Business

STRONG UPFRONT AD DATA FOR THREE BIG NETWORKS

The major broadcast TV networks were close to wrapping up their annual “upfront” ad sales bazaar yesterday, with demand for primetime spots said to be surprisingly strong.

Network execs and ad buyers said this year’s upfront market has been robust despite concerns about the writers’ strike, double-digit ratings declines and the weakening economy.

The overall haul for the broadcast networks is expected to be flat or up slightly from roughly $9 billion last year. Some Wall Street analysts were concerned the total dollar amount would be down because of strike-induced ratings declines and economic uncertainty.

“In tough times, I think advertisers gravitate to what they know,” said Andy Donchin, director of national broadcast for Carat North America, the ad-buying arm for media firm Aegis.

ABC, CBS and Fox said they had completed most of their ad-sales negotiations for the upcoming TV season. NBC, which jumped into the market first, finished its upfront last week.

ABC and CBS are expected to bring in around $2.5 billion each in ad sales. Both networks were able to hike ad rates, measured in CPM, or the cost of reaching 1,000 viewers, in the high-single digits.

“All of our conversations led us to believe that this money was in the marketplace,” said Mike Shaw, ABC’s head of ad sales.

ABC also sold more of its available primetime spots – between 80 and 85 percent – to arrive at that total. Last year, the network brought in $2.4 billion and sold between 77 and 82 percent of its inventory.

CBS sold about the same amount of commercial time as last year. Unlike ABC and NBC, the network doesn’t include sports programming in its upfront tally.

Fox, which was the only broadcast network to boost its ratings this season, said it had finished its upfront business.

Although Fox declined to provide a figure, ad buyers expect the network to bring in north of last year’s $1.9 billion.

News Corp. owns Fox and The Post.

Last week, fourth-ranked NBC said upfront dollars rose to $1.9 billion, from $1.8 billion.

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