Advertisers anxious to see writers strike end

"If this thing continues, we're going to spend our TV money more wisely," says Caldwell, "and move the money to programs that aren't being affected by the writers strike, like news-based programs, reality-based programs and game shows."

For the time being, many advertisers are just watching and waiting. Mark Wright, who heads advertising buying for Anheuser-Busch Inc. in United States, said last week it was "too early" to say how, if at all, Budweiser's plans might change. But he noted that much of the company's ad spending was in sports programming, which wouldn't be affected.

"If there are no original scripted dramas on the air," Wright added, however, "we would have some decisions to make."

Ryndee Carney, manager of advertising and marketing communications for General Motors Corp., said it was status quo for the moment. If there are changes to the programming lineup, then GM would review its plans, she said, but she declined to elaborate.

Some networks will feel the strike's effects more than others. For Fox, which has relatively few scripted dramas — and a ratings juggernaut in "American Idol" — the strike could be positive, the chief operating officer for Fox parent company News Corp. said last week. Peter Chernin said on a conference call that the strike may cut the cost of making pilots and producing programming.

In the days leading up to the strike, several other broadcast executives also said they didn't expect to see an immediate financial impact and assured investors they had ample programming in their pipelines.

Rino Scanzoni, chairman of Mediaedge:cia, an advertising buying and planning agency, says the long-term concern about the strike "is a grave one," because development of new network shows gets under way in earnest in early winter.

Late-night talk shows are being forced into reruns at a crucial time for ratings. November is one of four periods in the year called "sweeps" in the television business, when ratings are used as a benchmark to set future ad rates. Lower viewership now will mean lower rates later.

Official viewership ratings for last week haven't come out yet so it's hard to pinpoint the impact even on the late-night shows. But Shari Anne Brill, director of programming at Carat, a major advertising-buying company, said her preliminary calculations based on local household ratings show declines of some 8 percent in late-night talk shows.

In addition to concerns about shows living up to agreements, advertisers are unhappy at the prospect of reality shows — or other substitute programming that doesn't rely on writers — taking the place of the high-profile scripted dramas and comedies they paid top dollar for.

"With the exception of 'American Idol,' it's really the scripted series that carry the networks, so their disappearance will really hurt," said Brill. "Now that the pipeline for some of the better shows has dried up, it's a problem."

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