• by Wayne Friedman , June 9, 2008

Now that the broadcast market is done, cable TV deal-making has started, with a handful of networks booking 20% to 45% of their upfront advertising inventory as of late Friday. Turner Broadcasting was the most aggressive--booking a number of deals with at least three media agencies, including OMD USA and Group M, and selling about 45% of its upfront inventory. Turner was looking at 9% increases on the cost-per-thousand-viewers CPMs. A Turner spokesman had no comment.

MTV Networks inked at least one media agency, which included OMD USA, according to media executives, with CPM increases in the high single-digit area. An MTV spokesman had no comment.

In past seasons, MTV Network typically closed its big media agency deal with OMD USA--and their young-skewing advertising clients--around the time of the broadcast upfront market. Those agency deals ranged from $250 million to $300 million.

Lifetime has been fairly aggressive, according to media executives. With Debbie Richman as its new executive vice president of advertising sales, TV media buyers say the network has done about three agency deals, including OMD and Mediavest. A Lifetime spokesman said: "We are actively writing business with CPM increases in the high single digits along with healthy volume gains."

For other cable networks, many budgets have been registered around 50% to 70% of their expected take. Networks here include USA, MTV, A&E, History, ABC Family, and Comcast group of networks, including E! and Versus.

Cable advertising executives believe the market is moving a bit faster than expected--about one week earlier. Many executives estimated the market to start up in mid-June, with lower-tiered cable networks starting to make their deals at the end of the month.

Turner was said to initially have been the most aggressive network. With broadcast TV sinking dramatically with viewers, Turner was positioning itself as an alternative--especially with its original drama series, such as "The Closer" and "Saving Grace."

Media executives said Turner was asking as much as 12% hikes on its advertisers returning budgets, and big $25 CPMs on adult 18-49 viewers for its new shows. By way of comparison, other original Turner series get around $15 to $18 CPMs, with broadcast network dramas around $30 CPMs.

Instead, according to executives, Turner got 9% hikes on returning business and around $19 CPMs on its new shows.