4Q 2007 Long-Form Results Slide $30 Million
Total 2007 long-form billings show a $62.7 million decline.
Long-form media billings in fourth-quarter 2007
slid $30 million — a 9.2-percent drop from 4Q
2006 results, closing the year with a three-month
total of $297,045,200. This marks the first time
that fourth-quarter media billings have declined since
2001 and the first sub-$300 million quarter since 3Q
2005, breaking a streak of eight consecutive $300 mil-lion-plus quarters.
Much of the demise likely can be attributed to the
writers’ strike during the fourth quarter that turned
away droves of late-night viewers fed up with stale talk-show repeats. Perhaps late-night audiences turned their
energies to other activities — like catching up on their
sleep. Overall spending for the year was just less than
$1.21 billion, down $62.7 million from last year’s
$1.27 billion.
> > Fig. 1
Total Quarterly Long-Form Media Billings
$ 300 million
$215,080,00
$ 150 million
$223,833,300
0
4Q 2007 4Q 2006 4Q 2005 4 Q 2 004 4Q 2003 4Q 2002 4Q 2001 4Q 2000
$232,552,406
$243,021,700
$297,045,200
$309,270,100
$327,048,700
$ 100 million
$ 50 million
$231,000,000
$ 250 million
$ 200 million
Source:
Response
Magazine
The 32 and 2/3 Loss Factor
Akin to the 4Q 2006, only six categories reported gains
this fourth quarter. “Home and Garden” earned top dollar-gainer credit with a $14.5 million boost (a 187-percent rise).
However, “Crafts, Collectibles and Hobbies” scored top percentage gainer honors with a 189-percent rise ($2 million).
“Entertainment, Travel and Psychic Services” put on a show
with a 176-percent increase of $3.3 million, while “
Automotive” stayed in the race with an impressive 118-percent push
of $748,000.
The “Financial and Business Opportunities” category lay
to rest its recent fourth-quarter triumphs with a 32.7-percent
demise of $22.5 million, the largest dollar loss of any category
in 4Q 2007. This is in stark contrast to its 33.1- and 118-per-
cent advances of the past two fourth quarters. “Health and
Fitness” lost nearly $13.9 million, a 20.4-percent slide, while
“Fundraising” suffered the highest percentage decline with a
60.7-percent loss of $1.6 million.
10 in a Row
Mimicking second-quarter 2007, none of the three forms
of media distribution reported gains, while all three forms
had gains during both the second and fourth quarters of
2006. National cable held steady with a tiny 0.4-percent
drop — losing just half a million dollars. Broadcast took the
brunt of the fall with a 15-percent tumble of $24.2 million,
and satellite was grounded with a brutal 21.3-percent slap of
$5.2 million.
The total number of timeslots purchased continued to stay
above 400,000 for the 10th consecutive quarter, ending with
448,060 time slots in 4Q 2007. However, this was a 5.4-per-
cent decrease from 4Q 2006’s record 473,518 slots.
National cable’s market share declined by 0.2 percentage points to 23. 5 percent — 7,129 fewer timeslots were
purchased. Broadcast gained 4. 1 points of market share with
1,636 extra slots. Satellite suffered the toughest decline with
19,875 fewer timeslots purchased, shrinking its market share
