Spot Cable Angling For More Ad Dollars

As the broadcast and cable networks continued to revel in their record upfront hauls, National Cable Communications last week wrapped up a nine-city upfront tour designed to alert media buyers to the changing face of spot cable. The cable rep firm’s presentations to several hundred buyers hinged on the growing strategic advantage of buying more spot cable versus more broadcast.

NCC execs said that advantage is becoming more distinct as the cable industry’s network of ad sales interconnects grows, the electronic buying process becomes more detailed and original cable programming continues to attract targeted ratings.

“We see our role as reshaping spot cable advertising,” said Tom Olson, CEO of NCC, which represents 66 million cable homes—about 98 percent of insertable cable homes—via more than 2,500 cable systems in 207 of the 210 TV markets.