Why TV companies are pitching movies to upfront ad buyers

The TV upfronts have historically focused on, well, TV, particularly the coming broadcast year’s primetime slate. So it was a notable trend among this year’s presentations that the shift of emphasis to streaming brought with it the ability to sponsor film premieres in upfront deals. NBCUniversal, Warner Bros. Discovery, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video promoted such opportunities. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs While the upfront film pitches, such as NBCU’s presentation of “Wicked,” took a notable share of showtime during upfront week, the demand from advertisers is probably much smaller, said one media buyer. That buyer, as well as three others, said it is a rare advertiser—such as a holiday retailer or luxury goods maker—that will look to strike film and title-level sponsorships. Rather, the talking points indicated broader tensions in selling advertisers on the relevance of TV and streaming companies in the increasingly competitive media marketplace, according to the buyer. And creating opportunities around limited inventory, such as being one of the few sponsors for the premiere of a buzzy film, is an incentive to snatch up the opportunity in the upfront. “[Upfront sellers] are trying to use scarce premium product offerings to grow their overall volume,” said a second buyer, describing why presenting opportunities to exclusively sponsor premieres and franchises, such as “Dune” or upcoming films “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” and “Joker: Folie à Deux” on Max, has become a more common pitch. More: Hallmark and the Chiefs team up on a holiday romance Title Sponsorships on Max, which grant exclusive ad inventory in the initial run of films and HBO series, start in the range of $3 million to $4 million, according to three buyers with knowledge of upfront talks, and can become increasingly expensive depending on the level of customization with the streamer. Access to these types of opportunities is reserved for the advertisers committing the largest sums in the upfront—the first buyer said sponsoring “Wicked” would cost “tens of millions” on top of a broader deal struck between the sponsor and NBCU, and a third buyer said sponsorships are by category, requiring advertisers to essentially outbid direct competitors. Warner Bros. Discovery declined to comment on its upfront negotiations. “As we prepare to launch ‘Wicked,’ we are able to tap into the entire NBCU ecosystem to build awareness and drive consumers to theaters,” said Mark Marshall, chairman of global advertising and partnerships at NBCU, via email. “NBCU is collaborating with our advertising partners to ensure we connect the right brands to the right consumers” and has seen “strong interest across every major category” in the package, he said. As media companies seek to use streaming as an entry point for first-time TV advertisers, particularly as access through programmatic platforms continues to grow, bespoke and flashy packages such as sponsoring “Wicked” will become increasingly important for keeping upfront deals relevant. The media companies “want programmatic availability to democratize [TV inventory] to make more available for new advertisers to come in, but they don’t want to lose the direct hook of ‘you should be spending money with me versus Disney.’ The Trade Desk doesn’t differentiate—they just look at price,” said the first buyer. Creating opportunities such as film sponsorships gives media companies a way to keep legacy TV advertisers in larger upfront deals rather than shifting to year-round buying models, the buyer said. Why the emphasis on movies? As upfront negotiations progress, multiple media buyers have said major media companies such as NBCU and Disney are leading the market as advertisers prioritize spend with large portfolio publishers able to spread dollars across the most platforms and inventory. As such, the upfront movie trend was less to sell the room on being the “Wicked” sponsor and more to remind upfront attendees about the scope of each company’s assets, according to the first buyer. “It’s their push to make sure they are showcasing the investment in premium content that sets them apart from being a commodity” in an increasingly digital landscape, the buyer said. “It was a dig at [TikTok and YouTube] to say advertisers should be spending with publishers that are investing in content.” NBCU’s “Wicked” pitch, for example, touted its cross-portfolio ability for a sponsor to appear in promotional activations and partnerships for “Wicked” in advance of its premiere, to be part of a behind-the-scenes special on NBC this fall and to be a presenting sponsor for the film when it begins streaming on Peacock. Warner Bros. Discovery described the cultural cachet that brands that have appeared next to “Dune” and “Barbie” achieved. The company initially launched its Title Sponsorship product in the scatter market last year, and is incorporating it into its upfront pitch for the first time this year “get more upstream with our brand partners and use those as levers to deepen relationships,” said Ryan Gould, head of streaming, digital and advanced advertising sales and client partnerships at WBD, before the upfront. Gould said customization of these partnerships can range from bespoke ad creative to integrations in related content across WBD’s portfolio to in-person experiences tied to premieres and marketing. More than viewership though, title partnerships with streamers are for brands seeking cultural visibility, said the third buyer, who added that there is evergreen demand for advertising in content that generates conversation. This can be a particularly beneficial selling point in streaming as platforms seek to grow their ad-supporter user base—only an estimated 38% of streaming viewers paid for ad tiers in the first quarter across top platforms, according to media research firm Antenna. “It’s great for TV to have event programming—we want to have something beyond football for everyone else,” said a fourth buyer. “I applaud it, I just don’t think there’s demand from every advertiser that [film sponsorships] are a ‘you’re in it or you’re really going to miss something huge’ opportunity.” 40 under 40 entries are open The final deadline for nominations is Aug. 2 Enter here Impact on cinema advertising As TV and streaming companies pitch film titles in the upfront, so too are companies that sell advertising during the movie pre-shows at theaters. Cinema ad spend commands a smaller portion of media budgets—since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has held a 0.1% share of total U.S. ad dollars according to GroupM’s 2024 forecast. The report predicts U.S. cinema ad revenues will grow by 0.5% in 2024 and 0.3% in 2025. The slowdown is attributed primarily to “audiences [becoming] accustomed to watching new releases at home” on streaming platforms, hence the emphasis from streamer owners during the upfronts. However, “it’s different—I don’t see streaming being the place to steal money from cinema,” said a fifth buyer. With the traditional media companies shifting emphasis from linear to streaming, “the deck chairs are just moving around. So where you may have wanted to sponsor Must See TV once upon a time, now maybe you sponsor ‘Wicked.‘” Ad leaders at cinema advertising companies Screenvision Media and National CineMedia told Ad Age the increased attention on movies during the upfronts will raise all tides for film releases. This is the first year since 2019 that film studios haven’t been working around pandemic conditions or the Hollywood strikes, and the spotlight from TV companies in the upfront was a reminder for advertisers and buyers that films are returning, said Catherine Sullivan, president of sales, marketing and partnerships at NCM. For its part, Screenvision announced an upfront partnership with Disney this year that packages the studio’s 2024 releases for advertisers looking to appear in the pre-show for “Moana 2” or “Deadpool & Wolverine.” Christine Martino, chief revenue officer at Screenvision, said partnering with a cinema ad seller over a film studio can offer shorter-term opportunities than aligning with the long-term release rollout that many integration deals require. “When an advertiser has decided that they want to be part of a film, there’s no better reason for them to also then advertise their products prior to the film in theaters,” said Martino, adding that she anticipates upfront volume for the company to grow 10% to 15% this year. “There’s natural synergy when an advertiser is part of a movie to then also want their branding to be delivered to the audience that’s about to then see it on that big screen.”

Why TV companies are pitching movies to upfront ad buyers

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