The NewFronts are old news. Now it’s all about the upfronts, which are old. But don’t forget about the podcast upfronts, which are newer than the NewFronts but named after the TV oldfronts … or upfronts.
Moving on, these razzle-dazzle events are called “fronts” because they’re the venues where big-name media companies woo the ad industry for large budget commitments. In this week’s episode, the team reports back from the TV and podcast industry upfronts with the latest on these markets – both the decades-old TV conglomerates and the young, hungry podcasters.
AdExchanger’s Anthony Vargas tuned into the podcast presentations and Alyssa Boyle represented at Hollywood’s week of Madison Ave glitz and celebrity glamor. But sports, sports and, well, more sports – the old-school TV world’s most durable edge against streaming media – was also a star at the upfronts this year.
But there were a few things missing on the agenda. Ad tech didn’t make much of an appearance at the upfronts and, although broadcasters have very publicly moved away from Nielsen this year, there was also a notable lack of discussion of TV ratings alternatives.
There were however a few mentions of ad tech here and there. YouTube, at its first-ever upfronts presentation, gave a shoutout to Google Display & Video 360 DSP, which Allan Thygesen, Google’s president of the Americas, says now reaches 93% of US CTV households.
One can’t say the same of audio. In the podcast industry programmatic is in the single-digits – a mere 2% of all podcast advertising, per the IAB.
