Upfronts Up With $9.2 Billion

Going into upfronts this year, few forcasted this 2007's total to surpass 2006's, especially with the new currency of measuring the ratings of ads instead of the programs. But prime-time broadcast TV has proved that it's still the best place to reach a broad audience in our fractured times, and despite a switch to commercial ratings, which meant a 5% to 10% drop in viewers, the networks were still able to win increases in CPM rates. Making this even more surprising is the fact that the upfront market had been flat to down in recent years, and live ratings declined this past TV season. But the numbers speak for themselves, with the nets booking $9.19 billion this year, compared to $8.95 billion for 2006. Here's the breakdown from Ad Age:

Marketers' spending boosted three of the five networks' total hauls. CBS took the most this year, with $2.45 billion (last year's tally: $2.4 billion); followed by ABC with $2.4 billion (up from last year's $2.2 billion); Fox with $1.9 billion (vs. last year's $1.8 billion); NBC at $1.8 billion; and the CW with about $640 million. NBC was down from its 2006 total, $1.9 billion, as was the CW, which was credited with $650 million last year.

In terms of CPM, the CW boasted the largest increases of the season, estimated to be 10% to 11%. It was followed by CBS with 8% to 9%, ABC with 7% to 9%, Fox with 5% to 7% and NBC at 4% to 6%.