Merrill Lynch’s Reif Cohen Projects Cable’s Take At Up To $8.1 Billion

When it comes to the 2008-09 upfront advertising selling season, cable is “better-positioned” than broadcast, according to Merrill Lynch analyst Jessica Reif Cohen.Reif Cohen, presenting both “bull-case” and “bear-case” scenarios, forecasts that cable’s take in the annual Madison Avenue bazaar, during which networks sell commercial time for the upcoming TV season, could fall somewhere between $7.45 billion and $8.06 billion.“We expect cable networks to materially outperform the broadcast nets, increasing commitments 5% in our bull-case scenario and falling 3% in our bear-case scenario,” Reif Cohen wrote in the report titled, What Happens If The Upfront Is Down A Lot.

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by Mike Reynolds