TelevisaUnivision and Disney took over Day Two of upfronts week in New York City on Tuesday, and the through line was data quality.
Unsurprising, since performance was also a major theme at POSSIBLE in Miami last month.
Data quality is emerging as one of the most important topics in TV advertising, because advertisers are simply infatuated with performance. Prove it or lose it. Garbage in, garbage out – you get it.
Here are the highlights from our second day of jetting around to the upfronts so you don’t have to.
TelevisaUnivision: “We get Hispanics.” That was TelevisaUnivision’s tagline for its upfront this year.
Kicking off with live dancers serenading media buyers as they made it to their seats in Terminal 5, the Hispanic-focused broadcaster used its presentation to showcase its advertising and data offerings alongside its talent and ability to tap into culture.
But TelevisaUnivision spent most of its time addressing data quality and measurement, which was in contrast to other broadcasters, which focused more on general themes of performance and fandom. Its ad execs talked about how third-party measurement providers often misrepresent and/or underrepresent Hispanic audiences.
This lack of data quality is a concern across the industry, but also gave TelevisaUnivision the opportunity to tell media buyers about its household graph, which it claims can reach 98% of US Hispanics.
Disney: This year, the Mouse House focused on its talent and IP, especially sports. Case in point: Disney bragged about next year’s Super Bowl airing on ESPN, and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell even made an appearance.
But it wouldn’t be a Disney upfront without a standup set by Jimmy Kimmel, who called himself the “bad boy of data and measurement solutions” and quipped that he’s “been through so much bullshit this year, it made me appreciate this bullshit.”
Disney’s upfront event was also the most experiential. Dancers pranced through the aisles dressed as clowns to tease the next season of “American Horror Story,” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” sidekick Guillermo Rodriguez pretended to steal Associate Editor Victoria McNally’s laptop while fake-gathering donations from attendees with a church collection basket.
Turning to tech and data, Disney emphasized its AI-driven advertising capabilities and Disney Compass, an ad product designed to give buyers an easier, more direct way to access data from its various measurement and identity partners. Because streamlined data access and improved targeting lead to – you guessed it – better performance.
📺 Missed Day One of the upfronts? Don’t worry, we’ve got you.
