The upfront guys

Cable executives assess ad sales in a soft economy

By Allison Romano -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/11/2001

The snails have replaced the bulls. After last year's frenzied, $4.6 billion cable upfront, this year's advanced ad-sales market is soft and drawn out. Cable executives are trying to remain upbeat, waiting for the market to break. But the soft economy has advertisers wary, and, rather than commit in the upfront, they may test their luck in the scatter market.

We checked in with the top ad-sales executives from MTV Networks, Discovery, USA Networks, Turner and A&E to get their views on the upfront market, the slowing economy and how they made their way in the cable sales business.

MTV The passion potion

Harvey Ganot, President, Advertising Sales Worldwide, MTV Networks

For 20 years, Harvey Ganot has argued that cable is a great value. Recently, though, he has seen advertisers finally start to understand.

"There has been a love affair with network television for many years that is waning," said MTV Networks' president of advertising sales worldwide.

Cable gives advertisers the chance to target a specialized, niche audience, of course, but that wasn't so clear to advertisers when he was starting out at Turner in the early 1980s.

"It was real crusader work," Ganot said. "We had to convince everyone that cable was a viable alternative for advertisers looking to reach a new audience."

He joined MTV Networks in 1986, starting as a "schlepper" salesperson, and "clawed" his way up the ranks. He has been at the helm since 1991.

Despite softer economic conditions, Viacom's MTV Networks are well-positioned because they offer the youthful demographic that advertisers covet, says Ganot.

"Advertising is a necessity, not a luxury," he said. "There's a love affair between advertisers and Generation Y. We're the passion potion between the two."

The Ganot File

Education: M.A., Brooklyn College, City University of New York; B.A., Brooklyn College, City University of New York

First Sales Job: "I started off at Petry TV in 1975 as a research analyst and clawed my way into the sales training program in 1976."

Family: Three children (Ariana, 23, Ethan, 21, Gabriel, 17)

Favorite Pastime: "Going to a ballgame at Shea Stadium and sitting in the bleachers with my kids."

Home: Manhattan

Discovery The 'Rolls' of cable

Bill McGowan

Executive Vice President, Advertising Sales, Discovery Networks, U.S.

Bill McGowan believes there is strong incentive to buy upfront this season.

"The deals that are going to be available in this upfront are going to be much better than the deals advertisers are going to get in the scatter," said Discovery Networks' executive vice president of ad sales. "This year's scatter will be much stronger with steeper pricing."

In April, McGowan predicted that this year's broadcast upfront would be down 5% from $7.8 billion last year to $7.3 billion. He argued that the $500 million difference would spill over and boost cable's upfront 11%, to $5.2 billion. This upfront market has been slow moving, and it's too early to tell if McGowan's predictions were correct.

Prior to joining Discovery, McGowan had worked his way up the ranks at Fox, eventually becoming the head of sales for all Fox O&Os. In 1991, he was lured away to Discovery, where he has pushed his sales teams to sell value, not price.

"If you're selling a Rolls-Royce or Mercedes, you'll have a different sales philosophy than if you're selling a lower-end car," he noted. "We're the Rolls of our industry.

"When I started, we had fewer than 40 people in sales. Now we have more than 200," he said. "We've gone from selling one network to selling more than 10."

The McGowan File

Education: M.B.A., Northwestern University, B.A., University of Wisconsin, Madison

First sales job: Ad sales at a radio station in Arlington Heights, Ill., between junior and senior years of college

Favorite pastimes: Boating, skiing, golf

Family: Wife (Jeanne), daughter and son (Katie, 19, Patrick, 17)

Home: Greenwich, Conn.

USA Glad to be back

John Spaet, President of Advertising Sales, USA Cable

Despite the gloomy outlook cast on this year's upfront market, John Spaet, USA Cable's president of ad sales, is glad to be back in the TV business.

