What happens when the nation's biggest advertisers start pulling out of network TV's biggest (and most expensive) events? Soon we'll find out. General Motors (GM), the nation's 3rd-largest advertiser, is pulling its sponsorship of the Academy Awards, typically the second highest-rated night of television short of the Super Bowl.
GM spent $13.5 million on the show on ABC (DIS) in February, but tells the WSJ next year's Oscars "didn't fit in our plans for 2009." This, after GM announced it would be skipping the Emmys this fall, also on ABC.
While ratings for the Oscars and the Emmys have steadily declined, they still offer advertisers extremely broad reach, particularly among women. The move is no doubt related to GM's well-documented troubles, but it also could be related to a desire to shift dollars to more targeted, accountable forms of advertising. AdAge reported earlier this year GM is planning to shift 50% of its marketing spend online by 2010.
See Also:
Car Industry Crash Killing TV, Print Ads, But Merely Denting Online
Automakers Spending Less On Ads, Shifting More To The Web
CBS Interactive Gets $2 Million Ad Buy From GM
GM Shifting 50% Of Ad Budget Online
