TV upfronts, newfronts search for money

Spring has sprung, the flowers are blooming and TV sales executives are clamoring to lock in advertisers for the rite of season known as the “upfronts.” This year the ritual has a digital twist, with Digitas helping to organize the “Digital Content NewFronts” (a.k.a. the newfronts), with online natives such as Yahoo, Hulu and YouTube joining with NBCUniversal Digital Media and Disney Interactive. They’ll try to wrangle a few online video ad dollars from advertisers before the main event, the upfronts, in May. Hulu recently kicked off the two-week newfronts, and its presentation, which included a Parkour show and Megan Hilty singing, attracted quite a bit of attention and attendees. “You could be forgiven for forgetting that Hulu’s upfront also told media buyers what exactly it had been doing with the $420 million in gross revenue it’s pulled down between the beginning of 2011 and Q1 of 2012,” wrote Adweek’s Sam Thielman. “Specifically, they’ve been investing in quite a bit of original programming.” That’s the message Hulu and other content providers wanted to send to advertisers, as the online video service rolled out four new original shows.

While online video is expected to grow by 55% this year, according to eMarketer, video ads could bring in $3 billion this year, the research firm predicts. But that’s still only a one-digit percentage of what TV and cable ads bring in annually. Brian Wieser, analyst at Pivotal Research Group, told MediaPost that the upfronts brought in $9 billion for broadcast networks last year, and $9.3 billion for cable TV. Plus, TV inventories should rise up to 5% this year, with CPMs going up 8% to 10%, according to Wieser. There’s a mixed view of the newfronts. “This year will be looked back as a tipping point in terms of both recognition of the online video space and the shift of money into our medium,” David Kohl, executive vice president of ad sales at Vevo, told Variety’s Andrew Wallenstein. But some advertisers are still skeptical that the newfronts will gain much traction. “There is a perception that even while there is some premium online inventory, it is not particularly limited in availability,” explained MediaPost’s David Goetzl.

• Upfront Estimates: Modest Rev Gains, CPM Hikes (MediaPost)

• Hulu’s First Upfront Attracts Attention, Attendees (Adweek)

• Why the Digital Content NewFronts are a big deal (iMedia Connection)

• Hulu Unveils Four Originals, Including Seth Meyers’ ‘The Awesomes’ (Ad Age)

• For digital powers, it’s a ‘newfront’-ier (Variety)

• Digital Content NewFront Players: ‘TV’ Is Just a State of Mind (Ad Age)

• With TV flare, digital outlets try a broadcast tradition by holding upfronts for advertisers (Associated Press)

• AOL Uses Nielsen Ratings, Peels Ad Dollars From TV (MediaPost)

• Digital Content NewFronts Expand with Nine Additional Partners (StreamingMedia)

• Hulu Upfront Pitches Strong Viewership, ‘Battleground,’ ‘Day’ Shows (MediaPost)