Given it’s the 17th year of the IAB NewFronts, some might wonder what could possibly be new. But as IAB’s CEO David Cohen remarked during the opening session, “Everything is new. New consumer trends, technologies, content opportunities, and new ad innovations.” Cohen acknowledged the current unpredictability, but championed the industry’s ability to lead, stressing that “We are in our wheelhouse… Digital advertising excels in moments of transformation; thrives in the face of AI, commerce media, streaming, and social media. …This is the moment that advertisers will pay attention to new solutions, take meetings with companies they’ve never heard of before…when they’ll take chances because it’s their best chance to drive their business forward.”

The IAB’s latest Digital Video Ad Spend and Strategy Report helped spark this optimistic outlook with positive news showing digital video surpassed TV ad spend last year with 51% of the market, and is projected to rise to 58% this year. Connected TV (CTV) itself grew 16% year-over-year. Still, AI’s role is expanding quicker than most have fully integrated it, and economic uncertainty is increasing costs.

Nonetheless while the heartbeat of the streaming industry expands and contracts with new tech, newcomers and consolidations, the multi-day New York City presentations spanning May 5-8th trotted out “Upfront-style star power” in both public and private upbeat presentations, with news from established media networks like A+E Global Media, and newer indie networks promising to “break the mold of traditional media buying” like Future Today. The 2025 NewFronts have exponentially expanded beyond the “three Cs” of Content, Commerce and Connection to include a range of ad tech and research providers, from Cadent to Wurl, new participants like LinkedIn, and tools from AI-driven solutions to outcome-based buying models and fresh ways to connect with audiences.

Google’s Monday morning presentation spoke to the value of joining forces – from YouTube to Tubi — while pivoting around consumers’ new plethora of choices. In the first of many mnemonics used at the NewFronts, Google suggested the consumer’s new browsing habits be recalled as “the four Ss,” for Search, Stream, Scroll and Shop. Kristen O’Hara, VP Agency/Platforms, said those habits are collapsing the traditional marketing funnel because now every consumer journey is unique. “Thankfully,” she artfully added, “we have Google AI who’s going to help us actually see patterns in these new consumer behaviors, that would have otherwise been unseen.”

So, how to navigate when second or even third screens are in use at any given media consumption moment? Google’s advice, per their presentation theme, is to “Rethink CTV,” and so pitched the dynamic navigation and offerings of their DV360 (Display & Video) “which leads the DSP market with 5B+ hours of watch time monthly, and also enables buying Disney, Netflix and YouTube in one place.” They shared news that they are “deepening integrations with leading broadcasters and widening our lens by launching direct integrations with Tubi, expanding to audio inventory with Spotify Ad Exchange, streamlining video content inside of gaming with a new Roblox partnership” adding live sports, and bringing commerce and retail media to YouTube, which it will start testing this summer.

Despite a rainy sky coupled with the metaphorical fog of a complex digital landscape, Yahoo provided a clear outlook on its strategy during its presentation held at The Peak, complete with access to The Edge, a breathtaking observation deck above Manhattan. Celebrating 30 years as a top internet destination, Yahoo, in the words of Chief Revenue Officer Rob Wilk, “isn’t just on the internet—it IS the internet. And we’ve never been more energized about what’s ahead.” That includes the amplification of premium content across multiple genres. Yahoo Sports, for example, teamed up with Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman’s Boardroom for a new video series and online hub dedicated to the business and culture of sports. They brought out NY sports legends Carmelo Anthony and Russell Wilson for a sample chat, while the straight-talking parenting duo behind Big Little Feelings represented Yahoo Lifestyle.

SmartTVs: Stars of Stage and Stream

After “Rethink CTV: Beyond The Stream,” Samsung Ads pushed “Go Beyond”…beyond brand awareness and what’s been done before.” LG Ads’ Global CMO Tony Marlow declared the dawn of a “CTV-first era” and, finally emerging post recent adoption by retail giant Walmart, Vizio joined the OEM parade and promoted a stat that 74% of all CTV viewing is on Smart TVs.

