US analysts at ABN Amro are forecasting a 14% decline for the ‘upfront’ sale of television advertising, following the continued weakening of the ad market. In 2000, the upfront sale was up 12% on the year before.
Upfront describes how the TV networks pre-sell airtime inventory for their forthcoming autumn schedules. Given the sheer size of the US television and advertising marketplace, these upfront figures can substantially affect industry sentiment toward the media companies involved and the advertising climate in the US and the rest of the world in general.
In Europe, ABN expects the poor TV pre-sales in the US to negatively impact the media and advertising sectors, which use the figures as a bellwether of their own experience.
