Estrella MediaCo said it is expanding its connected TV portfolio by launching three new channels with Curiosity that will first appear on Samsung TV Plus.

The three free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels, Curiosity Español. Curiosity Animales and Curiosity Motores, were announced at Estrella’s NewFront presentation Wednesday. 

Estrella also said it would be putting Hallmark Channel content in Spanish on its app and linear channels, and adding 300 hours of content from Hemisphere on its app.

Last year Estrella said unique users of its CTV programming grew 28% last year.

“We are a content company first, with strong distribution platforms making the content available anywhere at any time for our fans,” Steve Mandala, chief revenue and local media officer for Estrella, said. “Our content strategy of focusing on the brand of ‘topical entertainment’ focuses us on how we entertain and inform — from our reality and competition shows, personality and pop culture series, and our award-winning news that has tremendous impact during this election year.”

MediaCo recently acquired the assets of Estrella TV.

Future Today said that it plans to launch the first original shows on its Fawesome streaming channel.

Digital Media Studios is producing four Fawesome Originals. 

The shows are competition series Southern Food Truck Wars; Game Night; The Peanut Man, a biographical drama about George Washington Carver; and Greenwood Rising, a drama about O.W. Gurley, who turned the Greenwood district of Tulsa, Oklahoma, into Black Wall Street. 

“Since our inception, we have successfully delivered some of the top content to streaming families,“ Future Today co-founder Vikrant Mathur said. “Now with originals, we embark on the next chapter in our company’s growth.

“With the increase of subscription video-on-demand fatigue, these projects will expand our portfolio of quality content and give consumers original programming they desire at a price they love — free,“ he continued. “Our new shows and movies are just the start. We aim to bring more original content to Fawesome viewers in the future.”  

The new shows are expected to launch later this year.

“Our collaboration with Future Today for Fawesome Originals marks a significant milestone in our mission to deliver high-quality, engaging, and audience-specific made-to-order content,” Aaron L. Williams, CEO of Digital Media Studios, said. “With our two new state-of-the-art facilities, we are thrilled to embark on this new journey with Future Today.”

Future Today made the announcement at its NewFront presentation Wednesday.

“Original content that is exclusive to Future Today is a welcome and exciting addition to the portfolio,” Jennifer D'Alessandro, head of ad sales and marketing at Future Today, said. “Future Today has the knowledge and expertise to be successful. Creating original content is a natural progression as we enter the next phase of streaming media. 

“Having started with building apps, now it's time to become storytellers,” she continued. “By developing original content, we have an opportunity to ideate storylines and integrate brands into the production, delivering new avenues to connect with audiences beyond ad creatives.”

Joshua K. Carpenter, founder of Global Content, played a key role in facilitating and negotiating the production slate deal on behalf of Future Today and Digital Media Studios.

GSTV, the network that programs screens at gas stations, will be talking about new research and new programming at its NewFront presentation Wednesday.

Research conducted with Lumen shows that 95% of impressions on GSTV produce eyes on the screen and command three times the attention of commercials on connected TV and 2.5 times the attention of spots on linear TV, compared to norms from TVision.

The study also found that an impression on GSTV delivers 91% more attentive viewing time than a 30-second spot on CTV. Since most GSTV ads are shorter, it delivers attention more efficiently than other media.

Research by Samba TV shows how much extra reach ads on GSTV deliver. In a campaign for a national quick-service restaurant chain delivered 20% incremental reach.

Samba TV also found that GSTV delivered 61% of light TV viewers and that one-third of the people who saw the campaign saw it on GSTV.

GSTV made deals for new content. Advertisers will have opportunities to sponsor music programing from Big Machine Label Group including a new series featuring top artists and a special series tier to Big Machine’s activation at CMA Fest.

A deal with Influential will bring influencer marketing programming to GSTV, while an agreement with Super League adds Metaburst gaming news to GSTV.

“By combining GSTV’s reach and unique ability to garner attention and drive action together with Super League’s gaming and technology expertise, we are creating a dynamic synergy that captivates audiences, offering them a glimpse into the gaming universe while they engage in everyday activities,” Kristina Lutz, executive VP, marketing at GSTV, said. æThis partnership exemplifies the power of merging real-world interactions with digital insights, delivering content that is both relevant and compelling to a broad audience, and a tool for marketers looking to build out truly game-changing campaigns and reach an on-the-go audience making purchase decisions.”

Last GSTV launched GSTV Originals. The newest original program for GSTV is called Fuel Good Moments.

At a time when spending on retail media is growing rapidly, GSTV has a story to tell, according to CEO Sean McCaffrey, who cited research that 81% of consumers who buy gas purchase other items at a rate of four times more on the day of their fuel purchase than on other days of the week.  

GSTV’s screens the are last screens to influence that consumer choice and the only consolidated retail media platform in fuel and convenience retail, McCaffrey said.

Samsung Ads said it was introducing new opportunities for advertisers  to use data about its viewers to target viewers across the full marketing funnel at its NewFronts presentation in New York Tuesday.

One new feature turns an ordinary ad break on Samsung TV Plus into an engaging interactive gaming experience that won’t require a game controller.  

Samsung said it was developing new ways to engage viewers and help advertisers connect. 

“At Samsung Ads, we leverage Samsung innovation to deliver superior experiences to customers and advertisers alike,” Michael Scott, VP, head of ad sales and operations at Samsung Ads, said. “Our AI and data-driven advertising solutions will better help advertisers meet their objectives across the full marketing funnel, from achieving mass reach to bottom-of-funnel outcomes like customer acquisition. And, when combined with the No. 1-reaching and most-engaging FAST service, based on time spent viewing, Samsung TV Plus, advertisers will have a direct connection to audiences who frequently return for quality content.” 

Among the new tools and services unveiled by Samsung Ads, Smart Outcomes, the Samsung Ads suite of tools that use artificial intelligence to target viewers, has been expanded with Smart Acquisition and CTV to Mobile.

Smart Acquisition enables programmers looking to leverage Samsung’s data and technology to acquire new users by delivering promotions to the right viewer at the right time.

CTV to Mobile is designed to help mobile app operators acquire and engage consumers, leveraging Samsung’s smart-TV real estate with its AI campaigns.

Optimal Reach helps advertisers identify gaps in reach, unexposed audience and missed audiences at scale using machine learning and proprietary Samsung Ads data sources, including its TV and You panel and automatic content recognition data.

Advertisers can also measure return on investment through Samsung’s deal with top mobile measurement providers.

The new Smart Outcomes tools follow the launch of Samsung Smart Audiences, which combine the scale of Samsung’s reach with machine learning to drive conversion.

Samsung’s new gaming experiences are designed to allow more people to play by offering new games that can be played without a game controller.

One of the new games that will be available exclusively on Samsung later this year is Rivals Arena, described as a cinematic card game from Return Entertainment. Players play with their phones and sponsors can run interstitial branded messages between game play. Endemic brands can co-brand the entire game experience, Samsung said.

Another game is The Six, an interactive trivia game played with the remote control.

Through a deal with the International Olympic Committee, the Samsung News Galaxy mobile app will feature updates from the Paris Summer Olympics. Starting in May, advertisers can directly sponsor the Samsung News app on Galaxy devices with roadblocks that include both display and video ads in its top five editorial news sections.

“At Samsung, we envision a future where intelligent, interconnected experiences enrich our lives,” Samsung service business VP, head of marketing Cathy Oh said. “That’s why we’re prioritizing AI, as it is the cornerstone of our innovation. Through our ongoing investment in AI, we continuously push boundaries and set the benchmark for the Smart TV industry and in turn, fuel world-class solutions for advertisers.”

T-Mobile said it is expanding its advertising business, creating an in-store retail media network and adding Plex, the video streaming platform for its footprint of mobile customers.

At its first presentation at the NewFronts Tuesday, T-Mobile said that as one of the biggest advertisers in the U.S. it was in a unique position to build products for marketers. 

“T-Mobile has a simple mission: Be the best in the world at connecting customers to their world,” said Jean-Paul Colaco, the former Hulu and WarnerMedia executive who joined T-Mobile last year as senior VP and chief T-Ads officer. “T-Mobile Advertising Solutions has the unique opportunity to propel the industry forward, delivering more personalized, customer-centric advertising driving higher engagement and superior outcomes for marketers.”

Retail media networks have become a big deal as store owners look to cash in on their shopper traffic and use customer data to help brands target ads and measure campaign results.

T-Mobile said its in-store retail media network will enable advertisers to target more than 20,000 screens in 11,000 T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile retail locations. T-Mobile said it plans to expand its retail media network by adding other retailers.

Plex will give T-Mobile reach in the connected TV space. Advertisers will be able to use insights and audience data from T-Ads to target consumers with relevant ads and specialized sponsored experiences, like free movies and series.

Brands will also be able to advertise through T-Mobile’s loyalty programing through the T Life app. 

T-Mobile said its Magenta Advertising Platform gives advertisers tools to drive better outcomes and connect with the right audience on the right screen. The platform is designed to deliver interest-based audience profiles using insights from T-Mobile’s privacy-safe, first-party data. 

T-Mobile said an unnamed food delivery app used T-Mobile's first-party audience data to deliver incremental audiences within an omnichannel video campaign during the Super Bowl, T-Mobile said.

T-Mobile Advertising Solutions identified new audiences, reaching 852,000 incremental households and achieving an 18.6% increase in brand consideration. 

There was also a 23% lift in app re-engagement among inactive users after an ad exposure and a 6% incremental install rate, meaning new users were captured directly via media spending with T-Mobile.

iSpot was named a preferred third-party measurement partner for Roku, providing metrics for campaigns including unique reach, frequency, verified ad exposures and outcomes.

iSpot will also be integrating Roku’s Advertising Watermark to validate the authenticity of ad inventory originating on the Roku platform. 

As part of the deal, iSpot will  gain access to Roku’s exclusive, authenticated audience information, which will buttress iSpot Data Connect, a next-generation audience measurement infrastructure for currency and outcome measurement.

The announcement was expected to be part of Roku's NewFront presentation Tuesday.

“CTV advertising has undoubtedly made a huge leap forward with this partnership between Roku and iSpot, two of the leaders in the industry,” GroupM executive director of investment innovation Mike Fisher said. 

“Roku’s vast audience combined with the measurement capabilities of iSpot will allow our brand partners to optimize their advertising with confidence in our accuracy,” Fisher said.

Roku has been basing guarantees for streaming ads on Nielsen since 2015. In 2016, Roku bought addressable ad insertion technology from Nielsen. As part of tie deal, Roku was able to integrate Nielsen data in to the Roku OneView ad buying platform.

Roku data has also been a factor in Nielsen’s Total Ad Ratings cross-platform measurement product. Data from Roku also are included in Nielsen’s big-data national ratings service.

“This is a game-changer for the industry — not just for iSpot or Roku, but for the entire advertising ecosystem looking to harness the scale and power of the leading TV streaming platform and capitalize on the most robust streaming measurement,” iSpot founder and CEO Sean Muller said. “It’s also critical marketers have the most reliable and actionable audience measurement to base decisions on as they shift budgets from traditional TV to streaming.”

With audiences from Roku eventually applied across all of iSpot’s  measurement products, the broader streaming TV marketplace — including agencies, brands and media sellers — will benefit from precise, streaming-centric measurement to capitalize on the opportunity that exists for CTV, the companies said.

“Roku wants to use its unique assets built on the foundation of its massive streaming footprint of 81 million-plus streaming households to further the measurement across all streaming channels and linear TV to help solve for the problem of fragmentation in the industry,” Louqman Parampath, VP of Product management at Roku said. “Together with iSpot, we believe improving measurement for the entire ecosystem will help drive better results for advertisers, but also drive more yield for publishers.”

Let the games begin on Roku, which made a deal with NBCUniversal to create a new destination on the Roku homepage screen menu that highlights coverage of the upcoming Paris Summer Olympics and pushes users to NBCU’s streamer Peacock.

The NBC Olympic Zone on Roku will feature a replay row, clips, and highlight reels that will take users directly to Peacock, which will live-stream every Olympic event.

Roku and other streamers have been sprinting to add sports to their lineups.

“Our users are going to have an amazing summer with the NBC Olympic Zone on Roku, directing them to Peacock and all the highlights, replays, and live competition coming straight from Paris,” Tedd Cittadine, VP of content partnerships at Roku, said. “This is a unique, exciting opportunity for us, streamers, and sponsors looking to align their brands with this global powerhouse sports moment.” 

