Confirmation of the soft upfront TV advertising season

Tags: Advertising, Marketing

MediaPost reports today that as Blackfriars predicted, the upfront TV advertising season is finishing below expectations.

Media agency executives now say the broadcast networks might end as low as $9.0 billion--some $200 million to $300 million less than last year's upfront market. The final broadcast network scorecard: CBS $2.4 billion, ABC $2.1 billion, NBC $1.9 billion, Fox $1.6 billion, the WB $675 million, and UPN $375 million.

Where is the money going? Our data says non-traditional marketing, preferrably measurable media like Internet and email. David Verkin, CEO of media buying giant Carat agreed.

"What's interesting, is my clients budgets aren't down. They're up. TV budgets are down," he said, noting that ad dollars were shifting to other media, especially online, or were being held back as a hedge for a soft TV scatter marketplace during the 2005-06 TV season. "I'll tell you, the budgets from clients are not down, they are up," he said, adding, "Our Internet business is booming."