The grand finale on the big advertiser stage took place this week as TV networks took on the 2025 upfronts.
Following last week’s Newfronts that saw the likes of Yahoo, Snap and The New York Times touting their digital offerings with the hopes of getting a piece of the marketing budget pie, TV networks took to the stage this week with the same ambition.
While marketing budgets are tight across the industry as a whole, there is arguably more at stake for TV networks this year than digital publishers. Media analyst Michael Nathanson reported last month that TV may “succumb to a similar dynamic” experienced by radio and newspapers in previous recessions if the economic climate were to worsen and head down the same path. If the country enters a recession, TV ad spending could tumble nearly 23% to $61 billion this year.
Campaign took a look at the noteworthy upfronts that stood out, along with shining a light on key takeaways and what this means for advertisers today.
If attendees squinted, they may have mistaken YouTube’s Brandcast for a Hollywood event such as the Oscars. The upfront commenced with a red carpet for YouTube stars and ended with a Lady Gaga performance.
The video streaming platform celebrated its 20th anniversary by bringing YouTube’s long-time creators (such as the founders of the 2005-premiered Smosh channel) and largest creators (including MrBeast, who has over 395 million subscribers) onto the stage.
YouTube CEO Neal Mohan announced an expanded partnership with the NFL, beginning YouTube’s exclusive streaming of the NFL’s first Friday game of the 2025-2026 season; a Cultural Moments Sponsorship for advertisers to tap into current events and trends; the development of Shows on TV for fans to binge their favorite creators’ shows on TV; the expansion of Shoppable CTV with a product feed created with the Google Merchant Center; and an immersive design for Masthead on CTV.
YouTube’s Brandcast kicked off with a star-studded red carpet hosted by Julian Shapiro Barnum, whose channel Recess Therapy went viral interviewing 7-year-old Tariq, aka “Corn Kid,” about his love for corn; and Haley Kalil, a comedy creator with more than 7.5 million YouTube subscribers.
Brittany Broski, a YouTube creator who garnered 2.6 million subscribers with viral videos such as painting herself to look like Yoda and interviewing Brat songwriter Charli XCX, hosted the Brandcast. She interviewed YouTube creators and execs from a vintage talk show set mimicking that of her talk show comedy channel, The Broski Report.
YouTube’s biggest creator, James Stephen Donaldson (aka MrBeast) joined the stage with YouTube’s Mohan, and online streamer IShowSpeed, who has 39.5 million followers, announced a new TV show as part of YouTube’s Shows on TV called Speed Goes Pro.
Broski also interviewed Sean Evans, host of the First We Feast YouTube channel, which gained 14.7 million subscribers with its Hot Ones YouTube series interviewing celebrities such as Ariana Grande, Gordon Ramsay and Billie Eilish as the interviewees eat increasingly spicy chicken wings. Evans discussed his interviewing style and budget flexibility when creating the YouTube series. Fried chicken and cauliflower coated in official Hot Ones hot sauces were available during the Brandcast’s dinner.
YouTube is coming for the Hollywood, sports and streaming services worlds — and the biggest names aren’t complaining.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and former New England Patriots Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski joined the broadcast to announce an expansion of YouTube’s partnership with the NFL.
YouTube is streaming the NFL’s first Friday game of the 2025-2026 season for free on the NFL’s YouTube channel, marking its first time as an NFL live broadcaster.
Fueled by the success of YouTube streaming the NFL’s Super Bowl LIX Flag Football Game this year, which drew more than 6 million views, YouTube announced a multi-year deal to cover the event with creator and artist features, and the addition of international flag football games.
It was also no coincidence YouTube’s Brandcast, which took place at Lincoln Center, resembled annual Hollywood award shows — from the red carpet kickoff to musical performances to calling out celebrity audience members with jokes.
But many YouTube creators, including MrBeast, would rather continue building within the video streaming platform than venture to the Hollywood Hills or traditional entertainment spaces.
“People always ask me if I’m going to Hollywood, like it’s the next big step. But I’m like, ‘Why?’” he said, citing reasons such as full creative control of the content he creates.
From the floor to the balcony seating, fans sang, danced and threw up their “Little Monster” hands when Lady Gaga — whose “Bad Romance” music video was the first to reach 1 billion YouTube views — took the stage wearing leather shoulder pads. She sang a crowd classic, “Shallow,” on the piano, along with a variety of songs off her new album Mayhem.
