(MediaBuyerPlanner) Daytime shows are down by as much as 19 percent for the year in key demographics, causing networks to offer makegoods to advertisers and a corresponding squeeze on second quarter inventory along with rate hikes as high as 30 percent, reports Mediapost. That is compared to the 3 to 5 percent price increase the major broadcast networks are aiming for overall, writes USA Today. (The average price of $108,681for a 30-second ad in the current season was flat from the year before, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus.)

That limited inventory means advertisers are looking to buy in the scatter market in alternative daytime sellers such as syndication and cable. "In daytime we are writing very healthy increases over the upfront," Bo Argentino, senior vp of advertising and media sales at NBC Universal Television Distribution - for shows such as "Maury," "Starting Over," and "Jerry Springer" - is quoted as saying.

Through April 2, NBC is off 16 percent among women viewers age 25-54 and 18-49, and ABC is down 12 percent in women 25-54 and 11 percent in women 18-49. CBS is off only 5 percent in women 25-54 and 6 percent for women 18-49. All three networks are also down in teen viewers.

But some TV network executives grumble that the problem may be with the Nielsen sample. They point out that for several shows, the median average age has grown by two years or more since last season, which doesn't make sense. Jon Currie, president of Currie Communications TV research company, said that shows shouldn't grow in median age by two years unless there are many new viewers. He said that it seems like a sampling issue.