Advertisers Unfazed by Drop in 'Millionaire' Ratings.

"Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" may be sagging a bit in the ratings, but advertisers are sticking with ABC's flagship show, local media buyers said last week.

ABC parent company Walt Disney Co. warned last week that lower ad sales and weakening ratings in "Millionaire" will depress earnings growth in its first fiscal quarter (which ends Dec. 30), news that caused two analysts to downgrade their ratings on Disney's stock. Disney shares plunged even as the company sought to downplay the news, with Chairman Michael Eisner calling Wall Street's apprehension "ill-founded."

Company executives are planning some changes to the Regis Philbin-hosted show that came out of nowhere last year to be such a mammoth hit that it took perennial ratings bottom-dweller ABC to the top of the charts, and boosted Disney's profits considerably. Advertisers apparently have enough confidence in the game show's staying power that they remain as willing as ever to buy commercial time during its broadcast.

"The bloom is sort of off the rose right now, but it is still a highly rated show," said Marija Kosanovich, senior vice president in the Los Angeles office of TBS Media Management, a media buying firm. "'Millionaire' is a great vehicle to reach a mass market and that will continue even if it has softer numbers."

The numbers are indeed softer. "Millionaire's" ratings fell about 21 percent in October compared with its average from January through September. Industry observers attribute some of that to the combination of the Olympics, the baseball playoffs, the new TV season and even the elections, all of which drew loyal viewers away.

However, the ratings are hardly in the cellar. For the week of Oct 30 through Nov. 5, "Millionaire," which is on three and sometimes four night a week, was the third, fifth, seventh and ninth most-watched show on television, which is exactly what the advertising industry likes to see.

"It's in the top 10 over three nights," said one media buyer who preferred to remain anonymous. "You can't sustain a No. 1-rated show like that over two years; it ain't gonna happen. Last year, it was a grand slam. This year, it's still a home run, with one or two people on base."

Disney President Robert Iger, who oversees the ABC network, said last week that the show's ratings have been performing below what the network had promised advertisers. To make up the difference, the company will give unused commercial time back to advertisers. Concerns that ad revenue will be hurt as a result helped fuel the rating downgrades, which in turn sent Disney's stock down $5.75 on Nov. 9 to $31.13 a share.

Analysts also pointed out that the audience for "Millionaire" seems to be skewing older, with fewer viewers from the key 18-49 age group. But as shows like "The West Wing" are attracting the kind of educated upscale audience that advertisers love, ABC's game show brings in a wide range of viewers that is also attractive.

"There has always been a group of advertisers who have had content issues with 'Millionaire,'" Kosanovich said. "Some clients prefer to be in more high-end shows like 'West Wing' and 'ER.' But it's a little bit more acceptable now to buy time on 'Millionaire.' It's now seen as a classic game show. Even if the ratings are down, people still want to buy (commercial time) on high-rated shows."