I happened to have been at the ad conference two years ago when the then-Chrysler (now-Wal-Mart) marketing exec Julie Roehm first pushed the idea of a transparent ad auction for TV time. It may have sounded like a pipedream to some marketers and a nightmare to the networks, but now it is happening. And I have to love the fact that the most expensive, powerful media in the world will now be sold on eBay. And Google and Spotrunner are selling it, too. The creators of the new e-Media Exchange are making noises about this not being the end of TV upfront. But it is. This is the end of control by scarcity. TV time is just more advertising, now, and the days of raising rates even as audience shrank are over. Now the market will set the price. Watch out, Hollywood. (More in AdAge here.)
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by Jeff Jarvis