The silent war

Unknown to most of us, there is a silent war going on, one that will determine the very survival of our favorite sporting events and television programs. The war for the big bucks.

Beginning with the Advertising Congress in Cebu two weeks hence, organizers of major sporting events and television franchise holders for such competitions will be jockeying with networks, independent producers and even other media for the dwindling advertising pie. And it could get ugly.

In a downward spiraling economy, the first casualty is advertising expenditure, which, although helpful to overall sales, is not critical from that end, but may be viewed as an optional expense. Fortunately for basketball leagues like the PBA, some measure of sponsorship is built in through the corporate member teams. However, overall it is still a difficult selling environment to be in.

In addition, networks will also be in the trenches. Depending on its timeslot, a sports program could be going up against other networks’ flagship newscasts, high rating telenovelas, game shows or situation comedies. In such a scenario, there is no advantage. The bigger players will have all the leverage they need, because they can sweeten the pot by offering wholesale purchases that may include other programs, as well as substantial discounts or even rebates.

This early, it is projected that the first six months of 2002 will still be bleak. However, if certain entities like NBN (which plans to go full-blast into sports programming) do get their program line-ups together early enough, they will be able to stand toe-to-toe against other networks and divert enough moneys away from competitive programming.

Television programming as a whole is in a tricky situation right now. There are only so many allowed advertising minutes per hour, and only so many hours in a day. Increasing rates is not a viable option in the current environment, either. Sports, being live, organic events, may be allowed certain exceptions, and in some cases may exceed limits and even rates allowed other types of programs. This will be critical, considering the size of the amounts involved. The MBA, for example, will need roughly P60-80 million merely to sustain its television coverage for next season. If teams’ expenses are written off as part of their sponsor corporations’ advertising, then they’ll be in good shape.

There are two things needed now: a new weapon, a nuke that will greatly increase revenue, and for advertising to start encroaching on programs’ content. Don’t be surprised to start seeing branded product on the TV screen during your favorite shows; that exposure will come at a price. Nothing will be sacred.

In the case of a huge event like the Asian Games in Pusan, Korea, there may not be any takers if the rights fees become prohibitive. Aside from that, since there is no Philippine franchise holder at the moment, it is obviously not being marketed, and, obviously, is not part of any current advertising plan for 2002.

Admittedly, even regular TV sports staples like the PBA and world boxing championships have been hit, but are still profitable and stable. The question is if any of our other favorite sports programs will get over the hump. The silent war, for now, may become one of survival.