The demand for Russian TV advertising has soared and is now back to levels last seen before the global economic crisis.
According to Kommersant, the two leading ad sales companies in the country – Video International (VI) and Gazprom-Media/Alcazar – appear to have completely misjudged the demand. As a result, the commercial airtime on federal channels, despite having risen in price by an average of 20%, is already sold out for the rest of this year.
In 2010, such a situation was not reached until June. Demand for commercial airtime on smaller channels has also been strong, with some of those served by VI also almost 100% sold out for this year.
Although there is still some free time left on the channels NTV, TNT and TV Center, which are served by Gazprom-Media/Alcazar, it will now be sold at a higher price.
