TV Upfronts Day 3: Warner Bros. Discovery, Netflix and YouTube pitch advertisers

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. Today’s agenda Welcome to day three of the 2024 TV upfronts. Today’s lineup (ET): Study guide: Warner Bros. Discovery promotes franchises Warner Bros. Discovery is hoping its upfront will be smooth sailing this year. The company had only just completed its merger in 2022 when it hosted its first upfront, while the Hollywood strikes of last year cast a cloud over all presentations. Read: Takeaways from Warner Bros. Discovery’s upfront The media company will look to stand out from competitors by bringing advertisers new opportunities to sponsor Warner Bros. franchises. While speculation over whether WBD will maintain its NBA rights beyond the 2024-2025 season hangs over the presentation, Jon Steinlauf, chief U.S. sales officer, previously told Ad Age that WBD “remains hopeful on the deal, but negotiations have zero impact on this year’s upfront as we will have it for the 2024-2025 season.” Join media leaders, Gen Zers and insiders at Ad Age’s TV & Streaming Summit on May 21 and 22 in New York. Register today to save $200. Study guide: Netflix’s first in-person upfront Last year, Netflix was the belle of the upfront ball before it opted to take its first upfront show virtual due to complications from picketing Writers Guild of America members. Although Amazon has stolen some of the thunder, many media buyers have expressed curiosity about what Netflix has in store for its upfront. Also read: Inside Netflix’s upfront Live events and sports will certainly be on the menu as Netflix has been steadily leaning into one-off sporting events and comedy specials. Netflix will stream two NFL games on Christmas Day next season and weekly WWE matches in 2025. Some media buyers have told Ad Age these opportunities will likely be reserved for an elite few, while others are more excited to see the ways Netflix is innovating its ad tier. Study guide: YouTube YouTube will make its play for the content crown at its Brandcast upfront show on Wednesday night, as the video giant will impress upon brands that creator-driven programming is every bit as valuable as a prestige TV show on Disney+ or Netflix. YouTube, owned by Google, has made the case for years that more people watch the app on TVs than ever before, and that creators qualify as “premium” content. Billie Eilish will perform at Brandcast, and creators will present their channels while emphasizing Shorts, YouTube’s short-form video hub. There will undoubtedly be new ad formats that expand brands’ ability to appear alongside top creators. Google has already had a busy week. At the Google I/O developer conference, it showed off new AI products in search and mobile devices. Expect YouTube to generate more headlines with AI in its offering to creators. Day 2 recap: Amazon’s delay and Disney’s CEO hype Day two of the upfronts marathon started early, with Amazon pulling advertisers down to the Lower East Side for its 9:30 a.m. ET show—where attendees were stuck in lines or forced to stand for the tech company’s 90-minute upfront show debut. While many media buyers expressed frustration over the show starting half an hour late, most agreed that the presentation, which featured A-list stars, new series and a simplified sales structure, was top-notch. In particular, exiting crowds were buzzing about Reese Witherspoon bringing back Elle Woods’ bend and snap from “Legally Blonde” to announce an upcoming prequel series for Amazon Prime Video. Read the top takeaways from Amazon’s first upfront Less well received was the delay’s impact on the crowd’s ability to attend TelevisaUnivision’s presentation on time, which multiple media buyers told Ad Age was a frustrating misstep by Amazon. The Hispanic media company’s show, which aimed to immerse marketers in Latin food, music and culture, nonetheless played to a packed house and featured new ways for advertisers to sponsor emerging Latin musicians—and a special appearance by Shakira. Read more about TelevisaUnivision’s upfront The day concluded at the Javits Center, where Disney took a unique approach to wowing its audience. Although this year’s show didn’t include dueling samurai, ad chief Rita Ferro appeared in animated form next to “Family Guy” character Peter Griffin. And it’s rare to hear louder applause for a CEO than for an Oscar-winning actress, but that was the case when Emma Stone introduced CEO Bob Iger. Of course, Stone wasn’t the lone Hollywood talent at the upfront. A parade of stars including Kim Kardashian, Ryan Reynolds, Quinta Brunson, Patti Lupone and Angela Bassett gave advertisers their fill of star power. And if that didn’t do the trick, late-night host Jimmy Kimmel closed the show, bringing up a QR code on screen saying advertisers could just pay Disney through Venmo and call it a day. Read more about Disney’s upfront And one more bonus joke: “Remember when Elon Musk was being interviewed and he told advertisers to go f— themselves?” said Kimmel. “We would never do that, but we do want to remind you that he did.” Get upfront updates sent directly to your inbox here

TV Upfronts Day 3: Warner Bros. Discovery, Netflix and YouTube pitch advertisers

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