• The New York Times, Tuesday, May 14, 2013 2:02 PM

How important are this week’s upfronts to the Big 4 networks? Very. Ad dollars are shifting to cable and mainstay hit programs like “American Idol” and  “Dancing with the Stars” have seen a decline in ratings. The pressure to perform big and snag a portion of the $9 billion advertising pie is tremendous. “The networks are getting picked at from every direction,” said Jessica Reif Cohen, the senior media analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. “While broadcast networks were setting record lows, cable channels were setting record highs; AMC’s “The Walking Dead” and the History mini-series “The Bible” regularly beat almost all the shows on network television while they were on,” said The New York Times.

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