Syndication Upfront About To Pop

The $2.9 billion syndication upfront is getting underway. Yesterday, many ad agencies submitted budgets to syndicators, who say ad buys for the most in-demand syndicated TV shows will likely be nailed down next week, but possibly with some deals struck as early as this afternoon, according to syndicators and media buyers.

“There may be some deals cut later today,” says a media buyer in New York City. “And it’s not just syndication. There have been some cable deals cut already and, last night, there were possibly some deals cut with Fox and ABC.”

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. The $9.9 billion cable TV upfront is underway for top-rated networks.

Cost-per-thousands (CPMs) for the broadcast networks, top-tier cable networks and the most in-demand syndicated shows are expected to be up by mid- to high-single-digit percentages over last year.

Some buyers are projecting that dollar volume in the syndication upfront will be up by about 3%. Miller Tabak analyst David Joyce is forecasting a 7.5% increase, from just under $2.7 billion last year to nearly $2.9 billion this year.

Network TV and cable TV are also expected to post solid increases.

Barclays Capital analyst Anthony DiClemente is projecting an increase of 4.3% for the Big Four broadcast networks, to $9.49 billion on CPMs up an average 8.7%. He’s projecting a 6.3% increase for cable TV, to $9.88 billion.