Seth Dallaire, EVP and Chief Growth Officer at Walmart, acknowledged that while they’ve had a “very specific way that we talk about retail media offerings…there’s an adjacency of the advertising business with the platform business,” and it now makes sense to bring the two together as they are complementary to Walmart Connect. So, Vizio announced they’re upping their WatchFree+ FAST service offerings with more originals and brand opportunities, and their Inscape planning hub of first-party viewing data that enables building and activating a plan on the platform, now also connecting to social. Ka-pow.

All the OEM players recognize the value of the home screen, where, Vizio says, the average consumer spends 31 minutes a day watching content. So, it wasn’t surprising that LG Ads went the extra mile past last fall’s announcement of native home screen ad opportunities to announce at the NewFronts they can now be shoppable and 3D. Ka-bam.

Samsung, which claims 50% market share of US SmartTVs, is making home screen mastheads next level via 3-D and QR click thru actions. But they’re also aiming to own even more of viewers’ actual homes, by expanding to the kitchen. In a move that morphs DOOH to “Digital IN Home,” they are leveraging “the second most used device in your home: your refrigerator, with personalized ads available directly on the door.” This may capture eyeballs, but will likely raise consumer eyebrows, too. Zowee.

LG, which delivers a 4000 channel WebOS-powered FAST service, also delivered Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson to announce the launch of the “50 Cent Action Channel”. It should add to the reason that they say 50% of their users consider LG Channels “their favorite service,” and complements existing partnerships with beloved brands such as A+E and NBCUniversal.

They’re adding even more to their digital content strength, too, in a new partnership with renowned historian Doris Kearns Goodwin on Presidents and their paths to the office, for, unsurprisingly, HISTORY. Another project will combine content with consumer engagement layers, such as a bracket challenge, making it well aligned with their recently redesigned History.com that now features interactive tools, like ‘This Day in History,’ for more immersive editorial content and added sponsorship opportunities. (Bringing it back to branding, they cleverly shared the example that on THIS day in history, May 8th, 1886, the first Coca-Cola was served, at Jacobs’ Pharmacy in Atlanta.)

A+E also touched on their formula for success, Audience, Activation, Amplification, and Analysis. These components are the focus of “A+E Media Solutions,” the new name of the sales division and cornerstones of their steeped up digital strategy.

Ann McGowan, newly minted as EVP/General Manager of Digital Platforms, said, “We are looking at the combination of AI technologies plus the authenticity of human creativity and lived experiences to develop innovative storytelling methods that are like nothing we’ve ever done before. We think that short form and social are more great places for that content to come to life.”

To sweeten the deal for NewFronts attendees, A+E sponsored a Recharge Lounge, providing outlets for devices and ice cream for humans. It was on brand for a company emphasizing creativity, immersive experiences and engaged audiences.

More presentations rounded out Day 3:

Future Today is launching the Chuck E. Cheese Media Network, featuring dedicated on-demand apps and FAST channels aimed at young families, and announced their Marketplace of addressable, ID-less impressions for privacy-centric advertising and a deeper integration with TCL, another SmartTV.

Tubi, the free streaming platform, is focusing on creating more engaging moments for viewers and impactful opportunities for brands, a la Tubi Moments, which aligns ads with the specific tone and content of scenes. Carousel Ads now allow for interactive product showcases directly on Tubi’s homepage. They’ve streamlined access for advertisers of all sizes with the introduction of a new self-serve platform, and are collaborating with Amazon to enhance targeting for retail advertisers.