Opening for Gaga was Alex Warren, a now-musician who began filming skateboard videos at 10 years old and rose to fame with humorous videos and a stint with the Hype House, a TikTok creator group. While Warren isn’t a long-time musician, a song he wrote for his wife, “Out of the Ordinary,” went viral last year, landing a top 20 spot on YouTube Music in the U.S. He sang “Out of the Ordinary” with a chorus and orchestra.
“I wrote this song for my wife and it’s now a No. 1 song in the world, all thanks to YouTube,” Warren told the crowd as his performance came to a close.
The entertainment media giant pulled out all of the stops earlier this week to show what it has up its sleeve.
NBCU’s main message — conveyed in a crowd-pleasing opening number by the humorously pointed Family Guy showrunner, Seth MacFarlane — was clear from the jump: “NBCU has the shit you’re after.”
The opening number was followed by remarks from the network execs, including a humorous compilation of NBC ad chief Mike Marshall “crashing” the live sets of its beloved IPs such as Today, The Tonight Show, Law & Order SVU and many more. The segment served to show (and amuse) audiences how incomparable its original programming is when stacked up against other platforms.
This is especially the case against the backdrop of NBC’s 100th anniversary in 2026. SNL favorites and comedy duo Tina Fey and Amy Poehler came out to tease what viewers can expect for this major milestone, including Sunday Night Football’s 20th season, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, The Kentucky Derby, Live from the Red Carpet, 24/7 news coverage and late-night hits such as SNL and The Tonight Show. Not to mention a star-studded variety special, NBC 100, commemorating 100 years of “culture-defining content.”
Fey and Poehler weren’t the only ones from NBC’s roster of talent in attendance. Celebs including Tiffany Haddish, Dakota Fanning, Sarah Snook, Keke Palmer, Tracy Morgan, Daniel Radcliffe, Jimmy Fallon and more each took time to announce their own shows on the network.
Basketball legend Michael Jordan announced through a pre-recorded segment that he will return to the network this fall as a special contributor to NBA on NBC coverage. This is the first time Jordan has returned to broadcast TV since he retired from basketball in 2003, and the well-kept secret surprised many in the room.
For those who still binge-watch NBC's Emmy Award-winning hit series The Office, there is “good news” ahead: Peacock is premiering The Paper, a mockumentary from Greg Daniels and Michael Koman set in the same universe as the aforementioned show. The show features the documentary crew that immortalized Dunder Mifflin's Scranton branch as well as a character favorite, Oscar Martinez, played by Oscar Nunez, who came on stage to tease the show. The Paper will premiere in September.
Lastly, director Jon M. Chu’s sneak peek of Wicked: For Good, the sequel to the film adaptation of the Broadway classic, served the crowds what they usually crave at upfronts — an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at the next “hottest” cultural moments.
Live sports, reach, original programming, unscripted television and more are among the semi-subtle flexes we heard from the network.
In July 2024, NBCUniversal and the NBA announced an 11-year agreement to present NBA and WNBA regular season and playoff basketball games beginning with the 2025-26 season. This is especially significant as the last NBA game to air on NBC was in 2002.
Additionally, NBCU is gearing up for a 17-day stretch featuring the Super Bowl, Winter Olympics and NBA All-Star Weekend. Its streaming service, Peacock, is predicted to have more than 7,500 hours of sports in the next year alone.
Similar to the other major networks and streamers this week, reach was a key value proposition for NBC. The media company reaches 82% of U.S. households on every screen across streaming, social and linear — in English and Spanish.
Sister Spanish-language network Telemundo got its time to shine on stage as SNL breakout star Marcello Hernandez came out to emphasize the growing Latino population in the U.S. The network will be busy as it preps its exclusiveSpanish-language coverage of what is anticipated to be one of the largest sporting events in the world: the 2026 FIFA World Cup. “Live [events] really serve as the throughline that connects culture,” Mónica Gil, Telemundo’s EVP, chief administrative and marketing officer, told Campaign leading up to the upfronts. “It informs it, unites families, it fuels fandoms. It bridges generations and sparks meaningful conversations."
