The Digiday Podcast

A postmortem on this year’s TV and streaming upfront ad market with UM Worldwide’s Marcy Greenberger

Oct 15, 2024

Marcy Greenberger, Chief Investment Officer at UM Worldwide, delves into the changing dynamics of the TV and streaming ad markets. She highlights a significant reset in pricing due to increased streaming inventory, with rates dropping by 30% to 40% from major players like Disney and Netflix. Greenberger notes that this shift is favorable for advertisers, as sellers are now prioritizing overall commitments over price thresholds. She predicts this reset will have lasting effects on the industry, transforming how advertising deals are structured.

47:00

Episode guests

Marcy Greenberger

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

This year's upfront ad market experienced a significant reset in digital video pricing, benefiting advertisers with lower rates amid increased supply.

The rise of retail media networks reflects a growing trend for businesses to leverage shopper data, despite challenges in market saturation and transparency.

Deep dives

Creativity vs. Performance Marketing

The ongoing tension between brand storytelling and performance marketing is becoming increasingly pronounced as marketers face economic constraints. Businesses are challenged to communicate their value effectively amidst a crowded digital landscape, emphasizing the need for creative storytelling to maintain consumer relationships. Without additional budget allocation, brands must innovate within existing resources, leading to renewed calls for creativity in advertising strategies. This shift underlines the importance of compelling content that resonates with audiences to differentiate brands from their competitors.

Intro

3min

The Rising Importance of Brand Storytelling in a Crowded Market

2min

Navigating the Retail Media Landscape

8min

Antitrust Challenges and Shifts in the Advertising Landscape

3min

Insights into the 2023 Upfront Ad Market Trends

3min

Evolving Dynamics of the Upfront Ad Market

26min

After a string of somewhat monumental upfront cycles since 2020, this year’s annual haggle between TV and streaming ad buyers and sellers was hard-pressed to prove its significance. And yet it did.

“The biggest shift or change this year is it was really a reset year from a digital video standpoint in terms of pricing,” UM Worldwide’s chief investment officer Marcy Greenberger said on the latest Digiday Podcast.

Disney and Netflix were among the more notable sellers to drop their streaming ad rates in this year’s upfront cycle. But they weren’t alone. In fact, given the ramp-up in streaming ad inventory this year with Amazon Prime Video’s entry into the market, seemingly all sellers were more focused on overall spending commitments than specific pricing thresholds.

“There’s just so much more supply that finally convinced the suppliers or the publishers to rethink what the pricing is there often in exchange for volume, but really saw a reset that benefitted advertisers tremendously,” Greenberger said.

And that reset is likely to have a legacy that could outlast these latest upfront deals. In some cases, streaming ad sellers dropped their rates by 30% to 40%, according to Greenberger. “I don’t know that I see another massive reset [in streaming ad pricing in the future] like we saw this year,” she said.

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The Digiday Podcast

A postmortem on this year’s TV and streaming upfront ad market with UM Worldwide’s Marcy Greenberger

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

Creativity vs. Performance Marketing

The Impact of Retail Media Networks

Trends in the Upfront Ad Market

Measuring Advertising Effectiveness

Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts