The following exchange was overheard at this year's upfronts, that bizarre bazaar in New York each spring wherein billions of dollars of TV ads are sold: Top media buyer: Isn't TV still the locomotive pulling the train? Top network executive: TV is the train. Even as dusk deepens for traditional media, there is still no swagger quite like that of broadcast TV. Which is why it was poignant to see some signs of humility surfacing at the upfronts. NBC did away with the traditional star-studded event in which the networks' new schedules are unveiled. ABC scotched its lavish after-party. Jon Nesvig, Fox's top ad sales guy, prefaced some bragging about Fox's sports ratings with the following phrase: "Much as it's been a challenging year on all fronts...." Fox, bear in mind, is the leading network.
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