For the first time, the tournament will feature an expanded format across 16 cities in the U.S., Mexico and Canada. Telemundo will be broadcasting all 104 matches of the World Cup. The championship trophy was displayed later that night at Telemundo’s intimate upfront celebration, a festive gathering on a Midtown rooftop near 30 Rockefeller Plaza that saw the likes of media folks, NBCU execs and Telemundo on-air talent.
And last but not least, based on the crowd’s enthusiastic reception, NBC announced its unscripted slate with a special focus on another network darling in NBC’s portfolio — Bravo. The highly engaged fanbase can look forward to four new series: The Real Housewives of Rhode Island, Ladies of London,The Valley: Persian Style and Wife Swap: The Real Housewives Edition.
The opening number by MacFarlane earned a fair amount of laughter from the crowd. Ad chief Mark Marshall (above) coming down from the rafters of Radio City Music Hall was pure dedication, as seen in the amused reactions and slight awe from attendees. But the loudest applause seemed to be reserved for NBCU’s grand finale — “Bravolebrities” dancing onstage for a vibrant goodbye number, confetti and all, led by none other than the king of reality television, Andy Cohen.
It was a packed house at Hall des Lumières in downtown Manhattan for TelevisaUnivision’s upfront presentation, so much so that the venue quickly reached capacity, with some invited guests being denied entry — a strong indicator that demand for the U.S. Hispanic market is “en fuego.”
“In an industry of companies trying to be everything to everyone, we are solely focused on being everything to one: the Hispanic community, a relationship we’ve built and nurtured for 70 years,” TelevisaUnivision’s president of U.S. advertising sales and marketing, Donna Speciale, told an enraptured crowd following a rousing opening performance by Prince Royce. “And in a world where consumer attention is more fragmented than ever, our authenticity and legacy aren’t just advantages — they are the cornerstone of relevance.”
President of Univision Networks Group Ignacio Meyer and president of streaming and digital Rafael Urbina held court to speak on the company’s content-first strategy, powered by its global streaming platform, ViX, which serves cross-generational content to 28 million U.S. viewers across digital video.
Meyer and Urbina announced expansion of its short-form content slate with the launch of scripted, minute-long episodic “micro-dramas” designed for mobile viewers. Speciale shared with Campaign that the micro-dramas are inspired by the short video trend from China being increasingly seen in the U.S. Televisa also expanded soccer rights through a new deal with CONCACAF, adding women’s competitions to its existing portfolio, and immersive in-show ads allowing seamless brand integration within content.
The music-infused presentation came to its crescendo with announcements introducing YA Fest, the company’s new multi-city musical festival, which will air across TelevisaUnivision’s platforms, and the launch of ViX’s dedicated music streaming platform, ViX Música.
Prince Royce had the crowd — which included music legend Emilio Estefan — dancing in their seats as he put a bachata spin on the classic hits “My Girl,” “How Deep Is Your Love,” “I Want It That Way” and “Dancing in the Moonlight,”singing themin Spanish and English, acknowledging both his Dominican-American heritage and the rise of consumers with Hispanic heritage identifying as “200%,” or “100% Latino” and “100% American.”
Closing out the show, pianist, songwriter and arranger Arthur Hanlon led artists from R.Evolución Latina, Salgado Productions, Latino Broadway Man and Broadway's Real Women Have Curves in a roof-raising choral finale of songs by Selena, The Miami Sound Machine and others. Guests then made their way to the lower-level, where a DJ continued the party as they played games, won prizes, sipped spicy cocktails and noshed on flavorful eats — all provided by Hispanic-owned and -operated vendors.
The company, which touts itself to be “the world’s leading Spanish-language media company,” is doubling down on its investment in reality programming, with a slate of unscripted content across genres featuring a 24/7 “always on” format, as well as scripted and shareable short-form content optimal for watching on the go.
As audiences gear up for the upcoming 2026 World Cup, TelevisaUnivision saw the perfect opportunity to remind attendees (and inform newcomers) that it has long been a destination for soccer (or fútbol), now beefing up its slate to include women’s soccer through its new partnership with CONCACAF.
In a push to reach and engage with “young, passionate Hispanics in the U.S.,” the company has partnered with Bresh, deemed “the most beautiful party in the world,” first gaining popularity in Argentina, for its first music festival, YA fest. The festival promises to “unite today’s most relevant content creators, top artists and trending talent to elevate IRL experience in collaboration with leading brands.”
