ViacomCBS, Discovery Face Showdown in TV’s Upfront Ad Talks (Exclusive)

This year’s upfront ad-sales session is shaping up to be one of the fastest in recent memory. But some TV companies are working to slow things down.At a time when advertisers appear willing to capitulate to significant pricing increases, they are still balking at demands from both Discovery and ViacomCBS, according to three media buying executives and other people familiar with the tone of these annual negotiations for commercial inventory between U.S. media companies and Madison Avenue. In each year’s upfront, TV networks jockey for billions of dollars in advance ad commitments, and they are working ...