upfronts 2012

There have been some surprises in the Hispanic television upfront this year. The selling season has yet to wrap up, with Telemundo the only network to finalize all of its deals. But while demand for Spanish-language inventory was up, CPM gains are actually lower than last year. The lower gains reflect advertisers’ greater interest in a variety of networks this year rather than just the traditional top one or two.

Telemundo completed its upfront sales for the 2012-13 season last Tuesday, according to Dan Lovinger, EVP of ad sales and integrated marketing, and categories flat or down in the general market — such as consumer packaged goods and movies — are up at the Spanish-language broadcaster. Telemundo saw CPM increases in the 7% range, with sister cable network Mun2 about a point below that.

An examination into the motivations and an analysis of the risks of Joel Ewanick’s strategy to stare down the TV networks on price hikes.

TV’s annual upfront negotiations have now shifted fully to cable, where networks and analysts are expecting to see more growth than the broadcast networks found, even if dealmaking is proceeding at a more measured pace. “Cable is moving along, but not flying,” says one media buyer. “All of the networks are still in play.”

The broadcast upfront wrapped up yesterday as Fox and NBC closed out their sales with CPM gains down from last year, reflecting a solid but somewhat subdued upfront. Advertisers spent $9.57 billion on advance ad sales for next season, according to Miller Tabak & Co. analyst David Joyce, up 4% over last year. That 4% gain is largely credited to pricing increases.

The last of the upfront deals were being sewn up late tonight, as ABC joined CBS on the far side of the finish line. According to media buyers, ABC was able to command an average CPM increase of 7%. In accordance with what appears to be a market-defining trend, ABC’s dollar volume was flat versus a year ago, when it racked up some $2.5 billion in advance sponsor commitments.

CBS has largely completed its upfront sales, notching ad commitments estimated to be close to the $2.5 billion to $2.75 billion that it did in last year’s session, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Some high-rated off network comedies, notably Warner Bros.’ The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men, are also up by mid- to high-single-digit percentages. Meantime, syndication’s new crop of daytime talk shows, led in pricing by Disney-ABC’s Katie, are also selling well, according to media buyers.

Media buyers say the big automotive maker has been at a stalemate with CBS, and possibly NBC — which reportedly follows one it has been having at Fox over pricing. General Motors still seems on the outs with most networks because — according to media executives — it has directed its new media agency Carat USA to ask for big rollbacks, and some double-digit decreases on pricing.

Both NBC Universal’s cable properties and Time Warner’s Turner have begun making deals for commercial time in the coming TV season, according to people familiar with the pace of talks, but their terms so far may be hard for some ad buyers to swallow.

The youth-oriented network was able to raise its cost-per-thousand price by about 7% and sold about 75% of its inventory

The broadcast upfront is actually chugging along quite nicely. The Big Four have all begun writing business, with auto and movie studios active in the initial deals, and Fox is expected to wrap up its sales first sometime this week. CPM gains are in line with last year or a bit lower, but that has to be considered a positive for the sellers considering the state of the economy.

CBS, which hopes to leverage its stable schedule to land market-topping price increases, began inking upfront commitments late last week, a network representative said. By Friday, all four major networks had entered the deal-making stage.

The syndication upfront for top-tier shows like Warner Bros.’ Ellen and Two and a Half Men, CBS Television Distribution’s Dr. Phil and Sony Pictures Television’s Dr. Oz will move right alongside the $9.5 billion network TV upfront, which got underway last evening.

Movies, autos seek to grab important audiences but price hikes haven’t reached double-digit range yet.

CBS is ready to hold out to lead the market in the broadcast upfront advertising market, CBS Corp. CFO and EVP Joe Ianniello vowed Wednesday at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Telecom & Media Conference.

With sales cooling in television’s scatter advertising market, negotiations underway now for the huge upfront market  will generate less than networks would like Nomura Equity Research’s Michael Nathanson predicts this morning in his thorough quarterly  review of ad trends.

