Cable is poised to gain in the 2004 upfront. Estimates may be as high as $700 million, bringing the total to a cool $6.2 billion, a healthy 13% boost from last year's $5.5 billion. So why the tempered enthusiasm? Despite cable's continuing success in grabbing audience, industry execs see a surprisingly weak scatter market and sketchy economic recovery. Cable sales pros also remember how ad buyers caved in to broadcasters' price demands last year. "I don't think people are going to walk away from broadcasting," says the ad sales chief of one major cable network. That's why some cable ad watchers are hedging their bets.
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