Cable Networks Steal The Show—for Now

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Not to get all Discovery Channel about it, but while the broadcast networks stamped around the upfront marketplace last week like rival elephants scrapping over a shrinking watering hole, two major cable players made like gazelles and snuck some gulps of money under the pachyderms’ trunks.

At week’s end, sources familiar with the discussions privately confirmed that Turner Entertainment had completed its upfront business with Starcom, to the tune of about $150 million. Earlier in the week, OMD and MTV Networks proudly proclaimed they had cut a significant multiplatform deal—neither party would confirm the dollar amount, but sources with knowledge of the deal said it valued roughly $300 million.

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