The launch of ViX Música places further emphasis on the media company’s music strategy, with partnerships with iHeart Media, immersive docuspecials (with Royce featuring as its inaugural artist) and ViX Música: All Access, a new franchise featuring candid backstage interviews with “today’s hottest Latin stars” across genres moments after they leave the concert stage.
A media buyer whose brand clients expressed interest in increasing investment in the Hispanic market told Campaign their clients were so impressed with the slate of offerings and insights, they sought out network executives post-show to get connected.
The House of the Mouse unsurprisingly held a star-studded upfront in the (mercifully spacious) North Javits Center that heralded the company’s history of storytelling, while placing heavy emphasis on its sports.
Introduced by NFL stars and recent Super Bowl LIX foes Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs and Saquon Barkley of the Philadelphia Eagles, Disney’s CEO Bob Iger made a rare appearance to kick off the presentation and set the tone for the evening before introducing president of global advertising, Rita Ferro, who dove into the company’s array of premium offerings for advertisers and agency partners.
Of those offerings: an upcoming launch of ESPN’s direct-to-consumer streaming service, named simply ESPN, the recently rolled out Disney Experience Composer, a tool for enhancing creative assets and Disney Compass, a tool for first-party data, insights and vendor integration — offering scale, innovation and a simplified experience for advertisers. ESPN will have two DTC plans: an unlimited plan delivering the entire suite of ESPN networks and content, and a select plan, lower-priced tier allowing subscribers access to all content available of ESPN+.
Ferro touted that the company reaches 164 million global ad-supported monthly active users and delivers 200,000 hours of premium content “and unmatched ad experiences.”
Then the real show began, as a parade of stars from sports, news and entertainment including ABC News’ David Muir and Robin Roberts, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, Paradise’s Sterling K. Brown, The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebri and Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Andor’s Diego Luna appeared to introduce their hit shows and the slate of programming coming to ESPN, ABC, Hulu, FX and Disney+ in the coming months.
Drum Major Mickey Mouse started the evening off with the Brooklyn United Drumline, marching through the aisles to brighten the spirits of the exhausted and rain-soaked North Javits crowd. The drumline later returned with Goofy to introduce the college football segment.
The initially tepid audience got another jolt when Only Murders in the Building stars Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez took the stage to talk about the show’s recent SAG award wins and tease its upcoming fifth season.
Before Luna and Ahsoka’s Hayden Christiansen came out to introduce the Star Wars franchise, Stormtroopers and Darth Vader came out to teasingly threaten the crowd. Later, to introduce FX’s new series Alien: Earth and its stars Timothy Olyphant, Sydney Chandler and Babou Ceesay, a famous Xenomorph creature graced the stage while some of its “eggs” were carried through the aisles — which was fully terrifying.
Former Patriots coach Bill Belichick was the butt of many jokes that evening, with Joe Buck saying he and “his friend” would be coming out to sing “Endless Love,” and show closer Jimmy Kimmel noting that recent college grads would have to resort to dating him as a backup plan in absence of jobs.
The Jimmy Kimmel Live! star also got the biggest laughs from a shocked audience, offering a diametrically opposed narrative to that of Iger and Ferro’s romanticized script about the company’s storytelling with a sobering roast of the company and future of the ad business.
Kimmel appeared in a hilarious video also featuring Dr. Dre that offered naming rights to his soon-to-arrive first grandchild, complete with a revised introductory chant from The Lion King’s “Circle of Life” singing brand names as a montage of logos crawl up the screen. The comedian later appeared onstage to acknowledge Seth Meyers had also used the joke the night before at NBC’s upfront.
Kimmel then took savage shots at ABC for only adding one originally scripted program to its lineup, NBC ad sales chief Mark Marshall for appearing onstage as Glinda from Wicked, CBS for its notoriously aging audience, and Netflix for having less subscriber numbers — joking that it was the only thing Disney was beating them at.
The burns were third-degree.
After pondering whether the audience or himself would have jobs next year due to AI and its role in the business, he urged advertisers to support 60 Minutes and “real” journalism.
From Mahomes and Barkley flanking Iger at the beginning of the show; Knicks legends Patrick Ewing, Allan Houston and John Starks joining basketball analyst Monica McNutt onstage to rile up the crowd in support of their forever hometown team; Eli and Peyton Manning appearing multiple times performing intentionally bad musical numbers in which they star in variants of hit shows; and Mahomes returning with Jason Kelce to introduce a new ESPN original docuseries about the Chiefs; the message of the night was clear: Disney is going big on sports.
