How to spend $9.3 billion in three days: examining the upfront buying process in the production of US television culture

Abstract

This article explores the relatively unstudied practice of the US ‘upfront’ buying process in which advertisers make multimillion-dollar commitments to buy 70 to 90 percent of the commercial time in the upcoming year in just a few days. Using observation of a media buying agency during the 2005 upfront buying period, attendance at a number of upfront presentations in 2003, and interviews with media buyers and planners, this article explains and analyzes the importance of the upfront buying process to the cultural production of the US television industry. I examine the causes of the durability of this significant economic practice, suggestions of its demise and its consequences for cultural production during a time of substantial industry reorganization. Access to industry workers and processes reveals important information about the actual operation of commercial media structures that add valuable insight to established understandings of economic practices.