Advertisers who want shows with strong social media traction should consider the creepy new CW drama Cult, according to a new upfront analysis. The Mindy Project on Fox, The Carrie Diaries on The CW, The Following on Fox and Revolution on NBC round out the top five new series on Networked Insights’ Social Index.

Look for a lot more comedy, the survival of bubble shows, shorter season orders, more “alternative” families and an increase in sci-fi and fantasy.

The upfronts serve as a scorecard for the major agencies’ television departments. Here is the count for agency packages on the 39 new scripted primetime series ordered by the broadcast networks for the 2012-13 season.

At last week’s upfront presentations, network television executives spoke the languages of social media and Web science to a greater degree than ever.

The broadcast networks unveiled about a half dozen similarly dark-tinged dramas last week at the annual TV upfront sales presentations for advertisers. Such shows have thrived on cable channels like AMC and FX lately (think The Walking Dead). But there’s no guarantee the mass audiences that tune into broadcast networks — or their advertisers — will be as enthusiastic.

In nearly every upfront presentation, the TV networks took pains to stress their expertise in connecting advertisers to consumers, not only with splashy TV programs but also via social media.

In my decade covering American television I can’t think of a year when more projects that started as also-rans, or came back from the dead, or barely made it to pilot, or overcame major recastings, went on to land series orders. And some of them are among next season’s most buzzed-about new shows.

How many new sitcoms and dramas will air this coming fall? Here’s a look at the broadcast upfronts, from the fun facts behind this week’s presentations to the big trends to be aware of this fall.

In part due to the success of The Big Bang Theory and Modern Family, TV networks are banking on a full slate of new comedies this fall and the return of other sitcoms.

The upfront presentations have taken on greater urgency as the networks fight to convince advertisers that they remain the most direct route to consumers — many of whom are no longer watching shows on television sets, but rather via other technology that can leave advertisers behind. And this week’s sales pitches took on more urgency as Dish Network unveiled its ad-skipping feature Auto Hop.

In the wake of this week’s upfront presentations, here are the the complete lineup lists for the fall lineups of ABC, CBS, CW, Fox and NBC.

USA Network is working to shake up its image as the “blue-skies drama” channel with a new push into reality programming this summer and half-hour comedies further down the road.

The network’s chief calls Dish’s commercial erasing technology “foolhardy.” “They’re biting the hand that supplies them with content.”

The CW has complained for years that Nielsen ratings don’t adequately gauge its young audience, and now the network is doing something about it — by developing its own measurement system.

Ahead of its upfront presentation to Madison Avenue today, the young- and female-skewing network announced it would launch its 2012-13 fall season in October, moving Supernatural out of Friday purgatory to Wednesdays to pair with its Stephen Amell starrer, Arrow. Also on the move, 90210 will jump from Tuesdays to Mondays and serve as a lead-in for the final season of Gossip Girl, which slides back an hour to 9 p.m.

As with past technological threats, network executives are closing ranks against a Dish Network device that undermines the broadcast business model.

From robots to an attempted seduction by Jennifer Love Hewitt, some nets really know how to party.

TNT will run nine original series this summer, including its revival of Dallas, the biggest slate of original programming in the network’s history.

CBS chief Les Moonves diverted from the pack in this year’s upfront presentations by talking up the ad value of conventional television over digital media. “Everyone is still talking about the first screen, the TV screen.”

It doesn’t matter what CBS does next season — buzz or not. It’s still going to crush the competition. Like a machine that can’t be stopped.

The new U.S. Spanish-language broadcast network launches this summer with a mix of original news and entertainment content, as well as exclusive sports events.

Ahead of its upfront presentation to Madison Avenue, the Turner-owned cable network announced a slate of seven dramas and four unscripted projects.

Ahead of its upfront presentation to Madison Avenue, the first-place network continues to make bold scheduling changes.