Buyers Exploring New Concepts at TV's Upfront

Observers and players alike are well into their annual obsession with predicting—and posturing on—how much money broadcast networks will get for the 2003-04 season. But as the nets reveal new shows this week, agencies and advertisers also are pondering some twists to the annual upfront frenzy.Media buyers are looking to add new ideas into the upfront mix this year in an effort to nourish the growing relationship between the Internet and broadcast. On the sellers' side, the nets are downplaying reality TV (although buyers expect a great deal more of that genre anyway) in favor of comedies. That is especially true for NBC, which is seeking its next big hit as Friends and Frasier conclude their storied and profitable runs next season.One possible candidate is Coupling. The sitcom, based on a British show, is set in a major city and features six 30-somethings who do a lot of bed-hopping. That show is garnering early attention because it "pushes the envelope in terms of adult content," said John Miller, co-president of The NBC Agency, NBC's in-house ad shop, which also produces the network's upfront presentation, taking place today.Meanwhile, two major media agencies last week declared their support for adding online media buys to the upfront broadcast negotiations. In a keynote presentation to the iMedia summit in Scottsdale, Ariz., Jack Klues, CEO of Publicis Groupe's Starcom MediaVest Group, said SMG is going to use the 2003 TV upfront to negotiate buys with broadband providers such as Atom Shockwave, Yahoo! Platinum and Unicast, as well as the six networks."Now that Internet technology supports television commercials with absolute creative fidelity, it lets us deliver compelling messages to keenly targeted audiences with unprecedented measurability," noted Rishad Tobaccowala, president of SMG IP, SMG's interactive unit.WPP Group's Mediaedge:cia met with network executives about aligning shows with interactive features that advertisers can sponsor. "It makes sense to include this as part of the upfront because, after all, that's where the money is," said Mike Bologna, manager/iTV, emerging media platforms at Mediaedge:cia. "Because of the need for new sources of revenue and the expansion of interactivity, the networks have to explore how to employ new technology."As for the spending predictions, buyers expect a 5-7 percent rise over last year's $8.2 billion haul, or $8.6-8.8 billion. Network executives predict an increase of 10-12 percent to $9-9.2 billion.Still, "this is the first year that cable in general had more than 50 percent of the audience during regular season months," said Stacey Lynn Koerner, evp and director of global research integration at Initiative Media North America. She predicted, however, there will be "more interest in prime time. You'll see a lot of people watching what Fox does over the summer to see if they can jump-start the season, particularly for [clients who] need to be in the third quarter—not a time of year with a lot of original opportunities, except for cable."

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Buyers Exploring New Concepts at TV's Upfront

David Kaplan

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David Kaplan