TV dealmaking season wraps up; prices, volume down

Advertisers bought about 15 percent less commercial time from networks ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox for the upcoming TV season and -- for the first time in years -- paid less for the airtime they did purchase. Advertising and broadcast television executives said nearly all of the dealmaking for the 2009-2010 TV season had wrapped up by late Thursday, following months of what they described as protracted and frustrating negotiations. Even after the completion of the upfront season, when TV networks often sell about 75 percent of their commercial time, the two sides disagreed about who was to blame for the delay. The upfront market is often finished in June.