Peacock, going for the gold, announced a pre-Olympics $2-per-month price increase.

“Creating partnerships like the NBC Olympic Zone on Roku, which emphasize tentpole content in the user experience on our partner platforms, has proven to provide deeper engagement,” Matt Schnaars, president, NBCUniversal Content Distribution, said. “NBCUniversal’s coverage of the Paris Olympics will be the can’t-miss event of 2024 and this partnership displays the type of experience we can create with partners like Roku to drive users into Peacock.”

The NBC Olympic Zone on Roku will help streamers discover live and upcoming events, stay up to date with a Medal Count module, watch pre-Olympics highlights from the U.S. team trials and engage with athlete profile and other Olympics-related content.

Roku said it made a deal to provide customers of The Trade Desk with data from Roku that will enable them to better optimize campaigns for streaming viewers.

Using Roku’s automatic content recognition data, advertisers working with The Trade Desk can suppress incremental households that have seen their linear TV ads, a capability advertisers have had directly with Roku.

On Roku’s last earnings call with analysts, company executives said that working more closely with programming demand-side platforms was a priority as it looked to boost ad sales. The announcement came before Roku's NewFront presentation Tuesday afternoon.

Also Read: Video Ads Come to Roku City

“Matching Roku’s reach with the power of The Trade Desk’s innovative solutions will unlock new ways for marketers to reach the right TV streaming audiences strategically,” Jay Askinasi, senior VP, head of global media revenue and growth at Roku, said. “We strive to be even more interoperable with the most prevalent buying platforms in the market to meet our advertisers where they are. It’s simple to use and highly effective at reducing waste for buyers, and it will improve the ad experience for our millions of viewers.”  

Advertisers will be be able to use Roku Media audience and behavioral data and then access Roku inventory through The Trade Desk in private marketplace arrangements. 

“CTV has emerged as one of the most powerful digital advertising channels on the open internet, and this new partnership with Roku will enable The Trade Desk’s clients to put valuable new data insights to work and fully optimize their campaigns,” The Trade Desk chief revenue officer Jed Dederick said. “We are excited by Roku’s focus on interoperability and thrilled to forge a closer partnership as we bring the full power of the open internet to bear for all advertisers.” 

A number of top streaming companies will present at this year’s NewFronts, which will be put on by the Interactive Advertising Bureau from April 29 to May 2.

Roku, Samsung, Vizio, TikTok, Meta and Vevo will be among the returning presenters.

Google’s YouTube will make a presentation and host a reception, but YouTube’s main Brandcast presentation will be made during the week of May 13, when most of the media companies that own broadcast networks will address media buyers and advertisers.

From 2023: Economy, Streaming Measurement Make This Year’s Upfront Unique

“The 2024 IAB NewFronts gives buyers a unique view of the video marketplace over the course of just a few days,” IAB CEO David Cohen said. “It’s a blend of content, technology, data and ad innovation which is why NewFronts is where the future of ad-supported streaming is defined.” 

The IAB will again have its Main Stage event on Wednesday, May 1, when a group of companies will make quick back-to-back presentations. Main Stage will be hosted by Alfonso Ribeiro, star of America’s Funniest Home Videos.

IAB is also working with National CineMedia, the U.S. Representative for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and the official Young Lions Jury networking partner. NCM and Young Lions jurors from State Farm Insurance, Verizon Communications and creative agency Omelet will share insights on creativity in premium video during a main stage presentation called “The Future of Brand Storytelling and the Next Generation of Young Creatives.” The event will culminate with the IAB NewFronts and NCM Young Lions Jury Networking Party.

Music service Vevo announced that it has expanded its connected-TV distribution footprint with carriage on Philo.

At its NewFronts presentation Thursday, Vevo said it expected to launch on more platforms later this year and said it is expanding the list of channels on Samsung TV Plus, adding Vevo Alt & Indie, Vevo Dance & Electronic and Vevo 2010 to the platform exclusively.

Vevo is also launching Vevo Features, a year-long channel that will celebrate cultural months and holidays such as Black History Month, Women’s History Month, the Fourth of July and Halloween.

“With the increasing availability of premium content and the scale of distribution, FAST is the only growing sector of TV viewership now and for the foreseeable future,” Rob Christensen, Vevo senior VP, U.S. sales and global distribution, said. “Content is king, and with quality content that is free to air and made for TV, Vevo has been an early mover in the FAST space. We are proud to be the leading FAST network in the U.S. and the world.”

Vevo unveiled Vevo Intelligence, which uses data-driven tool to create contextual opportunities to create custom media opportunities for brands by matching brand creative with music video lyrics and visuals. 

Vevo said it is in the process of building a branded content studio. Branded content opportunities include live performances, behind-the-scenes content, brand-driven VJs, artist interviews and storytelling shows.

“Working directly with Vevo, media buyers can gain reach and intelligence into an unprecedented mix of diverse audiences," Vevo president of sales and distribution Kevin McGurn added. “Due to Vevo’s scale and ubiquitous presence in the streaming market, we can also offer buyers the flexibility and agility to quickly shift dollars fluidly across our global CTV footprint.”

NBCUniversal and Twitter said they have ramped up their collaboration around the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games in Paris.

The new arrangement is expected to bring greater reach and scale to advertisers, the companies said.

Beginning in February and counting down to the opening ceremonies, Twitter will feature NBCU’s pre-Olympics coverage, including competition highlights, key U.S. Olympic Team trials moments and a Paris 25-Day Countdown, with daily features on athletes or events.

During the games, Twitter will feature memorable and engagement moments in English and Spanish. 

NBC Olympics will also be producing a daily live show that will be posted to Twitter. The show will feature highlights, athlete interviews and happenings around Paris.

The content will appear on the @NBCOlympics handle.

“For the first time since 2018, the Olympic and Paralympic Games will return to their true glory in 2024, with full stadiums and the world’s greatest athletes competing against the backdrop of one of the most beautiful cities in the world, Paris, where the modern Olympic Games were conceived 130 years ago,” Joe Varvara, global head of partnerships at Twitter, said during Twitter’s NewFront presentation Wednesday. “Together with NBCUniversal, we’re excited to bring you new opportunities to align with the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games next summer.”

Attention has been on the mind at Teads.

At a NewFronts presentation Wednesday, the cloud-based omnichannel platform that enables programmatic advertising, will talk about its research into attention and its plan for using attention metrics to create more impactful campaigns.

Neala Brown, senior VP, strategy and insights at Teads, told Broadcasting+Cable that the media industry is buzzing about attention. 

Teads launched its attention program last year and has been doing research into attention to confirm that high attention scores correlate with strong campaign performance. 

Teads has been working with research companies including TVision, Lumen and Adelaide, in partnership with media agency holding companies Dentsu and Havas as well as individual clients.

“I’m not sure anyone needs a new metric, unless it’s one that enables us  to make decisions that drive those outcomes for clients,” Brown said.

At this point, Teads has measured 500-plus campaigns to see if attention is a metric that correlates to specific outcomes. It looked at awareness, favorability, consideration and purchase intent.

“We’ve consistently seen that that is validated,” Brown said. “We see that more highly attentive media is a driver of stronger results.”

Now Teads is looking to make the transition from research on past campaigns to using attention metrics to plan, buy and optimize campaigns that perform better. 

“We need planners and buyers to use it,” she said. 

Teads is working on setting up a private marketplace (PMP) in which advertisers can buy premium content based on attention scores. It is expected to go live either later in the second quarter or early third quarter.

“We've started to move out of the upper funnel and also started to test some things that are more mid-funnel, in particular,” Brown said.

The industry is looking at attention as a compliment to the new high-tech systems designed to measure how many people are watching cross-platform campaigns.

But once impressions are counted, they have to be valued and priced. Attention may be one way to determine what an advertiser is willing to pay to advertise on a particular platform or in an individual show.

“I think that’s the final frontier for us,” Brown said. “We haven’t yet done a test but it is on our roadmap.”

Fortunately for Teads, the premium publishers it works with usually have high attention scores.

Last week, Teads announced that it was expanding its connected TV offering now in the U.S. to Canada, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Spain and the United Kingdom.

The expansion means brands in those markets are now able to buy across TV, mobile and desktop through the Teads platform, fully leveraging access to more than 20 billion monthly unique ad opportunities.

As part of this global offering, Teads has now integrated Comscore into its solutions to maintain premium quality at scale and optimize cross-screen capabilities.

“The geographic expansion of our CTV offering is driven by the success we have seen in the US and rapid adoption of streaming across the globe,“ Teads co-CEO Jeremy Arditi said. “As video is in our DNA, we are excited to offer our clients the ability to reach audiences across every major screen.”

Revry, the streaming service aimed at the LGBTQ+ community, showed of a slate of new programming at its NewFronts presentation on Wednesday.

“We’re honored to be the first LGBTQ+ media company to present at the NewFronts and showcase the incredible brand-safe programming we have to offer,” said co-founder Damian Pelliccione. “It took over 15 years for a company like ours to connect with advertisers who share our diverse values and want to reach this valuable audience.”

New Revry shows include:

• Culture Q: A weekly pop-culture news show described as “part Good Morning America, part E! News.”
• QueerX Awards: Revry calls this the premier queer pop-culture awards show, featuring such awards categories as Best Queer Anthem and Queer Cultural Moment of the Year. Big Freedia, Ninel Conde, Drag Queen and Kim Petras are scheduled to appear.
• Pride Ball: Revry will host the definitive live vogue ballroom dance competition. Houses will be pitted against one another in a queer spectator sports spectacle. Featuring Dashaun Wesley of the House of Ebony, hundreds of fierce competitors, iconic judges, and live performances to stun the crowd, the event will also be livestreamed on social media and across Revry Networks. 
• King of Drag: The show takes the concept of the drag competition TV show and turns it on its head by exclusively featuring Drag King performers. 

Revry last month announced the launch of PrismRiot, a multi-minority certified LGBTQ+ advertising network, with a reach of over 110 million U.S. households across connected TV and mobile platforms. PrismRiot gives brand access to the LGBTQ+ community, which has significant purchasing power, Revry said.

Digital-video advertising spending is expected to rise 17% to $55.2 billion in 2023, according to a report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau released during the NewFronts.

The growth would follow a 21% increase in spending on digital video advertising in 2022, according to the report from the IABm in conjunction with Standard Media Index and Advertiser Perceptions.

Connected TV spending increased 22% to $18.6 billion in 2022.

The report also sounded out buyers of TV and video about some of the key issues facing the market.

Traditional TV programmers have been tangling with YouTube and other streamers over what constitutes “premium video” and whether professionally produced video should be measured alongside user-created content.

In the study, 64% of buyers said creator-driven video can be considered premium. The percentage was higher — 69% — among the buyers with the biggest budgets. 

A majority of buyers said they use the same measurement approaches for creator economy video as they do for professionally produced Hollywood-style video.

“Beauty has always been in the eye of the beholder,” Eric John, VP of the IAB’s Media Center, said. “That truism is playing out now in the world of video advertising as we see marketers and brands focusing and optimizing their spend not only in the traditional world of premium content, but also in the diverse, multiplatform world of creator content.” 

A majority of buyers — 81% — said they want two or more unified currencies for impression measurement. Of those, 92% expect that will happen in the next two years.

There are disagreements over the details, with 52% saying they want viewable impressions defined by cumulative view time, while 48% what continuous view time. At the same time, 32% want a three-second minimum for viewability, 24% want five seconds and 19% said four seconds.

“As urgently as buyers want a multicurrency future, there’s no question that changing a market as large as video takes time; however, the clock is ticking,” IAB CEO David Cohen said. “To make significant progress, buyers need to come together and align on what they need, and sellers across the diverse video ecosystem need to be part of the conversation. We are optimistic about the conversations currently taking place and will continue to advocate for universal standards, transparency, interoperability, and collaboration across the industry.” 

CTV is considered a must-buy by 65% of the buyers, while 64% considered social video a must-buy. The buyers said they were prioritizing addressable channels, like connected TV.

Buyers are also increasingly looking at attention as a metric, with 93% saying they use at least one way of measuring attention when planning or buying video. Half of the buyers are using biometric approaches to measuring attention, with eye-tracking leading the field at 34%.

“Buyers want to know if the audience is paying attention, and they’re making buying decisions accordingly,” added John. “Buyers want engaged audiences watching video content of all stripes, including premium and creator-driven video. They want currencies they can trust. That’s where the industry is going — the question now is how fast we will get there.”

