A disquieting trend for traditional U.S. broadcasters: Advance ad sales are down for the second year in a row, and that dastardly new media is to blame.

An excerpt from the NYT:

ADVANCE advertising sales for the fall television season will probably be down for a second year in a row, reflecting the growing impact of new media outlets on broadcasters.

Estimates are that the five networks will sell $8.9 billion to $9 billion in commercial time ahead of the 2006-7 season, in what is known as the upfront market.

That compares with an estimated $9.1 billion sold in the upfront market last year, before the start of the 2005-6 season, and an estimated $9.3 billion in the upfront market two years ago, ahead of the 2004-5 season.

"I'm surprised it's two years in a row," said Wayne Friedman, West Coast editor at MediaPost Communications, which covers the media business through online (mediapost.com) and offline publications. "Most of the time, it's the networks holding all the cards."

Along with TV, newspapers and other traditional media are scrambling to adjust as marketers step up efforts to reach consumers in newer ways that include Web sites, podcasts and video-on-demand.

"The broadcast environment remains tough," Debra Schwartz, a media analyst for Credit Suisse, wrote in a report.

The totals are not complete because only three of the five networks — the new CW, Fox Broadcasting and NBC — have completed their sales. Fox, part of the News Corporation, and CW, owned by the CBS Corporation and Time Warner, finished late last week.

NBC, part of the NBC Universal division of the General Electric Company, finished on Monday.

The remaining two networks — ABC, owned by the Walt Disney Company, and CBS — are still negotiating with advertisers and agencies. They are expected to finish by Friday, if not sooner.