Cable exceeded broadcast in 2011 upfronts

Overall, the economy is still continuing to come back from the recession, and media is no different.

As the fall season approaches, so does new TV programming on both broadcast stations and cable. According to MediaPost, cable surpassed broadcast television in upfront estimations this year. This marks the first time that this has happened.

The Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau (CAB) noted that cable had a 16% increase in upfront revenue compared to last year. In fact, it set a new record for $9.29 billion in spending for the 2011 – 2012 season. This marks the second healthy year for cable since having a 19% increase from 2009. Upfronts were dismal in 2009 with a 13% drop which is equivalent to an $875 million loss.

With both television and cable having positive upfronts this year, it does lend support to a recent survey Strata, a media-buying processing firm, conducted with agency executives. The survey reveals that television still takes the majority of the media budget with 41%. However, it also noted that television was losing a slight share to digital.

Overall, the economy is still continuing to come back from the recession, and media is no different. From the upfronts and surveys available, it can be concluded that television and cable are coming back at a steady pace.

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