• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, November 8, 2012

AMC Networks CEO Josh Sapan said the company has not experienced any notable bumps in the scatter market that can offer any broad insight into the overall health of the ad market. “I'm not sure we've seen any sort of changing trends over the last six weeks or so,” he said on an earnings call. “The hurricane probably had some effect. The Olympics gets in the mix somewhere.”

The AMC network is poised for a solid scatter performance in the current quarter with the high ratings for “The Walking Dead,” although much of the inventory may have been sold in the upfront market.

Even as the four AMC Networks were off Dish Network in the July-September quarter, the company posted a 9.1% increase in ad dollars to $107 million. Much of that was helped by the AMC network offering two scripted original series in the quarter versus only one a year ago. “Mad Men” continues to have the highest CPMs at AMC, although Sapan said Thursday that other original series are narrowing the spread.

The networks are now available again to Dish’s 14 million customers after a settlement in a legal matter.

For the four networks, third-quarter net revenue was up 18.5% to $306.2 million. Operating income ($99 million) was flat compared to the same period in 2011 and impacted by the Dish matter.