Latest in TV Upfront Market

Now that the last broadcast network (ABC) has set its 2020-21 schedule, the next question for the TV business is how and when networks will sell upfront advertising that helps keep the lights on. Madison Avenue marketing plans are on an uneven footing due to COVID-19, and the typical upfront negotiations held in the…

CBS has completed its upfront advertising sales, according to a person familiar with the discussions, posting CPM gains of 14% to 16% in primetime and volume gains of 20% in late night. On the strength of continuing tune-in for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and The Late Late Show with James Corden, CPMs in late…

Look out broadcasters: The ad market appears to be “softening” ahead of the upfront sales season according to an analysis out this morning from Standard Media Index, an advertising research firm. National TV ad spending has grown for most of the 2016-17 broadcast season, but that “has been tempered by 1Q 2017 which…

You might be in trouble if you look to Wall Street analysts to help you anticipate how this year’s upfront ad sales season will play out. In reports out this morning, Jefferies’ John Janedis predicts it will be “weaker than a year ago,” while BMO Capital Markets’ Daniel Salmon expects it to be “stronger…

NBCUniversal’s parade of ad-related announcements ahead of the upfront sales season continues today: The Comcast-owned entertainment company says it has forged a sales partnership with Kargo to offer ads on mobile devices. The companies say that they can offer more than 80 “premium publisher properties” via the web…

The major broadcasters’ upfront ad sales season is just about wrapped up: Fox Networks Group is preparing to wind things up after cutting deals with high-single-digit- to low-double-digit increases in per-viewer prices, we’re told. The operation sold 75%-80% of the inventory, contributing to a 5% gain in the total…

The upfront market is finally breaking with ABC and Fox now signing ad deals largely in line with the increases that NBC and CBS have seen. ABC’s unit prices are up by double digit percentages over its rates last year, we hear. And Fox is up by high-single to low-double digits — still notable considering that it has…

The upfront market is moving more slowly than broadcasters anticipated as advertisers resist efforts to panic them into paying high prices. But NBC and CBS have made some deals with low-double digit percentage increases in unit rates vs last year, industry sources say. There’s no word yet on other key details that…

Primetime ratings continue to fall for broadcasters and ad-supported cable networks. Yet by all accounts, next week will kick off the strongest upfront ad sales market in years. Have buyers lost their minds? Not really. The economy — especially consumer spending — is holding up as broadcasters prepare to sell as much…

Here’s the latest nail in the coffin of TV ad deals based solely on Nielsen measures of viewers’ age and sex. NBCUniversal says today that it will offer “select advertisers” in this year’s upfront market guarantees that their spots will reach more narrowly targeted audiences. The new offering from NBCU’s Audience…

Advertisers attending Fox’s upfront presentation this year can expect two sales pitches. One for its new shows. And another, based on an announcement this morning, for different ways to make ad deals — not necessarily based on Nielsen data. The changes constitute a suite of what Fox Advanced Ad Products calls…

CBS is sounding bullish — as you’d expect — as it heads into the home stretch of its upfront ad sales. The broadcaster says it’s “confident” that at the end it will have “secured more total dollars – and the highest pricing – of all the broadcast networks.” With its strong performance last season, the network was…