"Cable has the sights, sound and motion that makes TV the greatest sales platform in media," said Spaet, who spent two years at About.com. "And you can target a more specific consumer group with programming."

For seven years before "the siren of the Internet beckoned" in 1999, Spaet worked at NBC Cable, running ad sales while it launched CNBC and MSNBC.

Spaet says this year's ad sales will be done at a slower, more orchestrated pace.

"If advertising is a reflection of the economy, then this year will mirror the more prudent nature of the Fortune 500 companies," he said. "Everyone is being a little more careful with money."

He believes creative packages and sponsorships are the way to combat a soft market and drive business in a slower market.

The upfront market has been strong the past six or seven years, but last year was so strong it should be seen as a bubble, he opined.

"It's hard to make comparisons between this year and last," he argued. "If you remove last year, we'd be in line for growth compared to the few years before."

The Spaet File

Education: M.B.A., New York University; B.A., New York University

First Sales Job: NBC Spot Sales

Favorite Pastimes: Basketball, golf

Family: Wife (Becky), Three sons (Lee Jordan, 16, Peter, 14, and Joshua, 16 months)

Home: New York City

Turner A market advantage

Joe Uva

President, Group Sales and Marketing, Turner Entertainment

Turner Entertainment Group Sales and Marketing President Joe Uva contends the "Turner advantage" will help his networks (TNT, TBS, Cartoon Network, Turner South and Turner Sports) weather a weak market.

The advantage he sees comes from the AOL Time Warner merger, which bolstered his offering: Turner can now sell advertisers cross-platform deals across the media giant's TV, print and online properties.

Uva, who joined Turner in 1984 and early on sold time for CNN, sees the economic downturn as another snapshot of financial times. "The market will always have peaks and valleys."

He believes cable tends to do well in a weaker market because it offers advertisers more-targeted audiences and more promotional and sponsorships opportunities. "From first commercial windows to theatrical blockbusters to original series, we've achieved qualitative parity with broadcast."

His key to successful ad sales in a tight market: creative solutions.

"You have to think about more than selling spots and ratings points," noted Uva, whose first cable sales job was at USA Networks. "You have to think of overall strategies and harness all the resources across your portfolio."

The Uva File

Education: B.A., communications, State University of New York at Albany.

First Job: "I met a head hunter at a wedding, and he helped me find a job in advertising and media planning. It was the only place I could find a job."

Favorite Pastimes: Golf, fishing, The Sopranos

Family: Wife (Sue) and two children (J.C., 21, and Jamie, 18)

Home: Glen Ridge, N.J.

A&E On-the-job training

Ron Schneier

Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing, A&E Networks

Ron Schneier has started playing electric guitar again for the first time since college. But with the upfront market in full swing, A&E's executive vice president of sales and marketing has his attention on ad sales, not sheet music.

"It's hard for us to gauge when the market is going to break," he said. "But the market is going to be long and drawn out this year."

Schneier is confident that his properties—A&E, The History Channel and its sister digital networks Biography and History International—offer advertisers a valuable audience.

A&E was Schneier's first sales job. He originally signed on with the network in 1985, charged with building a research department from scratch. He was comfortably leading the research and consumer-marketing departments when, in 1989, the company brass approached him to take over sales.

"I decided it would be a good growth move. I went from never having sold anything to running the department here."

He now manages a third of the employees and 90% of the revenues. He oversees sales for the four networks, Biography magazine, the channels' Web sites and affiliate sales. Since 1999, he has added creative services, research and integrated marketing to his duties.

The Schneier File

Education: M.A. in Communication, Wheaton College, Wheaton, Ill.; B.A., University of New Mexico

First TV job: "In 1983, there was a new startup business news show on CNN and I was managing their research. Cable was very young and it was very exciting to start a new TV program."

Favorite pastimes: Electric guitar, reading historical books

Family: Wife (Betty), two sons and a daughter (Joe, 20, Daniel, 18, Michaela, 13)