Waiting for the other side to blink

Networks and TV ad buyers continue their stand-off, with each side waiting for the other to give in a bit on their expectations. Networks don’t want to drop the price too much but would like to lock in this money, which is already late. Buyers don’t want to pay more than they absolutely need to and, after a few years of testing the waters, must finally feel like they’re in control of the situation.

I haven’t seen any stories that approach from the studio-specific point of view, but I’d be curious to see if they’re among the buyers who have already locked in their purchases. Their release dates for 2010 are more or less set and so they’re going to need to make TV buys to support those releases – at least the major ones – with commercial time. They may be among the early buyers who have negotiated add-ons like web advertising space and such, but it makes no sense for them to not get their advertising decisions made. Unless, of course, they’re counting on the release dates already being locked in and therefore not worrying about a rival studio – or any other consumer goods company – swooping in and stealing precious time away from it.