Despite the parade of A-list stars (and droids) on the stage and perusing the post-show reception, Kimmel — and his controversial closing — was the undisputed star of the night, with many noting his authenticity and spot-on criticism of the industry. Others wondered if Kimmel was hinting at the possibility of his contract nearing its end.
There was also excitement about Glen Powell’s upcoming Hulu series Chad Powers, produced by the Manning brothers and featuring Powell as a washed-up football player who gets a second chance by pretending to be someone else. Eli Manning also appears as a character in the show.
The Campaign team caught the Netflix upfront virtually as the IRL event was limited to about 500 attendees at the Perelman Performing Arts Center in Manhattan. But the energy was felt through the television stream on display in the Haymarket office.
The presentation started off strong with the actors Jude Law and Jason Bateman ominously appearing before premiering the trailer for their highly anticipated show, Black Rabbit. A familiar on-screen voice introduced talent, later revealed as You star Penn Badgley.
Netflix president of advertising Amy Reinhard was the first exec to take the stage, highlighting the growth of the ad-supported plan, which now reaches more than 94 million global monthly active users and more 18-34-year-olds than any other U.S. broadcast or cable network. Despite ads, members of this membership tier in the U.S. are highly engaged, spending an average of 41 hours per month on Netflix. Reinhard made sure to emphasize the effectiveness as she pointed out that Netflix ads deliver 8x higher brand favorability, 162% more sales per impression and 3x higher purchase intent than the CTV average. Fellow streamers — shots fired.
Creative is getting smarter — Netflix will be rolling out generative AI-powered ads that interact with show environments, mid-rolls and pauses throughout 2026.
But what’s the use if there aren’t real examples to show the streamer’s effectiveness? Cue CMO Marian Lee, who discussed present and future co-branded campaigns (e.g., Wendy’s, Cheetos, Booking.com) for Wednesday Season 2, with a special focus on Netflix’s in-house creative capabilities.
Law and Bateman were only the beginning of the star-studded presence at Netflix who teased their upcoming shows. Gaten Matarazzo, Noah Schnapp and Caleb McLaughlin came out to show an exclusive BTS look at the making of the final season of Stranger Things. Charlize Theron presented Apex; and Taraji P. Henson, Teyana Taylor and Sherri Shepherd presented Tyler Perry’s new thriller, Straw.
The second season of another Netflix original, Wednesday, will launch Part 1 on Aug. 6, followed by Part 2 on Sept. 3.
To close the show, Jerry Jones, the owner, president and GM of the Dallas Cowboys, highlighted his upcoming documentary series America’s Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys, before guests enjoyed a special live performance from the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders of “Thunderstruck” from America’s Sweethearts: The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.
Data, data and more data.
Advanced audience targeting was not a huge focus at other upfronts, but Netflix made sure to highlight its targeting capabilities including contextual targeting 100 interests across 17 categories. Bonus points for calling out the significant overlap of Love is Blind viewers with NFL Christmas. Yes — Netflix really does have something for everyone.
First-party data integration is key in today’s world, and Netflix executes these offerings via LiveRamp or direct, plus partnerships with Experian and Acxiom.
And, addressing what is likely the most pressing challenge advertisers are looking to address, Netflix is enhancing its measurement capabilities through new first-party tools, including brand lift linked to viewing behavior.
In typical Netflix fashion, there were also experiential components. To promote The Golden Ticket, an all-new Wonka-inspired reality competition series coming to Netflix in 2026, some attendees discovered their own “golden tickets” under their seats for a special prize. There was also a play on Wednesday’s announcement.
But really the belle(s) of the ball was the cast of Netflix breakout series Nobody Wants This. Mimicking the podcast setup of their sibling characters on the show, Kristen Bell and Justine Lupe came out to “discuss” what viewers can expect from the new season. Much to the audience’s delight, the ladies were joined onstage by the show’s other star alongside Bell, Adam Brody, who was initially seated among attendees before popping up with a “question” for the cast. The “scene stealing” Timothy Simons and humorous Jackie Tohn also joined and the ensemble crew engaged in a humorous discussion, showcasing the energy that won them so many fans (inside and outside Perelman) in the first place.
