Nets See 2% Drop in Q2 Revenue

Combined advertising revenue for ABC, CBS and NBC was down 2 percent for both the second quarter and the first half of 2005, compared to the same periods in ’04, according to a report by the Broadcast Cable Financial Management Association, based on figures compiled by Ernst & Young. The three nets tallied combined net revenue of $2.85 billion for the second quarter and $5.73 billion for the first half of ’05. The association points out that much of the drop is because last year included NBC’s coverage of the Winter Olympics and political ads across the TV dial.