Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorMadison Avenue is calling for a different route for the billions of dollars it sends to TV networks every year.A group representing the nation’s biggest advertisers has called for massive changes to TV’s “upfront” market, an annual ad-sales process in which U.S.
TV networks try to sell the bulk of their commercial inventory for the next programming cycle. For decades, the networks have kicked off negotiations in mid-May, and tried to wrap them by summer’s end.
The haggling has deep ties to historic business cycles: car companies used to unveil their new vehicle models in the fall, and so TV began to launch its new season at that time.Regular cycles, however, have been upset by the spread of the coronavirus.
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