• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, July 6, 2007

Some ratings bumps and a change in its top executive did not hindered upfront sales at Lifetime. The network said Thursday it is virtually done with its business -- considerably ahead of a year ago -- with CPM increases in the range of 7% to 9%.

The network received some wind at its back when Group M upped its dollar commitment to the channel and made a deal estimated at about $70 million, Lifetime said. That's partly because the channel agreed to negotiate based on the so-called C3 currency, which employs commercial ratings covering three days of DVR viewing.

Lifetime added that just about all its deals -- 10% or so remain -- were done with C3 as a basis. If the network sold an estimated 70% of its inventory -- higher than many cable networks offer up in the upfront -- it may have brought in an estimated $538 million, based on TNS Media Intelligence data, which shows the flagship Lifetime network garnered $769 million overall in 2006. (Lifetime also operates two other smaller channels.)

For Lifetime, there was little reason to resist buyers' push to shift currency from the traditional program ratings to the new commercial ones. The network loses only about 4% of its audience during commercial breaks, the highest retention rate among cable networks, according to Magna Global. "We felt we had an advantage, losing only 4% or 5%," said John Matluck, senior vice president of advertising sales.

And that retention level appears to be on the rise.

A year ago, Lifetime lost about 12% of viewers during ad pods, according to Magna Global -- about the level of MTV and VH1 now. Both are concerned about doing deals where commercial ratings could be low enough to cause a revenue slide.

Lifetime deals apparently are done with all of the largest agencies, notably MediaVest, which represents Proctor & Gamble, a company looking to reach Lifetime's female audience.

Network executives said they were helped by Lifetime's recent success in the drama "Army Wives," which hasn't been renewed yet but should be soon. Buyers were interested in placing money down when it's expected to return next summer. The network also has two anticipated new dramas later this month that executives said had buyers intrigued.

"[Army Wives] helped a lot, the upfront is sort of like buying stock, you want to buy stocks that will go up in value," Matluck said. He was referring to the upfront's role in locking in spots ahead of time, rather than wait and see costs rise in the scatter market.

Matluck and Rick Basso, senior vice president of pricing and planning, have been overseeing the upfront, since ad sales president Lynn Picard recently resigned.