CBS is getting closer to completing advertising sales for its broadcasts of the 2003 PGA Championship, adding LendingTree.com to its ad roster and closing in on deals with Microsoft and Lowe's, industry sources said.
Names were attached to two other advertisers previously identified only by category. A spokesman for MasterCard International confirmed that it is the credit-card company on the roster, and sources identified General Motors as the automotive company that has cut a deal with CBS.
Also on board are Nextel Communications and Pepsi.
The network is said to have a deal with a financial-services firm.
CBS declined to comment on its ad sales efforts, but sources said it is in PGA Championship ad talks with companies in the pharmaceutical, cellular-phone and packaged-goods categories.
This year's PGA Championship will be Aug. 14-17 at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y.
CBS' PGA Championship ad packages feature commercial time on the network's broadcasts of the third and final rounds of the Grand Slam event, as well as time on its tournament preview show and on its late-night specials showcasing first- and second-round action.
It's not clear which advertisers have secured full ad packages. CBS' asking price for those category-exclusive packages is $3.5 million to $3.8 million, industry sources said.
