Amazon closed its second annual Upfronts with “significant growth” across independent agencies and holding companies, per Adweek. An Amazon spokesperson cited excitement surrounding live sports offerings on Prime Video as a key driver of growth. Amazon is positioned for sustained ad growth if it continues relying on its sports properties to draw advertiser interest in Prime Video. With Prime Video only making up a fraction of Amazon’s overall ad revenues, the service is far from hitting its ceiling—and future investment in tentpole sporting events will put Prime Video on par with its bigger competitors.

The news: Netflix is proving its power as the dominant subscription streaming platform with several recent ad wins. The streamer announced that it’s sold all of its available commercial time in preparation for its two Christmas day NFL games, also noting sponsorship deals with partners like Google and FanDuel. Our take: With its strong lead in ad revenue growth, position as the most-used subscription video service in the US, consistently low subscriber churn rate, and content strategy tailored to unique markets, Netflix is likely to continue dominating advertiser investment in connected TV.

The news: Paramount struck a $7.7 billion, 7-year agreement with UFC in its first big move after closing its merger with Skydance. The deal will see all 43 live annual UFC events streamed exclusively in the US on Paramount+, while select UFC events will be simultaneously aired on CBS. Our take: With its UFC deal, Paramount is taking the first step toward regaining audience share and ad spend post-Skydance merger, banking on live sports’ steady draw for viewers and marketers.

The news: Disney announced that it will merge Disney+ and Hulu in 2026, a move that could save it $3 billion. The news came after a mixed Q3 FY25 that beat expectations thanks to high spending at Disney theme parks and growth in streaming, but saw advertising revenues fall short of analyst estimates. Our take: Disney’s future success depends on whether merging its core streaming offerings boosts advertiser appeal and a successful sports push that can compete on a similar level as rivals with access to tentpole live events like the Super Bowl.

The news: Paramount reported mixed quarterly earnings and upfront results, underscoring the limitations of a content portfolio lacking major sports rights to drive engagement. The company’s biggest blow came from streaming service Paramount+, which lost 1.3 million subscribers in Q2—something the company attributed to “the expiration of an international hard bundle deal.” Our take: Paramount’s results depict a company capable of staying afloat, but struggling to build offerings that drive increased viewership and advertiser investment—necessitating that the company build its sports offerings to grow as competitors dive head-first into sports programming.

The news: Despite a surge in sports advertising and streaming, Walt Disney Co. failed to surpass last year’s upfront volume, citing a result that was “consistent with last year,” per a press release. Streaming accounted for over 40% of the company’s total upfront volume, on par with 2024, while sports advertising commitments across digital and linear were worth around $4 billion. Our take: As live sports viewers remain consistent and audiences increasingly turn to digital, Disney’s future growth depends on how well it can transform its streaming offerings into hubs for live sports.

Netflix's ad tier reaches 94 million as it looks to genAI to continue its trajectory: The data suggests Netflix is positioned for sustained streaming market leadership.

Amazon debuts three new CTV ad formats: The updates are part of Amazon’s Prime Video ads push and promise to help brands reach highly engaged audiences.

NBCU highlights sports, streaming at Upfront event: The presentation outlined NBCU’s plan to offset declining traditional TV revenues.

Insights from IAB NewFronts: Streaming and AI innovation are transforming marketing—but in a period of rapid change and economic unrest, adaptation is key.

Interest in non-legacy currencies is up slightly, but 58% of US advertisers say they still need to learn more about them before putting them into action, according to an April 2024 survey from iSpot.tv.

US upfront TV ad spending will fall by 3.6% to $18.64 billion for the 2023–2024 TV season, a downward revision of 5.0% from our previous forecast.

While the platform’s ad-supported tier gains momentum, Netflix needs to beef up its targeting capabilities to win advertisers over. Meanwhile, viewers may be turned off by a heavy ad load and a crackdown on password sharing. But global growth shows promise for Netflix’s future.

Upfront spending is flowing toward streaming services. Upfront CTV ad spending will grow by 34.6% to $6.41 billion this year. For context, that’s about how much we had predicted in our inaugural forecast would be spent on total CTV advertising in 2019.

Ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) platforms saw strong growth in ad revenues last quarter, a bright spot in the overall ad market during the pandemic.

US upfront TV ad spending will decline 1.4% in the 2019-2020 season to $20.28 billion, and drop a substantial 27.1% in the 2020-2021 season to $14.78 billion, a $5.5 billion difference year-on-year.

Marc Pritchard, chief brand officer of Procter & Gamble, offered a startling prediction at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show: "I would say that the days of advertising as we know it today are numbered. We need to start thinking about a world with no ads."

eMarketer forecasting analyst Eric Haggstrom discusses our digital video upfront spending estimates and gives an update on the market for premium video inventory. Watch now.

eMarketer forecasting analyst Eric Haggstrom stacks up our digital upfront spending numbers against the total video landscape, and explores four key market trends. Watch now.