Cable Advertising Up $1B In Upfront.
June 15, 2003
National cable networks’ collective upfront advertising sales for the 2003/2004 TV season will come in at $5.68 billion–a 21 percent increase over last year, estimates the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau.
The gain of almost $1 billion is the highest-ever single year increase for a cable upfront. It is also the largest percentage increase compared to the other sources of TV. The broadcast networks’ 2003/2004 upfront sales were reportedly up 12 percent to $9.2 billion; and the syndication upfront rose a reported 10 percent to $2.2 billion.
“Everybody won in this year’s cable upfront,” said CAB President & CEO Sean Cunningham. “The cable networks won because revenues were way up and CPMs climbed. Both buyers and sellers won because the market moved quickly. And most importantly, advertisers won because–once again–they invested more in cable and got more in return versus the broadcast upfront where they invested more and got less.”
