BROADCAST UPFRONT DONE. Broadcasting & Cable reports that the broadcast upfront market is finished with sales exceeding $8.6 billion for ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX and CW. Other reports have the total haul over $9 billion. You can guarantee that network sources are placing the commitments north of $9 billion and that agency sources are giving the lower figure. But what's a few hundred million dollars between friends? Let's meet in the middle and call it a $9 billion market.
CBS was the most aggressive with price -- asking for 18% CPM increases and settling for 13-15% increases, according to reports. ABC got 11% CPM increases, and NBC received 9% price gains. As previously reported, FOX finished its sales first with a 10% price increase. In our last upfront update, we said CBS would settle for 15% price increases -- on the high end of what ultimately happened but not a bad forecast.
FROM THE PAST FEW DAYS...No big surprise that Laurence Fishburne is leaving CSI. We don't expect a change in our forecast rating for CSI Wednesdays at 10 in the fall. If he were an original cast member, his departure would signal a ratings downgrade. But his TBD replacement will, in all probability, carry the show on the same, slowly declining ratings track. The real damage was done when Fishburne replaced William Peterson in 2008. If you want to see the forecast ratings for any day of the week, visit THE SKED page, where you will also see a guide to all of Mitch Salem's TV pilot reviews.
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