The WarnerMedia upfront will seem familiar to those who attended Turner's event a year ago with the addition of a new not-so-secret ingredient.
Donna Speciale, WarnerMedia Group's president of ad sales
Turner was acquired last year when AT&T bought Time Warner. AT&T combined Time Warner's Turner, HBO and Warner Bros. units into WarnerMedia. The Turner brand is being phased out.
Though something of a coming out for WarnerMedia, much of the presentation on Wednesday won't change that much. I'm going to showcase the content like we always do, Donna Speciale, WarnerMedia Group's president of ad sales, said. Conan O'Brien, Anderson Cooper and Shaquille O'Neal will again be there. In addition to clips of the Turner cable network series, Otter Media's digital media properties Crunchyroll and Rooster Teeth will be featured.
But this year, Speciale will be introducing WarnerMedia's special sauce: the data and analytics it now has access to from AT&T advertising unit, Xandr.
Turner Had Pushed Data Deals
Under Speciale, Turner pushed clients to do deals that were not based on the traditional broad age/sex demographics. Instead, she said the industry's future lay in more targeted campaigns, using data to identify audiences most likely to respond to an ad message.
She plans to include in her presentation a case study or two showing how much better targeted campaigns work when they're infused with the AT&T data.
WarnerMedia and Xandr began their collaboration last year and began pitching clients during CES.
In the first half of 2019, WarnerMedia has run 25 audience-based TV campaigns using the AT&T data and insights from Xandr. WarnerMedia also ran more than 200 digital campaigns using the Xandr data.
Now we can be a lot smarter, Speciale said. The AT&T data is so powerful and has such enormous reach, with 170 million consumer touch points, that it is now setting us apart from other media companies that don't have access to this data.
It's not the future, she said. It's reality. That's why I want to have some proof points at this upfront. To really show it's happening. It's working and it's real. We're proving that the big screen works just like digital does in bringing business metrics to clients.
That leads to a natural next step.
I truly believe is that my goal this year is to have guarantees on business outcomes, Speciale said. I want to get away from the traditional demo guarantees. I want to take it to the next level with attribution and have business outcomes be the guarantee that we do business on.
Working with Xandr and having access to the AT&T data means WarnerMedia can turn around its reports quickly. Clients will be able to make better decisions about what their next campaign should be. But Speciale said that even the best data can't work without human input.
We have to be very clear about bringing content into that conversation, she said. The art and science are the key. It can't all be science. There is a human element here that we need to touch.
Xandr is hosting its own event on Tuesday morning, but don't call it an upfront. We're a complement to what the upfronts are doing, Xandr chief marketing officer Kirk McDonald said. We're bringing data and technology to bear so we can add some enhancements to what they do.
WarnerMedia's networks have fans, and Xandr can help reach those fans more effectively, he said, noting that unlike some other merger situations, WarnerMedia and Xandr moved quickly to work together. Xandr wants to work not just with WarnerMedia, but with other programmers. Xandr can help fill in some of the gaps in the media buying process at a time when marketers are looking for more control.
Xandr to Promote New Tools
Xandr chief marketing officer Kirk McDonald
At its Xandr Front, the company will be making announcements about some new capabilities, McDonald said.
A year ago, Turner pledged that it would get its clients to spend at least 5% of their TV budget on audience-based buying.
We hit that number in the upfront, Speciale said. And while she's not setting a target this year, WarnerMedia is looking for growth in its data-driven ad products.
A big part of the WarnerMedia presentation will involve the company's upcoming, three-tiered, ad-supported, direct-to-consumer streaming product.
Speciale said she's been involved in figuring out its advertising profile.
What I love about the AVOD product is it's basically a clean slate, she said. We've been reducing commercial loads. We obviously know that is not an easy task to do, to try to undo a lot of history. Now with the AVOD product, we're going to have an open slate and kind of create it from scratch. So that's really what we've been working on more so.
The WarnerMedia upfront will seem familiar to those who attended Turner's event a year ago with the addition of a new not-so-secret ingredient.
Turner was acquired last year when AT&T bought Time Warner. AT&T combined Time Warner's Turner, HBO and Warner Bros. units into WarnerMedia. The Turner brand is being phased out.Subscribe for full article
Member Exclusive
Get Access to Our Exclusive Content
Learn MoreAlready subscribed? Log In
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Standalone processors acknowledged for the innovation and value they bring to Pro AV
Cobalt Digital, a leading designer and manufacturer of signal processing ...
