Media Execs Assess Blackout Ad Losses

Buyers, sellers and ratings suppliers are taking stock of lost adspend, negotiating makegoods and crunching numbers this week, following the largest blackout in U.S. history.

Estimates of how much commercial inventory was pre-empted by the blackout vary from $10-20 million, but most shops believe the dollars will be re-expressed in schedules this week and next.

Since the blackout was limited to the Northeast, network programming ran as scheduled in West Coast prime time. Most local outlets in the affected areas ran commercial-free from the time the blackout struck at 4:11 p.m.