Striking members of the Writers Guild of America set up an energetic picket line in front of the entrance to a NewFront presentation for NBCUniversal’s streaming service Peacock on Tuesday afternoon.

The picketers chanted “no contract, no content” and “no contract, no TV” and carried signs. 

Some of the messages on the signs were clearly thought up by professional writers. “This isn’t a late-night joke. We want a contract,” read one sign. “Without writers, we would …,” another said.

The event took place on Fifth Avenue, about 10 blocks from NBCU’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza headquarters, where late-night shows The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Seth Meyers and Saturday Night Live would be getting produced if writers weren’t striking.

The picketers were interviewed by local news reporters and talked about the threat to the jobs posted by artificial intelligence and proposed work rules that could make it difficult for writers to earn a living. One noted that the strike came as a surprise with many writers expecting an agreement, rather than a phone call that a strike had been called.

The crowd of picketing writers did not appear to keep people from attending the Peacock event. During the presentation, there was no mention of the labor situation. No talent appeared at the event and the Tonight Show, Late Night and SNL were mentioned only briefly among programs that can be watched the next day on Peacock.

NBCU had no comment on the picketers, but some executives expressed hope the dispute would be solved quickly and business could get back to normal before upfront negotiations start.

Roku said that it can help advertisers reach its users from the time they power up to the time they make a purchase.

At its NewFront presentation Tuesday, Roku showed of some of the streaming experiences that marketers can sponsor.

Some of Roku’s choice real estate is in Roku City, the digital downtown that pops up on Roku’s home screen. This summer, McDonald’s will be taking over Roku City, exposing its burgers and fries to nearly 40 million homes.

Brands can also host viewers as they search for content they want to watch with new home and garden and spots experiences that show off curated content on the Roku home screen.

Roku originals can also be sponsored. Ally Bank worked with Hello Sunshine to produce Side Hustlers, a docu series about entrepreneurs. 

“We’re uniquely positioned to make brands unmissable in TV because Roku is not fighting for turf in streaming—we are the turf,” said Alison Levin, VP  of Ad Revenue and Marketing Solutions, Roku. “This Upfront, we’re bringing the entire power of the platform, not just the pieces, to give marketers more of the scale, delight, and flexibility that they love in TV.”

Roku also talked about its new commerce partnerships, which give it data to improve ad targeting and in some cases, enable views to order and buy items they see on the screen and have them delivered to their homes. 

Roku retail partners include Best Buy, Cox Automotive, DoorDash, Kroger and Walmart.

The streamer also touted its Primetime Reach Guarantee. Roku is promising that it can deliver more viewers from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. than a top-five cable networks.

“Everything we do, from our first player to our latest Originals, is about getting you closer to your customers,” said David Eilenberg, Head of Content, Roku Media. “Many are renting you ad space, but only we’re building an entire ad-friendly world where viewer, content, and advertising come together at every step of the streamer’s journey.” 

At Peacock’s NewFront presentation Tuesday, NBCUniversal rolled out new commercial formats aimed at giving sponsors more attention and a better opportunity to interact with viewers.

One of the new formats enables an advertiser to be everywhere NBCU is. Called Spotlight Plus, the advertiser’s message shows up no matter what a viewer is watching, like a cross-platform roadblock, whether it’s an original film on Peacock, a drama on a linear network or content on a third-party digital platform.

Also Read: Striking Writers Picket Peacock NewFront Event

NBC also showed off a souped-up version of its Marquee format, which was originally built for linear, but now can take advantage of live sports coverage on Peacock. Interactive ads are embedded into scoreboards that pop up in big moments in games so the brand scores when the team scores. The format is data-enabled, allowing for targeting at scale so that marketers can reach the right fans at the right time.

The Power Break ad takes the Pause Ad up a notch, through data testing and research, sponsors get messages that are customized for selected audiences, which specially selected color, language, and creative designed to resonate with viewers.

Must Shop TV is powered by artificial intelligence and allows fans to shop for products that appear within their favorite NBCU programs. 

“We want our viewers to engage with brands that are valuable and relevant to them, which is exactly why our new ad innovations leverage our first-party data, shoppable capabilities and the scale of One Platform,” said Peter Blacker, executive VP, Streaming & Data Products and Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Global Advertising and Partnerships, NBCUniversal.  “Plus, our most premium content is open to any advertiser — after all, Peacock is a singular destination for audiences and advertisers.” 

NBCU also talked about the value of Peacock’s ad-supported original content.

The streaming service gets movies from sister company Universal Filmed Entertainment Group in the pay-one release window. NBCU said that two of every three Peacock subscribers have watched a recent Universal theatrical film and 95% of them have a favorable opinion of Cinematic ad experiences, including a pre-roll ad package that is reminiscent of the ads that run in theaters before the feature film starts.

Peacock is also streaming original films NBCU said advertisers are flocking to sponsor those films. Capital One, Google Pixel and State Farm sponsor Shooting Stars, a film about LeBron James’s journey as a high-school basketball star. Bernard and the Genie, a remake of a 1991 Richard Curtis film starring Melissa McCarthy, is also on the way.

“Peacock has emerged as the most complete U.S. streaming service on the market with an undisputed value proposition both for our audiences and our partners,” said Kelly Campbell, President, Peacock and Direct-to-Consumer. “Streaming started as a business that put consumers first, and we are committed to keeping it that way with content and experiences that audiences can only find on Peacock.” 

Amazon is looking to make its Thursday Night Football a bigger deal for viewers and advertisers.

The online retail giant said this season Thursday Night Football sponsors will be able to send different creative messages to different targeted audience groups within the same 30-second commercial position.

For example, an automaker could send a sports car spot to younger viewers, an SUV ad to sports and outdoors enthusiasts and a more general brand spot to the remaining viewers.

The audience-based creative capability will be available during pre- and post game shows, as well as year two of the Amazon Music Live concert series streamed after TNF. 

This season, the concert series will include performances by A$AP Rocky, Lil Wayne, Kane Brown, Anitta, and Megan Thee Stallion.  

Amazon is also providing advertisers with more clickable ad formats. Fire TV viewers can click a “send to phone” or “send to email” button with their remote that will give the viewer links to a brand’s Amazon store or product page.

Amazon expects the new capabilities to be particularly useful when Amazon streams the NFL’s first Black Friday game on the day after Thanksgiving.  That game will be available free to all viewers, not just Amazon Prime members.

“Where we think there’s a lot of opportunity is the ability for streaming TV to seamlessly bridge content to commerce,” Alan Moss, Amazon VP, Global Advertising Sales, told Broadcasting+Cable.

“In our upfront discussions so far we’re working backwards from brands’ desire to not only see their messages at the heart of premium content and offering great customer experiences, but also connecting the dots downstream with them to have meaningful business outcomes for these brands.”

Moss said being able to use multiple creative executions in a single spot on Thursday Night Football was a first for NFL games at scale. "It's going to be great for customers because they're going to see more relevant messages and it should lead to better advertiser outcomes as well."

Adding Data Sources For Advertisers

Last year, during Amazon’s first year as the exclusive national home of Thursday Night Football, Amazon worked with Nielsen to provide audience guarantees. This year, advertisers will also be able to get audience data from iSpot and VideoAmp.

Amazon will be transacting on Nielsen during 2023 but expects to give advertisers the option of transacting on iSpot.tv or VideoAmp in 2024, Moss said.

“Expanding iSpot’s ability to measure advertising on Amazon Ads goes beyond enabling a faster, more transparent, ad-centric approach for its customers,” said Sean Muller, CEO at iSpot. “Today’s announcement underlines our commitment to brands, which need to understand advertising in the context of the broader TV and streaming landscape and gain a clear view of audience viewership inside and outside the home to justify and optimize investments."

“This is a milestone that highlights the industry's growing demand for advanced measurement and cross-platform solutions which are crucial for advertisers. We're excited to work with Amazon Ads to provide advertisers accurate measurement with valuable insights to help them maximize their return on ad spend," added Michael Parkes, President, VideoAmp.

Amazon will be making sure media buyers are aware of the scale and reach it offers. Moss said that Amazon properties now reach an average monthly audience of 155 million people, or six out of every 10 adults in the U.S. 

Many of those viewers aren’t easy to reach with linear TV.  According to a Nielsen study, Amazon streaming TV campaigns reach an average of 10.9% incremental viewers to linear TV and 72% of Amazon streaming TV viewers are not watching linear TV.

Amazon will be making Amazon Marketing Cloud audiences available to advertisers. Marketers will be able to combine their own first party data with Amazon’s in a privacy-safe clean-room environment to improve the targeting of their ads.

Buyer should be able to activate the AMC audiences in the Amazon DSP with just a few clicks, Moss said.

Ad agency Buy Box Experts used the feature to help their client SimpliSafe refine its audience strategy. That helped grow the brand's return on ad spend by 109% and reduce the brand's cost-per-unit-sold by 65%, Amazon said.

Freevee, Amazon's ad-supported streaming service, is adding interactive pause ads that include a call to action for viewers.

Amazon Advertising said it can now help advertisers reach 155 million people monthly between its own properties and Amazon Publisher Direct. It said that Prime Video has become the most subscribed to streaming service in the U.S.

Viewers of Amazon’s Twitch watched 1.3 trillion minutes of content last year and 70% of those viewers are between the ages of 18 and 34.

Fire TV recently surpassed 200 million units. Fire TV unveiled Fire TV Channels, its new, ad-supported TV  experience 

Amazon Live will now produce shoppable livestream content with publishers and media brands, in addition to its popular influencer content. Customers can currently watch exclusive shoppable content from Tastemade, including  episodes of Struggle Meals, and starting in late-May, viewers will be able to shop live while watching exclusive content from Revolt, the multi-platform media company from Sean “Diddy” Combs.  

YouTube, which introduced its Ads on Shorts product last year, showed off new ways to use Shorts as part of its NewFront presentation Monday.

Ads on Shorts was launched last year, and YouTube said that brands have found ways to use them as part of direct-response campaigns. YouTube now has 1.5 billion logged-in monthly Shorts users.

Now, brands can introduce Shorts into awareness campaigns and reach engaged YouTube audiences, Kristen O’Hara, VP, agency and brand solutions said in a blog post.

“YouTube Shorts is where pop culture meets self-expression. Just look at the recent  #imYourMother challenge and all the fun ways people riffed on it. When viewers turn to Shorts, they’re in the mood for discovery — which creates an ideal environment for advertisers to reach new audiences,” O’Hara said.

“That’s why we’re expanding Shorts into Video reach campaigns, “ she said. “Video Reach campaigns use Google AI to serve the best combination of ads, and improve your reach and efficiency on YouTube,” she said.

YouTube is also introducing the YouTube Select Run of Shorts, which puts a marketer’s ads alongside only the most popular and relevant videos in viewers’ Short feeds. It uses the same technology that powers YouTube Select.

Another wrinkle is First Position On Shorts, which is being tested as part of YouTube Select. With First Position, when a viewer opens YouTube Shorts and starts watching the First Position advertiser’s ad is the first one the viewer sees. “This lets you land a strong first impression in a highly immersive environment,” O’Hara said.

In addition to Shorts, YouTube is adding in-feed video ads to Video reach campaigns.

Paramount Plus was involved in a test of the latest version of Video reach campaigns. The streamer was looking to build an audience for the film At Midnight. It spread the message across YouTube’s in-stream, in-feed and Shorts ad products.

As a result, Paramount reached new audiences, achieved better efficiency and higher recall than campaigns that used only in-stream ads.

“Tapping into YouTube for awareness campaigns means more people can see your creative messaging as they watch the creators and content they love. With products and tools that make short-form video advertising a seamless addition to your campaign, YouTube helps brands of all kinds stay relevant and connected with the next generation of viewers,” O’Hara said.

Vizio said it has launched a branded content studio, a new unit that will work with marketers to create programming using data to determine what viewers want.

The smart TV-set maker made the announcement ahead of its NewFront presentation in New York.

“VBCS is the natural evolution for our team to offer advertisers an opportunity to authentically incorporate the voice and value of their brand into stories, characters, and moments that resonate with Vizio viewers,” Vizio VP of branded content and sponsorships Steve DeMain said. “With a data-informed understanding of what our viewers are interested in, VBCS is uniquely positioned to offer a solution that few others can: A custom, exclusive branded content series that brings brands into the story and entertainment that consumers want to watch.”

The Vizio Branded Content Studio already has four new series in the works.

Clean Break: Michelle Hobgood, known as the Tiny Trainer, provides tips and tricks to get organized. Stemming from the popular TikTok trend, her organizing hacks are now presented on the TV screen.

