EXCLUSIVE: Fox O&Os Bring Media Buying In-House
By Jim Benson -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/29/2007 10:00:00 AM
The Fox-owned television stations have moved their media buying to a newly created centralized in-house ad agency in their 26 markets.
General managers have recently started notifying their local media buying agencies of the move. An industry source with knowledge of the situation tells B&C the loss of business could create relationship strains between the stations and agencies, which also buy time on the Fox O&Os for other clients.
Sources close to Fox attribute the decision to being part of an industry trend to have an “easy and effective” uniform strategy to coordinate and leverage marketing efforts. They say the “streamlining” is not a reflection on the performance of the agencies or intended to save on commissions.
But others question whether the move will be worth the grief. Says one source, “In these wonderful times, how do you piss off some of your biggest advertisers?” But sources suggest that issues could still arise in discretionary spending instances, or be reflected in the overall volume of business the impacted agencies steer toward Fox. Much will depend on “whether they part friends or enemies,” a source says. Some fear the loss of Fox O&O business could prompt minor layoffs at some outside local and regional media buying agencies, with the reduction in commissions impacting salaries. “It’s not a major deal, but it raises the degree difficulty in an already tough market,” a source says. “This sort of decision just makes life more irritating.” Fox is believed to have looked at pulling the business about six months ago. A source says general managers raised objections then and the matter was tabled until now.
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