Managing Program Promotion in Cable Tv Networks: a Model Framework

Advertising revenues are the primary source of income for cable television networks and the survival of a network strongly depends on the efficient management of its commercial inventory. Networks enter into advertising contracts that promise delivery of a certain number of impressions with specified demographic characteristics. However, the actual delivery of impressions is stochastic, and there is currently no systematic process to dynamically monitor and administer these contracts. This paper proposes a procedure to manage this process through the efficient use of program promotions. Starting with the notion of program elasticity, it develops a quantitative framework based upon a threestage model for managing program promotions. The stages of the model are illustrated with data abstracted from an actual cable network.