Welcome to the latest edition of Ad Age’s TV upfronts 2024 newsletter. Throughout the week, we’ll be sharing a daily roundup of events, interviews and sessions from TV’s dog-and-pony shows. You can find all of Ad Age's TV upfronts coverage here. Receive this daily roundup directly in your inbox by signing up here.
Special Report: TV Upfront
TV Upfronts Day 2: Amazon, Disney and TelevisaUnivison pitch advertisers
Plus, recapping Fox and NBCU’s shows
Little Big Town performing on a fake Thanksgiving parade float at NBCU upfront.
Credit:
Parker Herren
Today’s agenda
Welcome to day two of the 2024 TV upfronts. Today’s lineup (ET):
- 9:30 a.m.: Amazon, Pier 36
- 12:00 p.m.: TelevisaUnivision, HK Hall
- 4:00 p.m.: Disney, North Javits Center
Study guide: Prime Video’s first upfront
Amazon is in the middle of hosting its first upfront presentation since launching advertising on its Prime Video streaming platform earlier this year. While Amazon has previously sold ads on its free streamer Freevee and its live sports content, media buyers have been abuzz over the past months wondering how the e-commerce giant might disrupt the upfront week.
Last week, Amazon announced new ad formats coming to Prime Video. Retail-enabled ads, including pause ads and shoppable carousels, will connect viewers with Amazon’s retail arm to purchase products and report ad effectiveness back to advertisers.
Sign up for our breaking news alert to ensure you don’t miss our Prime Video upfront recap dropping later today.
Study guide: TelevisaUnivision’s TikTok-style TV ads
TelevisaUnivison is hosting Casa Cultura today, an interactive event with dancing, food and music aimed at immersing attendees in Latin culture. The Hispanic-targeted media company will look to maintain momentum from its first Spanish-language broadcast of the Super Bowl earlier this year.
Before the upfronts, TelevisaUnivision announced various new offerings for advertisers, including vertical ad formats for easily transferring social creative to TV. The company is also tapping into demand for performance marketing with shoppable TV experiences using tech partner Shopsense AI, which announced a similar partnership with Paramount.
Join Disney and Paramount ad leaders, Gen Zers and more at Ad Age’s TV & Streaming Summit, taking place on May 21 and 22 in New York. Register today to save $200.
Study guide: Disney returns to the Javits Center
Disney will close out day two of the 2024 upfronts from the North Javits Center. The Mouse House will likely focus on its content offering after revealing new tech capabilities at CES in January. At the tech showcase, Disney teased shoppable ad formats powered by QR codes and AI, expanded measurement partners and AI tools for pairing ads with specific scenes from shows.
Earlier this month, Disney ad chief Rita Ferro spoke with Ad Age about top trends in sports marketing, including how brands can reach fans outside the TV screen and what new streaming initiatives such as Disney’s joint venture with Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery mean for the TV ad market. Read more about what Ferro (and other media execs) had to say here.
Day 1 recap: NBCUniversal and Fox bring celebrities back to the upfront
NBCU and Fox kicked off the 2024 upfronts Monday with all the bells and whistles possible to make advertisers forget last year’s relatively muted shows.
At Radio City Music Hall, NBCU debuted trailer after trailer for Peacock originals and NBC’s fall primetime slate. This year, the trailers were accompanied by talent including Taraji P. Henson, Kevin Hart, Snoop Dogg, Amanda Seyfried and Zachary Quinto and performances by Kelly Clarkson, Michael Bublé and a hilariously bizarre segment with band Little Big Town performing through holiday-themed sets. And of course, late-night host Seth Meyers was back with the jokes.
Tom Brady pitching advertisers at Fox’s upfront.
Credit:
Parker Herren
Fox followed later in the afternoon, where the recently appointed ad chief Jeff Collins opened the show with stats and tech capabilities to try to sell advertisers. But the show quickly moved on to its own cast of stars, including Gordon Ramsay, Will Arnett and Jamie Foxx. The show’s big finish featured NFL legend and newly minted Fox football analyst Tom Brady discussing next year’s Super Bowl, which will be broadcast on the network.
While discussing Fox News, the media company had reporter Benjamin Hall, who was injured while covering the war in Ukraine, interview Israel-based reporter Trey Yingst. Appearing virtually, Yingst spoke about how he could hear Israel “striking the northern part of the Gaza Strip” in real time. Media buyers expressed mixed reviews on the interview: Some said it was a creative way of pitching Fox News to advertisers outside of its political associations, while others described it as uncomfortable and out of place amid the upfront festivities.
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