• by Wayne Friedman , 8 hours ago

Amid the upfront advertising market that has now begun, a recent five-month reading of seven major TV networks shows a 2% decline in national TV revenues to $8.3 billion versus the same period a year ago, according to estimates from EDO Ad EnGage.

Analysts typically look to first- and second-quarter market activity to get a reading on where the upfront TV ad marketplace for the following season is trending. This includes the near-term deal-making in the “scatter” market, where brands buy TV advertising time closer to airing.

The 2% drop in ad revenue comes amid 4% fewer airings (509,240) and a 3% drop in impressions (973.4 billion) for the January 1 though May 22 period. These results were from CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, Fox News Channel, ESPN, and TNT.

Sports programming has been a major factor in many moves -- as well as rising interest in TV news content after the Presidential election.

CBS was down 26% to $2.1 billion, due to its comparison to the year before when the network aired the Super Bowl.

ABC and NBC were relatively steady compared to the industry overall, where company disclosures of their national TV networks showed declines in the mid-teens. ABC declined 19% to $1.3 billion, while NBC dropped 15% to $1.1 billion.

Fox Television Network rose 134% to $1.4 billion due to its airing of the Super Bowl this past February. Its free ad-supported, streaming network Tubi also aired the event.

Three major cable TV networks all saw improvements -- especially sports-focused ESPN and TNT. ESPN grew 24% to $937 million; TNT was up 2% to $880 million.

Fox News Channel rose 9% to $536 million, due to increased interest after the Presidential election in late 2024. The network claims to have added some 200 new advertisers.

The upfront ad market -- which operates mostly starting in late May and runs through the end of the August -- is where major TV brands make a majority of their national TV deals for an entire TV season, which begins in late September.