Disney Starts to Sell Earlier Than Expected in Upfront Market (EXCLUSIVE)

variety.com:

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorTV’s “upfront” ad-sales market is starting to move — and earlier than expected.Just days after the networks wrapped glitzy programming presentations to Madison Avenue executives, Walt Disney Co.

is said to have written some business with at least one major media buying agency, according to three executives familiar with recent discussions.

Disney is “ahead of the market,” one media buyer said. In the industry’s annual upfront process, U.S. TV networks try to sell the bulk of their commercial inventory ahead of their next cycle of programming.One of these people indicated that Disney’s upfront conversations “are going very well” and that the company is “making significant progress,” and is seeing “avid demand” for entertainment programming, sports, live events and content aimed at diverse audiences.

The terms at which Disney may be doing business could not be immediately learned, but executives at both the networks and at various media agencies acknowledge that the TV companies have not been fighting for the massive rate increases they won last year.In 2021, the networks pressed for increases of 16% to 22% in the cost of reaching 1,000 viewers — a measure known as a CPM that is essential to these annual talks between TV networks and Madison Avenue.