• Ad Age, Tuesday, March 6, 2007 11:30 AM

The upfront is still ahead, but networks are poring over how best to bring assets to the market while agencies fret over measurement issues, from engagement to commercial ratings to the continuing "live plus" ratings debate. Still, even before the program-development slates are out on March 19, many executives suggest a market similar to last year's, when the TV networks brought in around $9.1 billion. But don't expect a fast-moving market, as packages for everything from prime time to online will require more heads at the table.

And the biggest issue could well be the ratings the industry decides to use, either program ratings or commercial ratings. If its program, the fight will be over payment for viewers watching in DVR playback mode, currently not counted. In 2006, agencies insisted they'd pay only for people watching shows live, meaning all the networks missed out on added impressions. Some agencies are now saying they may give a little for that, maybe paying for live-plus-same-day viewing. And if commercial ratings become the currency, a whole different set of issues arise.

"The agencies are going to be using new data to determine how the dollars are going to be spent in this year's upfront, and the most important new data will be based on commercial ratings," says Mike Shaw, ABC sales president.

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