This has been the company’s strategy for years, Burgess told Television News Daily: Deliver consistently on ratings guarantees, provide the evidence to advertisers and thereby earn their trust. “We think of ourselves as a safe bet for an advertiser in a time of disruption,” Burgess said of 10-year-old ION in a phone interview.

“We felt we had to earn credibility by delivering,” he said. “And after we’ve done that now year after year after year, advertisers have begun to say, ‘Wow, you guys really do come back and show us the scorecard that you delivered every single rating point in every quarter that you sold us. You’re doing that at a cable-type CPM that’s a fair value for us.’ So that has been our calling card in recent years.”

Burgess describes ION as a “hybrid” of broadcast and cable TV. The company owns 60 TV stations in 55 markets and claims a reach of 100 million U.S. TV homes -- over the air, on cable and via satellite. “We program ourselves like a cable network,” Burgess explained. “All of our stations are programmed consistently and we cume all the ratings and sell it as a cable value.”

ION’s programming consists mainly of off-network hours including such stalwarts as “Blue Bloods,” “Criminal Minds” and “Numb3rs” (off-CBS), “Rookie Blue” (off-ABC), “Law & Order” (plus “L&O” spinoffs “Criminal Intent” and “Special Victims Unit – all off-NBC) and others.

Burgess said ION has found that its lineup of one-hour dramas has resulted in consistent viewership. The shows on ION “repeat well,” and audiences tend to stay tuned in throughout typical episodes, he said. Among other factoids the company emphasizes: 97% of its viewership is “live” timeslot viewing as opposed to time-shifted viewing, i.e. recorded to be watched later.

“Ads and brands benefit from ION viewers’ high level of engagement,” ION says.

ION also airs a handful of original TV movies around holidays during the year, and also has at least one original series, the Canadian-produced hospital drama “Saving Hope,” now renewed for a fifth season.

ION operates a kids’ network called Qubo. Some Qubo programming airs on the ION network on Wednesday through Friday mornings.

Several years ago, ION’s catchphrase during upfront sales season was “ION Delivers,” referring to the company’s push to deliver on its ratings guarantees. The marketing department also delivered lunch to clients and agencies.

This year, the tagline is “ION Blend,” a reference to ION’s “hybrid” broadcast and cable nature, and also a reference to coffee, Burgess said.

“The sequel to [“ION Delivers”] this year is ‘ION Blend’,” Burgess said. “The slogan [refers to] ‘Smell the coffee.’ Television is the reach vehicle for brand advertisers, and digital is a supplement, not the other way around,” he explained. To go along with the ION Blend slogan, the marketing team is delivering coffee this year, he added.

Like a number of other TV companies this upfront season, ION is not holding a big event-style upfront presentation in New York in an auditorium or party venue. Instead, the company is making presentations “through very personalized and customized meetings with key agencies and key clients,” Burgess said.

“We go into the meetings and show people,’Look, we deliver our rating [and] here’s what it is. We’re giving you a great value because you can get broadcast households at a cable CPM.’ So we feel the one-on-ones are quite effective for us,” he said.