Radio Wary As TV Upfront Ad Sales Drop

Cable TV and Madison Avenue appear to have lost that loving feeling.

Upfront ad dollars targeted to cable TV have declined for the 2014-15 season, cable groups and insiders are whispering.

NBC is the lone broadcast network to see a lift from the 2013-14 season, as even cable sales drop for the first time since the recession.

Both broadcast and cable networks collectively have dropped for the first time since the recession-stifled 2009-10 season, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Total primetime commitments are down 6.2 percent compared with last season to $18.13 billion, according to consulting firm Media Dynamics Inc.

Broadcast fared the worst, down 7.7 percent, while cable fell 4.7 percent. For cable, that marks the first drop after a four-year growth spurt. Still, CPMs (cost-per-thousand viewers) are increasing -- as much as 8 percent for NBC, which was No. 1 last season in the 18-to-49 demo and has the Super Bowl in 2015. NBC is the only network to not post a loss this selling season, booking $2.52 billion in commitments — a 12 percent jump from the prior year.

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