The 2023 upfront market will likely be the last one transacted primarily on Nielsen’s legacy currency. A shift from traditional TV to digital video advertising is the main factor driving this change.

This year’s upfronts have been unusual, with the haze of the Writers Guild of America strike and a decisive shift toward streaming. From YouTube’s mixed messages to Netflix’s ad-supported tier’s less-than-impressive beginning, here are five trends pinpointed by our analyst.

The grand final of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Liverpool, UK, on May 13. Attracting a Super Bowl-sized audience, tourists, and viewing parties, the competition’s global reach will provide marketers and retailers with a notable opportunity to drive brand awareness and sales.

Microsoft’s new Bing has had a persistent hold over headlines. Combine this with a third consecutive quarter of ad loss for YouTube and the picture for Google may look less than rosy. But the company remains in good shape, with overall earnings beating expectations. It remains dominant in search, and YouTube use is still remarkably high. Here’s a closer look.

YouTube is no longer separate from the streaming wars: Almost half of its viewership is on TVs, and advertisers are spending heavily on the platform.

The battle against TikTok took center stage at this week’s NewFronts, as Meta, Snapchat, and YouTube unveiled new ad products tied to short-form video. While none of them can compete with TikTok’s lock on the youth market or the enormous amount of time its users spend on the app, these new ad products are an attempt to bring Reels, Spotlight, and Shorts into greater parity with TikTok’s ad formats.

TikTok is going all-in on in-app purchases; Meta is focused on shoppable ads; and YouTube hopes to gain a competitive advantage through its strong creator relationships. All of this is happening as we forecast US retail social commerce sales will grow nearly 30% this year to hit $68.92 billion

Ad spending is looking shaky for many of the legacy formats across digital and traditional. New channels have arrived, however, and there are bright spots. This year could be rough, but 2024 is looking better.

Mobile and video formats will be key to a recovering ad market in the years ahead.

US marketers will spend over $1 billion more on influencer marketing in 2023 than they did last year, per our forecast. We lay out six tactics to maximize the impact of those dollars.

TikTok is launching ad product Pulse Premiere, an extension of Pulse that allows publishers like Condé Nast, Buzzfeed, and NBC to make money off of ads featured by all of their own content, according to the Wall Street Journal. The new product is part of TikTok’s efforts to make the platform more appealing to publishers, even as risks of a US ban loom.

On today's episode, we discuss what the new normal looks like at Netflix, why its ad-supported tier isn't helping much, and what the first DVD ever mailed by the company was. "In Other News," we talk about Meta, TikTok, and YouTube facing off at this year's NewFronts and whether instant videos could be the next big AI development. Tune in to the discussion with our director of Briefings Jeremy Goldman.

Shorts wants to take ad dollars from TikTok: YouTube uses the NewFronts to tout their short-form video format.

Reels and Shorts are gaining users and adding ad options. They still lag TikTok in several key areas, but now is the time for video advertisers to give them another look.

Connected TV (CTV) will be the fastest-growing major ad format in 2023, despite a downward revision in our latest forecast. Time spent on CTV is also showing big gains.

Microsoft and Google report solid quarterly results amid slow economy: With AI transforming the future of search, is Microsoft gaining a perceived edge in innovation?

UK consumers have a voracious appetite for digital video content, but the cost-of-living crisis is boosting ad-supported options, particularly broadcaster video-on-demand services. Netflix’s pivot to an ad tier, meanwhile, may have legs.

Our first-ever mobile video flash survey explores the latest consumer trends in Latin America’s rapidly evolving digital video landscape, and what they mean for the region’s biggest media companies this year.