The hottest place to be in TV may not be traditional television, but Paramount Global was able to make the medium seem pretty cool.
Paramount Global has largely completed its upfront sales negotiations. And while the company saw its volume of advance advertising commitments rise most significantly for digital venues like Pluto and Paramount Plus, ad dollars committed for the traditional primetime schedule on the CBS broadcast network rose as well, according to a person familiar with current negotiations The company expects at least a 10% rise in volume for its primetime schedule, this person says. In 2021, CBS may have seen its primetime commitments total between $2.03 billion and $2.64 billion, according to Variety estimates, compared with $2.03 billion and $2.51 billion in 2020.
The nation’s big TV networks are trying to lock in ad deals for their next programming season as Madison Avenue keeps its eye on a slumping stock market and worries about the prospect of a recession. NBCUniversal earlier this week said its upfront volume was “comparable” to what it secured next year, while the CW recently wrapped its upfront sales with gains in digital but primetime volume that was flat with 2021. U.S. TV networks try to sell the bulk of their commercial time for their next programming cycle as part of this annual market.
With the economy worrying Madison Avenue, the networks have not pressed too hard for the massive increases in CPMs, or the cost of reaching 1,000 viewers, that they sought last year. Paramount Global sought CPM increases of between 8% and 9%, according to people familiar with recent discussions, for both broadcast and cable inventory. Last year, with advertisers eager to spend following the shutdown required by the coronavirus pandemic, the networks pushed for CPM rates of between 16% and 22%
Paramount’s CPM strategy was key to its volume haul, this person says. The company tried to tuck just underneath the increases sought by its main rivals, in a bid to drive more commitments for its programming.
More to come…