ABC wraps upfront with 4%-5% increases

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ABCABC has largely wrapped its upfront deals, according to an AdAge story, making it the second network wrap up negotiations this year to CBS. ABC said it is pleased with where it landed, secured “appropriate” volume and is “well poised” to sell the remaining inventory closer to its actual air date, in the scatter market.


ABC secured price hikes between 4% and 5%, according to a person familiar with negotiations. That’s down from the 7% to 8% increases it scored in 2013.

Last year ABC secured total dollar commitments that were even with or slightly below the $2.2 billion it secured in 2012. In this year’s negotiation, total volume is believed to be down from 2013, according to media buyers who spoke to Ad Age.

ABC once again ended the season in fourth place in the all-important 18-49 demographic. Its total audience slipped 3%, averaging 7.6 million viewers in primetime, putting it in the No. 3 slot.

Fox, NBC and The CW are still in the process of negotiating ad time for next season. And on the cable front, there appears to be little business written yet outside of NBC Universal, which packages its broadcast inventory with its cable inventory.

See the AdAge story here.