The US television prime-time advertising marketplace is so close to being sold out that some executives are encouraging advertisers to take back the upfront commitments, according to a report on Mediaweek.com.
The situation, which is somewhat incongruous with the weak economic conditions currently being experienced in the US, has driven the prices in this ‘scatter’ market to around 20% higher than the upfront rates; the upfront sales themselves were much stronger than expected (see
Forecasts).
The tight market is forcing advertisers that did not commit to upfront orders – or want to take extra prime-time space – to buy other day-parts altogether, says the trade journal.
