At this year's upfront, brand safety was an important topic to media buyers and advertisers, but it wasn't emphasized by the networks, according to a new study by Advertiser Perceptions.
Andy Sippel
The study found other differences between what was important to buyers who attended this year's upfront and newfront presentations and what was said from the stages of Radio City Music Hall, Carnegie Hall and other venues.
Despite the disconnect, the networks had one of their best upfront market, with most network getting percentage price gains in the teens and volume increases at a time when viewership is shrinking.
The market operates on its own supply and demand dynamics, noted Andy Sippel, executive VP at research company Advertiser Perceptions. And of course everybody looks smart when the market is strong.
According to the Advertiser Perceptions study, the most important topics for advertisers attending the 2019 upfront were audience reach, composition and engagement, return on investment and return on spending, brand safety, integrated solutions and viewability and strategies to ensure ads are seen and cross platform measurement..
For the 2018 upfront, many of the same issues were top of mind among buyers, with ROI/ROS at the top of the list, followed by audience reach, cross-platform measurement, brand safety and better ways to measure advertising effectiveness.
Marketers still love TV. They believe it still moves the needle on brands and sells product. But they're really worried about declining reach, said Sippel. The need reassuring that they're making smart investments.
Sippel said that his marketer clients said what they wanted to hear was an eat your vegetables message.
Credit: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for WarnerMedia
But what the buyers said they heard emphasized by networks executives speaking at their upfront presentations were integrated solution on TV, digital and mobile screens, technological innovations like apps and virtual reality, audience reach and composition, strategic partnerships and branded entertainment and other marketing capabilities.
They didn't provide a big enough signal to the marketers that they hear them and they understand them and they want to help solve their problems. That's what comes through for me in the research, Sippel said.
A year ago, the networks did a better job in addressing buyers concern. Topics emphasized at the upfronts, according to the 2018 survey were brand safety, data-enhanced TV buying, audience reach, composition and engagement, commercial loads and the power of TV as an ad medium.
Standing up on stage and talking about audiences and ROI is really not the kind of thing that dazzles, Sippel said. Those things are really best tackled in face-to-face meetings, and these guys do talk about it in the face-to-face meetings.
Sippel said that most buyers still seem to see value in the expensive upfront presentations, even if the speakers on stage don't always address their primary concerns. They get to network with their colleagues. They get out of the office. They go to a party or two. I creates some excitement around the industry, he said.
Advertisers do appear to be buying the media company strategy of getting bigger to be able to provide their customers with greater scale. In the survey, said that when it came to what influences media selection, the strength of a conglomerates portfolio was cited by 38% of those responding compared to 20% who said it was the power of individual media brands.
Sippel said that marketers like increasingly bigger media companies because those bigger media company can provide reassurance that they'll get the reach they need and be less risk.
When they're making investments in the television market, they're able to buy the portfolio and spread their chips around, he said.
For its study, Advertiser Perceptions interviewed 395 marketer or agency executives in May and June. The executives were responsible for spending at least $5 million on TV or $1 million in digital video.
North America Stories
05/06/2026
MRI-Simmons and S&P Global Mobility are expanding advanced audience capabilities...
05/06/2026
New Nielsen data shows insurance ad spend grew 11%, while consumers remain highl...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
ASG Promotes Joe Marchitto to Western Regional CTO
Brie Clayton June 5, 2026
0 Comments
Appointment to Support Engineering Alignment and Client Experi...
05/06/2026
Stargate Studios Colombia Uses DaVinci Resolve Studio for Vertical Microdramas
Brie Clayton June 5, 2026
0 Comments
End to end post in one platform al...
05/06/2026
People Need to Come First When We Use AI
Andy Marken June 5, 2026
0 Comments
It's just surviving. Life's very existence requires destruction....
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Frequency, the engine powering many of the world's leading streaming television channels, today announced the launch of In-Scene Advertising, a new monetiza...
05/06/2026
Berklee Study Reveals Video Has Become Essential to Music Careers Survey findings show social platforms have become the primary source of music for video cont...
04/06/2026
Sony Electronics is introducing the SRG-AS10, a 4K 60p-compatible PTZ auto-frami...
04/06/2026
This recent grad from Spring, TX, led creative-video output for the Aggies' men's basketball team last season and has been producing video and creating ...
04/06/2026
For the first time at a women's golf major, every player in the field will r...
04/06/2026
Three Panasonic PT-RQ45 40,000-lumen 3-Chip DLP projectors made their first live...
04/06/2026
Bitmovin and Akamai have announced a collaboration with NRJ Group, a French mult...
04/06/2026
Telestream will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N7952), demonstrating media work...
04/06/2026
Sony has announced the development of RIALTO 65, a 65mm format image sensor block for the VENICE 2 digital cinema camera, targeting release in the first half of...
04/06/2026
KOKUSAI DENKI Electric America will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N8025, June ...
04/06/2026
Bell Media's TSN and RDS are the exclusive Canadian broadcasters of FIFA Wor...
04/06/2026
The Challenge: Receiving Heavy Media Files From Road Games Quickly and ReliablyT...
04/06/2026
MASV, a managed file transfer platform used in broadcast and live sports product...
04/06/2026
NESN has announced the appointment of Fahad Haider as Vice President of Operations and Engineering. Haider returns to NESN, where he previously served as Vice P...
04/06/2026
David J. Halberstam, who spent almost 50 years in sports as a broadcaster and an executive, died June 2 after a years-long battle with brain cancer.
Over his l...
04/06/2026
Although collegiate production programs are tasked with delivering high-quality ...
04/06/2026
California studio, two production trucks, global distribution system are combine...
04/06/2026
New global program empowers and supports storytellers through scriptwriting course and access to industry experts
TikTok and Sundance Institute today announce...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Bitmovin, a leading provider of video streaming infrastructure, and Akamai, the cybersecurity and cloud computing company that powers and protects business onli...
04/06/2026
American Underground (AU), the Startup Hub of the South and a community of mor...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
NVIDIA and Microsoft Reinvent Windows PCs for the Age of Personal AI
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
RTX Spark - a 1-Petaflop Superchip, the Full...
04/06/2026
Inside the Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man Grade
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
Simone Grattarola discusses shaping the look in DaVinci Resolve...
04/06/2026
Cine Gear Expo Announces 2026 Awards of Excellence Recipients
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
Ed Lachman ASC, Caleb Deschanel ASC, and M. David M...
04/06/2026
St. Vincents Live with Orchestra Tour to Feature Berklee Alum Ruby Plume Berklee alumni St. Vincent and Ruby Plume will appear on the same bill across seven d...
04/06/2026
Home to cutting-edge sovereign AI infrastructure and robotics innovators, as well as one of the world's most passionate gaming communities, South Korea is o...
At this year's upfront, brand safety was an important topic to media buyers and advertisers, but it wasn't emphasized by the networks, according to a new study by Advertiser Perceptions.
