NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Television advertising executives are biting their nails this year as advance ad sales fall short of last year's tally, according to a report Wednesday.

The consensus among buyers and sellers is that ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and the new CW and My Network TV will end up booking nearly $8.9 billion in the frenzied "upfront" period, which typically accounts for about 75 percent of total prime-time ad sales, USA Today reported.

That's down about 3.4 percent from last year, the paper said, citing Morgan Stanley's assessment of the 2005-06 market.

"Buyers are in control," John Moore, group media director of MediaHub, told the paper. "The competitive landscape is much, much different" from previous years.

"For some product categories, like travel and automotive, these aren't the best of times," Brad Adgate, research director at Horizon Media, told the paper. "Unfortunately, sometimes if the dollars aren't there, one of the first things they cut is marketing."

Advertisers also find it easier to resist steep network deals as the number of alternative ad venues increases, particularly on the Internet.

This year, the popularity of digital video recorders also had advertisers seriously questioning the value of network ads. Nearly 16 percent of all homes are expected to have DVRs by the end of the year, which allow viewers to fast-forward past commercials, the paper said.

Networks even tried to sweeten deals this year by offering tie-ins with their online arms or product placements in the TV shows themselves.

"The networks have more pressure than ever," Chris Allen, associate director of national broadcast at ad agency GSD&M, told the paper. "They want to show good numbers to Wall Street. They have a revenue picture they want to meet. That makes things difficult."

---------------------

Related: Cable stealing network TV's ad thunder.

Out with the old media...