B.R. area TV stations see rise in holiday ad spending

Early economic indicators suggest the holiday shopping season will be a good one for retailers, and it is also shaping up to be a good one for the area’s media outlets. Though local television stations are unable to provide exact numbers, they say holiday-related ad sales are up over this time last year. “Spending on ads is definitely better than last year, and last year was up over 2010,” says Denise Robichaux, director of sales at WBRZ-TV. Local CBS affiliate WAFB-TV reports a similar, positive trend. “Everyone is very optimistic,” says local sales manager Ellen Salmon. Helping fuel fourth-quarter ad sales, no doubt, is the availability of local spots, which were gobbled up by political ad buys during the campaign season. Even though Louisiana was not a so-called battleground state in the presidential election and didn’t see the kind of massive spending as some other states did, candidates in the local mayor’s and Louisiana Supreme Court races purchased airtime at a premium that would have otherwise gone to local advertisers. Now that the inventory is available, marketing execs say they see their clients making up for lost time. “We hear there is a lot of confidence among advertisers,” says Ann Edelman at Zehnder Communications. “The only concern is what will happen next year. But for now, the attitude seems to be, we’ll worry about that later.” —Stephanie Riegel