Island Eats: Travel enthusiasts and unique food lovers are taken on a journey to the most exclusive, hard-to-get-to places in the Caribbean.

City Limits: This show looks at places and things to do just outside the city limits of popular towns.

From the Ground Up: Comedian Rance Nix spotlights industry experts and entrepreneurs,  telling their story about  launching a successful business.

Also Read: Vizio Swings to Profit as Platform Plus Revenues Grow

Vizio first tested the branded content model with the premiere of 3 Pointers, a short form series featuring Man vs. Food host Casey Webb and sponsored by BetMGM. Each episode features sports-themed recipes, beverages, and entertainment hacks designed to elevate the game-day viewing experience, with brand messaging from BetMGM woven throughout each episode. 

NGLmitú plans to announce the launch of its new streaming platform mitúTV, aimed at the fast-growing English-dominant U.S. Latino population, at its NewFront presentation on Tuesday.

mitúTV will feature more than 120 hours of original Latino-created programming.

The network is available through a free downloadable app and is being promoted on all of NGLmitú media platforms, Joe Bernard, chief revenue officer of NGLmitú, told Broadcasting+Cable.

Parent company GoDigital Media Group last year combined NGL Collective with mitú, bringing together NGL’s distribution with mitú’s production capabilities to create a Latino digital powerhouse, Bernard said.

“We are our own best customer now,” he said. “Instead of asking advertisers to use our platforms, we should use it ourselves. So we will.”

The app is available on a number of platforms including Amazon Fire, Roku, Android TV and Apple TV, as well as iOS and Android mobile.

The company is talking to additional distributors and plans a phased rollout that will include free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels.

“Once people understand the proposition of the programming service, more people will raise their hand and say I want to put that on my channel because it's free and different and unique,” Bernard said.

The new channel also will be attractive to advertisers looking to reach a unique and growing portion of the Latino audience, through organic, authentic programming, the CRO said.

“Our goal at the upfront is to elevate the combined company,” Bernard said. 

Bernard said that most Hispanic media properties are aimed at Spanish-dominant audiences. “This is one of the few, if not the only channel whose proposition is, it's an English-dominant and bilingual channel offering,” he said. “We’re saying this 24-hour channel focuses on the content that mirrors what is essentially the bigger side of the Hispanic USA pie, which is the English-dominant side.”

With the merger, NGLmitú already has scale in digital, delivering 32 million unique viewers monthly, according to Comscore.

“This is what a lot of advertisers want,“ Bernard said. ”They want to buy the smaller company for the authenticity and get upset when the small company doesn't have scale. And then they want to buy the big company for the scale,  but the company doesn't have enough credibility and authenticity. We are that business with big scale and the small company credibility and authenticity.”

In an ad market that’s been soft overall, Hispanic media continues to grow. “Right now, the company as a whole is on fire,” Bernard said. “Our second quarter is very strong right now so we're expecting to exceed our goals.”

New series that will appear on mitúTV include:

Three Gs in a Pod, a video podcast where hosts Erik Rivera, Sasha Merci and Jesus Sepulveda discuss relevant topics and share childhood memories and dating horror stories.

Girl, Let Me Tell You has hosts Jessica Flores, Ivana Rojas and Gorelys Mora telling personal stories about things women are tight to keep to themselves.

Spill the Chisme is mitúTV’s gossip game show designed to put players in the hot seat with increasingly personal questions and awkward answers.

Some of mitúTV’s programming originates from a 14,000-square-foot studio facility in East Los Angeles populated by young producers and influencers who have been creating content for the company’s social channels.

Bernard said mitúTV is also looking at independent films for properties featuring or created by young Latino talent.

“mitúTV is changing the game when it comes to entertainment created by Latinos for Latinos all in one place,“ actor, activist and NGLmitú partner John Leguizamo said. “Everyone knows we’re a huge part of today’s streaming audience. mitúTV provides an easy way for Latinos to access authentic content and see themselves positively portrayed like never before.” 

In addition to mitúTV, the company will be selling inventory in its 200 music channels on YouTube. Those channels have been organized to enable clients to buy them as part of a video-everywhere package, Bernard said.

Besides Latino music, the channels feature hip hop and other genres, enabling advertisers to reach young viewers.

NGLmitú will also be expanding its female lifestyle brand Fierce by mitú, which was originally launched in 2017 for Latinas and women of color.

“With more Latinas enrolled in higher education, starting new businesses, and contributing nearly $1 trillion to the U.S. economy, we believe it is the perfect time to expand the influence of Fierce by mitú through content and activations that further enable the incredible potential within this community,” NGLmitú chief brand officer Vanessa Vigil said.

Roku wants advertisers to take advantage of the scale of its platform as they navigate the shift from linear to streaming.

“A lot of brands are still rolling over their linear TV strategy into streaming,” Julian Mintz, head of U.S. brand sales at Roku, told Broadcasting+Cable and Next TV. “And the truth is in the streaming space, with all of the fragmentation that exists now and new channels popping up, if you just roll your linear strategy over there’s a very good chance that as a brand you’re going to get lost.”

Roku will make its pitch to advertisers on May 2, during next week’s NewFronts. “Our goal this year, put very simply, is to make brands completely unmissable in the streaming era,” Mintz said.

Also Read: Roku Plans 200 Layoffs In New Cost-Cutting Move

Streaming now has more reach among adults 18-49 than broadcast or cable, said Mintz, pointing to data from Nielsen.

That means marketers should change how they use streaming. While the platform was once used for its ability to target specific viewers, including cord-cutters, Roku, with its 70 million monthly users, says it now has the kind of fast reach that was always the bedrock of television advertising.

With a platform that carries a huge share of streaming ads, “we think we’re uniquely qualified to really make marketers unmissable In this era,” Mintz said. “We are able to drive more reach and more scale than any individual channel can do alone.”

Roku last week announced its Primetime Reach Guarantee program, which creates a package of commercials that will run in traditional primetime on a collection of streaming channels, including The Roku Channel. Roku guarantees the package will outdeliver a spot on any of the top-five cable networks in primetime, or the marketer gets its money back.

“We’re really able to offer the best of TV and the best of digital all at once,” Mintz said.

Unlike traditional TV, where a marketer must hope a viewer turns on the right channel at the right time to see its ad, streaming lets marketers reach viewers at all points during their TV viewing experience — even during the 11 minutes on average it takes a Roku viewer to find what they want to watch. 

“That content-discovery experience can be a moment where a brand can provide a ton of value back to the user,” Mintz said.

A growing number of Roku’s ads are interactive. Roku sees interactivity as “a way to shorten the funnel,” or the journey a viewer takes from turning on the TV to buying a product, he said.

“Marketers want to reach those users quickly and with precision in a highly measurable way,” Mintz said. ”And they want to sell their products with as little friction as possible. We’re going to give them more of that this year.” 

Last year, Roku viewers were able to buy directly from Walmart using their remote controls while watching TV. Roku is also doing an e-commerce program with Wendy’s and DoorDash.

Wendy’s found that almost immediately, viewers were increasing their order size and that the largest increase came from either new or lapsed Wendy’s customers, Mintz said.

Roku will also be introducing new data partners and new programming at its presentation.

“We're really excited at this upfront to unlock new experiences with big impact that have the best data, best technology and best measurement in TV all by just pressing OK on their remote,” Mintz said.

Global musical sensation J Balvin will have ad buyers tapping their toes at music video network Vevo’s NewFront presentation on May 4.

“We’re thrilled to conclude our show with a very special live performance by superstar J Balvin, who exemplifies the future of our business with his global presence,” said Kevin McGurn, president of sales & distribution for Vevo. “He is proof that cultural content can have powerful mass appeal.”

Balvin is consistently one of Vevo’s most viewed artists. Often programmed on FAST channels such as Vevo Latino and Vevo Reggaeton & Trap, Balvin has several music videos, including Mi Gente with Willy William and Ay Vamos, in Vevo’s Billion Views Club.

In addition to Balvin, Vevo will be pitching how its large network of FAST channels gives it national reach that is reflective of the U.S. population with a variety of content that enables it to help advertisers reach their target consumers.

“Home to over 800,000 music videos, Vevo has become the largest and fastest growing connected television network in the world,“ McGurn said. “Through a combination of platform-level scale, network-level transparency, and brand safety for advertisers, Vevo is also a major destination for ad dollars. With the long-lasting star power of the music industry's biggest names, no other TV network reaches 35 million consumers every single day.”

YouTube, Vizio, Amazon, Snap, Peacock, Samsung, Roku, Yahoo, Meta, Vevo and TikTok are among the headliners presenting at this year’s NewFronts.

The NewFronts, run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), will be held from May 1-4. All presentations will be live with most streamed for remote viewing.

On Wednesday, a number of short presentations will be made as part of the IAB Main Stage. Maria Menounos will host. Presenting companies include the BBC, Innovid, CafeMedia, Crackle Connex, Estrella Media, LG Ads, TransUnion, Canela Media, Samba TV, Teads and GSTV.

“With more opportunities than ever, the 2023 IAB NewFronts is the best opportunity to gather buyers and sellers to talk about growth, innovation, and the state of the industry,” IAB CEO David Cohen said. “This year, we asked buyers about which diverse media companies they wanted to hear from, and they suggested: Blavity, Cocina and Urban One. We are pleased to offer each of them an opportunity to present this year at no cost. In summary, there’s no better place to kick off the buying season, especially if you’re interested in what’s new and what’s next.”

During the NewFronts,  IAB will release its annual Video Ad Spend Study, which includes full-year 2022 results and an outlook for 2023.

The growth of ad-supported platforms means that consumers and media buyers have more choices than ever,” IAB VP, Media Center Eric John said. “No one should be taking last year’s approach to this year’s NewFronts. The IAB NewFronts is a must-attend event for everyone who needs to understand the latest consumer trends and newest interactive ad models to remain competitive.”  ■

Music-video service Vevo, pushing further into connected TV, said it will be adding more long-form content to its lineup.

At its NewFront presentation Thursday (May 5), Vevo executives said the new programming will include live performances and full-length concert footage. 

Vevo is also looking to lean into dayparted programming, with more artist and celebrity takeovers of channels and new weekly music-video roundup shows.

“Vevo has embraced a TV everywhere strategy with a mix of linear channels and a new and improved Vevo on-demand app,” Jesse Judelman, senior VP of sales, Americas, at Vevo. “While you can find our popular on-demand app across all major platforms, Vevo is a keystone for linear streaming services. For example, after years of the Vevo app thriving on the Roku platform, we now also program multiple Vevo channels as a part of their FAST [free, ad-supported TV] lineup on The Roku Channel.”

Also: NewFronts Agenda Set With ‘Stream On’ Theme for Event

For advertisers, Vevo said it is developing dynamic, interactive ad experiences designed for the TV screen. Vevo is working with ad tech companies including TripleLift and Infillion to create the new ad units.

Vevo is also expanding Moods, its contextual offering. More mood categories are being created for advertisers to target.

“Just as different types of pop culture are being consumed more rapidly within the CTV environment, so are music videos,” Vevo president of sales & distribution Kevin McGurn said. “Vevo offers advertisers optionality of measurement, as well as unparalleled flexibility in how you transact with us.” ■

Amid all the sturm und drang after The Great Netflix Correction and CNN Plus’ hasty demise, it’s easy to forget that at least one streaming-video operator is ready for the fast-evolving video future filled with ads. 

That operator is Amazon, which used its session at this week’s NewFronts advertising confab to showcase all the ways it can help brands separate customers from their cash. 

That matters because last month’s ugly comeuppance made it clear that even broad-based media companies better have an ad-based component if they want to reach the broadest, most lucrative potential audience. 

The event at New York’s Lincoln Center provided plenty for marketers to drool over, even if few of Amazon’s announcements count as “new.” But the imposing lineup certainly made Amazon’s point very clear: it’s ready for what’s next. 

The list of attractions is notable: the new NFL deal kicking off this fall; FAST service Freevee with new originals (including some Disney action movies) and more channels; live-streaming beast Twitch rolling out new ways for brands to partner with its creators; virtual product placement tech, to digitally insert branded material into a scene; and the Amazon Marketing Cloud, the web giant's “end-to-end planning, measurement and optimization solution.”

That’s a lot, especially for a company known more for e-commerce, grocery stores, pharmacies and a whole bunch of other stuff. And though I despise the term, the synergies here can be huge. 

