Virtually everyone in the TV industry is expecting this year’s upfront to draw millions of dollars more in advertising commitments than the one last year, which was beaten down by the recession.
But Leslie Moonves, the chief executive of the CBS Corporation, isn’t taking any chances. He delivered an especially upbeat message to the assembled media buyers at the CBS network’s new season presentation on Wednesday. The broader economic recovery still has a ways to go, “but all trends are positive,” Mr. Moonves said.
He reiterated that CBS is more heavily reliant on advertising revenues than the parent companies of other networks – a fact that he was sheepish about last year (when advertisers pulled back) but is much more happy to repeat this year.
As one TV writer put it on Twitter, “Les Moonves seems to be declaring that it’s morning again in America. At least for CBS.”
“A year ago some of our competitors said the network business model was broken,” Mr. Moonves said in a not-so-subtle jab at NBC. That network sharply curtailed its programming ambitions last year, but has reinvested this year.
“I guess they’ve seen the light and come back,” Mr. Moonves said. “Welcome.”
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