IRS has questions about buying ad time (and they're asking us)
Who does the Internal Revenue Service call when it wants to know how the television business works?
Apparently journalists.
Several Los Angeles Times staffers got an e-mail from the IRS asking questions about how commercial time is sold. Maybe they're poking around the upfronts to see what's taking so long.
Among the things the IRS wants to know: Do advertisers choose what time their ads air? (Sometimes, but not usually, as most ads are sold across a network's schedule.) And, once a buyer purchases a commercial, how certain is it that the ad will air? (Reasonably certain, although there can be preemptions for news, and an ad might be pulled if it would appear to be insensitive in light of a current event).
We don't know who or what the IRS is probing. A spokesman wasn't particularly interested in telling us. But the e-mail, from the Los Angeles office of the chief counsel, says the agency is working on a case that involves how commercial time is sold. I hope they don't audit me now for revealing this.
-- Joe Flint