For instance, with Amazon exclusively taking over NFL Thursday night games this season,  just imagine Black Friday kicking off on Amazon alongside Turkey Day’s evening game. How much will brands pay for the chance to be in the middle of both the biggest show on TV and the biggest selling day in retail? 

As for the virtual product placement tech, Henrik Bastin, executive producer of Freevee original Bosch: Legacy, called the digital technology a “game-changer” for creators and brands. 

For one thing, it’ll simplify the laborious process of getting product placement deals done. Instead of spending time lining those projects up before the cameras roll, the show can be produced, and the product placement figured out later. 

And any subsequent deal doesn’t have to be forever. The branded material can be changed after a couple of years, a gift that keeps giving. 

Don’t forget that just-closed  $8.45 billion deal for MGM’s 4,000 movies and 17,000 hours of TV episodes. Those should begin filtering onto Freevee, Prime and even Twitch soon enough, giving viewers more reasons to watch, and more marketers reason to buy time. 

More generally, don’t forget that Amazon already generated $31.2 billion in ad revenue last year, behind only Facebook and Alphabet as the biggest online advertising site. More streaming ad inventory will only grow that huge number for what is, basically, a side hustle.

Oh, sure, other media companies trotted out noteworthy initiatives these past few weeks, too. 

Comcast announced an intriguing joint venture built around afterthought streaming service Xumo, giveaway hardware Flex, its line of branded Smart TVs, and $900 million from cable colleague Charter Spectrum. 

The JV could turn into something, maybe, eventually. Some observers are more enthusiastic than I about its prospects. I consider it a long-term play in a declining business, one last shot to capture cord-cutters on their way out the door. But it leverages a lot of existing assets in a smart way though, and for that the companies deserve some credit. 

The JV does give Xumo and Peacock more reach, into Charter territory for one, and possibly far beyond as some customers move to areas not served by either and take the equipment and relationships with them. 

The companies will have to convert fully to Internet Protocol delivery of their programming, which will save on bandwidth and may enable other ventures.  

And, possible big bonus long term, the JV’s new service may kneecap quasi-competitors such as Roku, TCL, Google TV and Vizio, providing low-end consumers with an attractive hardware alternative from a TV provider they already know. 

All told, it represents yet another innovative partnership for the creatively accretive Brian Roberts, who once again is getting bigger and broader without causing antitrust hawks to circle overhead. 

Another competitor, Paramount Global, said it’s heading to some big international markets, beefing up ad-supported offerings with a new Lionsgate deal, and unveiling its version of virtual product placement, called In-Scene Ads. 

But those offerings feel just a tad undernourished next to everything Amazon can put together when it focuses on something other than unionization campaigns, or which Whole Foods outlets to close. 

The company also still has Amazon Prime Video and that lucrative Prime Video Channels offering, where it scrapes billions of dollars in fees from the dozens of subscription services available there. 

But streaming’s evolving reality means any competitor better have a sturdy ad-based option to reach the broadest possible audience, and generate the most revenue. Even Netflix is bowing to reality after years of dissing ad-supported offerings. 

The problem for Netflix, and for other competitors, is that Amazon remains in, er, prime position to scoop up billions more in ad revenue while they’re all still figuring out this new part of their businesses. This week’s presentation was just a detailed reminder of the many ways Amazon will do that.

Streaming lifestyle company Tastemade said it plans to launch 27 new original series during 2022.

At its NewFront presentation Thursday, Tastemade said the new programming will account for 200 hours of content. Tastemade is also scheduling its first themed weekends with Grill Week in June and Pizza Week in September.

Tastemade provided ad buyers with a peek at Tastemade Home, a channel designed for the new generation of homeowners and renters. The channel is scheduled to launch this summer.

New series on Tastemade Home will include Weekend Refresh, which is based on a successful social series showing off renovations that take just 48 hours.

Also: NewFronts Agenda Set With ‘Stream On’ Theme for Event

“Since the Tastemade brand was built in the social, streaming, and creator age — not born from print or even linear TV — our programming is different, our perspectives are different,” said Jeff Imberman, global head of ad sales and brand partnerships at Tastemade. “The faces you see on our networks are different. And the audiences who watch our networks are different. They’re younger, more inclusive, and more globally curious. They want to create change both big and small.”

Tastemade says 84% of its audience makes two or more recipes a month, 75% actively try to purchase products recommended by Tastemade and 80% is willing to pay more for quality products.

“We transform viewers into doers through storytelling that is entertaining and inspiring. We give our talent a platform to motivate — and our audience responds,” siad Emily Mraz, head of development at Tastemade. ■

Sports-oriented streaming TV service fuboTV said it can create custom audience segments for advertisers.

At its NewFront presentation Thursday, fuboTV said it uses its first-party data to track the behavior of target users based on the exact content they watch and the amount of time they spend with it anywhere on the platform.

Audiences can be defined as light, moderate or heavy viewers of specific sports, leagues or content genres.

FuboTV also said it can identify and reach purchase intenders using existing first-party addressable, contextual, behavioral and demographic targeting capabilities.

Also: NewFronts Agenda Set With ‘Stream On’ Theme for Event

“One of the key differentiators of CTV is the ability to target and reach desired audiences with precision in a brand-safe, big-screen environment,” said Diana Horowitz, senior VP, advertising sales, fuboTV. “FuboTV is equipped with more tools than ever before to help advertisers follow our audience across a wide range of premium content using our first-party addressable data. Not only can we target contextually and demographically, but we can also identify audiences based on viewership behavior and preferences to tailor campaigns to specific fans, no matter what type of content they’re watching.”

Fubo TV recently acquired Edisn.ai, an AI-powered computer vision platform that enables fuboTV to expand its ad tech capabilities and enable CTV e-commerce. ■

A new study found that the pandemic has made television a bigger part of family life.

Research conducted for Yahoo and ad agency Publicis found that while people may have been isolated from friends and co-workers, they stuck together and gathered around glowing screens. 

The increased screen time at home created the opportunity for 64% of families to spend more time watching shows together and 49% are planning movie nights as a family.

Also: Future Today Study Highlights Family Co-Viewing on CTV

Families also spend more on TV buying hardware and content. The study found that 46% of family subscribed to new streaming services and 26% upgraded their internet services. Just 12% added new cable packages.

Kids got new gear to watch those services, with 47% getting tablets sooner than they would have had there been no pandemic, according to the survey, 36% getting new cell phones and 25% getting TV sets.

The screens in home also were used for kids to stay in touch with friends. Among the parents of children 12 to 17 years old, 44% said they encouraged kids to use devices to stay connected and 41% said they raised their kids’ screen time allowance. 

Parents reported behavior changes that marketers should be aware of, with 63% saying they’re doing more online shopping, 52% using apps to order takeout food and beverage, and 51% using store services such as pick up or home delivery. ■

Families are connecting while watching connected TV, according to a new study commissioned by streaming TV company Future Today.

In the study, 94% of parents said they have been co-viewing family-friendly streaming content during the last 12 months, a period during which COVID-19 had many people staying home.

Looking ahead, 86% of parents said they plan to watch more content together with their families.

“There is a misperception that the explosion in screens has created siloed TV viewing, with families watching from different devices and rooms,” said Vikrant Mathur, co-founder, Future Today. “In reality, parents with younger children, in particular, are co-viewing more than ever. Co-viewing experiences help these families connect, while also allowing parents to more closely monitor media consumption for their children.”

Future Today’s streaming channels including Fawsome, HappyKids and iFood.tv.

Co-viewing is important to advertisers who want large audiences, but have also found that co-viewing audiences are more engaged when commercials appear. 

Future Today’s study found that co-viewing boosts ad engagement, with 93% of parents saying they are “engaged” when presented with an ad for adults while co-viewing. While 88% of parents reported their children as being “engaged” while co-viewing adult-focused ads.

The parents said that while co-viewing with their kids, they were most comfortable with ads for restaurants, travel, retail, electronics and food products.

The study was conducted for Future Today by The Insights Family, which polled more than 300 parents. ■

NBCUniversal's E! News will be launching a new live-streamed show on Twitter that will cover programming in all forms of TV.

At its NewFront presentation Wednesday, Twitter said the new E! show would be called While You Were Streaming. It will be hosted by Danielle Roby and look at the tweet-worthy moments in series like Stranger Things, Obi-Wan Kenobi and The Real Housewives.

The World Cup will be coming to Twitter through a deal with Fox Sports. Fox Sports will produce pre- and post-match programming for Twitter. 

As part of the deal, sponsorship and advertising opportunities around Fox Sports’ content will be offered, driving promotion to FIFA World Cup matches and coverage across Fox, FS1, the FoxSports App and FoxSports.com.

“We are excited to expand our collaboration with Twitter by doing what we do best in leading the way with innovative sports coverage and original digital content,” said Edward Hartman, senior VP, digital partnerships & wagering, at Fox Sports. “These new offerings will bring fans the FIFA World Cup experience wherever they are by keeping them engaged with a taste of the excitement, while encouraging them to Tweet and watch the rest of the match on Fox Sports.”

Also: NewFronts Agenda Set With ‘Stream On’ Theme for Event

"Collaborating with Fox Sports to bring fans the opportunity to preview match action on Twitter during both the Men's and Women's World Cup is something we've never done before," added TJ Adeshola, head of global content partnerships at Twitter. "We're thrilled to bring this exclusive content to the timeline."

In addition Twitter will be getting content from Revolt for the first time. Shows including Drink Champs, a popular hip hop podcast, The Crew League, which showcases fan favorite artists going head to head on the basketball court, Assets Over Liabilities, a financial literacy series, which follows the daily lives of business savvy artists, and Revolt Black News Weekly, the always-on coverage of issues happening in Black communities.

Twitter also announced a multi-year extension of their six-year relationship with the WNBA. Twelve of the league's games will appear live on Twitter during the 2022 season. The WNBA will also host regular events on Twitter Spaces. ■

At a star-studded NewFront presentation Tuesday, Roku rolled out fresh lifestyle shows being cooked up by Martha Stewart and promised more data for marketers through a partnership with Microsoft.

Roku announced co-production deals with Marquee Brands and Milk Street Studios to develop seven original series starring Stewart, Emeril Lagasse and Christopher Kimball for The Roku Channel. 

Stewart has three shows: Martha Cooks, Martha Gardens and Martha Holidays (working title)   Lagasse has two shows, Emeril Cooks and Emeril Tailgates, in which he’ll travel to NFL cities to find the best pre-game grub.

Kimball is whipping up Milk Street’s Cooking School and MIlk Street’s My Family Recipe.

In addition to the original shows, the deal also brings The Roku Channel library content with shows including Martha Bakes (seasons 1-11), Martha Stewart’s Cooking School (seasons 1-5), Martha Stewart Living (seasons (1-11), Essence of Emeril (seasons 1-11), Emeril Live (season 1-19) and Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Television (seasons 1-5). 

Roku will also be cooking up some fresh data for advertisers with Microsoft. 

“We're excited to announce an industry-first partnership with Microsoft for the first time, you'll see how tv ads, both linear and streaming influence search and online browsing behaviors,” said Dan Robbins VP of Marketing & Partner Solutions at Roku,

He said Roku will be matching data from its streaming platform with Microsoft Audience Intelligence, which is fed by more than 7 billion searches per month via Bing.

“We're shining a light on search  so you can see around marketing corners like never before. And it's all powered by our ad tech stack built for streaming,” Robbins said. 

“We see so many synergies between the two companies and the two of us together. We feel that we can really bring value to the whole ad measurement conundrum,” added Lynne Kjolso, VP of Microsoft’s global advertising business team, speaking via video.

“We know that the lack of ability to consistently measure across channels is a barrier for marketers in really doing cross-channel planning and execution,” Kelso said. “And so we think through our partnership we can help marketers solve that problem and we're going to bring the data and bring a lot of great Insights so that we're no longer acting on assumptions. We really see it in the cold hard facts.”■

The dongle is dying, declares oft-quoted media business pundit Evan Shapiro.

Rolling through a deck during Samsung's NewFront presentation in New York Tuesday, the former Seeso chief (among many other video biz titles) showed a slide that caught the attention of other video-industry gadflies on Twitter. 

According to Shapiro, 61% of U.S. streaming video consumers are using connected smart TVs to stream vs. only 39% using HDMI dongles and hockey-puck-style players. And that disparity is only predicted to grow in the coming years.

Elaborating on his presentation after his slide got retweeted by TV[R]EV analyst and Next TV contributor Alan Wolk, Shapiro wrote that 1 billion smart TVs will be sold over the next four years. Not one of them, he noted, will need a dongle to connect to the internet.