Not surprisingly, Amazon Ads promoted advanced ad tech solutions promising to address fragmentation and enhance targeting. With an ability to leverage trillions of browsing, buying and streaming signals, the mega-company promoted AI-driven tools like Performance Plus and Brand Plus and is aiming to keep a leadership position in interoperability via Amazon Publisher Cloud and Complete TV. They are apparently keeping the customer satisfied based on a conversation with Head of Frito-Lay Brand Media Strategy, Drew Ingram, on the Lay’s “Do us a Flavor” case study, which successfully targeted consumers most likely to engage while still delivering broad awareness.

And Mirror Digital CEO, Sheila Marmon, the first Black female founder who has presented at NewFronts, shared including case study of work done that drove brand lift for Cadillac called “Play the Lyric” based on a unique cultural insight around today’s generation of Asian American Millennials who want to be seen and heard in new ways; announced a strategic distribution agreement with Disney advertising built with a shared vision to amplify Inclusive Stories, and shared success around driving revenue for one of the leading platforms for HBCU students. As Marmon described it, “Our goal is to celebrate and amplify identity, not erase it.”

WURL did a great job of showing content to illustrate their value – improving CTV advertising performance by leveraging contextual intelligence; using GenAI to analyze content in real time for emotion and brand suitability. Projecting scenes from a dramatic film, they dropped a startling and funny spot for Liquid Death into a hospital scene of the wrong kind of death and dying, drawing startled laughs and major a-ha moments. Speaking to the importance of context VP Business Development, Peter Crofut, pointed out, “With audience targeting, you may reach the right person, but are you reaching them in the right moment? An audience-only approach fails to live up to one of our industry’s favorite sayings, ‘there’s the right person, the right message and the right time.’ And I think we’re missing out as an industry on this third pillar of success, which is timing.”

Sometimes, given the state of research in our fragmented industry, all we can do is sigh or laugh. Comscore had comedian Harshil Shukla elicit both from the audience, who at times gasped, smiled or nodded in agreement when he said things like, “Okay all you OEMs and your ACR, if my TV is going to watch and spy on me, the least it should do is split my rent with me, and feed the cat. Put in some work.” He didn’t spare the teasing (“Look, if I wanted data from the 90s, I just dust off my old VCR.”) But noting Comscore just turned 25, he said, “They’re officially turning into the doctors my parents always wanted me to be. They’re making sense of the chaos, turning cross platform confusion into clarity…. Programmatic has been the Wild West long enough. It’s time someone closed the saloon, or drove through it like a train in one of those Coors Lite commercials — but really make impactful changes. So let’s Comscore the hell out of 2025.”

Talk about comic relief.

But seriously folks, towards the end of Day 3, newly named President Doug Rozen of the “new” Cadent explained their unified platform for predicting audiences and assembling omnichannel impressions. But for one of the most lean-in audience moments, Board Member Peter Naylor drew out straight talk from Omnicom Media Group Chief Investment Officer, Katie Klein, who had a wake-up call for the media: “We need approaches to media investments that are much more agile, more data conformed and more rooted in business outcomes,” she stated. Her message was clear: success hinges on audience-centric planning, leveraging predictive analytics, and creating flexible investment models that can quickly adapt to changing business landscapes.
Klein’s most pointed advice was a challenge to the status quo: “Stop depending on legacy metrics to predict future performance. There has to be an evolution there.”

Snapchat’s Shade & Erivo’s Encore

Snapchat drew a huge crowd to an offsite presentation at Pier 36, and revealed new sponsored Snaps that lead off a community chat, and sponsored maps to promote local business. Fairly challenging the attendees, Ajit Mohan, Snapchat Chief Business Officer, said, “Sure you can go with TV…but what are challenger brands doing – the ones incredibly careful with their budgets? Working with us. Last year we doubled the number of advertisers using Snapchat. These brands know their next generation of growth is coming from the next generation.”

Then, as a fitting finale to a day of seeking the pot of gold at the end of the media rainbow, attention shifted from the man in front of the curtain to Emmy, Tony and Grammy winning star, Cynthia Erivo who dazzled with a wickedly good, but all too brief, concert.

Take that, Upfronts.