Weak TV Upfront May Spur Media Companies to Bet Heavy on ‘Scatter’ Ads

variety.com:

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor The nation’s biggest media chiefs have for months asked investors to be patient. Wait until the back half of 2023, they’ve said, when ad money will start to flow once again.

Now companies like Paramount Global, Comcast, Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery need to play a waiting game of their own.

Ad budgets are expected to be down in the industry’s “upfront” market, when U.S. media companies try to sew up deals for the bulk of their advertising inventory ahead of the fall launch of their next programming cycle.

Big marketers are not only uncertain about what new content will be available come autumn – a writers’ strike has squelched production of everything from late-night programs to scripted comedies and dramas – but what they should expect from the economy over the next few months. “The overall entertainment advertising marketplace has been challenging,” said Christine McCarthy, the Disney executive who recently stepped down as the company’s CFO, during a quarterly call with analysts. “While the weakness has moderated somewhat, we anticipate that some softness may continue into the back half of the fiscal year.” TV networks like CBS, NBC and ABC typically sell 70% to 80% of their inventory in the “upfront,” leaving the rest to be traded as “scatter,” or advertising that sells on an as-needed basis closer to the time the commercials need to run.