CW Rakes In $640 Million, Exceeds Upfront Goal

The CW wrapped its upfront late last week with an estimated volume increase around 2%, giving it a $640 million take. That modest increase came despite CPM increases that were said to be in the 11% to 12% range, reflecting some impact in the change in currency that incorporated commercial ratings for the first time. The bulk of the deals were made using commercial ratings for the "live plus three day" DVR-viewing period.

"In just our second upfront, we exceeded our revenue goals, adding over a dozen new advertisers with great strength in categories like wireless, retail and theatrical, a bull's-eye for the CW's young adult viewers," said Bill Morningstar, executive vice president of sales.

CW received some early momentum when its new "CW Now" was bought out by agency MediaVest almost as soon as the network said it would be on the fall schedule, along with four other new shows. CW was able to bring in more dollars--perhaps by selling a higher percentage of inventory--after a lackluster first year. The network declined comment.

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It finished the season in its target 18-to-34 demo with a 1.4 "live" prime-time rating. That was equal to the performance of both the WB (1.4) and UPN (1.4)--the two networks that merged to form the CW. The promise: the whole would outperform the parts--although the new network faced a marketing challenge in introducing itself.

If CW's take did achieve a $640 million price tag, the five-network broadcast upfront could have yielded $9.1 billion to $9.2 billion.

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