US networks vie for $18 billion in ad contracts

Criminals, housewives and dinosaurs will dominate the all-important autumn schedules at the big US TV networks, a blend that has advertisers jostling to secure commercials during the best programs. The so-called “upfronts”, at which cable and broadcast networks debut their new shows to advertisers and media buyers, have taken over some of the biggest theatres in Manhattan this week. CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox will each sell billions of dollars’ worth of advertising based on these events, as will cable networks such as ESPN and Turner’s TBS and TNT. Advertisers are poised to commit more than $18bn on the basis of the upfronts, a reminder that even as online advertising grows, TV still accounts for the lion’s share of ads business. “We've seen a lot of optimism surrounding the television business,” said Barclays Capital analyst Anthony DiClemente. “It should be a lucrative upfront season.”