The 2022/23 Upfront turned in single to low double-digit increases over last year, while overall ad budgets remained flat or slightly elevated. That's the primary finding of The Myers Report's recent study of Upfront inflation rates gathered from surveys sent to senior national agency video decision makers at some of the largest media buying organizations including Canvas, Dentsu, Havas, Horizon, Magna Global, Omnicom, Publicis and Stagwell.
This year's study explored inflation rates across multiple dayparts and distributors within Broadcast, Cable and Syndication. Inventory for Full Episode Players, Addressable, Live Streaming Sports, OTT Premium and Diverse Media outlets were also evaluated. Of all available Upfront options, Black-owned Cable Networks earned the greatest inflation rates in the high double digits.
Despite a fair degree of instability in the measurement space, negotiations were traded primarily on Nielsen currency. The study inquired about a host of other potential secondary currencies including Comscore, iSpot, Nielsen One, OpenAP, Samba, VideoAmp and custom agency data.
Detailed findings about inflation rates across 2022/23 options as well as attitudes toward secondary currency options can be found in this year's full report.