CBS to Complete Upfront With $2.5 Bil.+

NEW YORK Reacting to an earlier Mediaweek story that quoted sources within CBS parent company Viacom who said the network had “virtually completed” its prime-time upfront selling for the 2005-06 season, taking in $2.3 billion, CBS sales president JoAnn Ross said she is projecting the network’s take will be much higher than that—between $2.5 billion and $2.6 billion when all selling is done.

One source said CBS still had a few smaller agencies to finish up, but added the network would sell just under 80 percent of its total prime-time ad inventory, about the same as last year, at cost-per-thousand increases of 4-5 percent.

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