NewFronts not just about TV money

Once again, the glitzy TV “upfronts” arrived with broadcasters showing off new TV shows and trying to lock in ad money. And again, the NewFronts showed up with digital publishers aiming to wrest some of that money away. But this time, there were a couple differences: 1) money is already flowing online so there’s no need to beg; and 2) digital presenters were not necessarily out for money, but to educate big agencies and buyers. At the NewFronts, usual suspects such as AOL, Google and Yahoo were joined by more traditional publishers such as WSJ.com and Conde Nast, who were pushing deeper into web video. Why the rush toward original web programming? That’s not only where eyeballs are moving, but also ad dollars (see Research item, below). While Yahoo brought out celebs such as John Stamos and Ed Helms, YouTube retrenched from its earlier splashy originals and pushed more home-grown talent.

Will the NewFronts make a dent in the billions spent on the TV upfronts? It’s hard to say. “They’re a distraction,” Pivotal Research analyst Brian Wieser told Adweek. “They’re a useful sideshow for developing relationships, but they don’t serve any other practical purpose.” One of the problems is scarcity. For instance, CBS can hold out for its biggest shows but YouTube has too many shows. But Blip’s Jason Krebs told Adweek there’s plenty of scarcity—for very high quality shows online. “There is a high amount of scarcity for high-quality video,” he said. But maybe the arguments about who’s getting what money for TV ads or video ads won’t make a bit of difference in the end because of one obvious fact: viewership for broadcast TV is steadily going down, even in prime time, and streaming and online video viewership is going up. YouTube said users spent 50% more time with its videos in 2012 than the year before. As Variety’s Brian Steinberg writes: “Advertisers have already taken a chunk of change out of TV. In 2004, the big broadcast nets captured their greatest total of upfront ad commitments, estimated at about $9.5 billion. Since that time, the numbers have dipped or remained flattish.”

• Six Key Trends as Upfront, NewFront Blend Into a Giant Play for Video Ad Dollars (Ad Age)

• NewsFronts news roundup: a big week for Yahoo, AOL, Blip, Hulu and Crackle (paidContent)

• TV’s UpFronts to outshine digital NewFronts in ad sales (L.A. Biz)

• A Secret Cartel Keeps The Dying Broadcast TV Industry Afloat (Business Insider)

• ABC to Live-Stream Its Shows via App (New York Times)

• Ed Helms, John Stamos Help Yahoo Tout Upcoming Shows At Newfronts (Tubefilter)

• YouTube Stops Pretending It’s TV, Turns to Home-Grown Talent (Ad Age)

• Upfronts: Can ‘NewFronts’ Dent TV’s Ad Cash? (Variety)

• Why the NewFronts Shouldn’t Mimic the Upfronts So Much (Ad Age)

• Do NewFronts Really Affect TV Pricing? (Adweek)

• The NewFronts Mirage (Digiday)