much until I said something to my wife, then he looked at me, and I could the fear mounting in his eyes, and he took off like a jackrabbit...this is our wonderful covid legacy...

[Grampa Dave]

A good beginning.

Why would any sane corporate board member waste valuable $’s in ads that pay for fake news and po’s at least 40% of their potential customers.

[Grampa Dave]

A good beginning.

Why would any sane corporate board member waste valuable $’s in ads that pay for fake news and po’s at least 40% of their potential customers.

[Arcadian Empire]

John Ritter was very talented.

I met him once.

Good guy.

[Starboard]

More signs that we are headed for economic trouble.

***************

FYI...The Fed’s Secondary Market Corporate Credit Facility is going to start purchasing exchange-traded funds that are invested in corporate debt.

Fed buying ETF’s. Think about the implications of this. The formerly furtive Plunge Protection Team is now out in the open.

I think a wave of bankruptcies is heading our way. JMHO.

[IrishBrigade]

‘Up tonight: Bud and Lou confront Mike the cop.’

and Sidney Fields too, it appears...

[chuckles]

..."movies that are more than 20 min years old, classic TV shows"...

I watched Hondo last night. I have "Married with Children" almost memorized. "Last Man Standing" is another.

[Grampa Dave]

What is CFA?

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

Good, the networks can make their own cuts, perhaps starting with the children they send to the WH pressers.

We have a winner.

[Starboard]

this is our wonderful covid legacy...

************

Thank you China. Two months into this calamitous ‘experience’ and we have yet to punish them for anything.

[Ratman0823]

The ads on TV lately fall into four categories:

1. Regular companies (cars, food, etc.) telling us all the wonderful things they're doing to help us in these "unusual times".
2. "PSAs" telling us how we'll all get through this if we wash our hands every 5 minutes, avoid all human interaction if you aren't wearing a hazmat suit, or, better yet, stay in our caves until the government says it's okay, most likely in 2021 or 2022.
3. Ads for insurance companies, each more inane and insulting than the next.
4. The pandering "19" donation ads. Every charity from ASPCA to St. Jude's is running them, with the sad music and the voiceovers telling us that for just $19/month you can help so and so from such and such.

I can understand why the big real advertisers are wanting to cut back or cancel their commitments. What ads they do show have to be do everything but sell their product, which is what I thought advertising was supposed to do in the first place.

All I can say is thank goodness for MeTV, the Game Show Network, and H&I. A nice mix of old crime shows where the police aren't a bunch of PC pansies, fun old game shows, and other classic TV from the last millennium. A nice break from the endless shows telling us all of the "facts" about the Kung Flu, or the "let's visit the celebrities in their multi-million dollar homes" shows.

[treetopsandroofs]

Sorry, Chik-Fil-A.

[Leaning Right]

> and Sidney Fields too, it appears... <

Jerry Seinfeld was a fan of ‘The Abbott and Costello Show’. In one ‘Seinfeld’ episode a minor character was an old man. As a tribute to Fields, the ‘Seinfeld” writers named the old man Sid Fields.

[Kickass Conservative]

Cash Flow affects those Evil Corporations just like it affects working People. It’s just a matter of time.

[treetopsandroofs]

YouTube has a LOT of old TV shows, too. Abbott and Costello, Dick van Dyke, Highway to Heaven, lots of Hallmark movies....

Discovered much of this while laid up several years ago.

[KC_Lion]

For your interest.

[Kickass Conservative]

>>>What is CFA?<<<

Communist Fascists of America, AKA The Democratic Party.

[max americana]

I spoke to him more than once, and I respected that he took time to talk to me being a lowly intern for a production company.