TV Networks Now Wait for Word From Sponsors

Television networks entered the annual upfront presentations determined to impress marketers with their lineups of shows for the coming season and stanch the potential flow of ad dollars to digital media. Broadcast and cable networks held elaborate events and parties across Manhattan in the hopes of attracting tens of billions of dollars from advertisers. Now come the negotiations, when advertisers will judge whether the offerings from the television networks seem as exciting as their presentations. If things go well, TV networks will sell as much as 75 percent of their advertising time in the negotiations. If they do not, the thrum of trepidation about television’s place on advertising budgets will grow louder.