The cancellation fo sporting events because of the coronavirus is starting to impact the flow of advertising dollars.
Network 10 is working through the implications of the cancellation of the Melbourne formula 1 grand prix motor race.
Replacing a high visibility event -- with more than 300,00 attending and more than 1 million watching -- with regular programming is a guaranteed way of missing ad revenue targets.
Sport, along with news and reality, is a big driver of free-to-air audiences in Australia.
“Our sales team is currently working through the implications of the decision with our broadcast partners.” according to a Network 10 spokesperson.
“We support the decision by Formula One Management and the Australian Grand Prix Corporation to cancel the 2020 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix this weekend,” says a Network 10 spokesperson.
“The safety and well-being of our employees, partners, the racing teams and everyone who was planning to attend is our number one priority.
“In light of the cancellation, we will run our regular programming schedule.”
The latest event cancellation follows the SXSW festival in Texas, Adobe’s annual conference and Facebook’s Global Marketing Summit.
Others, such as Salesforce and Google, have taken their events online.
The Cannes Lions festival is still on the calendar but organisers have a contingency plan to shift the event to later in the year.
In Australia, other sporting codes, including the NRL, are under pressure to cancel or postpone.
But the big question is whether the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will go ahead. The implications for Seven West Media are large with the broadcaster already booking $90 million in revenue for the event.
A lot of that would be eaten by costs but the Olympics is a big one for Seven. It expects to reach more than 20 million Australians through its broadcasts and 5 million online.
While a cancellation of the Olympcis would likely lead to a refund for Seven, the lost advertising opportunity is large.
And MAGNA, a unit oif IPG Mediabrands, says that spending by brands would likely go elsewhere rather than other TV programs.
"Even if the Games take place as scheduled in Tokyo, we should expect marketing and advertising spend to be lower this year, if only because attendance by visitors, sponsors, and advertisers is likely to be below expectations," says MAGNA.
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