The syndication upfront is reportedly close to completion with the market expected to take in about 2.25 billion, up some 3% over last year. CPM increases were all over the map-flat to 8-9% for the premium products such as Oprah and Live with Regis and Kelly.
Said one buyer about syndication business in this upfront: "I think syndication was very, very orderly. There continue to be have and have-nots and the money deals were similar to last year-which is breaking a trend of the last few years where there was less money. The difference between program ratings and commercial ratings is very little. Therefore it was a smooth marketplace. There was more money (just talking syndication) in the Pharma category; a big driver of syndication. So the deals went down and there wasn't a lot of bad taste in anyone's mouth."