Springtime in New York continues to be the season for a longtime media trade ritual: upfronts.
Because the pay-TV universe retains shrinking, although, so does the once-prolix scale of the upfronts and their teen-age cousin, the NewFronts. Even so, town nonetheless does gentle up in April and Could with a spree of glitzy pitches designed to generate press consideration and advertiser curiosity. Regardless of the darkening skies of the U.S. financial system, with tariffs and different elements unsettling the advert market, the 2025 version of the upfronts and NewFronts figures to maintain the decades-old custom alive.
Issues have technically gotten underway with a handful of happenings, however the primary occasions will fall between Could 5 and Could 14. (See the total calendar beneath.) Sinclair, which owns a big native TV station portfolio and the Tennis Channel, is holding an upfront Thursday at Moonlight Studios. E.W. Scripps and AMC Networks hosted stay occasions in April and A+E World Media a digital one in March.
The arrival of Amazon’s Prime Video final 12 months as a heavyweight advert vendor gave the primary week in mid-Could a shot of recent vitality. Ditto with Netflix, although its method is a little more bespoke. There has additionally been some consolidation, particularly with corporations below strain to trim their budgets. Paramount World, whose company ancestors CBS and Viacom hosted a few of the most lavish bashes just some years in the past, now convenes a slate of smaller shopper dinners, together with in L.A. and Chicago. Likewise, The CW below new proprietor Nexstar has additionally withdrawn from the massive stage amid main cost-cutting, preferring to transact outdoors the highlight.
The NewFronts, a four-day span in early Could, additionally has contracted from the two-week blitz of pre-Covid occasions. As some massive names step again, although, newer gamers are coming into the sector. Whereas perennials like Condé Nast, Snap and the New York Occasions Co. are again, together with current standouts like TikTok and Meta, Roku is skipping it this 12 months and Amazon is delivering solely a 10-minute, tech-focused presentation. Google, whose YouTube Brandcast is an annual spotlight of the primary upfronts week, exerts such affect within the advert enterprise now that it’ll stage two separate NewFronts occasions targeted on totally different capabilities and content material. That supersized presence will come quickly after a choose’s ruling that the tech big maintained an advert tech monopoly, violating federal antitrust guidelines.
Seeking to hold tabs on all of the motion? Under are dates, occasions and venues by way of Brandcast, which can cap off the season Could 14. And since the search for advert {dollars} by no means stops, most upfronts and NewFronts presenters will proceed their outreach to consumers in just some weeks’ time alongside the Riviera at Cannes Lions in June. No relaxation for the sizzle-reel weary.
NewFronts
Monday, Could 5
11:30 a.m. – Google (Pier 57)
2 p.m. – Vizio (Penn 2)
4:30 p.m. – LG Advert Options (personal occasion)
7 p.m. – LinkedIn (personal occasion)
Tuesday, Could 6
9 a.m. – T-Cellular Promoting (Moonlight Studios)
11:30 a.m. – Samsung Advertisements (IAC Constructing)
2 p.m. – Tubi (Center415)
4:30 p.m. – TikTok (Iron23)
6 p.m. – Yahoo! (Peak)
Wednesday, Could 7
All day – IAB Stage, Convene Brookfield Place (Nielsen, 9:20 a.m.; Amazon Advertisements, 9:30 a.m.; ReachTV, 9:45 a.m.; Wurl, 10:05 a.m.; A&E World Media, 10:15 a.m.; CheckedUp, 11:10 a.m.; Teads, 11:20 a.m.; Estrella MediaCo, 11:35 a.m.; Comscore, 11:55 a.m.; Revry, 12:05 p.m.; Upwave, 1:35 p.m.; My Code, 1:50 p.m.; DoubleVerify, 2:10 p.m.; Dr. Phil’s MeritTV, 2:30 p.m.; LatiNation, 2:50 p.m.; Future Immediately, 3:45 p.m.; Cadent + AdTheorent, 4:10 p.m.; Mirror Digital, 4:30 p.m.; Infillion, 4:40 p.m.)
7 p.m. – Snap Inc (Pier 36)
Thursday, Could 8
9 a.m. – The New York Occasions (Occasions Middle)
11:30 a.m. – Condé Nast
2 p.m. – Meta (Palladium Occasions Sq.)
4:30 p.m. – YouTube (Pier 57)
Broadcast / Streaming Upfronts
Monday, Could 12
10:30 a.m. – NBCUniversal (Radio Metropolis Music Corridor)
4 p.m. – Fox (Hammerstein Ballroom)
6:30 p.m. – Amazon (Beacon Theatre)
Tuesday, Could 13
11:30 a.m. – TelevisaUnivision (Corridor des Lumières)
4 p.m. – Disney (North Javits Middle)
Wednesday, Could 14
10 a.m. – Warner Bros Discovery (Theater at Madison Sq. Backyard)
2 p.m. – Netflix (Perelman Performing Arts Middle)
5:30 p.m. – YouTube Brandcast (Lincoln Middle)
