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.
Most recent headlines
26/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
26/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
25/12/2025
Holiday lights are twinkling, hot cocoa's on the stove and gamers are settling in for a well-earned break.
Whether staying in or heading on a winter getawa...
24/12/2025
What is AI good for? Posted by MTI Film on December 24, 2025
What is AI good for?
What is AI good for?
It's been three years since ChatGPT first cap...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Back to All News
The Boyfriend' Season 2 Unveils Heartwarming Trailer, Key...
24/12/2025
Back to All News
Love, Fights, and Everything in Between: Badly in Love' Returns for Season 2
Entertainment
24 December 2025
GlobalJapan
Link copied t...
24/12/2025
Scripps Research study links sleep variability with sleep apnea and hypertension How consumers' digital activity trackers could enable personalized health s...
23/12/2025
How guilas Cibae as Dominican Winter League Games Are Locally Produced for Glob...
23/12/2025
BitFire's Jim Akimchuk on Supplying Scalability and Customization in the Clo...
23/12/2025
CAMB.AI Enables European Athletics to Offer Multi-Language SupportPlan is to eventually offer translation into all languages spoken in EuropeBy Ken Kerschbaumer...
23/12/2025
Analysis: As sports media values trend negative, scarcity and quality are king By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Monday, December 22, 2025 - 14:08
Print ...
23/12/2025
ESPN, Disney, and NBA Return to the Animated Altcast Fray With Second Edition of...
23/12/2025
End the Year on a High Note and Donate to the Sports Broadcasting Fund Today! By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, December 23, 2025 - 12:25 pm
...
23/12/2025
The year is winding down, the weather outside is frightful, and it's the perfect time to escape into a story that warms the heart. For listeners looking for...
23/12/2025
A Zeus motor is hot fire tested at L3Harris' Camden, Arkansas, solid rocket ...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Lightware will exhibit several major product innovations at ISE 2026, including the new USB-C BOOSTER-V1, Google Meet. integration for various Taurus UCX models...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Taking the Stage at Carnegie Hall-On a Global Scale Boston Conservatory Orchestra students reflect on their epic concert marking the 80th session of the UN Gene...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's The Great Flood and Culinary Class Wars 2 Top Gl...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things By the Numbers: How the Global Phenomenon Shap...
23/12/2025
Experience the power of WO Automation for Radio's newest service, the System Effectiveness Review. Designed to help you achieve more, a System Effectiveness...
23/12/2025
23 Dec 2025
VEON's Beeline Kazakhstan and Rakuten Symphony Collaborate to A...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
How Steamy Can It Get? Single's Inferno' Season 5 Pre...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
33 Million Global Viewers on Netflix Watched Jake Paul vs. Ant...
23/12/2025
New technique lights up where drugs go in the body, cell by cell Scripps Research scientists developed a technique that maps drug binding in individual cells th...
22/12/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Presidio's Neerav Shah on the Role of Its Captiva...
22/12/2025
Hitting the bullseye: Sky Sports readies itself for the biggest PDC World Darts ...
22/12/2025
Unique skillset: Bringing new directors to the world of darts at The Worlds with...
22/12/2025
Gravity Media prepares for a flight of fancy with the PDC World Darts Championsh...
22/12/2025
One hundred and eighty: Gravity Media on hitting the production bullseye at the ...
22/12/2025
The Famous Group's Jon Slusser on Fascinating Fans Through Immersive Content...
22/12/2025
ESPN's Meg Aronowitz on Continuing High-Quality Broadcasts of Collegiate Spo...
22/12/2025
ESPN Takes Data-Driven Storytelling to New Heights with MNF Playbook with Next ...
22/12/2025
For a decade, popular German podcast Fest & Flauschig has hosted an annual Chris...
22/12/2025
Paramount Scores Largest Share Increase Among Distributors as Paramount and CBS...
22/12/2025
New multi-year deal integrates Roku's data to fuel Nielsen's measurement suite
Roku gains access to Nielsen's streaming ratings, showing The Roku C...
22/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
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.
