• by Wayne Friedman , June 21, 2007

Another broadcast network has claimed an incredible upfront advertising season--which will trend the broadcast network business back into the $9 billion range in advertising revenues. That's up 3% over last year's $8.7 billion, according to some estimates.

The market is more than 90% completed, with only the CW remaining to complete deals.

ABC is the latest network to note record sales, following that of Fox. ABC says it has booked $2.4 billion in upfront revenues--more than 5% from its upfront take a year ago. Fox says it got around $1.85 billion, also up 5%.

Broadcast networks claim much of the uptick in business came because of the switch to deals based on commercial ratings from program rating guarantees. "We looked at the way the market stacked, and we felt pretty good," says Mike Shaw, president of advertising sales and marketing for ABC Television Network. "[In terms of commercial ratings], we were right at the top of the list. I think you are going to see us continue to benefit in the scatter market and in next year's upfront."

But the market isn't completely healthy. "Honestly, except for Fox and ABC, I don't think there'll be much of an increase in dollar volume," says Shaw. ABC says that overall it sold between 77% and 82% of its total inventory in all dayparts.

Media executives close to the company now say ABC booked increases of 8% to 10% in the average cost-per-thousand viewers, slightly more than Fox or CBS. ABC claims it got the highest CPM increases of any broadcast network in prime time, while also getting even higher double-digit increases in other dayparts, news, early morning and daytime.

ABC credits its high-rated shows and using commercial ratings for the rise. The net says it has drawn advertisers into buying more network advertising time, due to its accountability and effectiveness. It also added that a strong scatter market--particularly in the second quarter--kick-started the upfront into high gear.

ABC says 90% of its deals have been done on commercial ratings plus three days of DVR playback guarantees, known by media buyers now as "C3."

Movie companies and retailers initially had some problems in accepting C3 deals. Regarding those advertisers, ABC's Shaw said the network made some "C1" deals--average commercial ratings plus one day of DVR playback--as well as other deals that combined C1 with C3. "It really didn't become an issue," he says. "We offer it if someone wanted it."

The broadcast network network prime-time upfront market fell for the last two years in term of overall volume, with some agency executives estimating last year's total in the $8.0 billion to $8.5 billion range. The upfront market's previous high for broadcast networks was $9.3 billion in May 2003, according to some estimates.