UPFRONTS: Fears About The Economy Drive Networks To Sell While They Can

As this year?s broadcast network upfront market just wrapped up, we can see the force that?s been driving sales: Fear. ABC, CBS, CW, Fox and NBC seem to believe that the economy will weaken. They?re selling as much of their primetime ad inventory for the 2011-2012 season as they can before it does. Although there are no official figures for the upfront market, word has it that most of the networks are selling about 80% of their inventory this year -- up from an average of about 77% last year and 67% the year before. And advertisers are paying higher prices for network TV time because they?re still afraid that alternative platforms, including digital, aren?t potent enough to move product. The five English-language broadcast networks did well enough to boast about how effectively they played their hands. Their collective ad dollar haul was $9.1 billion-$9.2 billion, up from $8.5 billion last year. Unit CPM prices were up about 14% for CBS, 11% for ABC and CW, 10% for Fox, and 9% for NBC. That?s pretty good considering that their ratings were down across the board in the season that ended in May, and TV audiences are growing older. But for the most part, the price increases were ?smaller than what people were writing about four to six weeks ago,? says Jordan Levin, former CEO of the WB Network who now runs talent management company Generate. For instance, the ... Read More »

Source: http://www.deadline.com/2011/06/upfronts-fears-about-the-economy-drive-networks-to-sell-while-they-can/

Dolly Parton Alexandra Paul Sarah Paulson Nia Peeples Amanda Peet