NBC, which is close to wrapping up its “upfront” ad-sales negotiations, boosted its overall haul this year after getting a jump on rivals.
General Electric-owned NBC landed $1.9 billion in ad deals for the upcoming TV season, compared with $1.8 billion during last year, NBC insiders said.
The Peacock network got a head start by holding a no-frills sales presentation, which it dubbed an “infront,” more than a month before the other major broadcast networks. ABC, CBS and Fox are still in talks with advertisers. (News Corp. owns Fox and The Post.)
NBC’s overall take reflects higher pricing, along with its decision to put more ad inventory into the upfront rather than selling it later in the year. The network sold about 80 percent of its ad time in advance, up 4 percentage points from 2007.
During the upfront, the broadcast networks typically sell about three-quarter of their ad time. The rest is sold on the so-called “scatter” market or used for “make goods” – extra ad spots to compensate advertisers when ratings fall short of promised levels.
NBC insiders said the network wanted to get more money down now rather than risk marketers pulling back later.
NBC’s ad rates – based on a measure called CPM, or the cost of reaching 1,000 viewers – were up in the mid-to-high single digits despite double-digit ratings declines. Ad rates tend to climb as ratings fall because advertisers have to buy more spots to reach the same audience.
“I think the market is generally pretty healthy,” said an NBC insider. “I think that broadcast might be down a little bit, but certainly pricing strength is offsetting a lot of the ratings decline.”
Ad buyers said this year’s upfront has moved in a quick and orderly fashion despite the writers’ strike, the slowing economy and huge ratings declines for most of the major broadcast networks.