Oh, barnacles!
Viacom’s Nickelodeon, home to hit kid shows like “SpongeBob Squarepants,” is having to dole out free airtime to compensate advertisers for an unprecedented ratings shortfall, The Post has learned.
The network is offering advertisers — which spend millions of dollars on the network to reach kids during the crucial holiday season — so-called make-goods after ratings fell below the levels promised to advertisers earlier in the year.
“I’m angry; the clients are angry because if their business isn’t up to expectations, they need something to blame, and this is a good starting point,” said ad buyer Shelly Hirsch at Beacon Media Group, who noted that additional airtime is of little value to toy marketers on Dec. 26.
A Nickelodeon spokesman confirmed that the company is compensating for the ratings shortfall.
“It’s business as usual. To the extent that we need to make good, we absolutely will,” he said.
In early November, CEO Philippe Dauman warned of a softer ad market in the fourth quarter and said the company would lose some revenue from holiday advertisers as a result of weaker ratings.
“Toys are a strong category in this quarter,’ he said at the time. “This is why it’s so vexing to have this issue.”
The kids channel, the second-biggest ad generator in cable, behind ESPN, first started to experience ratings declines in September, when kids’ viewing fell by 11 percent. Since then it’s dropped 17 percent in October and 19 percent during the first three weeks of November.
Viacom blames Nielsen’s new ratings sample for the sudden falloff, while Nielsen has stood by its data. The Media Ratings Council is due to report its independent opinion on the matter next week.