With Slow Buildup, Networks Limit Losses

Mix of traditional fare and war coverage stems ad-revenue hit—so far

Perhaps it was because hostilities had been building for some time, but by the end of last week, the television business took a lesser financial hit from covering the war’s outset than many had expected. At press time, however, as the bombing campaign against Iraq was stepped up, it was unclear how much regularly scheduled programming would get pre-empted and if more advertisers would attempt to get off TV.

The gradual escalation of combat in the opening days of the war allowed at least some of the broadcast networks to air their regular programming in prime time, mitigating early on the impact of advertising losses resulting from the switch to commercial-less, all-news coverage.

And while many advertisers wanted their commercials nowhere near grisly war coverage, most allowed their scheduled ads to air on the Big Three networks, which expansively covered the early...