The Majority Of TV Advertisers Are Dissatisfied With The ‘Upfront’ Process.

The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) released findings from its exclusive survey of marketer attitudes towards television advertising. The survey results were presented during the ANA’s annual Television Advertising Forum, held today at the Marriot Marquis hotel in New York.

According to the survey, 56.6% of surveyed marketers who participate in the annual “upfront” buying of TV time say they are either somewhat or very dissatisfied with this process. The top reasons cited include: poor timing – the upfront schedule is not aligned with the corporate planning cycle; a compressed buying period that creates a “stampede mentality;” an unfair pricing system; speculative deliverables – programming that changes drastically and under-delivers; and finally paying higher prices for less in return.

Drilling down a bit further, the survey also revealed that 47% of advertisers agreed or strongly agreed that network pricing is unfair. Another 34% were neutral, while 20% disagreed or strongly disagreed with this sentiment.

They ANA’s television advertising survey also looked at the potential for commercial audience measurement ratings, which have yet to be implemented. Marketers overwhelmingly expressed interest in having easy access to commercial ratings (96% of survey respondents). In addition, 85% of those surveyed said they would like to see such ratings – rather than program ratings – become the TV audience measurement “currency,” upon which rates would be based.

Finally, advertisers ranked declining ratings (48%), clutter (41%) and lack of quality programs (39%) as the biggest threats to the vitality of television advertising.

For more information at http://www.ana.net