"As fun as it is to say the word 'dongle,' in five years we won’t ever need to *again," Shapiro tweeted, including an asterisk to exempt "Boomer"-age consumers from this prediction.

Shapiro's declaration was seconded by LightShed Partners analyst Richard Greenfield, who re-tweeted it with the hashtag, #goodluckdongles. ■

Amazon Ads said it has tools to help advertisers make their advertising more effective and its developing more.

At its Lincoln Center NewFront presentation Monday, hosted by Amy Poehler, director of the Ludy and Desi documentary on Prime Video and executive producer of the series Harlem, Amazon also said it has new technology for virtually inserting products and signage into programming post-production.

“We know that the ability to reach customers while maximizing every dollar is super important to you, which is why we’re excited to announce Streaming TV Media Planner,” said Colleen Aubrey, senior VP of ad products and tech, Amazon Ads.

Also: Amazon Kicks Off Effort To Tackle ‘Thursday Night Football’ Sponsor

Streaming TV Media Planner enables advertisers to see their incremental streaming TV reach through Amazon Ads, and compare that to linear reach,” she said. 

Amazon has Omnichannel Metrics, which provides measurement to enable in-flight campaign optimization in Beta. 

NewFronts: Amazon's Freevee Greenlights Original Scripted, Unscripted Shows

Based on the metrics, “you may want to switch up your creative or media choices,” said Alan Moss, VP global ads. “You can make changes mid-flight. You no longer have to wait until the end of your campaign to optimize your investment.”

Amazon Brand Lift is currently available to consumer product goods makers and marketers of grocery products.

Brand Lift helps advertisers understand the holistic customer journey, extending beyond Amazon’s online store, Moss said.

Some if its data comes from the Amazon Shopper panel, an opt-in invite-only program.

Panelists earn monthly rewards for sharing receipts from purchases made off-Amazon or by completing surveys on our mobile app, he said. 

“Today, we have more than 200,000 U.S. panelists actively participating every month and these insights together with omni-channel metrics, help advertisers measured the true incremental impact of their campaigns,” Moss said. 

Amazon new Virtual Product Placement product is also in a beta stage. It enables products to be seamlessly inserted into participating Prime Video and Amazon Freevee original content In collaboration with creative partners.

VPP helps brands show up in new places, reaching an audience they want to reach without interruption, and allows Amazon content creators to focus on what they do best during the filmmaking process—telling great stories.

Some of the Prime Video and Amazon Freevee Original titles participating in VPP, including Reacher, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, the Bosch franchise, Making the Cut, and Leverage: Redemption. 

Advertisers can also take advantage of a For Twitch, With Twitch programing which gets sponsors involved with Twitch program creators.

Shows sponsors might be interested in included POG Picks, is an interactive live-shopping game show original shows around college basketball such as Let’s Go! College Hoops and SuperFan FaceOff; and the upcoming live unboxing show Drops with Swagg. 

Twitch also showed a program called Co-Op Drops, where brands can present Drops—an existing popular Twitch experience where in-game rewards are granted to viewers for watching streams on Twitch—to integrate themselves into popular gaming moments and earn community trust through amplifying reward

Adobe was the first brand to test the program in March in a series of sponsored streams with six Twitch creators playing Amazon Games’ New World, which received 3.1 million total views. ■

Amazon’s free streaming TV channel Freevee showed off a slate of original scripted and unscripted series that are being developed, greenlit or picked up.

Freevee, previously known as IMDb TV, also said it made a short-term film licensing deal with Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution that will bring movie titles including Deadpool, Deadpool 2, Logan, Hidden Figures, Murder on the Orient Express and The Post to the channel.

Freevee is also boosting its FAST offering to more than 75 channels, including exclusive linear channels for the Canadian sitcom Kim’s Convenience, as well as the original The Kids in the Hall comedy series.

The announcements were made as part of Amazon's NewFront presentation on Monday.

“Amazon Freevee is a trailblazer in the AVOD space, reimagining, redefining, and leveling up the quality of content offered by a free streaming service,” said Lauren Anderson and Ryan Pirozzi, co-heads of content and programming, Amazon Freevee.

“By developing and programming inspired, fan-favorite Original series and movies — produced and delivered by Amazon Studios in partnership with some of the industry’s best creators and studio partners — and by securing exclusive, highly sought licensed content, we have built a destination where viewers know they can discover and enjoy something new, or indulge in something they already love,” they said. “We’ve also built a home for talent where their ideas will be nurtured and brought to life, and are building a brand where advertisers know they will find popular, compelling programming. Today’s announcements about our upcoming slate showcase our continued commitment to delivering customers the premium content they crave — always free of charge.”

Freevee is developing Inside No. 9, a show based on the BBC’s anthology series of the same name. It mixes humor with horror, crime, and suspense, with each episode loosely linked via the inclusion of the number nine. From Lionsgate Television and BBC Studios Los Angeles Productions, this dark comedy features high stakes, shocking twists, and the unexpected. The series is executive produced by Steve Pemberton, Reece Shearsmith, Angie Stephenson, and Josh Cole.

Freevee gave a greenlight to four series:

America’s Test Kitchen: The Next Generation, an unscripted competition series to find the next dynamic talent to join the America’s Test Kitchen (ATK) team. The last cook standing will receive a starring role on ATK. America’s Test Kitchen: The Next Generation is executive produced by David Nussbaum, Jack Bishop, David Lonner, and Mark Itkin.

Beyond Black Beauty, inspired by the beloved novel,  is a coming-of-age dramedy that follows Jolie Dumont, an equestrian with Olympic aspirations whose journey is suddenly halted when her mother, Janelle, moves them from their posh Belgium life to Janelle's childhood home in Baltimore. From Amazon Studios, Sinking Ship Entertainment, and Leif Films, Beyond Black Beauty is executive produced by Pilar Golden, Leif and Agnes Bristow, J.J. Johnson, and Carla de Jong.

Play-Doh Squished, hosted by Sarah Hyland, this fast-paced, family competition series features a series of physical and creative challenges. To take home the grand prize, teams must combine imagination and inspiration with Play-Doh compound as the medium. Play-Doh Squished is produced by Amazon Studios and eOne. Executive producers are Tara Long and Will Erb for eOne, alongside Allison Berkley and Briana Vowels, who serve as showrunners. Host Sarah Hyland is also an executive producer on the series.

Post Malone: Runaway, a one-hour music documentary showcasing the story of Grammy-nominated Post Malone’s first arena tour in 2019. The movie, which will be the second original film on Freevee, features backstage access, live performances, and intimate interviews. From Pulse Films and Federal Films, Post Malone: Runaway was created by BAFTA-nominated Hector Dockrill and written and produced by Sam Bridger and Casey Engelhardt. The film is executive produced by Dre London, Austin Rosen, and Bobby Greenleaf.

Freevee also said it picked up season two of Bosch: Legacy and seasons three and four of Uninterrupted’s Top Class: The Life and Times of the Sierra Canyon Trailblazers. ■

Tubi, Fox’s free ad-supported streaming service, announced that it plans to double down on content, add more channels and provide advertisers with fresh data and insights.

At its NewFront presentation Monday, Tubi said it will debut more than 100 original titles in the next 12 months. 

The new content will target genres its viewers already enjoy, including Black cinema, thrillers, horror, sci-fi, romance and adult animation. In addition to attracting viewers, the original programming will enable Tubi to integrate advertisers into content.

Some original productions will come from Fox units including Bento Box Entertainment, MarVista Entertainment and Fox Alternative Entertainment.

One Tubi original series, The Freak Brothers will be coming back for a second season, the streamer said. Based on the underground comic, The Freak Brothers premiered on Tubi in November and became the most-watched series on the platform. WTG Enterprises will be producing eight new episodes, which are scheduled to debut in December.

A series of documentaries is also on the way, including one on the last days of basketball star Kobe Bryant from TMZ.

Tubi is adding linear channels to its lineup based on Fox Entertainment programming including The Masked Singer, TMZ and Gordon Ramsay. 

Also: Tubi Revenue To Exceed Purchase Price, Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch Says

Tubi advertisers received Campaign Insights, an analysis matching content clusters with audience information. In addition to its own data, the viewer information comes from measurement companies including TVSquared, Foursquare and Kantar. 

Also: Tubi Expands Nielsen Ratings Coverage to Additional Devices

“Tubi’s approach of personalization allows for content for every community, and our record growth shows it’s working. We’re doubling down on this approach while delivering our brand partners transparency and an opportunity to reach incremental, diverse and highly engaged consumers,” said Mark Rotblat, chief revenue officer at Tubi. 

The announcements follow a year of growth at Tubi, with its 51 million active users last quarter and 3.6 billion hours watched in 2021, up 40%. 

Tubi said most of its growth comes from college educated and affluent demos. With an average viewer more than 16 years younger than non-streamers, Tubi’s audience is nationally representative across geographic, economic and educational segments, and includes a large multicultural audience, comprising 40% of its user base. ■

Ad-supported streaming service Plex won’t be making an official presentation at this week’s NewFronts, but it is planning to make an impression on New Yorkers, including those who buy media.

Plex has made a six-figure out-of-home ad buy, putting messages in locations including LaGuardia and Kennedy airports, the Moynihan train station and key spots around midtown.

The message is that Plex helps viewers solve the “streaming struggle,” the difficulty many viewers have finding something to watch, particularly on connected TV.

“This is our brand-building campaign. This year it just happens to align with the timing of the NewFront,” said Scott Hancock, VP of marketing at Plex. “Absolutely we’re targeting those media buyers, but it's really more about a consumer-focused campaign.” 

Also: Plex Surpasses 200 FAST Channels

Plex is aiming to help viewers find what they want to watch, pointing to statistics that show that consumers waste six minutes every night searching for content. This month it launched Discovery, which lets users search for content and provides deep links to platforms where the content can be watched. It also started offering a Universal watch list to help keep viewers up to date on shows they’re interested in watching, regardless of what service they’re on.

In the first couple of weeks Plex saw more than 4.5 million search sessions.  As a result hundreds of thousands of movies and shows were deep-linked through the platform, with Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney Plus the most popular destinations. About 1 million movies and shows were saved to Plex watchlists in the first week across Android, iOS, Apple TV, Roku, Samsung and LG Smart TVs. 

"We're basically trying to simplify that whole experience of finding the content and  discovering content, based on the services you have, as well as introduce you to other services you may not have," Hancock said.

Plex is a member of IAB and thought about making a formal NewFront presentation. “We were considering it, but given our role as more of an aggregator and platform as opposed to a content provider or a content manufacturer, it made sense for us to participate in another way,” Hancock said.

But Hancock added that Plex is “really focused on building the ad supported business that’s growing like crazy.”

“We continue to see an enormous amount of money shifting from traditional linear over to streaming,” said Plex CRO Harold Morgenstern, a Discovery vet who ran Pluto TV’s ad sales before Pluto was integrated into ViacomCBS, now Paramount. “We’re fortunate and find ourselves in a very good position right now.”

"Some compare today’s streaming boom with the early days of cable. Streaming is a lot more accelerated, a lot more complex, and technical, than cable was back in the day,” Morgenstern said. “We like to say streaming offers the power of television with the measurement of digital.”

Plex’s sales are programmatic first, Morgenstern said. "We believe that the agencies and the direct marketers want to facilitate transactions through the most efficient, transparent and effective means and that is via programmatic," he said.

Plex has Magnite as its preferred supply-side platform partner, with SpringServe as its ad server. Its inventory also flows through the pipe of the other top SSPs, Morgenstern said.

Increasingly, advertisers are looking to do direct deals with Plex, Morgenstern said. 

That has Plex slowly adding direct sales executives and it now has four or five on the payroll. “I like to refer to them as brand ambassadors,” Morgenstern said. “As we scale, we’ll continue to add people on. They’ll go out to each of the major holding companies and ensure that our value proposition is well represented across the advertising landscape.”

Morgenstern expects Plex to do some upfront business this year. “We are getting some RFS,” he said adding, “we’ve been doing very well in scatter. There’s just so much money.”

Plex also has a relationship with Crackle Plus, a key supplier of content. Crackle Plus is enabled to sell inventory in Crackle content when it appear on the Plex platform. When Crackle needs additional impressions, it can also sell inventory in other content on the Plex platform. “We’ll look at it on a case-by-case basis and find mutually agreeable pricing. They have that unique ability right now.”

