TV Advertising’s Liability Blind Spot – Guard Your Flank!

Map
SEATTLE-TACOMA
SPOKANE
PORTLAND
BOISE
TWIN FALLS
SACRAMENTO-STOCKTON-MODESTO
SAN FRANSISCO-OAKLAND-SAN JOSE
LOS ANGELES
SAN DIEGO
PHOENIX (PRESCOTT)
TUCSON (SIERRA VISTA)
DENVER
ODESSA-MIDLAND
ABILINE-SWEETWATER
AUSTIN
CORPUS CHRISTI
DALLAS-FT. WORTH
WACO-TEMPLE-BRYAN
TYLER-LONGVIEW (LUFKIN & NACOGDOCHES)
BEAUMONT-PORT ARTHUR
HOUSTON
MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL
FT. SMITH-FAYETTEVILLE-SPRINGDALE-ROGERS
LITTLE ROCK-PINE BLUFF
MEMPHIS
ST. LOUIS
NEW ORLEANS
CHICAGO
GRAND RAPIDS-KALAMAZOO
DETROIT
TOLEDO
CLEVELAND
LOUISVILLE
HUNTSVILLE-DECATUR (FLORENCE)
KNOXVILLE
ATLANTA
MACON
JACKSONVILLE
GAINESVILLE
ORLANDO-DAYTONA BEACH-MELBOURNE
TAMPA-ST. PETERSBURG (SARASOTA)
MIAMI-FT. LAUDERDALE
COLUMBIA, SC
CHARLOTTE
GREENSBORO-HIGH POINT-WINSTON SALEM
NORFOLK-PORTSMOUTH-NEWPORT NEWS
WASHINGTON, DC (HAGERSTOWN)
HARRISBURN-LANCASTER-LEBANON-YORK
PHILADELPHIA
WILKES BARRE-SCRANTON-HAZELTON
BUFFALO
NEW YORK
HARTFORD & NEW HAVEN
BOSTON
PORTLAND-AUBURN
BANGOR
Hover over the map for more information.

If you are using an external media buyer to place television spots in any of these markets, you will want to do your due diligence and request to see the contracts. Search for the term “joint and several”. This is not what you want to see.

The advertising industry has standards for lots of things, contracts and liability among them. We in the industry, the agency (“agent”) and marketer associations, have all agreed what’s best and logical. That being, the advertiser pays their agent for the buy, the agent pays the stations, and we all skip on down the road together driving business forward. This is sequential liability.

However, some media providers are making an adjustment to their contracts, changing to joint and several liability. Our research analysis found that this liability issue impacts 70% of the US!

At our agency we do a lot of contract compliance and have been surprised and disappointed to see this change. We have taken the necessary steps to protect our valued advertiser partners from any risk this may pose.

Why is it a risk?

As an advertiser, you want to know that when you remit payment to your agency that, no matter what happens, they will be solely responsible to pay the stations. Unfortunately, in these new contracts, the advertiser is still legally responsible for compensating the station for their advertising EVEN AFTER paying the agency.  

Want to know more specifics? For access to industry secrets, give us a call or contact us with the form below.

Market list


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  • Abilene – Sweetwater
  • Atlanta
  • Austin
  • Bangor
  • Beaumont – Port Arthur
  • Boise
  • Boston
  • Buffalo
  • Charlotte
  • Chicago
  • Cleveland
  • Columbia, SC
  • Corpus Christi
  • Dallas – Fort Worth
  • Denver
  • Detroit
  • Ft. Smith – Fayetteville – Springdale – Rogers
  • Gainesville
  • Grand Rapids – Kalamazoo
  • Greensboro – High Point – Winston Salem
  • Harrisburg – Lancaster – Lebanon – York
  • Hartford & New Haven
  • Houston
  • Huntsville – Decatur (Florence)
  • Jacksonville
  • Knoxville
  • Little Rock
  • Los Angeles
  • Louisville
  • Macon
  • Memphis
  • Miami – Ft. Lauderdale
  • Minneapolis – St. Paul
  • New Orleans
  • New York
  • Norfolk – Portsmouth – Newport News
  • Odessa – Midland
  • Orlando – Daytona Beach – Melbourne
  • Philadelphia
  • Phoenix
  • Phoenix (Prescott)
  • Portland – Auburn
  • Portland, OR
  • Sacramento
  • San Angelo
  • San Antonio
  • San Diego
  • San Francisco – Oakland – San Jose
  • Seattle – Tacoma
  • Spokane
  • St. Louis
  • Tampa – St. Petersburg (Sarasota)
  • Toledo
  • Tucson (Sierra Vista)
  • Twin Falls
  • Tyler – Longview (Lufkin & Nacogdoches)
  • Waco – Temple – Bryan
  • Washington, DC (Hagerstown)
  • Wilkes Barre – Scranton – Hazelton