Pumped-Up Prices, Aggressive Buying Forecast for Upfront

Scatter pricing is at a 25-30 percent premium over last year’s upfront levels, fueling media-spending expectations in advance of the spring TV upfront market, according to attendees at Merrill Lynch’s annual advertising, publishing and education conference in New York last week.

The automotive, pharmaceutical and motion- picture sectors are all strong media buyers this year, while the financial category continues to be weak. Panelists said the movie industry is willing to spend aggressively for upfront time in the second and fourth quarters, and so if Hollywood studios come into the upfront early, they will drive up prices for other marketers.