GM will no longer sponsor Oscars and Emmys due to cost constraints

General Motors spent $13.5 million on media for the 2008 Oscars on ABC, per TNS, and a total of more than $110 million over the past 11 years.

The decision to pull out of the Oscars, which will air in February on ABC and is considered one of TV's most prominent and best-watched events, is "not just about cost-cutting [but also] about best return on investment and spending on properties that work best for our objectives," GM rep Kelly Cusinato told Brandweek.

The company has shed 53,000 jobs over the past two years as it confronts fierce competition from Asian manufacturers that excel in the increasingly crucial smaller-vehicles sector.

GM will not be able to achieve market share gains by slashing its advertising budget; and the company's fixed costs are so high that it doesn't have the luxury of aiming for profitability on lower sales. No, any recovery at GM will have to come from increased sales and the company obviously doesn't have the cash to make the investments for that to have any chance of happening.

Financial problems have cast a cloud over GM's celebrations as the company celebrates its 100th birthday, which falls in September. At a parade of classic cars in Detroit on Saturday to mark the event, chief executive Rick Waggoner struck a defiant note. "Anybody who is writing off General Motors isn't looking at the facts and is probably hoping," Wagoner told a reporter from Bloomberg News. "They'd better watch out."