Yahoo CEO Terry Semel made some interesting comments this week about the networks’ efforts to draw more digital dollars into the upfront. From MediaWeek:
“I found out a long time ago that you can only fool the people a few times by bundling [inventory].” He added that most networks lack the quality inventory or scale to match what portals like MSN and Yahoo can deliver, and in most cases, cross-platform deals don’t create any new revenue. “Wisdom will prevail,” he said, calling the concept “an early phenomenon that will go away.”
Not all convergence packages are the same, of course, but Semel raises a critical point: many TV execs are using the web to leverage more TV dollars instead of growing sustainable web revenue. It’s a dangerous approach that leaves some advertisers underperforming on the web; before long, savvy buyers will run the numbers and determine the web component isn’t cutting it compared to sales products offered by the pure plays. The lesson here is to deliver results for your clients online. Period. This isn’t to say that we shouldn’t take advantage of the synergy between both mediums, but when TV is driving the boat on these deals, it will ultimately spell disaster online.