Next year, Plex might be ready to sell ads on its Discovery and Watch List pages once they’re better established. And it might make an official NewFront presentation.

“We might participate if it makes sense for us. This year, it really didn’t make sense,” Hancock said. ■

This year, the TV upfront will celebrate its 60th anniversary. In 1962, broadcasters started moving their TV premieres to September to time with automobile production schedules. Since then, the estimated $60 billion U.S. TV advertising market has revolved around this futures market.

However, as we enter the streaming decade, it’s time for a better TV advertising experience. Earlier this year, Procter & Gamble Chief Brand Officer Marc Pritchard issued a call for innovation to end the current upfront. Traditional TV buying leaves the consumer experience in pieces — limited personalization, frequent waste, lost relevance.

So, what might a better TV upfront look like in this streaming decade?

Personalized

The largest screen in the home has built businesses for decades. The secret sauce is that TV goes “wide.” Sight, sound, and motion bring us together for collective cultural moments, from a favorite finale to a sports championship. These tentpole events create a common knowledge. We know that our neighbors, co-workers, and friends enjoyed the same shows and the same ads as we do, and this reassures our buying and entertainment decisions.

In the decade ahead, TV upfronts will also go “narrow.” Marketers will deliver personalized experiences on the TV screen that blend and play within shows and movies. Viewers may get a coupon on top of a traditional :30 second TV spot, others may get an offer to easily add a product to their cart, and still others will see traditional TV ads replaced in real-time to make them more relevant. For instance, a broadcast network might help an automobile advertiser swap out a linear TV creative featuring a minivan truck for one with a sports car — all on the fly based on the audience. Original programming will focus on the audiences that want free and those that want subscription. The result is a TV upfront that feels more relevant, more current, and more resonant for consumers, content owners, and brands alike.

Full-Funnel

Today, there is a vibrant chase for an updated TV currency. This overlooks a key development: many advertisers have already forged their own currency by planning and measuring TV streaming on business outcomes. This full-funnel measurement includes audience guarantees on age and gender demographic ratings, guarantees on incremental reach, and planning on cost per acquisition on store visits or app downloads. The result is a TV upfront that starts with the bottom line.

The more direct the consumer data, the more precise the results. Platforms and publishers that hold a personal connection with viewers will offer more precise delivery, stronger control groups, and clearer testing and attribution.

These data signals will prove even better when they connect the consumer journey across devices. Otherwise, measurement falls into guesswork. Advertisers that focus on scale and direct consumer relationships will win the upfront of the future.

Flexible

This is an exciting future for TV advertising — personalized, full-funnel, and flexible. And to paraphrase William Gibson, this future is already here — it's just not yet evenly distributed. When TV upfronts celebrate its 70th anniversary in the decade to come, we can look forward to an industry transformed for the better. 

In describing past TV upfronts, Pritchard asked, “Do we buy anything else this way? The only thing I can think of is toilet paper during the pandemic. Buy as much as possible from as many stores as you can, because you can’t predict how long you might be stuck at home.”

The future of TV upfronts is also flexible. Imagine adjusting your entire TV commitment just two days out to meet changing markets. Or shifting your media spend from your luxury vehicle to your entry-level sedan in real-time as chip shortage conditions change. Or avoiding make goods for under-delivery because demand and supply in TV advertising are perfectly matched. Leading marketers are focused on this today — prioritizing commitments with platforms and publishers that offer flexibility and dynamism. In the decade ahead, this will become the norm. ▪️

To Roku, the 60th anniversary of the upfront is a good time to make streaming a more important part of advertisers’ TV budgets.

“This year, our goal is to really shake up the upfronts,” Kristina Shepard, head of agency partnerships and national brand team lead for Roku told Broadcasting+Cable.

While it has been 60 years since ABC invited sponsors to check out the new shows that would be on the network’s fall schedule, May 3 will be the first time Roku will make an in-person presentation to ad buyers at the NewFronts. 

"The keys to Roku’s pitch is that viewership patterns have changed, with more consumers streaming, especially those in younger demos that are hard to reach at scale with broadcast," Shepard said. "And Roku has ramped up its programming and advertising technology, creating a better experience for viewers and more efficiency for marketers."

“We believe that the upfront will start with streaming,” she said. “Marketers' investment in TV streaming has greatly accelerated.”

In last year’s upfront, Roku made deals with all of the major ad buying holding companies, its commitments doubled, with 42% of the business coming from new upfront advertisers.

Overall, Shepard said that about $8 billion in upfront spending went to streamers, compared to $20 billion that went to traditional broadcasting and cable programmers.

This year, “I expect it to go up for sure,” she said. “I think every brand will have to see that shift and streaming will become a bigger part of their media mix than linear in some cases.”

The Roku upfront will be held at the Caldwell Factory, and is being designed to bring the Roku viewing experience to the main stage because Roku said that advertisers who watch Roku buy Roku. Naturally, the presentation will also be available via streaming on the Roku platform.

"Our pillars are centered around how we can help marketers accomplish their goals while also creating a better TV experience," Shepard said.

Roku will be touting The Roku Channels reach–80 million users–and the billion dollars it plans to invest in original programming.

It will also be touting its ability to help brands tell their story via the Roku Brand Studio, which handles every through from integrating brands like Geico and Walmart into its Roku Recommends series to creating branded watch-alongs that run before commercial break and align with the content.

Most importantly, Roku will be telling buyers and advertisers about its gains in ad tech and its One View ad buying platform.

“We’re rolling out features that advertisers and publishers alike need to have in that programmatic ecosystem in order to really move massive amounts of TV budgets,” Shepard said.

Recent announcements from Roku have included the launch of dynamic linear ads, enabling targeting of commercials in linear stream to be as targeted as video on demand. Paramount, Discovery, AMCN Networks and Crown Media Family Networks are using it now and it will be available more broadly, she said.

Roku also announced it will be using Nielsen Digital Ad Ratings for programmatic buys. Roku had been using DAR only for direct deals previously. 

Familiar ratings also make it easier for advertisers to shift budgets to streaming. Roku only make advertisers pay for impressions that reach their targeted audiences. This becomes more important as some networks shift from demos like 18 to 49 and 18 to 34 in favor of adults 18 plus.

“They’re not even guaranteeing the audience that brands want. That adults 18 to 34 audience is really not watching linear television. To guarantee that becomes really price prohibitive on linear. We are seeing and hearing consistent inflation [in linear ad rates] and I don’t think this year will be any different. If anything it will be worse.” Shepard said. “It becomes more efficient on the streaming side of the house because there’s a very sizable reach against that core audience.”

Another announcement was Roku’s advertising watermark, which validates ads that run on the Roku platform. Finally on Tuesday, Roku announced the launch of its clean room, which enables advertisers to match their first-party data with Roku’s to optimize targeting.”

More is on the way. “A lot more will be unveiled for the first time at our NewFront, including new originals and new ad products, partnerships, Innovation and overall talking about new ways for brands to story tell,” Shepard said. ■

The agenda for the 2022 NewFronts were announced Thursday by IAB, showing a program that features digital natives, traditional media companies moving into streaming, device makers and measurement companies.

The theme for the event is “Stream On,” a sentiment shared by companies ranging from Amazon, Meta and Snap to NBCUniversal’s Peacock and A+E Networks.

The program opens with a session on Monday, May 2 presented by YouTube and MediaLink.

The first three days of the conference will be conducted both in-person and virtually. The sessions on Thursday will be virtual-only. The full agenda can be found below.

Also: NewFronts To Be Held In May and In Person

“As the media world continues its rapid digital intensification, the opportunities afforded by ad-supported streaming will invariably become richer and more satisfying for consumers and marketers alike,” IAB CEO David Cohen said. “With streaming at the center of everything, we should be both energized by the possibilities and enthusiastic to rethink legacy practices around planning, activation, currency, measurement, creativity and diversity.”

IAB will release its annual Video Ad Spend report providing industry trends and projections for the digital video market from the buy side on May 2. On May 4, the IAB Inclusion Institute will present a series of panels and minority-owned media presentations aimed at accelerating ad spend and addressing accountability in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts, including within the creator community.

The following week, IAB will hold its podcast upfront from May 10-12 with a series of virtual presentations. ■

Roku plans to make its first in-person NewFront pitch this year and help more upfront ad dollars shift from traditional TV to streaming.

The presentation will be held at the historic Caldwell Factory in New York City's Chelsea neighborhood on Tuesday, May 3. It will also be streamed.

The event will be Roku’s first live presentation at the NewFronts, following two years in which COVID-19 forced it to hold virtual meetings. Most of the traditional TV networks are also planning to resume holding in-person upfront events.

“There's nothing that really replaces the face-to-face interaction and the real spectacle of a great show. And that's kind of the magic of television,” said Jordan Rost, head of ad marketing for Roku. “So we feel like the natural place to tell Roku’s streaming first story is really live in front of an audience. So we're looking forward to finally doing that.”

The theme of the event will be “bringing Roku home.” In addition to Roku executives, speakers will include talent from Roku’s original programming, advertisers and other partners. 

Also: Roku Channel Adds Themed Channels To Live Linear Channel Mix 

The key points Roku intends to make are about its original programming, new inventive and innovative advertising experiences and fresh ways to apply Roku’s data to ad campaigns.

“We've been investing and will continue to invest in lots of great, really ad-supportive, ad-first content and we'll bring that to life on stage with the creators, in the producers, and the talent, who bring that story to life on screen, directly in front of the audience,” Rost said. 

“We will demonstrate the advertising experiences live onstage in really interesting and immersive ways,'' he added. “Both in person and over the stream, the audience can really see the TV streaming experience with Roku brought to life in front of them.”

Roku will also be touting its OneView ad platform, which helps mount campaigns across all streaming and traditional TV opportunities.

Also: Roku Ad Buying Platform Offering Guarantees on Nielsen Demo Data

Rost said that at the upfront Roku will disclose how many advertisers and buyers are using OneView. That number will have four digits, he said. 

“That speaks to the whole breadth of the advertiser base,” he said. “One of the most interesting things I've seen is the diversity in use cases, everything from driving incremental reach to traditional linear campaigns all the way to driving new customer acquisition and mobile app downloads on a performance basis.”

Roku operates in the ad market as a digital platform, a content distributor and a media property. While it’s taken time for some streamers to adopt the upfront model, it’s always been an important part of Roku’s business, Rost said.

“Last year, many of our partners committed earlier than they ever have, and we doubled our overall commits,” he said. "The upfront marketplaces is alive and well. If we can deliver value for advertisers and they can ultimately get a glimpse of the future of television everyone wins.”

Also: Analyst Flashes Sell Sign After Roku Revenue Miss

Roku has found that it does better with advertisers and buyers who use Roku at home and part of the presentation is designed to bring that experience to life.  

“If you imagine what it's like to sit in front of your Roku TV with a remote control and watch TV, and that's very much what it's going to feel like in person. And we want to bring that magic home as well,” Rost said.

The audience will be able to control parts of the experience, Rost said. But they won’t be able to put the presentation on mute, he conceded. “Maybe not total control.” ■

Fox Corp. on Wednesday outlined its plan for events leading up to a reimagined upfront presentation in May.

The upfront — the market where advertisers commit billions of dollars to buy commercials in next season‘s schedule — was disrupted by the pandemic and altered by technology. The networks have been unable to hold in-person events because of COVID-19 and a bigger share of the ad dollars they take in are going towards streaming and data-targeted campaigns.

Fox will hold its upfront on May 16 — the traditional date — but it will be at the Skylight on Vesey In New York, a venue recently used for Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience. Instead of the Beacon Theater presentations held when in-person events were possible, Fox said the new event will be reimagined to showcase the Fox portfolio across its entertainment, sports, news and streaming platforms.

Also: Fox Wraps Strong Upfront With Ad Dollars Flowing to Tubi

Before that Fox will hold a new event, dubbed the Content Drives Commerce Brand Partnership Summit, which will take place March 23 at the Fox lot in Los Angeles. Fox said the event will showcase the company’s investments in content, data ad tech and next technology.

Fox will also feature its Tubi ad-supported streaming service during the 2022 NewFronts, which are being held the week of May 2. 

“Fox will showcase how we continue to challenge the status quo across Measurement, Creativity, and Innovation to drive impact with Partners in 2022,” said Marianne Gambelli, president of advertising sales for Fox. “Our combination of Community, Accessibility, and Creativity, all delivered at massive Scale are what sets Fox apart from our peers.  As a 100% ad supported portfolio, staying connected with our valued partners is a huge priority, and we can’t wait to see everyone in person.”

