TV Station Revenue to Sink 17% in 2009

Continued drops in TV revenues this year prompted BIA Advisory Services to revise its earlier projected estimates for 2009 to $16.6B, a 17.3% fall from 2008 & a return to levels the industry hasn't seen since '95. TV revenues will remain flat thru 2011, & will rise to $17.5B by '13 fueled by an expected rise in online revenues from internet broadcasting, & potential regulatory efforts by the FCC to prop up local broadcasting. The persistent fall in revenue is due to the economy & current state of transition in the TV industry. The BIA reveals a slowdown of transactions within the TV industry to $453M - or 45 stations sold - for the first half of the year, only a slight increase over thR time 2008, & an indication that buyers & sellers are waiting for the economy to improve, writes Marketing Charts. The downward forecast for TV revenues comes after BIA