cable upfront

It was a watershed upfront for the cable TV business, which took in about $9.2 billion in ad money this year, matching what the broadcast networks took in. Why did advertisers spend about $1.2 billion more in ad dollars on cable networks in this year’s upfront than they did last year, increasing their cable spending by 15%, while investing only 5% more in broadcast? Here’s what their media buying agency executives say.

After a strong broadcast upfront, the cable market is booming, particularly when it comes to volume. Market sources estimate that the cable will be at least 15% higher than last year, bringing the total volume of advertising commitments to $9.4 billion, a record that would also eclipse the size of the broadcast total for the first time.