• Advertising Age, Wednesday, July 15, 2009 9:37 PM

In this year's protracted upfront negotiations, ABC, Fox and CBS have begun offering slight declines in their CPM, reportedly in the 1% to 3% range. Buyers say that among the three, Fox is not going as negative as its rivals, thanks to popular programming such as "American Idol" and the network's Sunday-night animation lineup.

NBC is said to be offering mid-to-high single-digit percentage decreases in CPM. But CBS and ABC have been telling buyers they don't consider pacts with NBC something they need to match.

It's unclear whether the networks' willingness to offer rollbacks will result in a quicker pace to the proceedings. The discounted figures are only "obligatory negative numbers," says one buying executive, "We're looking for something deeper than that." ABC, Fox and CBS -- which all finished the year with stronger ratings than NBC and the CW -- are mum on the status of their upfront negotiations.

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