available commercial time

"They're going to do what they can to increase the supply" of popular television programming and available commercial time.

Political ads not only add revenue, but they also eat up available commercial time, making other commercials more expensive.

ABC sold out the available commercial time for the broadcast in September.

All six networks have sold or are selling in the upfront market about the same percentage of available commercial time, estimated at 80 to 85 percent.

Many advertisers are simply sitting out the so-called scatter market, in which advertisers buy the available commercial time left on the networks after the "up front" season, when time on network programs is sold on a season-long basis.

The appearance of ads is of course subject to the news from Iraq and whether the media make available commercial time and ad space - in breaks during war coverage or in programs or publications not devoted to war news.

But the Capital Cities executives realized that, given the available commercial time, it would be impossible to recoup the enormous production costs of a show that would attempt to re-create every colossal event of World War II.

"A prolonged war could impact April ad sales or May's TV upfront," Mr. Russell said, referring to the market in which the television networks sell in advance of the coming season as much as 85 percent of their available commercial time.

Despite gaudy ratings among the young viewers avidly coveted by advertisers, "Temptation Island" has been forced to fill out a portion of its available commercial time with bargain-hunting advertisers like Nutri-Systems, Slim Jim, and David's Bridal Gowns.

Also, in adspeak, "virtually" sold out, which translates into about 98 percent of all available commercial time, means that a marketer still eager to spend money can be accommodated, just as Fox Broadcasting did for several last-minute advertisers during Super Bowl XXXVI on Sunday.

Three months before kickoff, CBS has already sold 80 percent of the available commercial time during Super Bowl XXXVIII to advertisers that include newcomers like Procter & Gamble along with mainstays like Anheuser-Busch, General Motors and PepsiCo.