Hasta La Creative!

TV broadcasters made an aggressive push in this year’s upfront market to get paid for commercials viewed within seven days of airing instead of the industry-standard three. But at least one cable programmer took the opposite approach, turning away from “C7” and “C3,” as those standards are known, to sell ads in what it’s calling the “C-Zero” window: commercials that are seen live or on the same day they air.

The idea, from Scripps Networks , was to stand out in the upfront marketplace — when TV networks look to secure a bulk of their advertising for the next season — by counteracting broadcasters’ push for C7, said Steve Gigliotti, president, ad sales and marketing, Scripps Networks.

It’s a savvy bit of counterprogramming, so to speak, but also easier for Scripps than, say, CBS, some of whose shows are heavily time-shifted. Scripps — whose networks include Food Network, HGTV and Travel Channel — are predominantly watched live, with 93% of the audience in the C3 window actually watching programming on the first day, Mr. Gigliotti said.

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