ABC Warms Upfront with Starcom, Zenith

ABC wrote the first broadcast deals of the upfront-advertising market with media-buying agencies Starcom USA and Zenith Media USA, according to reports Friday.

ABC, Starcom and Zenith had no immediate comment.

Starcom is the agency for Disney’s domestic theatrical-distribution arm, so funneling money to the studio’s sister company, ABC, would certainly be agreeable to the client.

There was also speculation that NBC was in advanced talks with GroupM about a big deal. One year ago, an $800 million GroupM deal for an array of media buys with NBC Universal media outlets kicked off the upfront market in mid-June.

Earlier, Hallmark Channel and Nickelodeon reportedly reached upfront deals for cable ad buying.