In December, the IAB announced that it plans to hold the 2022 NewFronts in person during the week of May 2. All five days of NewFront presentations will be streamed for remote viewers.

Disney Ad Sales also plans an in-person event this year. Disney said its event won’t be held in a large theater, but that it plans to find a space to create a more interactive experience for advertisers and media buyers. ■ 

The 2022 NewFronts will be held the week of May 2, with the first four days planned as in-person events, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) said Thursday.

All five days of NewFront presentations will be streamed for remote viewing. 

For the past two years, the NewFronts, where digital video companies share their programming plans with media buyers and advertiser — have been virtual online events because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The upfronts, held by the big broadcast and cable networks later in May, have also been held virtually the past two years. The Walt Disney Co. said it plans an in-person event this year, although it won’t be held in a large theater as in past years in order to create a more interactive experience.

The IAB will hold its podcast upfront the week of May 10-12. Those will take place virtually. ■

Amazon Advertising said it completed its upfront negotiations, having reached deals for the 2021-22 broadcast year with 40% more advertisers than last year.

In May, Amazon made its first presentation at the digital video NewFronts, pitching both a lineup of new shows on IMDb TV and advanced advertising capabilities. Amazon’s Twitch and Fire TV platforms were also part of the Amazon upfront, along with Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime Video.

In the upfront marketplace, Amazon rode a wave powered by strong demand as businesses look to build post-pandemic sales and a shortage of traditional television impressions that has both viewers and advertisers shifting their attention to over-the-top TV and streaming.

Traditional media companies reported record setting upfronts in terms of dollars volume across platforms, with price increases of 19-23% for broadcast inventory and price hikes in the teens for cable.

Amazon declined to discuss its volume or pricing.

Also Read: Roku Finishes Upfront With Double Last Year’s Volume

“Our mission is to keep raising the bar on the customer experience for both advertisers and viewers. That’s why we’ve been laser-focused on investing in premium content, creating innovative ad experiences, and making streaming TV advertising smarter and simpler as viewing habits continue to change,” said Mark Eamer, VP of video ads and IMDb TV at Amazon Advertising. “We are thrilled to help brands re-imagine their media strategies and achieve greater results by engaging viewers who are tough to reach with traditional TV.”

Also Read: Cox Media Group Makes Deal With Amazon Advertising

At its NewFront Amazon introduced a number of original series including a half-hour drama from Dick Wolf called On Call and a reboot of the TNT series Leverage.

Also Read: Amazon Streaming Norman Lear Series in Deal With Sony Pictures

The presentation spelled out ways that Amazon OTT video ads can enable brands to show up alongside content across IMDb TV, Twitch, live sports on Prime Video, top-tier network and broadcaster apps, and Fire TV’s curated News app. It showed how advertisers can participate in branded entertainment opportunities with IMDb TV, including featuring products or services in the storylines of IMDb TV Originals, and producing custom, co-branded creative assets for streaming TV campaigns or other channels like social media.

Amazon also has trucks full of data about what consumers shop for and buy.

In the days after its upfront presentation, Amazon Advertising reached a partnership deal with media buyer Publicis. Eventually other big agencies came to terms.

“We are constantly evaluating how we can better serve our clients and deliver solutions that help extend the value of their media investments,” said Susan Schiekofer, U.S. chief digital investment officer, GroupM. “Amazon Advertising’s scale and insights, paired with a deep understanding of the streaming TV landscape and commitment to innovation, presents a very compelling offering for marketers who want to engage today’s viewing audiences. We’re excited to lean into the opportunity at hand here and enable our clients to continue connecting with audiences in more substantive and impactful ways.”

Amazon Advertising said it has an unduplicated monthly audience of 120 million viewers across the U.S.

“With the rise of streaming TV viewership and growing number of OTT options, we’ve been working hard to create unique ways for brands to break through the clutter and build connections with the most relevant audiences across Amazon, including IMDb TV and Twitch,” said Alan Moss, VP of global ad sales, Amazon Advertising. “We’ve received a positive response from our advertising customers during this upfront, and look forward to collaborating closely to deliver on their goals and help move their businesses forward.”

The IAB announced its schedule of fall events aimed at bringing together media buyers and sellers.

Between Sept. 9 and Sept. 15, the IAB plans to hold a fall podcast upfront, a fall ad marketplace for connected TV and digital video, and the IAB Audience Connect conference, which will look at the issue of balancing privacy, personalization and safety.

Also Read: IAB Proposes Standards for Third-Party Cookie-less Interactive Ads

The IAB is responsible for the digital video NewFronts in the spring.

“As we work to define the new industry normal, one thing is clear - the marketplace has been forever changed. It is dynamic, always-on and built on flexibility and agility,” said David Cohen, CEO of the IAB. “From our conversations with members, we believe that there is real value in connecting buyers and sellers more frequently to discuss changes in the marketplace and new opportunities.”

The podcast upfront will be Sept. 9 and 10. Presenting companies include Acast, Adonde Media, AdvertiseCast, The Atlantic, Audacy’s Cadence13, Pineapple Street Studios and Podcorn, Kerning Culture, LAist Studios, NPR, Osiris Media, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Media and WBUR.

Brand marketers and media buyers will be invited to the fall marketplace on Sept. 14 to hire pitches from digital video content providers including A+E Networks, Canela Media, Facebook, Roku and Samsung Ads.

The IAB will release its 2022 Outlook from PwC on Sept. 14.

On September 15, speakers will tackle data addressability and privacy in a cookie-less world during the Audience Connect conference. Presenters will include Acxiom, Experian, LiveIntent, Lotame, Neusar, PubMatic, The Trade Desk, TransUnion and Verizon Media.

Ellen Digital, founded by Ellen Degeneres and Warner Bros. Digital Networks, has divided up its programming into three focused brands and each brand will be launching new series.

The three brands--introduced during Ellen Digital’s NewFronts presentation Thursday, are bubble, dedicated to mother, sage, aimed at inspiring women, and smile, which amplifies the voices of extraordinary individuals.

The bubble brand is exemplified by Momsplaining with Kristen Bell, returning for a sixth season. New series coming to bubble are Mama to Mama, featuring celebrity moms interviewing one another, and Spill the Family Tea, based on the game featured on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

Sage is headlined by Lady Parts, with Sarah Hyland and Dr. Sherry Ross talking about female sex and health, which is returning for season 2. New sage series include Lady Like, spotlighting women working in primarily male fields.

Also Read: NewFronts Speakers See Advertisers Changing Channels from Traditional TV

Smile will feature two new shows: All Good Things, celebrating everyday people doing small things that make a big impact, and Dragged, where an experienced drag queen helps a curious LGBTQ+ person transform and express themselves.

Ellen Digital plans to extend its brands in social, games, podcasts and experiential events, including Camp Mom, a weekend for parents.

Ellen Digital programming can be found across YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, with 300 million social followers generating 8 billion views in 2020.

Meredith Corp., which is selling its local media unit, is introducing a Video Accountability Suite, a variety of measurement tools aimed at proving the performance of advertising with its video content.

The company introduced the new product--designed to prove the performance of campaigns run in its video content, at its NewFront presentation Thursday.

Read Also: Gray Television Buying Meredith Stations for $2.7 Billion

“Measuring lift for advertisers and their positive campaign results across our video programming is a significant Meredith offering. Our new suite of measurement solutions demonstrate advertising impact against their chosen KPIs, including brand awareness, purchase intent or driving retail sales,” said Alysia Borsa, president of Meredith Digital.

“We continue to double down on employing our rich, proprietary first-party data and insights, which enable us to understand and predict trends. This process – which we call Insights & Imagination – is the engine behind this new premium programming slate. It results in empowered audiences, while also allowing marketers to integrate into our premium, brand-safe environments, including shoppable video,” she said.

Read Also: NewFronts Draw New Participants A+E, Amazon, Entrecom, Estrella, Vizio

Meredith’s digital engagement rose 16% and video views across owned-and-operated sites climbed 45% year-over-year from January through December 2020, according to Google Analytics. At the same time, Meredith’s content drove over $1.2 billion in retail sales from its shopper and ecommerce capabilities.

“We are fueling viewership across our O&O properties and expanding audience growth across OTT, social channels and voice,” added Meredith’s new digital chief content officer Amanda Dameron. 

Twitter announced new and extended relationships with media companies during its NewFronts presentation on Wednesday.

NBCUniversal News will be bringing Today, CNBC and Noticias Telemundo to Twitter. 

The companies said advertisers will be able to sponsor news programming through highlights, live streams, Twitter Q&As and exclusive content.

NBC News also is bringing its Inspiring America series to Twitter Space.

In addition, Twitter will work with NBC Olympics to amplify coverage of the Tokyo Olympics. 

Live original NBC programming will appear on Twitter, including a new daily live show Talking Tokyo. Hosts of Talking Tokyo will include Olympic medalist Adam Rippon.

Also Read: NewFronts: 35% of Buyers Plan To Spend More on CTV

Digital food publisher Tastemade is launching two franchises on Twitter for Black and Latinx women. Sponsorships will be available through Twitter Amplify.

"With even more video content coming to the Twitter timeline from world-class content publishers, we’re excited to continue helping brands connect to what’s happening and what people are watching. The video content from these partners will bolster our library of brand safe content that gives advertisers the reach they’re looking for,” said JP Maheu, Twitter’s VP, U.S. client services.

Twitter will work with Billboard to create a new chart, The Billboard Hot Trending powered by Twitter. It will track music-related trends each day and refresh every 24 hours.

Partnerships with Major League Baseball, the NHL and WNBA were also extended.

“Twitter is home to the most vibrant, diverse communities and the place where fandom thrives. The  premium content we’re collaborating on with our partners is igniting passion and enabling marketers to tap into the excitement of those communities and be a part of what’s happening,” said Jennifer Prince, Twitter’s global VP and head of content partnerships.

Spanish-language programmer Estrella Media said it is launching a third free, ad supported streaming TV channel, Estrella Games.

The new channel is part of the “Experience Estrella. Everywhere” strategy the company unveiled at its NewFront presentation on Wednesday and during virtual upfront meetings with advertisers and media buyers..

Estrella differentiate itself from other Spanish language programmers by focusing on news, sports, game shows and reality programming. 

“We amplify the voices of our fans and give them the content they want in an expanded digital and linear universe. It's time for our fans to Experience Estrella. Everywhere,” said Peter Markham, who became CEO after LBI Media emerged from bankruptcy last year and rebranded as Estrella Media.

Estrella Games, was planned as the first full-time Spanish-language game show channel, launched on Vizio’s SmartCast. On Wednesday Xumo, Game Show Network and Sony Picture Television also announced the launch of Sony Canal Competancias, a game show destination in Spanish.

Estrella Games will have multi-generational family and interactive programs including 100 Latinos Dijeron, La Mascara del Amor, Reto Famoso, Jugando co Patanito and Still Standing.

The channel joined EstrellaTV and Estrella News, which are on Pluto TV and other outlets. 

The company said the EstrellaTV AVOD app will be available on Roku this month and Apple iOS this summer, with other platforms coming soon The app gives user access to the three streaming channels and  20,000 of on=demand programming. 

EstrellaTV will continue to offer its programming on-demand through YouTube and has chosen Google Ad Manager for monetizing its live and on-demand streaming TV platforms.

Introducing its Roku Channel as an original programming proposition for the first time, Roku made an obvious play for linear TV’s still dominant market share during its “NewFront” presentation to advertisers Monday. 

In its pitch, Roku noted that the median age of the 148 million viewers within reach of the Roku Channel is only 39. That compares to a median age of over 60 for the major broadcast television networks. 

The Roku Channel’s younger audience is “unreachable” via linear broadcast and cable channels, Julian Mintz, Roku’s national brand sales lead, said. 

The pitch comes amid reports that the already older-skewing major broadcast networks have suddenly shot even further up years—The CW, which is the “youngest” of the top networks, reportedly has a median viewer age of 58.3 this season, up more than 6 years vs. the 2019-20 TV season. 

This is a major reason why pundits, who have watched linear TV fend off OTT for advertising market share for years, despite decreases in viewership and increases in viewer age, believe the 2021 NewFront will be a breakout campaign for connected TV advertising.

As for Roku, besides pitching its superior demographics, it was largely confined on the programming end to showing off programs that it acquired in deal with shuttered streaming startup Quibi. 

Also included in Roku’s presentation was This Old House, the venerable franchise for which Roku recently acquired AVOD rights.