• Mediaweek, Wednesday, October 14, 2009 9:32 PM

In the softest summer market since 2001, cable saw its 2009-10 upfront take diminish by 12%, as the networks wrote an estimated $6.73 billion in business. Network and media agency sources concur with the estimate, which was derived from a base sum of $7.65 billion last year.

Battered client budgets and mid-single-digit CPM rollbacks contributed to the $920 million shortfall. Another big factor was ad sales executives' desire to hold back inventory for scatter. That strategy that has paid off thus far in the fourth quarter, as scatter sales are fetching 7-9% premiums over upfront pricing.

Read the whole story at Mediaweek »