Big TV is putting it all out on the field.
A number of top TV networks and streamers are making aggressive efforts to get advertisers to pay top dollar for sports even as Madison Avenue trims back the sizable sums it has given in the past to the usual fare, like dramas, comedies and reality programming. These negotiations take place as part of the industry’s annual “upfront” market, when U.S. media companies try to sell the bulk of their commercial inventory ahead of their next cycle of programs.
Sports is of paramount importance this year, according to five executives familiar with current negotiations, because advertising budgets are down noticeably from last year’s haggle and games from leagues like the NFL and the NBA are one of the few things in which marketers see growing value. “There is not as much money as media companies wanted,” says one media-buying executive, who works on behalf of advertisers to secure commercial time. Another media buyer says many clients have cut upfront budgets by at least 10%, and in some cases by as much as 30% to 40%.
“There is really only one category that is up. All the others are either flat to down,” this buyer says. “Pharma is the only one that’s up — and not as up as everybody thinks.”