02/07/2026
Synamedia announced today the appointment of Dr Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transitio...
02/07/2026
Screen Australia backs audience-led filmmaking with new insight-driven initiativ...
02/07/2026
Screen Australia refines guidelines for Narrative Content Development and Docume...
02/07/2026
Maxon Autograph: Introduction to working with Tables
Simon Ubsdell July 1, 2026
0 Comments
An overview of Autograph's ridiculously powerful tables...
02/07/2026
Boston Conservatory's Soir e Breaks Records to Fund Student Scholarships The event achieved 127 percent of its fundraising goal in an evening celebrating ...
02/07/2026
How Adam Rosenwach Pivoted from Music to Med Tech Without Missing a Beat What do the rehearsal room and the boardroom have in common? More than you might thin...
01/07/2026
Broadcast Management Group (BMG) has announced the appointment of Kathy Samuels ...
01/07/2026
Shade has announced Custom Objects and Automations, a platform expansion releasing June 29, 2026, that adds database and workflow automation capabilities direct...
01/07/2026
FOR-A America has announced the addition of Jaz Wray and Fernando Cruz to its U.S. sales team. Both report to Ernie Leon, Senior VP and Head of Sales and Strate...
01/07/2026
NBC Sports will air all 15 MLB games nationally on Sunday, July 5, across NBC, P...
01/07/2026
Clear-Com has announced a wireless communications upgrade for Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, deploying FreeSpeak II and FreeSpeak Icon systems across both prod...
01/07/2026
England's performance team will use Sony's STATSports APEX GPS tracking system to monitor player physical data in real time during FIFA World Cup 2026 m...
01/07/2026
Adder Technology has announced the appointment of Neil Hillier as Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1, 2026. Hillier succeeds Adrian Dickens, who transiti...
01/07/2026
Bitcentral, Inc. has announced a strategic transaction creating two separate companies. The Production and Playout business will continue as Bitcentral, now own...
01/07/2026
DAZN has announced results from DAZN48, its creator initiative for the FIFA World Cup 2026. Launched in April 2026, the program received thousands of applicatio...
01/07/2026
Sarah Rose, VP, global services, Daktronics (NASDAQ: DAKT), will be inducted into the Information Display and Entertainment Association (IDEA) Hall of Fame at t...
01/07/2026
Gravity Media and the World Economic Forum's production team provided broadc...
01/07/2026
Insight Productions has announced the launch of Insight Storm, a 53-foot mobile broadcast unit built for esports production. The truck is built around a Ross Vi...
01/07/2026
ESPN has announced several content initiatives marking America's 250th anniversary, as part of The Walt Disney Company's Disney Celebrates America pro...
01/07/2026
Eleven production kits, REMI workflows, and cloud distribution bring 40 World Cu...
01/07/2026
The conference also discussed the opportunities offered an industry that is endu...
01/07/2026
The Mountain West Conference has announced the launch of MW , a direct-to-consumer streaming platform powered by Kiswe. The platform will carry live Mountain We...
01/07/2026
New AI Assistant, Multi-channel Audio, ARA2 improvements & more
Tracktion's DAW software has just received its latest major update, gaining a selection ...
01/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
01/07/2026
Exclusive run of limited-edition modelling pedals
Sweetwater and Andertons M...
01/07/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) is pleased to announce that the ca...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Manfrotto Introduces UNCOVER, the new premium camera bag collection for modern h...
01/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Powers Houston Tamil Sangam Literacy Competition
Brie Clayton July 1, 2026
0 Comments
Volunteers use ATEM Mini Pro, Blackmagic Desig...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
PlayBox Technology has published State of Broadcast Infrastructure 2026, an in-depth industry research report examining the technologies, operational challenges...
01/07/2026
LONDON, UK, 1 JULY Jigsaw24 has appointed Alan Henry as Head of Sales for Media and Entertainment, reinforcing its continued investment in helping broadcaster...
01/07/2026
Content Vault, the patent-pending secure content distribution platform protecting high-value media from disclosures, theft and unauthorised access, today announ...
01/07/2026
Bitcentral, Inc. a leading provider of enterprise software and digital media solutions for news, sports and entertainment broadcasters, as well as streaming pla...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Groundbreaking First Nations Screen Business Accelerator launched through nation...
The WarnerMedia upfront will seem familiar to those who attended Turner's event a year ago with the addition of a new not-so-secret ingredient.
